Adventures in Esperanto

Adventures in Esperanto

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A red squirrel covered in the markings of a badger, framed in flowers and blackberries.

Badgeresque & Squirrelseeming

There's an English suffix that I know I'm not alone in finding tasty. And that's "esque" which means "in the style of" or "resembling". You can tack it onto anything and people will know what you're

A troll demands a huge gold coin as payment to cross the bridge.

Opened, Closed & Shutted

When you open something, it is "open" or even sometimes "opened". When you close something, it is never "close" only "closed". When you shut something, it is only "shut" never "shutted". This is pretty much a shambles. It&

An eagle-owl and toad sit together on a rock in the middle of a lake in the light of the setting sun.

The toad and eagle-owl have been talking

I'm currently reading a parallel text I got hold of from the Esperanto Association of Britain, where each page appears in both Esperanto and English, so I can scratch the sci-fi itch and see some translation intentions at the same time: Kuprokranio / Silverskull A collection of thought-provoking sci-fi

A mage chased by a dragon and an army is distracted by powerful loot and judged by her companion.

The problem with with

I once journeyed with a dwarf in order to steal a dragon's gold with a magical ring. He became very angry with us. Three uses of the word “with” in the above passage. But with each usage comes a distinctly different meaning. This may not be very remarkable

An arcanist with bright green eyes and flame red hair cloaked in a shadows calls the wind

My favourite fantasy

"The Name of the Wind" and its sequel by Patrick Rothfuss are the best fantasy novels out there. And if they're ever translated to Esperanto, I'll take holiday away from work and ignore all chores, bindings, and obligations (except Emmy the cat) until I&

An oil painting of a mouse sitting on the shoulder of a cat who's painting a picture of a mouse painting a picture.

And both

Normally, kaj is translated as "and", but in the first instance of the following, "both" is more appropriate: kaj la kato kaj la muso pentras bele both the cat and the mouse paint beautifully kaj la kato kaj la muso pentras bele0:00/4.0751021× It&

A planet, city and inhabitants made of yarn is being unravelled by celestial cats also made of yarn.

Running things without the cats unravelling everything

Tradition must give way to logic! I was pleased to discover that a popular and logical use of the word sen is winning, despite it being a usage that Zamenhof himself warned people away from. sen without vi ne povas vivi sen kato you can't live without a

A literally unputdownable book as it is possessed by a demon. A sorceress casts a spell to defend the surround library.

Unputdownable

A complimentary quote on a book I recently considered buying included quite a lovely English word, "unputdownable". Of course I immediately wondered what the Esperanto version might be. But is the phrase "to put down a book" a little too English of a phrasing to be

A vast desertscape. Two tiny figures stand in awe of an approaching impossibly huge sand and lightning storm.

Esperanto of Dune

In light of the Dune hype, and since it's my favourite science fiction series, I've picked out a few quotes for translation amusement. "how often it is that the angry man rages denial of what his inner self is telling him" This one caught

A wizened professor sits in a book-filled office puzzled by a box of scarabs.

What stresses a grammarian?

There's a place deep in the bowels of the PMEG where I stumbled into a section that felt almost emotional. Its author Bertilo Wennergren's passionate rant about the folly of Da-ism. I felt compelled to spread the word! The Esperanto word da is one of the

A colourful painting of a guitarist styled as a sorceress playing beside a bottle of whisky.

Laden with apricots

When the evening draws in, and I settle into a comfy chair, the drink that has come to be my most treasured sip is: viskio whisky And I've always found that the descriptions of a whisky's aroma, taste, and finish can be pleasingly poetic. And even

A painting of koi and foaming water in peaceful blues with flecks of red on the koi.

Verse 33

A little supplementary post because once, over a decade ago, I already translated verse 33 of the Tao Te Ching, but it's still important to me (it runs in calligraphy on a scroll on the wall beside me still!), so I'd like to record it anew

A badger and squirrel play a chess-like game with ornate pieces clothed in decorated robes.

Worth a gander

Shuffling through my notes I rediscovered: vidindaĵo sight worth seeing, sight of interest melo kaj sciuro ludantaj ŝakon estas vidindaĵo a badger and a squirrel playing chess is a sight worth seeing Melo kaj sciuro ludantaj ŝakon estas vidindaĵo0:00/7.4448981× From vidi "to see", -ind "

The deathly figure of Charon ferries a woman in a ghostly dress over the river Styx, among the fiery reds of the underworld.

