{"tag":"artificial","articles":{"blog\/life\/i-don-t-really-like-esperanto":{"key":"blog\/life\/i-don-t-really-like-esperanto","type":"article","published":true,"meta":{"createdAt":"2017-05-23T21:59:46+02:00","publishedAt":"2017-05-25T18:55:00+02:00","group":"askara","category":"blog","subcategory":"life","slug":"i-don-t-really-like-esperanto"},"content":{"en":{"slug":"i-don-t-really-like-esperanto","title":"I don\u0027t really like Esperanto","intro":"\u003Cfigure\u003E\n                \u003Cnoscript\u003E\n                    \u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/avris.it\/image\/flag-esperanto_small.jpg\u0022 alt=\u0022Esperanto flag\u0022 class=\u0022border-bottom\u0022 width=\u0022480\u0022 height=\u0022319.875\u0022\u003E                \n                \u003C\/noscript\u003E\n                \u003Cspan class=\u0022hide-noscript\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022data:image\/png;base64,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\u0022 data-src=\u0022https:\/\/avris.it\/image\/flag-esperanto_small.jpg\u0022 alt=\u0022Esperanto flag\u0022 class=\u0022border-bottom\u0022 width=\u0022480\u0022 height=\u0022319.875\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\n                \n            \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI don\u2019t really like Esperanto. As a language. As an idea I love it from all my heart! \u2764\ufe0f\nThat message of unity, peace and understanding though a common language! That brilliance of simplification and unification!\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut I\u2019ve always seen it advertised as \u201cextremely simple\u201d. Simple indeed, but \u003Cem\u003Eextremely\u003C\/em\u003E? You can certainly do better!\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Csvg xmlns=\u0022http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\u0022 style=\u0022display: none;\u0022\u003E\u003C\/svg\u003E","content":"\u003Cfigure\u003E\n                \u003Cnoscript\u003E\n                    \u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/avris.it\/image\/flag-esperanto_big.jpg\u0022 alt=\u0022Esperanto flag\u0022 class=\u0022border\u0022 width=\u0022960\u0022 height=\u0022639.75\u0022\u003E                \n                \u003C\/noscript\u003E\n                \u003Cspan class=\u0022hide-noscript\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022data:image\/png;base64,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\u0022 data-src=\u0022https:\/\/avris.it\/image\/flag-esperanto_big.jpg\u0022 alt=\u0022Esperanto flag\u0022 class=\u0022border\u0022 width=\u0022960\u0022 height=\u0022639.75\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\n                \u003Cfigcaption\u003E\n                    \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/flag-esperanto-language-symbol-1208849\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022\u003E\n                        \u003Csvg class=\u0022icon\u0022\u003E\u003Cuse xlink:href=\u0022#light-link\u0022\u003E\u003C\/use\u003E\u003C\/svg\u003E\n                        pixabay.com\/en\/flag-esperanto-language-symbol-1208849\n                    \u003C\/a\u003E\n                \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n            \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI don\u2019t really like Esperanto. As a language. As an idea I love it from all my heart! \u2764\ufe0f\nThat message of unity, peace and understanding though a common language! That brilliance of simplification and unification!\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut I\u2019ve always seen it advertised as \u201cextremely simple\u201d. Simple indeed, but \u003Cem\u003Eextremely\u003C\/em\u003E? You can certainly do better!\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EAlphabet\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEsperanto has five characters that annoy me way more than they should:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022blockquote ml-4 pl-4 border-left\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0109 \u011d \u0125 \u0135 \u015d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt might have looked like a good idea to add those neat diacritics back in the times when you mostly wrote by hand. But in the age of computers having any non-latin characters in your alphabet is just annoying \u2013 with all the switching of keyboard layouts, with those damn non-UTF8 encodings, with some people replacing \u003Cstrong\u003E\u0109\u003C\/strong\u003E with the ugly \u003Cstrong\u003Ecx\u003C\/strong\u003E and others with \u003Cstrong\u003Ech\u003C\/strong\u003E...\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd also: who \u003Cem\u003Ereally\u003C\/em\u003E cares about the difference between \u003Cstrong\u003Eh\u003C\/strong\u003E and \u003Cstrong\u003E\u0125\u003C\/strong\u003E?