Esperanto, artificial language created by Polish oculist (eye doctor) Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof. The language was named after Zamenhof’s pseudonym, Esperanto, meaning "one who hopes," and it was originally published in 1887. Many people became aware of Esperanto toward the beginning of the 20th century, and it has become a synonym for “artificial international language” (see International Language). A considerable amount of literature has been written in Esperanto, mostly translated fiction.

The spelling of words in Esperanto is strictly phonetic and is based on the Latin alphabet, with six accented letters added. The vocabulary is created from root words taken from Latin, Romance, and Germanic languages. A few roots are taken from other sources or are invented. The number of basic roots has been reduced through an extensive use of affixes and word composition. For example, granda means “great” and mal- indicates “the opposite,” hence malgranda means “small.” A root is made into a noun by adding -o to it. If -a is added, the root becomes an adjective; if –e, an adverb; and if –i, a verb. For example, varmo means “heat” or “warmth”; varma, “hot” or “warm”; varme, “warmly or “hotly”; and varmi “to warm” or “to heat.” Plural nouns and adjectives are formed by adding -j: malgrande birdo means “a little bird,” and malgrandaj birdoj is “little birds.” When used as a direct object, a noun and its accompanying adjective or adjectives take an –n ending: mi vidis malgrandan birdon, for instance, means “I saw a little bird.”

(Microsoft_ Encarta_ Encyclopedia 2002)