Some thoughts on the natural language ESPERANTO and its use in
\nimplementing “intelligent machines” with greater success.<\/p>\n
Esperanto, the international language, has existed for one
\nhundred years, and is thus the most modern of all the natural
\nlanguages. Incorrectly termed “artificial”; the correct word is
\n“planned”. With no exceptions to its rules, “grammar-coded”
\nEsperanto can demonstrate the language structure lacking in
\nEnglish.<\/p>\n
LANGUAGE IS ALL ABOUT THINGS (nouns) AND THE ACTIONS (verbs)
\nOF ENERGETIC THINGS:<\/p>\n
ONE THING……..ACTS ON…….ANOTHER THING.<\/p>\n
Birdo…………kaptas……..insekton.
\n A bird catches an insect.<\/p>\n
SUBJECT NOUN VERB OBJECT NOUN<\/p>\n
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\n Esperanto is “grammar-coded”. You can tell what part each
\nword plays in the sentence from the word endings:<\/p>\n
—o\t\t\t\t\t\t\t—on
\nSIMPLE SUBJECT NOUN\t\t\t\tSIMPLE OBJECT NOUN<\/p>\n
If there is more than one of the same thing (plural):<\/p>\n
—oj (as in boy)\t\t\t\t—ojn (as in coin)
\nPLURAL SUBJECT NOUN\t\t\t\tPLURAL OBJECT NOUN
\n===========================================================<\/p>\n
To show when the action takes place, the verb TENSE (time) is
\nchanged by putting these endings on the verb roots:<\/p>\n
PRESENT TENSE:\t—as\t\tdescribes it as it happens<\/p>\n
PAST TENSE:\t—is\t\tshows an action completed<\/p>\n
FUTURE TENSE:\t—os\t\taction still to begin<\/p>\n
Birdoj…………kaptis………….insektojn.
\n Birds caught insects.<\/p>\n
Birdoj…………kaptos………….insektojn.
\n Birds will catch insects.<\/p>\n
===========================================================
\nEvery noun and every verb follows the above rules
\n\t\t\t*** WITHOUT EXCEPTION ***
\n===========================================================<\/p>\n
Because the SUBJECT and OBJECT nouns are identified by
\ngrammer-coding, the word order in Esperanto is free. All the
\nfollowing sentences describe correctly the pictures: (Only the
\nemphasis is changed).<\/p>\n
_ _\u0424-\u0424_
\n |_ {\u043f)
\n | \\\/~)\u043e
\n | _\/ \u043e\\ \\
\n | |=\u043e-) \\\u043c\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043c\u043c
\n | \/ ) {~)\u043f\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043c\u043c======\u041a
\n | | \u0423| _____\/ )-\u043f\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043bO\u043b\u043c======\u041a
\n \u044d | \/|| ——\u043c\u043b\u043c\u043c\u043f\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043c
\n []\u043e || \\ \u043f\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043b\u043c
\n \/ ==| ==| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
\n \/
\n A man catches a fish. A fish catches a man.<\/p>\n
1. Viro kaptas fi$on. Fi$o kaptas viron.
\n2. Fi$on kaptas viro. Viron kaptas fi$o.
\n3. Viro fi$on kaptas. Fi$o viron kaptas
\n4. Fi$on viro kaptas. Viron fi$o kaptas.
\n5. Kaptas viro fi$on. Kaptas fi$o viron.
\n6. Kaptas fi$on viro. Kaptas viron fi$o. <\/p>\n
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\n In Esperanto, things have no gender (they are not male or
\nfemale, as in many other languages). There is only one word for
\n“THE”, no matter if the nour is singular or plural, sublect or
\nobject. Therefore:<\/p>\n
La birdoj kaptas la insektojn.
\n La birdo kaptis la insekton.<\/p>\n
There are 27 letters in Esperanto and each Esperanto letter
\nhas only one sound, always. Here is a guide to some of the
\nsounds. The stress is always on the next-to-last syllable of a
\nword.