\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003ENouns\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey aren\u2019t in any way better or simpler than in natural languages. Such a missed opportunity! Especially for the words used \u003Cem\u003Eso\u003C\/em\u003E often. Just look:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022table-responsive\u0022\u003E\u003Ctable class=\u0022table table-bordered table-center\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003E\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Esingular\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Eplural\u003C\/th\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003E1st person\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003Emi\u003C\/td\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003Eni\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003E2nd person\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Evi\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth rowspan=\u00223\u0022\u003E3rd person\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Emasculine\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003Eli\u003C\/td\u003E\n        \u003Ctd rowspan=\u00223\u0022\u003Eili\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Efeminine\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003E\u015di\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Eneuter\/epicene\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003E\u011di\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Eindefinite\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Eoni\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Ereflexive\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Esi\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003C\/table\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough they describe people and things (=substantives) they have nothing to do with the substantive \u003Cstrong\u003E-o\u003C\/strong\u003E suffix. And the plural doesn\u2019t seem to stem from the singular at all.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EApparently, it\u2019s necessary to distinguish between three 3rd persons, depending on their gender (as if someone\u2019s gender was relevant at all in most of the contexts...), but only as long as it\u2019s one person. And for the 2nd person even the singular\/plural distinction stops being relevant, for some reason.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003ESexism\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThere is an \u003Cstrong\u003E-ino\u003C\/strong\u003E suffix for substantives that indicates femininity of a person. Which implies in a way, that all the human-describing substantives are \u003Cem\u003Emale by default\u003C\/em\u003E, and it takes a special effort to express such a \u003Cem\u003Erarity\u003C\/em\u003E as a woman...\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EAccusative\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey say it\u2019s nice to have at least those two cases (Nominative and Accusative) in order to distinguish between phrases like \u201cPeter killed the lion\u201d and \u201cThe lion killed Peter\u201d. Except, you know... I just did it \u2013 in English, which has (almost) no cases anymore. You can easily tell, who killed whom. The word order is the key. And if you really want to start with the object, not the subject, (say, for emphasis), just use the passive voice: \u201cThe lion was killed by Peter\u201d.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEven in Polish, which has seven grammatical cases and not that strict rules regarding word order, messing up with this order can result in \u003Cem\u003Estrange\u003C\/em\u003E sounding sentences. Cases aren\u2019t really as useful as they seem to be.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAn why would you even want so highly flexible word order anyway? It might be fun for shorter, simpler sentences, but the more complex ones would become incomprehensible, regardless of the number of hints that are given by cases.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EDefinite article\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI never really got that concept. Why does it matter so much, if I\u2019m talking about something new and indefinite or something known and specific? Most of the time it\u2019s \u003Cem\u003Ereally\u003C\/em\u003E obvious from the context, isn\u2019t it? And when it\u2019s not, we can just add \u201csome\u201d or \u201cthis\u201d. Which is exactly the way that Polish does it. And it works just fine.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EPlural adjectives\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA \u201ccute guy\u201d is \u201cbeleta ulo\u201d. To make it plural, we can\u2019t just pluralify the substantive: \u201cbeleta ulo\u003Cstrong\u003Ej\u003C\/strong\u003E\u201d makes no sense in Esperanto. Only \u201cbeleta\u003Cstrong\u003Ej\u003C\/strong\u003E ulo\u003Cstrong\u003Ej\u003C\/strong\u003E\u201d does. Cause, you know, nothing says \u201csimplicity\u201d like duplicating the same information twice.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EAdverbs\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGerman does just fine with adjectives simply acting as adverbs, depending on whether they describe a substantive or a verb, whereas Esperanto necessarily needs to distinguish them. You know, for simplicity\u2019s sake.