188 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
188 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
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Some thoughts on the natural language ESPERANTO and its use in
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implementing "intelligent machines" with greater success.
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Esperanto, the international language, has existed for one
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hundred years, and is thus the most modern of all the natural
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languages. Incorrectly termed "artificial"; the correct word is
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"planned". With no exceptions to its rules, "grammar-coded"
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Esperanto can demonstrate the language structure lacking in
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English.
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LANGUAGE IS ALL ABOUT THINGS (nouns) AND THE ACTIONS (verbs)
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OF ENERGETIC THINGS:
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ONE THING........ACTS ON.......ANOTHER THING.
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Birdo............kaptas........insekton.
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A bird catches an insect.
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SUBJECT NOUN VERB OBJECT NOUN
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===========================================================
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Esperanto is "grammar-coded". You can tell what part each
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word plays in the sentence from the word endings:
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---o ---on
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SIMPLE SUBJECT NOUN SIMPLE OBJECT NOUN
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If there is more than one of the same thing (plural):
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---oj (as in boy) ---ojn (as in coin)
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PLURAL SUBJECT NOUN PLURAL OBJECT NOUN
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===========================================================
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To show when the action takes place, the verb TENSE (time) is
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changed by putting these endings on the verb roots:
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PRESENT TENSE: ---as describes it as it happens
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PAST TENSE: ---is shows an action completed
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FUTURE TENSE: ---os action still to begin
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Birdoj............kaptis.............insektojn.
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Birds caught insects.
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Birdoj............kaptos.............insektojn.
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Birds will catch insects.
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===========================================================
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Every noun and every verb follows the above rules
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*** WITHOUT EXCEPTION ***
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===========================================================
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Because the SUBJECT and OBJECT nouns are identified by
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grammer-coding, the word order in Esperanto is free. All the
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following sentences describe correctly the pictures: (Only the
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emphasis is changed).
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_ _<>-<2D>_
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|\_ {<7B>)
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| \\/~)<29>\
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| \_/ <20>\\ \\
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| |=<3D>-\) \\<5C><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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| / ) \ {~)<29><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>======<3D>
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| | <20>| _____/ )-<2D><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>O<EFBFBD><4F>======<3D>
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<20>\ | /|| ------<2D><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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[]<5D> || \\ <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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\/ ==| ==| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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/\
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A man catches a fish. A fish catches a man.
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1. Viro kaptas fi$on. Fi$o kaptas viron.
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2. Fi$on kaptas viro. Viron kaptas fi$o.
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3. Viro fi$on kaptas. Fi$o viron kaptas
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4. Fi$on viro kaptas. Viron fi$o kaptas.
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5. Kaptas viro fi$on. Kaptas fi$o viron.
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6. Kaptas fi$on viro. Kaptas viron fi$o.
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===========================================================
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In Esperanto, things have no gender (they are not male or
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female, as in many other languages). There is only one word for
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"THE", no matter if the nour is singular or plural, sublect or
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object. Therefore:
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La birdoj kaptas la insektojn.
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La birdo kaptis la insekton.
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There are 27 letters in Esperanto and each Esperanto letter
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has only one sound, always. Here is a guide to some of the
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sounds. The stress is always on the next-to-last syllable of a
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word.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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ESPERANTO AT A GLANCE:
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--The Alphabet (Brooks' IBM-PC standardized 27-character set)
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A B C & D E F G [ H I J ] K L M N O P R S $ T U # V Z
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a b c <20> d e f g h i j <20> k l m n o p r s $ t u <20> v z
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Every letter has exactly one sound and is always pronounced.
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Accent is always on the next-to-last syllable. All are
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pronounces as in English except:
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A as in "father" I as in "machine"
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C as "ts" in "bits" J as "y" in "yes"
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& as "ch" in "church" ] as "s" in "measure"
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E as in "get" O as in "mote"
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G as in "get" S as in "said"
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[ as "j" in "jet" $ as "sh" in "shed"
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H as in "hat" U as "oo" in "boot"
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# as "w" in "water"
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===========================================================
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Here are some words in Esperanto. The apostrophe indicates an
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incomplete word or ROOT.
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NOUNS NOUNS VERB ROOTS
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AMIKO (friend) KAFO (coffee) FAR' (do, make)
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FILO (son) KUKO (cake) FORGES' (forget)
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FRATO (brother) LAKTO (milk) HAV' (have)
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INSTRUISTO (teachr) PANO (bread) TRINK' (drink)
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KNABO (boy) SUKERO (sugar) VEND' (sell)
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PATRO (father) TEO (tea) VID' (see)
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===========================================================
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To get a feel for the language, translate the following
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sentences into Esperanto. Note: the word "a" does not exist in
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Esperanto; the simple noun is enough. Also, a dash indicates
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that two English words are translated by one Esperanto word.
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Example: THE MEN SOLD CAKES.
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La viroj vendis kukojn.
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1. FATHER MAKES A CAKE.
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2. THE BOY WILL-HAVE THE SUGAR.
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3. THE SON FORGOT THE MILK.
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4. THE BOYS DRINK TEA.
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5. THE FRIEND SOLD THE BREAD.
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6. THE TEACHER SEES A BOY.
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7. THE SON HAS A FRIEND.
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8. THE BROTHER MADE BREAD.
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9. THE BOYS WILL-HAVE THE CAKE.
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10. FATHER FORGOT THE SUGAR.
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11. THE BOYS HAD FRIENDS.
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12. THE SONS SAW THE BREAD.
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13. THE BROTHERS SELL SUGAR.
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14. THE TEACHER FORGETS THE BOY.
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15. THE FRIEND WILL-DRINK MILD.
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16. THE SONS ARE-MAKING CAKES.
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17. FATHER WILL-SELL THE CAKE.
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18. THE FRIEND HAD BREAD.
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19. THE BOYS WILL-SEE THE TEACHERS.
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20. THE TEACHERS DRINK COFFEE.
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===========================================================
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Don't get scared off by this first meeting with Esperanto.
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Remember, the language ability you used in the above exercises
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would take months or even years to reach in secondary-school
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French or Spanish. The international language, Esperanto, is
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by-far the best natural language around which "intelligent
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machines" can be based. It is grammar-coded with no exceptions
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to its simple rules; it vastly limits the search-space when
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computers attempt "semantic understanding" of text and would be
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unsurpassed in real-time speech understanding systems.
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