The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto Part 12

(_a_). Accusative of direction.--To show direction towards which movement (physical or otherwise) is made the accusative is used, and this is generally called "the accusative of direction." It will be observed, however, that we can also use a preposition to show the motion, and, if such preposition in itself shows movement, its complement must be in the nominative, since all prepositions govern that case; but if the preposition does not in itself denote movement, then its complement must be in the accusative.

Examples.--_Mi iras Romon (au, al Romo)_ = I am going to Rome. _Li kuris en la gardenon_ = He ran _into_ the garden. The preposition _en_ does not show movement, therefore _gardenon_ is in the accusative, but _Li kuris en la gardeno_ = He ran _in_ the garden.

This means he was already in the garden, and was running in it. _Sur la danan tronon mi havas rajtojn_ = On the Danish throne I have rights.

(_b_). Adverbs also take the accusative of direction.

Examples.--_Kien vi iras? Mi iras nenien hodiau_ = Where (whither) are you going? I am going nowhere to-day. _Gi falis teren_ (or, _sur la teron_) = It fell to the ground (_or_, on to the ground; lit., earthwards). _Li iris hejmen kaj restis hejme_ = He went home and remained at home.

68. (3). To show that a preposition has been omitted.

As stated in Rule 8, par. 94, every preposition in Esperanto governs the nominative case.

By Rule 14 we are told that every preposition has a defined and constant meaning, but that if we _must use some preposition_, and the direct sense does not show what special preposition we are to take, we can then either use the indefinite preposition _je_, or the accusative without a preposition. The following are examples under this head in which the accusative may be used:--

(_a_). After doubtful verbs.--From the foregoing remarks it follows that if we do not know whether a verb governs the accusative or not, we can always use the accusative, if no ambiguity is occasioned thereby. Otherwise some preposition should be employed instead.

For instance, we can say:--_Obeu vian patron_, or, _Obeu je via patro_, or, _Obeu al via patro_ = Obey your father. _Si helpis al sia frato_, or, _Si helpis sian fraton_ = She helped her brother.

_Li pardonis sian filon_, or, _Li pardonis al sia filo_ = He forgave his son. But in phrases where doubt as to meaning may arise we must always use a preposition, as:--_Li pardonis al sia filo lian kulpon_ = He forgave his son his fault. Not _Li pardonis sian filon lian kulpon_, for the _two_ accusatives here would create confusion. _Li legis tion en la dua de Marto_, or, _Li legis pri tio la duan de Marto_ = He read that on the 2nd of March.

(_b_). Duration or any point of time.

Examples.--_Mi restis tie kvar semajnojn_ (or, _dum_ or _tra_, _kvar semajnoj_) = I remained there (during) four weeks. _La proksiman lundon_ (or, _en la proksima lundo_) _mi veturos Londonon_ (or, _al Londono_) = Next Monday I shall go to London. _Printempon_ (or, _en printempo_) _floroj aperas_ = In spring flowers appear. _Li venos dimancon_ (or, _en dimanco_) = He will come on a Sunday. Similarly the accusative may be used for dates, as:--_Washington_ (p.r.o.nounced _Uasington_) _estis naskita la dudek-duan_ (or, _en la dudek-dua_) _de Februaro_ = Washington was born on the 22nd of February. _La 23an Marton, 1906a_, or _Je la 23a de Marto, 1906_ = 23rd of March, 1906.

(_c_). Price, weight, measure.

Examples.--_La libroj kostis dek silingojn_ (or, _po dek silingoj_) _por dekduo_ = The books cost ten shillings (_or_, at the rate of ten shillings) a dozen. _La cambro estas alta dek du futojn_ (or, _je dek du futoj_) = The room is twelve feet high. _La kesto pezas tridek funtojn_ (or, _je tridek funtoj_) = The chest weighs thirty pounds.

69. General Remarks on the Accusative.

From the foregoing examples we see the important part the accusative _N_ plays in the construction of Esperanto, the clearness it gives to the meaning of a sentence, and the advantage it affords in permitting words to be placed in almost any order, The following examples will further ill.u.s.trate this.

(_a_). Qualifying and Predicative Adjectives.--An adjective is termed "qualifying" when its noun or p.r.o.noun actually possesses the quality which the adjective denotes; and the adjective then agrees with the noun or p.r.o.noun both in case and number. But a "predicative"

adjective, although it agrees in number, is always in the nominative (pars. 36, 108).

Examples.--_Mi trovis la belajn rozojn_ (_or, rozojn belajn_) = I found the beautiful roses. _Mi trovis la rozojn belaj_ = I found the roses beautiful. In the first example the a.s.sertion is that beautiful roses were found; but in the second you a.s.sert only that you found, or discovered, that they were beautiful; they might, in someone else's opinion, have been the contrary.

(_b_). Qualifying Adverbs are invariable.

Examples.--_Li skribis al mi tute malveran raporton pri la afero_ = He wrote me an entirely false statement of the matter. _Mi pensis, ke si estas treege bela_ = I thought (that) she was (is) extremely beautiful.

(_c_). Nouns and p.r.o.nouns in apposition have like cases and numbers.

Examples.--_Vi sercas la princon, Hamleton_ = You seek the Prince, Hamlet. _La diablo lin prenu, la sentaugulon_ = The devil take him, the wretch!