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003ENumerals\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPositional notation is awesome! Way simpler than Roman numerals or other systems that humankind came up with in the past. A digit can have a different value depending on its position in a number. Brilliant!\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen writing a number down, digits (grouped by three\u003Ca href=\u0022#ftn-1\u0022 id=\u0022ftn-ref-1\u0022\u003E\u003Csup\u003E[1]\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E for convenience) and their positions are basically all we need to accurately represent it. But when saying a number out loud, in most languages we have to additionally emphasise the positions with verbal indicators: thir\u003Cstrong\u003Eteen\u003C\/strong\u003E, twen\u003Cstrong\u003Ety\u003C\/strong\u003E, five \u003Cstrong\u003Ehundred\u003C\/strong\u003E and so on. We end up with oral system not really being consistent with the written one.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESure, the numerals in Esperanto are already way simpler than in most natural languages, more consistent and lacking in exceptions, but one obviously can do better.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003ESo what?\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENot much. I just wanted to say that Esperanto disappointed me a bit. I really wanted to learn it (back when I was maybe 15?). But in the process I realised that it\u2019s \u003Cstrong\u003Ejust not as much fun\u003C\/strong\u003E as I expected. Its sound isn\u2019t really to my taste, it\u2019s grammar isn\u2019t such a piece of cake as everybody advertised it to me, it\u2019s not a magical \u201cfree\u201d language that just slips into your mind as you go. I do understand it quite well, without trying \u003Cem\u003Ethat much\u003C\/em\u003E, but I wouldn\u2019t say I have any considerable motivation to actually learn it.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause, let\u2019s not kid ourselves, Esperanto isn\u2019t that \u003Cstrong\u003Euseful\u003C\/strong\u003E either... It has way fewer speakers, way smaller influence and significance than it deserves to have. (Yeah, I might not like it, but I do admire its achievements and wish it the best!). There is \u003Cem\u003Esome\u003C\/em\u003E practical purpose in learning Esperanto, but way to little to keep me interested.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat I do enjoy, however, is creating my own conlangs. Not as a competition with Esperanto, not with any aspirations for a world auxiliary language... Just because, just for fun. And I\u2019ve recently got back to working on my old project that stems from my adventure with Esperanto. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKeep fingers crossed that I finally finally finish it \ud83d\ude00\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Chr\/\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022small\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022#ftn-ref-1\u0022 id=\u0022ftn-1\u0022\u003E\u003Csup\u003E[1]\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E or not three, depending on a language\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Csvg xmlns=\u0022http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\u0022 style=\u0022display: none;\u0022\u003E\u003C\/svg\u003E","tags":["artificial","complexity","conlang","contructed","difficulty","ease","esperanto","grammar","language","simplicity"],"hasMore":true,"image":"https:\/\/avris.it\/image\/flag-esperanto_small.jpg","introLite":"\u003Cfigure\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/avris.it\/image\/flag-esperanto_big.jpg\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/avris.it\/image\/flag-esperanto_mini.jpg\u0022 alt=\u0022Esperanto flag\u0022 width=\u0022240\u0022 height=\u0022159.9375\u0022 loading=\u0022lazy\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI don\u2019t really like Esperanto. As a language. As an idea I love it from all my heart! \u2764\ufe0f\nThat message of unity, peace and understanding though a common language! That brilliance of simplification and unification!\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut I\u2019ve always seen it advertised as \u201cextremely simple\u201d. Simple indeed, but \u003Cem\u003Eextremely\u003C\/em\u003E? You can certainly do better!\u003C\/p\u003E","contentLite":"\u003Cfigure\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/avris.it\/image\/flag-esperanto_big.jpg\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/avris.it\/image\/flag-esperanto_mini.jpg\u0022 alt=\u0022Esperanto flag\u0022 width=\u0022240\u0022 height=\u0022159.9375\u0022 loading=\u0022lazy\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cfigcaption\u003E\n                    \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/flag-esperanto-language-symbol-1208849\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022\u003E\u003Csmall\u003Epixabay.com\/en\/flag-esperanto-language-symbol-1208849\u003C\/small\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n                \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI don\u2019t really like Esperanto. As a language. As an idea I love it from all my heart! \u2764\ufe0f\nThat message of unity, peace and understanding though a common language! That brilliance of simplification and unification!