Wednesday, June 05, 2013

The romance of the word

"...languages don't live because they meet a list of specifications. They live because they are used and loved and worked with and treasured; they live because they are associated with a culture."
-- Suzette Haden Elgin, creator of Láadan
Pity poor L. L. Zamenhof.

All the man really wanted was to use the strength of his life and mind to enrich peace, love and understanding on Earth. Growing up on the borders of the Russian Empire, he saw people of different races, ethnicities and languages constantly fighting and quarreling with each other. And, not having Douglas Adams around to convince him otherwise, Zamenhof believed that people would go a long way toward understanding and caring for each other if they just spoke a common language. So he made one up. His textbook on the tongue he referred to as "Lingvo internacia" was published pseudonymously under the name Doktoro Esperanto (Dr. Hopeful) -- and the name "Esperanto" stuck as the name for the newly-created language.

Sadly, the language itself has consistently, spectacularly failed to stick. While it is considered to be the most successful of the constructed auxiliary languages, only the tiniest sliver of humanity -- an estimated .03% of the world's population -- speaks the language Zamenhof created over a century ago. (Estimates about how many Esperanto speakers there really are fluctuate wildly, depending on who is doing the estimating and what constitutes "language fluency" in each individual estimate; various parties have thrown around numbers between 10,000 and 2 million, the latter of which seems more "hopeful" than accurate.) Although Esperanto was specifically designed to be easy to learn and read, especially for native speakers of European languages, not a single country on Earth has adopted it as a secondary language for official use.

Now here's another constructed language to consider. Like Esperanto, this language was purpose-built by a linguist, but that's where the similarities end. It has an extremely small official lexicon of around 3000 words. It was designed to be difficult to learn, difficult to pronounce, with deliberately byzantine grammar and syntax. The overall sound of the spoken word is harsh, guttural and off-putting -- like someone trying to gargle a hairball, if not an entire cat. Less than 50 people on earth can speak the language fluently. Yet public knowledge of and interest in this puzzling language far outstrips public interest in Zamenhof's elegantly-constructed work. It is tlhIngan Hol, aka Klingon, the language of the warrior aliens in the Star Trek series.

What is it about these two languages that inspires such public interest, or lack thereof? Why do people mostly yawn at Esperanto and, well, "geek out" over Klingon? I suspect there are a couple of factors in play.

For one thing, people don't cherish what is easily come by. You'll know this instinctively if you're a parent and have ever accidentally backed over a bicycle in the driveway -- you know, the one you finally bought for your kid after months of enduring her endless begging. Since she paid nothing for the bike, she had no impetus to take care of it once the novelty wore off. Human nature is such that when we obtain things easily, we tend to mentally denigrate them as worthless or unimportant. Esperanto, as it's designed to be easy to learn, suffers from this setback. The flip side of this way of thinking is that the more challenging something is to obtain, the more it is valued -- regardless of its actual worth. You can see some of this mentality among Klingon speakers; they're proud of their ability to hold forth in an impractical, esoteric (and I might add ugly) language, precisely because it's hard to do.

But there's another reason, one that I believe is even more compelling, why Esperanto doesn't get the enthusiastic following that Klingon does. For all that Esperanto makes theoretical sense, for all its ease of learning and regularity of grammar and syntax, it has the same problem experienced by nearly all auxiliary languages: it was created in a void.

Why do people want to learn French? It's not because they're enamored of the guttural R pronunciation, the use of the word "on," the multiple silent letters, or the way certain plural nouns end in -x. It's because French, like every other natural, living human language, is attached to a deeply accreted culture. French is the language of love, of writing, of cooking, of fine art and architecture, of travel and opera. It has a history that stretches back thousands of years. It is the language not only of the people of France, but of multiple other countries in Europe, Africa, North America and Polynesia, all of whom have made their unique contributions to the culture. When you learn French, you are not merely learning another way to express yourself -- you are entering a new world and a new way of thinking, not only about another culture, but about your own.

Can you find me a native Esperanto recipe? Any Esperanto-style music, costumes or traditional dances? Has an Esperanto-language film ever been nominated for an Oscar? Is there an Esperanto religious belief? This is what I mean when I say Esperanto was created in a void. It is well represented in the literary field -- there are a number of books, poems and periodicals originally written and published in Esperanto -- but in the century since it was introduced, it has not accreted a defining culture or many traditions (other than a tendency to celebrate Zamenhof's birthday, language geekery and a general desire for world peace). In other words, the language has very little romance to it -- not much to draw in the curious other than the basic lure of novelty, which quickly wears off.

Klingon, on the other hand, has oodles of romance. It may not be beautiful, but there is a kind of visceral strength and rhythm to its barked, guttural phrases. The Klingons have their own fierce culture -- their own history, taboos, manners, martial arts, religious beliefs, messianic forbear (Kahless), food and wine, even their own opera. In the nearly 30 years since the language was first created, Klingon has a distinctive, recognizable culture -- because it was designed to have one right from the outset. And that's what draws people in. Although Klingon is a constructed language like Esperanto, learning Klingon is closer kin to learning French, in that you are receiving not only a means of expression but access to a different culture along with it.