Passing into the beyond

Welcome to the first post on the Ghost platform! The focus of the day is preter: preter past, beyond, by ŝi vojaĝis preter la regno de la vivantaj she journeyed beyond the realm of the living ŝi vojaĝis preter la regno de la vivantaj0:00/5.6163271× The question is.

A wizard with staff and scrolls, clothed in turquoise robes emerges from a portal with determination.

A new land

Koran dankon for making the journey over if you're coming from the old blog! The air's already feeling a little fresher on this side. If you're feeling adventurous, and either have Open AI API access or are willing to get it, check out my

A painting with unnaturally colourful hues depicts a lake a-buzz with ducks and other birds.

A whiffle of chatter

Apparently, you might consider “whiffle” and “chatter” to be frequentatives of “whiff” and “chat” respectively! A frequentative is a form of word used to express repeated or habitual action. So “chatter” is repeated/habitual/ongoing “chat”. In English, they are most usually formed with an “-le” or “-er” suffix, and

A giant broccoli tree covered in hazardous warning signs gives off toxic gas.

Inedibilification

An Esperanto article gave me an idea for an English word: “inedibilify” = to make (something) inedible. And its corresponding noun form “inedibilification”. I suspect you might have even been able to parse out that meaning before I suggested it, because that “-ify” suffix in English is pretty neat for word-building

The instant a glistening red apple hits the surface of an autumn leaf covered lake. The splash encircles it like a crown.

The result of that which is done

I’ve already covered ya basic participle shenanigans at length in the “partying with participles” series, but I did spot a nice little extra recently. Participles are a big topic, but once the system is in your brain, it’s pretty neat. To briefly recap, we basically have a bunch

A children's book drawing of badgers and other woodland creatures having a picnic, the crowned king badger among them.

The Afterput Also

Afterput: la postmetita “ankaŭ” the “also” which is put after [something] [from prefix “post” (after) + the verb “meti” (to put) with its past participle “-ita” form] Aside from the delicious conciseness of “postmetita” (after-put), there’s a nice point in this section of the PMEG (which everyone by now should

A woman in a colourful dress sits ready to eat at a table covered in a mountain of cakes, doughnuts and ice cream.

Enjoying the Moment

Here’s a few musings that occurred to me as I read a particularly neat term recently: antaŭĝoji to look forward to (an-tou-JO-yee, “ou” as in “ouch”) I do love a ŭ followed by a circumflexed letter; it really does make a pleasant squiggle, which here is then also complemented

Now learn the difference, at your proper cost, / Betwixt true valour and an empty boast.

Now learn the difference, at your proper cost, / Betwixt true valour and an empty boast.

I’ve been thinking about the neatness of the Esperanto “propra” = “own”. ĉiu propran saĝon posedas everyone possesses their own wisdom Notice how the English translation requires us to restate the possessive adjective (“their”) to complete the phrase – but if you’re truly honest with yourself, you know that the

$A duck squawks on a multicolour lake and the sound makes synesthetic bright fractals of colour.$

Nuances of Repetition

I stumbled across a little nuance in how we talk about repeated actions. I stumbled across a little nuance… ok, too obvious. When we use a noun (Esperanto O-word) which names an action, we usually talk about a single instance of that action. And we can talk about several using

In favour of numberable

In favour of numberable

If you’re anything like me, you often sit pondering the nature of countable nouns. The countability, or enumerability, of things is an important consideration – despite my spellchecker refusing to acknowledge it. This is the idea that some nouns name individual things that one could count, and yet others name

One Neat Trick: to -i or -ado

One Neat Trick: to -i or -ado

What’s the difference between tricking and tricking? Or trompi and trompado? For those unfamiliar with the suffixes, “i” is the base form of a verb, the dictionary form, the infinitive. So trompi means “to trick” – no sense of time/tense. Notice how when we want to put it in

"Screwing" is fun in Esperanto

"Screwing" is fun in Esperanto

I just had quite the enjoyable eight or so minutes; I discovered the word for “screw” in Esperanto, and it is gorgeous and supremely fun to pronounce over and over: ŝraŭbi The first bit might take some effort if you’re not used to the combo, because we’ve got