\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut I\u2019ve always seen it advertised as \u201cextremely simple\u201d. Simple indeed, but \u003Cem\u003Eextremely\u003C\/em\u003E? You can certainly do better!\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EAlphabet\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEsperanto has five characters that annoy me way more than they should:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0109 \u011d \u0125 \u0135 \u015d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt might have looked like a good idea to add those neat diacritics back in the times when you mostly wrote by hand. But in the age of computers having any non-latin characters in your alphabet is just annoying \u2013 with all the switching of keyboard layouts, with those damn non-UTF8 encodings, with some people replacing \u003Cstrong\u003E\u0109\u003C\/strong\u003E with the ugly \u003Cstrong\u003Ecx\u003C\/strong\u003E and others with \u003Cstrong\u003Ech\u003C\/strong\u003E...\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd also: who \u003Cem\u003Ereally\u003C\/em\u003E cares about the difference between \u003Cstrong\u003Eh\u003C\/strong\u003E and \u003Cstrong\u003E\u0125\u003C\/strong\u003E?\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003ENouns\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey aren\u2019t in any way better or simpler than in natural languages. Such a missed opportunity! Especially for the words used \u003Cem\u003Eso\u003C\/em\u003E often. Just look:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ctable class=\u0022table table-bordered table-center\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003E\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Esingular\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Eplural\u003C\/th\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003E1st person\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003Emi\u003C\/td\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003Eni\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003E2nd person\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Evi\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth rowspan=\u00223\u0022\u003E3rd person\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Emasculine\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003Eli\u003C\/td\u003E\n        \u003Ctd rowspan=\u00223\u0022\u003Eili\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Efeminine\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003E\u015di\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth\u003Eneuter\/epicene\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd\u003E\u011di\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Eindefinite\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Eoni\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n    \u003Ctr\u003E\n        \u003Cth colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Ereflexive\u003C\/th\u003E\n        \u003Ctd colspan=\u00222\u0022\u003Esi\u003C\/td\u003E\n    \u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003C\/table\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough they describe people and things (=substantives) they have nothing to do with the substantive \u003Cstrong\u003E-o\u003C\/strong\u003E suffix. And the plural doesn\u2019t seem to stem from the singular at all.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EApparently, it\u2019s necessary to distinguish between three 3rd persons, depending on their gender (as if someone\u2019s gender was relevant at all in most of the contexts...), but only as long as it\u2019s one person. And for the 2nd person even the singular\/plural distinction stops being relevant, for some reason.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003ESexism\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThere is an \u003Cstrong\u003E-ino\u003C\/strong\u003E suffix for substantives that indicates femininity of a person. Which implies in a way, that all the human-describing substantives are \u003Cem\u003Emale by default\u003C\/em\u003E, and it takes a special effort to express such a \u003Cem\u003Erarity\u003C\/em\u003E as a woman...\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EAccusative\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey say it\u2019s nice to have at least those two cases (Nominative and Accusative) in order to distinguish between phrases like \u201cPeter killed the lion\u201d and \u201cThe lion killed Peter\u201d. Except, you know... I just did it \u2013 in English, which has (almost) no cases anymore. You can easily tell, who killed whom. The word order is the key. And if you really want to start with the object, not the subject, (say, for emphasis), just use the passive voice: \u201cThe lion was killed by Peter\u201d.