A COMPLETE GRAMMAR OF
ESPERANTO.LESSON I.ALPHABET.
1. The Esperanto alphabet contains the following letters: a, b, c, ĉ, d, e, f, g, ĝ, h, ĥ, i, j, ĵ, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, ŝ, t, u, ŭ, v, z.
VOWELS.
2. The vowels of the alphabet are pronounced as follows:
a as in far.
e as in fiancé, like a in fate.
This "long a" sound in English frequently ends with a vanish,—a brief terminal sound of ĭ, which makes the vowel slightly diphthongal, as in day, aye. Such a vanish must not be given to any of the Esperanto vowels.
i as in machine.
o as in toll, for.
u as in rude, rural.
CONSONANTS.
3. The consonants b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, t, v, z, are pronounced as in English, and the remaining eleven as follows:
c like ts in hats, tsetse.
ĉ like ch in chin, much.
g like g in go, big.
ĝ like g in gem, j in jar.
ĥ is produced by expelling the breath forcibly, with the throat only partially open.
As in pronouncing German and Scotch ch, Spanish j, Irish gh, Russian x, Classical Greek χ etc. There are only a few words containing this consonant.
j like y in yes, beyond.
ĵ like z in azure, s in visual.
r is slightly trilled or rolled.
s like s in see, basis.
ŝ like sh in shine, rash, ch in machine.
ŭ like w or consonantal u. See Diphthongs, 5.
NAMES OF THE LETTERS.
4. The vowels are named by their sounds, as given in 2. The names of the consonants are bo, co, ĉo, do, fo, go, ĝo, ho, ĥo, jo, ĵo, ko, lo, mo, no, po, ro, so, ŝo,to, ŭo, vo, zo. These are used in speaking of the letters, in pronouncing them in abbreviations, as ko to po for k. t. p. (= etc.), and in spelling words, as bo, i, ro, do, o, birdo.
DIPHTHONGS.
5. Diphthongs are combinations of two vowels uttered as a single sound, by one breath-impulse. The diphthongs in Esperanto contain an i or u sound as the second element, but in order to avoid confusion with combinations of vowels not forming diphthongs (as in naiva, like English naïve, etc.), they are written with j and ŭinstead. Their pronunciation is as follows:
aj like ai in aisle.
ej like ei in vein, ey in they.
oj like oi in coin, oy in boy.
uj like ui in ruin, u(e)y in gluey.
eŭ like ayw in wayward, or like é(h)oo pronounced together.
aŭ like ou in out, ow in owl.
COMBINATIONS OF CONSONANTS.
6. Each consonant, in a combination of two or more consonants, is pronounced with its full value, whether within a word or at its beginning. There are no silent letters.
a. Thus, both consonants are clearly sounded in the groups kn, kv, gv, sv, in such words as knabo, kvin, gvidi, sviso.
b. The combination kz, as in ekzisti, ekzameno, must not be modified to the gs or ks represented by x in exist, execute.
c. The combination sc, as in escepte, scias, is equivalent to the combination sts in last said, first song, pronounced together rapidly. The s in a word beginning with sc may be sounded with the end of the preceding word, if that word ends in a vowel, as mis-cias for mi scias.
d. The n and g are pronounced separately in the combination ng, in such words as lingvo, angulo, producing the sound of ng heard in linger, not that in singer.
e. Each of two similar letters is clearly sounded, as interrilato, ellasi, like inter-relate, well-laid.
SYLLABLES.
7. Each word contains as many syllables as it has vowels and diphthongs. The division of syllables within a word is as follows:
a. A single consonant goes with the following vowel, as pa-no, be-la, a-e-ro.
b. A consonant followed by l or r (which are liquids) goes with the l or r, as in ta-blo, a-kra, a-gra-bla.
c. Otherwise, the syllable division is made before the last consonant of the group, as sus-pek-ti, sank-ta, deks-tra.
d. Prefixes are separated from the words to which they are attached, as dis-meti, mal-akra, and compound words are divided into their component parts, as ĉef-urbo, sun-ombrelo.
ACCENT.
8. Words of more than one syllable are accented upon the syllable before the last, as tá-blo, a-grá-bla, sus-pék-ti.
WORDS FOR PRACTICE.
9. (To be pronounced aloud, and correctly accented) Afero, trairi, najbaro, aero, hodiaŭ, pacienco, centono, ĉielo, eĉ, samideano, treege, obei, obeu, Eŭropo, gvidi, ĝojo, ĉiujn, justa, ĝuste, juĝi, ĵaŭdo, lingvo, knabo, larĝa, pagi, kvieteco, ekzemplo, ellerni, fojo, krajono, forrajdi, kuirejo, ĉevalejo, sankteco, scio, nescio, edzo, meze, duobla, ŝipo, ŝarĝi, poŝo, svingi, sklavo, palaj, ŝafaĵo, atmosfero, monaĥo, geometrio, laŭdi, vasta, eksplodi, senĉesa, sensencaĵo, malluma, arbaranoj, manĝo, freŝa, aŭskulti, daŭri.
