Esperanto

Esperanto is a constructed international auxiliary language created by L. L. Zamenhof. It was published in 1887 with the aim of providing a neutral, easy-to-learn language to foster international understanding and communication.

Design and features: Zamenhof designed Esperanto to be regular and easy to acquire, with a simple grammar and vocabulary drawn largely from European languages. It uses 28 Latin letters, including five with diacritics (ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ) and ŭ. Word formation relies on affixes; nouns end in -o, adjectives in -a, and adverbs in -e. Plural is marked by -j, and the accusative case by -n. Verbs are regular and conjugate with endings -as (present), -is (past), -os (future), and -us (conditional), with -i as the infinitive. The stress is typically on the penultimate syllable.

Usage and community: Esperanto gained early international use and established a global community. The annual World Esperanto Congress (Universala Kongreso) brings together speakers, while the Universala Esperanto-Asocio (UEA) coordinates activities, publications, and exchanges worldwide. The language has a rich cultural sphere, including literature, music, and a large online presence, notably the Esperanto edition of Wikipedia and various media outlets.

Status and reach: Esperanto is the best-known constructed international language and has no official status in any country. Estimates of speakers vary; fluent speakers are typically counted in the hundreds of thousands, with a broader community of learners reaching into the low millions. A portion of speakers are native, having grown up using Esperanto in their families or communities.