The Stuff of Genius- Esperanto: The L.L. Zamenhof Story

Behold, Esperanto! But where did it come from? Meet L. L. Zamenhof born in Poland in 1859 When Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof was born his hometown was still a part of the Russian Empire He considered Russian and Belorussian to be his native tongue. Ludwig also eventually learned German, Yiddish, French, English and several other languages He believed that conflicts between ethnic groups in his hometown could be traced back to miscommunication and the lack of a single common language This childhood idea struck with him for years Even during his time in medical school By 1878 he felt he had found a solution to the world's language problem Instead of choosing an existing language to become the world's standard Why not just create a new one? Today we call this language "Esperanto" Here's how it works: As a created language, Esperanto doesn't have the irregular rules of grammar or syntax found in other languages Ludwig used existing words Around 70% of Esperanto vocabulary comes from Romance languages All of the rules for creating words and conveying meanings in Esperanto are consistent This makes Esperanto very easy to learn Esperanto hasn't become the world language yet But people in countries across the globe speak, study and write in Esperanto So, how genius is this inventor? On the American Dream scale, Ludwig gets a five Talking about determination, Ludwig stuck by his guns when he was developing Esperanto fighting against censors and public opinion until other people took up his cause On the Benefit to Humanity scale he gets a four Esperanto wasn't invented in hope for financial gain It was built to make the world a better place Under Ripple Effect skill he gets a four Esperanto originally spread throughout Eastern Europe and Russia and today countries across the globe are home to communities of Esperanto speakers Let us know what you think! Email genius@howstuffworks.com Also be sure to check our other How stuff works podcasts on iTunes