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEven in Polish, which has seven grammatical cases and not that strict rules regarding word order, messing up with this order can result in \u003Cem\u003Estrange\u003C\/em\u003E sounding sentences. Cases aren\u2019t really as useful as they seem to be.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAn why would you even want so highly flexible word order anyway? It might be fun for shorter, simpler sentences, but the more complex ones would become incomprehensible, regardless of the number of hints that are given by cases.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EDefinite article\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI never really got that concept. Why does it matter so much, if I\u2019m talking about something new and indefinite or something known and specific? Most of the time it\u2019s \u003Cem\u003Ereally\u003C\/em\u003E obvious from the context, isn\u2019t it? And when it\u2019s not, we can just add \u201csome\u201d or \u201cthis\u201d. Which is exactly the way that Polish does it. And it works just fine.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EPlural adjectives\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA \u201ccute guy\u201d is \u201cbeleta ulo\u201d. To make it plural, we can\u2019t just pluralify the substantive: \u201cbeleta ulo\u003Cstrong\u003Ej\u003C\/strong\u003E\u201d makes no sense in Esperanto. Only \u201cbeleta\u003Cstrong\u003Ej\u003C\/strong\u003E ulo\u003Cstrong\u003Ej\u003C\/strong\u003E\u201d does. Cause, you know, nothing says \u201csimplicity\u201d like duplicating the same information twice.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EAdverbs\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGerman does just fine with adjectives simply acting as adverbs, depending on whether they describe a substantive or a verb, whereas Esperanto necessarily needs to distinguish them. You know, for simplicity\u2019s sake.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003ENumerals\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPositional notation is awesome! Way simpler than Roman numerals or other systems that humankind came up with in the past. A digit can have a different value depending on its position in a number. Brilliant!\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen writing a number down, digits (grouped by three\u003Ca href=\u0022#ftn-1\u0022 id=\u0022ftn-ref-1\u0022\u003E\u003Csup\u003E[1]\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E for convenience) and their positions are basically all we need to accurately represent it. But when saying a number out loud, in most languages we have to additionally emphasise the positions with verbal indicators: thir\u003Cstrong\u003Eteen\u003C\/strong\u003E, twen\u003Cstrong\u003Ety\u003C\/strong\u003E, five \u003Cstrong\u003Ehundred\u003C\/strong\u003E and so on. We end up with oral system not really being consistent with the written one.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESure, the numerals in Esperanto are already way simpler than in most natural languages, more consistent and lacking in exceptions, but one obviously can do better.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003ESo what?\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENot much. I just wanted to say that Esperanto disappointed me a bit. I really wanted to learn it (back when I was maybe 15?). But in the process I realised that it\u2019s \u003Cstrong\u003Ejust not as much fun\u003C\/strong\u003E as I expected. Its sound isn\u2019t really to my taste, it\u2019s grammar isn\u2019t such a piece of cake as everybody advertised it to me, it\u2019s not a magical \u201cfree\u201d language that just slips into your mind as you go. I do understand it quite well, without trying \u003Cem\u003Ethat much\u003C\/em\u003E, but I wouldn\u2019t say I have any considerable motivation to actually learn it.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause, let\u2019s not kid ourselves, Esperanto isn\u2019t that \u003Cstrong\u003Euseful\u003C\/strong\u003E either... It has way fewer speakers, way smaller influence and significance than it deserves to have. (Yeah, I might not like it, but I do admire its achievements and wish it the best!). There is \u003Cem\u003Esome\u003C\/em\u003E practical purpose in learning Esperanto, but way to little to keep me interested.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat I do enjoy, however, is creating my own conlangs. Not as a competition with Esperanto, not with any aspirations for a world auxiliary language... Just because, just for fun. And I\u2019ve recently got back to working on my old project that stems from my adventure with Esperanto. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKeep fingers crossed that I finally finally finish it \ud83d\ude00\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Chr\/\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022small\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022#ftn-ref-1\u0022 id=\u0022ftn-1\u0022\u003E\u003Csup\u003E[1]\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E or not three, depending on a language\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","words":987,"readTime":4,"lang":"en"}}}}}