\n—————————————————————–
\nESPERANTO AT A GLANCE:
\n–The Alphabet (Brooks’ IBM-PC standardized 27-character set)<\/p>\n
A B C & D E F G [ H I J ] K L M N O P R S $ T U # V Z
\n a b c \u009b d e f g h i j \u045b k l m n o p r s $ t u \u0096 v z<\/p>\n
Every letter has exactly one sound and is always pronounced.
\nAccent is always on the next-to-last syllable. All are
\npronounces as in English except:<\/p>\n
A as in “father” I as in “machine”
\nC as “ts” in “bits” J as “y” in “yes”
\n& as “ch” in “church” ] as “s” in “measure”
\nE as in “get” O as in “mote”
\nG as in “get” S as in “said”
\n[ as “j” in “jet” $ as “sh” in “shed”
\nH as in “hat” U as “oo” in “boot”
\n # as “w” in “water”
\n===========================================================
\n Here are some words in Esperanto. The apostrophe indicates an
\nincomplete word or ROOT.<\/p>\n
NOUNS NOUNS VERB ROOTS<\/p>\n
AMIKO (friend) KAFO (coffee) FAR’ (do, make)
\nFILO (son) KUKO (cake) FORGES’ (forget)
\nFRATO (brother) LAKTO (milk) HAV’ (have)
\nINSTRUISTO (teachr) PANO (bread) TRINK’ (drink)
\nKNABO (boy) SUKERO (sugar) VEND’ (sell)
\nPATRO (father) TEO (tea) VID’ (see)<\/p>\n
===========================================================
\n To get a feel for the language, translate the following
\nsentences into Esperanto. Note: the word “a” does not exist in
\nEsperanto; the simple noun is enough. Also, a dash indicates
\nthat two English words are translated by one Esperanto word.
\n\tExample:\tTHE MEN SOLD CAKES.
\n\t\t\tLa viroj vendis kukojn. <\/p>\n
1. FATHER MAKES A CAKE.<\/p>\n
2. THE BOY WILL-HAVE THE SUGAR.<\/p>\n
3. THE SON FORGOT THE MILK.<\/p>\n
4. THE BOYS DRINK TEA.<\/p>\n
5. THE FRIEND SOLD THE BREAD.<\/p>\n
6. THE TEACHER SEES A BOY.<\/p>\n
7. THE SON HAS A FRIEND.<\/p>\n
8. THE BROTHER MADE BREAD.<\/p>\n
9. THE BOYS WILL-HAVE THE CAKE.<\/p>\n
10. FATHER FORGOT THE SUGAR.<\/p>\n
11. THE BOYS HAD FRIENDS.<\/p>\n
12. THE SONS SAW THE BREAD.<\/p>\n
13. THE BROTHERS SELL SUGAR.<\/p>\n
14. THE TEACHER FORGETS THE BOY.<\/p>\n
15. THE FRIEND WILL-DRINK MILD.<\/p>\n
16. THE SONS ARE-MAKING CAKES.<\/p>\n
17. FATHER WILL-SELL THE CAKE.<\/p>\n
18. THE FRIEND HAD BREAD.<\/p>\n
19. THE BOYS WILL-SEE THE TEACHERS.<\/p>\n
20. THE TEACHERS DRINK COFFEE.<\/p>\n
===========================================================
\n Don’t get scared off by this first meeting with Esperanto.
\nRemember, the language ability you used in the above exercises
\nwould take months or even years to reach in secondary-school
\nFrench or Spanish. The international language, Esperanto, is
\nby-far the best natural language around which “intelligent
\nmachines” can be based. It is grammar-coded with no exceptions
\nto its simple rules; it vastly limits the search-space when
\ncomputers attempt “semantic understanding” of text and would be
\nunsurpassed in real-time speech understanding systems.<\/p>\n
