Newsgroups: sci.lang
From: philip@storcomp.demon.co.uk (Phil Hunt)
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!news.ultranet.com!news.sprintlink.net!peernews.demon.co.uk!storcomp.demon.co.uk!philip
Subject: Re: Esperanto-English
Distribution: world
References: <D5r0q4.3E0@indirect.com> <3kskpk$j4m@pilot.njin.net>
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Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 14:38:06 +0000
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In article <3kskpk$j4m@pilot.njin.net>
           fineber@pilot.njin.net "Allan Fineberg" writes:
> Esperanto allows me to meet others on a neutral footing,
> insofar as language, and therefore, culture, is concerned.
> Since hardly anyone is brought up speaking Esperanto, 
> almost everyone has to learn it.  In this way, every speaker
> of Esperanto show that s/he is willing to meet others half way,
> and not expect everyone to learn one's own langauge.

This is false because:

1. Esperanto is a lot easier for people who speak a European language -
so it is nowhere near neutral.

2. If Esperanto ever caught on in a big way (>100 million speakers), 
quite a lot of people would be brought up speaking it, because their
parents would want to give them an advantage.

While (1) could be rectified by making the roots less European (pointless
IMO becasue it would make it harder for Europeans without making it easier 
for everyone else), (2) can't be changed, so a totally neutral language
is impossible.

-- 
Phil Hunt
