A conlang outlined in "La internacia lingvo" (The International Language), published in 1887 by the language's creator, L.L. Zamenhof. The name Esperanto means 'one who is hoping' in the language, and was applied to the language because Zamenhof used the name Dr. Esperanto as a pseudonym. Designed specifically for ease of learning and use, Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed interlanguage in the
world, with an upper estimate of over
two million speakers today (however, the lowest estimates place this at a few hundred thousand). In continuous use since its original publication, Esperanto has its own sizeable body of both original and translated literature, newsletters, blogs, and radio broadcasts. Esperanto's use has skyrocketed with the advent of the
internet, and user levels will
soon be nigh impossible to
gauge.
Esperanto has appeared in popular
culture on several occasions, usually for ridicule as a 'failed project.' It was most notably used on signs in Charlie Chaplain's "The Great
Dictator," for
PA announcements in the dystopia film "GATACA," and as the spoken language in William Shatner's first sci fi film, "Inkubus" (Esperanto "Inkubo").
La internacia lingvo, Esperanto, estas planlingvo
kun tre regula gramatico. L.L. Zamenhof planis por ghi esti la dua lingvo de la mondo, sed kun malmulte
da sukceso. Tamen, Esperanto estas ankorau uzanta hodiau kaj havas pli ol miliono
da parolantoj (kaj la nomero multighas).