N.B.--Note the difference in case of two nouns in the following sentences:--_Kuracisto havis du infanojn, filon kaj filinon; li nomis sian filon Johano, kaj sian filinon Mario. Kiam li parolis pri ili kun mi, li ciam nomis sian filon Johanon kun voco de amo, sed sian filinon Marion antipatie_ = A doctor had two children, a son and a daughter; he named his son, John, and his daughter, Mary. When he spoke to me about them, he always named his son, John, in voice of affection, but his daughter, Mary, with antipathy.

N.B.--In this example, when the nouns (_Johano_ and _Mario_) are in the nominative, they express what is _predicated_ or said about the objects (_filon_ and _filinon_). But when they agree in case with the objects (_filon_ and _filinon_), this shows they are nouns in apposition (see pars. 108, 109).

(_d_). Proper names.--In the case of non-Esperanto names it is possible to indicate the accusative, where desired, by the addition of _N_ after a vowel, or _ON_ after a consonant. This is the plan adopted by Zamenhof in _La Malnova Testamento_. Or the name may be regarded as a foreign word and left unchanged for the accusative.

Examples.--_David_, _Davidon_. _Noa_, _Noan_. _Sara_, _Saran_.

_Robinson_, _Robinsonon_. _Smith_, _Smithon_ (or simply _Smith_). Of course, proper names which have been converted by use into Esperanto are treated like other nouns in O, as, _Londono_, _Londonon_; _Berlino_, _Berlinon_. _Jones iris Berlinon, kaj renkontis Arturon Brown_ = Jones went to Berlin and met Arthur Brown.

CAPITAL LETTERS (Majuskloj).

70. Capital Letters (Majuskloj) may be used as they are in English, but as their use varies in different languages, it is as well to follow the majority of Esperanto writers. We, therefore, advise the student to--

Use capital letters, as in English, except:--

(_a_). For words derived from the names of places, as:--La angla nacio = _The English nation_. Li estas franco kaj logas en Francujo = _He is a Frenchman and lives in France_. Sur la danan tronon mi havas rajtojn = _On the Danish throne I have rights_.

(b). For the names of the days of the week, as:--Mi alvenos lundon = _I shall arrive on a Monday_.[12]

(_c_). For the p.r.o.noun "I" = _mi_.

In the _Fundamento_, Zamenhof used capital letters to begin the names of months. In his mature style he also used capitals for nouns and adjectives of nationality, e.g. _Angla_, _Anglo_, _Dana_, _Franco_.

Footnote:

[12] Note that _lundon_ means "on _a_ (or, _some_) Monday." If we wish to say "on Monday," meaning "_next_ Monday," the full translation would be _Mi alvenos la proksiman lundon_ = I shall arrive on (the next) Monday (see par. 68 (_b_)). _Mi venas lunde_ = I come on Mondays.

PUNCTUATION (Interpunkcio).

71. Punctuation is only necessary to make clear the sense we wish to convey in writing. Happily it is not so important in Esperanto as in English, where a simple comma may make a great difference in the meaning of a sentence. Hence the verbosity of law doc.u.ments in which stops are not used.

Every writer is free to use in Esperanto his own national or individual method of punctuation. Nevertheless, Zamenhof and the best writers follow a definite international usage, and the student is strongly advised to study and imitate their writings in this respect.

It is the custom, for instance, to separate every clause in a sentence by a punctuation mark. Accordingly, words like ke, por ke, cu, kiu, when they introduce a secondary sentence within the main sentence, are usually preceded by a comma. This aids the reader, and helps in the formation of a uniform international style.

When two verbs joined by kaj have the same subject, no comma is needed; but a comma is used if the subjects are different. Li staras kaj parolas (one subject). Li staras, kaj mi parolas al li (two subjects).

Use a comma after ho when it is part of an exclamation, but not in naming the person spoken to. Ho Dio! Ho, tute ne!

With abbreviations like S-ro, S-ino, D-ro, it is usual to insert a hyphen, but no following stop, thus: F-ino Jones.

72. The following is what Dr. Zamenhof has written on the subject in the "Esperantisto." We give it in Esperanto, so that the student can see the punctuation for himself:--

La reguloj pri la uzado de la interpunkcioj estas en nia lingvo pli-malpli tiaj samaj, kiel en ciuj aliaj lingvoj; sekve ciu povas uzadi en Esperanto la interpunkciojn tiel, kiel li uzas ilin en sia nacia lingvo. Estas vere, ke en diversaj detaloj la uzado de la interpunkcioj estas malegala en diversaj lingvoj; sed car la objekto ne estas tre grava, tial ni pensas, ke ne venis ankorau la tempo por difini en nia lingvo severajn regulojn por tiuj ci detaloj. En tiuj ci dubaj detaloj ciu povas uzi en Esperanto la interpunkciojn tiel, kiel li uzas ilin en sia nacia lingvo, kaj nur la uzo iom post iom ellaboros por tiuj ci negravaj detaloj difinitajn regulojn.

_Translation._--The rules regarding the use of stops are in our language more or less the same as in all other languages, therefore everyone can continue using in Esperanto stops in such a manner as he uses them in his national language. It is true that in several details the use of stops is different in various languages, but since the matter is not very important, we think the time has not yet come to lay down in our language strict rules for these details. In these doubtful details everyone can use in Esperanto the stops he uses in his national language, and only custom, little by little, will work out for these unimportant details definite rules.