And maybe that's where Zamenhof really went wrong. If he'd wanted to fuel public interest in Esperanto, maybe he should have first put it into the mouths of high elves, marvelous aliens or barbarian warriors who would use it with literary gusto. In other words, instead of creating a language to unify the world, he might have tried creating a unified world around his language.

Estas nur ion por pripensi.


Fenchurch said...

Back in the late 80s or early 90s, I was at a large-ish Science Fiction convention, waiting in line for some event or other, with a group of young men from Japan standing behind me. They spoke very limited English, but one of them was in a spirited discussion with another random guy who happened to be standing nearby in line, who did not appear to know any Japanese... instead, they were both speaking Klingon.

It really stuck with me, because I remember thinking at that moment that someday there would likely be more people speaking Klingon than Esperanto... and for basically the same reason you've cited: culture. But I was thinking of it from a different direction... not necessarily the specific culture of the fictional race behind the language, but fannish culture in general. How often are two Esperanto speakers from different parts of the world going to randomly find themselves in the same place and realize that they both speak the same constructed language? The odds are pretty darned slim. But Klingon? You go to any SF&F convention and if you speak Klingon, it's pretty much inevitable that you're going to find someone to talk to. So if nothing else, Klingon is bound to be more successful simply because speakers are much more likely to find people they can converse with... because not only does the language have a culture, but the people who want to speak it largely have a common culture as well.

Bill Chapman said...

I think you are unfair to Esperanto. I see Esperanto as a remarkable success story. It has survived wars and revolutions and economic crises and continues to attract people to learn and speak it. Esperanto works! I've used it in speech and writing in about fifteen countries over recent years. I recommend it to anyone, as a way of making friendly local contacts in other countries.

There is a downside to Esperanto, of course. Esperanto has no country, or government or real money behind it. And yet it continues to attract young learners and users. Don't write it off!

Brian Barker said...

For those people who think Klingon should be the future international language the following may be of interest.

Pretty useless to compare Klingon with Esperanto. Especially because Esperanto is designed to be an international language, whereas Klingon is not.

Probably less than 10 percent of all educated people have even heard of Esperanto so do not know that, for example, the Esperanto Wikipedia has about 150,000 articles, (which gets about 400,000 views per day). By contrast the total number of articles about Klingon in Wikipedia total only 189, and nothing has been added since 2006.
The World Esperanto Association enjoys consultative relations with the United Nations. Does Klingon ?

A pity also that it is not generally known that you may find Esperanto speakers in more than 130 countries. Or that more people in Burundi per head of the population speak Esperanto than in any other country. Thirty schools in Burundi teach Esperanto ; how many teach Klingon? The World Esperanto Association enjoys consultative relations with the United Nations ; does Klingon?

Your readers may also like to see

Soozcat said...

Greetings, Bill and Brian, and welcome to the blog.

I'm interested in hearing your side of the story, though I note that both your comments did not address the main thesis of the article, to wit: languages, whether natural or constructed, tend to attract more human interest when they are part of a distinctive culture.

Structurally speaking, Esperanto is superior to Klingon as a working language -- which is only to be expected, as one was deliberately constructed to be useful and the other was designed to be alien. Nonetheless, I have seen more and keener interest in Klingon not because it is a highly useful or elegant language, but because something about the fictitious culture speaks to a percentage of the population and drives them to learn it despite its limited lexicon, difficult pronunciation and confusing syntax. This is a phenomenon other conlangs would do well to consider, and perhaps to emulate.

Denis Conrado said...

Greetings! I was very happy to receive your postcard today and was impressed with the coincidence, enter one of your blogs and encontarr this auspicious article about Esperanto! I speak Esperanto, and my two children to learn from the cradle, I am one of the most active editors Wiki Esperanto, translating currently on the municipalities! I found it very interesting to read about the relationship of culture with Esperanto, and it is true; beyond Klingon, I also see those who learn another language or Sindarin Elvish only because the Lord of the Rings and is also the other side that was quoted here, the use of Esperanto to travel the world, it is wonderful! I used it in practice and I was very happy when I went to Cuba. What about culture, the idea of Esperanto is not to create a new culture, but accessing all cultures of the world through the union language, for example: it is true that learning French will be fully integrated into the culture and other gastronomic delights of France and other Francophones, but knowing Esperanto can enter the culture of France (but depend on an Esperanto French to help me), culture of Mongolia (Mongolian without learning), in the culture of Russia (Russian unknowingly), etc.. And gradually, Esperanto will create your personal culture: we have the habit of participating in hundreds of Esperanto conferences being held around the world each year, which is culturally very rich. A hug and thank you!

Soozcat said...

Olá, Denis! Welcome to the blog! I'm glad your postcard got there OK... some Postcrossing cards do go astray.

Your thoughtful comment is well said; since Esperanto was meant to be an access language of sorts, it does provide a means by which cultures can be accessed -- but only to a limited degree. To push the analogy, learning Esperanto gives you the chance to look at French culture through a window; learning French gives you the key to the front door.

I recognize that giving Esperanto an associated culture may potentially limit the appeal of the language to potential users -- but there is already an indication that Esperanto as it stands has limited appeal. On the other hand, attaching a culture to the language might greatly improve public knowledge of and interest in Esperanto.