THE, STANDARD SERIES ESPERANTO Compiled fry *;. A. JLAWRKNCE &NNEX California gional cility FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY PRICi. TWEKTY-F1VE CKNT5 NKT -/ y- /v A FIRST READER INTENDED FOR THOSE WHO ARE BEGINNING THE STUDY OF ESPERANTO COMPILED BY E. A. LAWRENCE NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY LONDON AND EDINBURGH GUIDE TO CONTENTS THIS little book has a two-fold object it is in- tended for a Reader and Reciter, and also to help those beginners who find some difficulty in using the correlatives and affixes correctly. The story taken jfor illustration is one out of the collection known as Esperantaj Prozafoj, and has been chosen on account of the suffixes and prefixes used in the story, some 24 occurring in its course. It must not be forgotten that these suffixes and prefixes may themselves be used as independent words, as well as in helping to form compound words. Dr. Zamenhof says in his Fundamenta Kres- tomatio : " I arranged a complete dismemberment of ideas into independent words, so that the whole lan- guage, instead of words in different grammatical forms, consists only of unchangeable words. If you take any work written in my language, you will find that every word appears always and only in one unalterable form, namely, that in which it is printed in the Dictionary. The various grammatical inflections are expressed by the junction of unchangeable syllables." Thus prefixes and suffixes such as -aj-, -ec-, -em-, Copyright, IQOJ, by Fleming H. Revell Company -re-, -id-, etc., may all be used as independent words, the addition of '0' forming a noun, thus afo, 'a thing,' eco, 'a quality '; the addition of '*' forming the infinitive of a verb, as igi, ' to become/ etc. It sometimes happens that a word, appar- ently consisting of a root and an affix, is itself a root. For example, in the word tornistro, "a knapsack," ist is not a suffix denoting occupation, but a part of the root tornistr. Another thing for the beginner to remember is that in Esperanto words often cannot be trans- lated literally ; that which is needed is an exact translation of the underlying idea which different nations often render in varying ways. For in- stance, the Frenchman says, " I have hunger "; the English and Germans, "I am hungry." The Englishman says, "How do you do? " ; the Ger- man, "How do you find yourself?" ; the French- man, "How do you carry yourself?"; yet all mean the same thing, Kiel vifartas ? Finally, I hope no one will suppose that in these two stories I have included every possible difficulty. If necessary, this little Reader will be No. 1 of a series. I take here the opportunity of thanking M. de Beaufront, the Messrs. Hachette, R. Van Melckebeke, Capt. Cape, and others for per- mission to reprint ; and also the kind friends who have advised and helped me in the preparation of this FIRST READER. . A. LAWRENCE. 2101157 GUIDE TO CONTENTS THIS little book has a two-fold object it is in- tended for a Reader and Reciter, and also to help those beginners who find some difficulty in using the correlatives and affixes correctly. The story taken jfor illustration is one out of the collection known as Esperantaj Prozajoj, and has been chosen on account of the suffixes and prefixes used in the story, some 24 occurring in its course. It must not be forgotten that these suffixes and prefixes may themselves be used as independent words, as well as in helping to form compound words. Dr. Zamenhof says in his Fundamenta Kres- tomatio : " I arranged a complete dismemberment of ideas into independent words, so that the whole lan- guage, instead of words in different grammatical forms, consists only of unchangeable words. If you take any work written in my language, you will find that every word appears always and only in one unalterable form, namely, that in which it is printed in the Dictionary. The various grammatical inflections are expressed by the junction of unchangeable syllables." Thus prefixes and suffixes such as -aj-, -ec-, -em- t Copyright, 7907, by Fleming H. Revel I Company -re- t -id- t etc., may all be used as independent words, the addition of ' R A N 1 O Primer > , : ! ng Grain mar, Vocabt ilary and til :,-' ; : , with Key, by j. C. O'CONNOR, PH D. Pap< . !0c, net, PocKef Bngii?;h- Esperanto and Esp^rantoEng- . i. by j. C. O'C-ONNos, B. A. Paper, A First iaadeir in Esperanto i'iy K. A. LAWRENCE. Cloth, 25c. net. Lessors In Esperanto Based on DR. ZAMF.NHOF'.S "EKZKRCARO." \->y GEORGE W. BULLEN. Cloth, 25c. net. Student's Complete Text Book ; ' " i ;, '>0r. nel. Southei Librar FLEMING If. REVELL COMPANY Publishers