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From: elna@netcom.com (Esperanto League N America)
Subject: Re: What is "international"? 
Message-ID: <elnaE4HMvF.1nD@netcom.com>
Organization: Esperanto League for North America, Inc.
References: <01bbf5d5$21448b40$9f5f47cc@jhoward.vvm.com> <7fu3oduf7n.fsf@phoenix.cs.hku.hk> <elnaE4Dz3A.Ctq@netcom.com> <7fzpy2c923.fsf_-_@phoenix.cs.hku.hk>
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 01:02:02 GMT
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Sender: elna@netcom20.netcom.com

sdlee@cs.hku.hk (Lee Sau Dan ~{@nJX6X~}) writes in a recent posting (reference <7fzpy2c923.fsf_-_@phoenix.cs.hku.hk>):
>>>>>> "Esperanto" == Esperanto League N America <elna@netcom.com> writes:
>
>
>      But I  still   can't
>understand  why the number of *countries*  is more  important than the
>number of  *persons*!  (I'm avoiding the word  "people",  which may be
>interpreted as "a group of persons from  the same ethnic group", as in
>the phrase "many peoples".)
>
To be sure, in some contexts, the total number of speakers/readers of
a language is more important; but in other contexts, such as 
inter-national-level diplomacy or global-scale business, national
grouping is crucial. At meetings between representatives of nations,
Chinese and Icelandic are (theoretically) treated as equals, despite the
huge disparity between their respective population bases. The same is true
at meetings of businessmen representing the workers of various countries.

Now if you consider a meeting between representatives of China, Brazil,
Australia, Japan and the USA which is conducted solely in English, I hope
you will agree that some of the players would have a built-in advantage over
the others, based on native fluency in the language of negotiation.

A similar meeting between Portugal, Brazil and Mozambique would not lend
an inherent advantage to any participant.


>
>    Esperanto> Perhaps Mr. Lee could look up the word
>    Esperanto> "international". He generates most of his arguments
>    Esperanto> from its misuse!
>
>According to my Oxford dictionary:
>
>	international (adj.) -- of, carried on by or existing between
>                                two or more nations
>
>Obviously,  this is  the interpretation   of  the morphemes  "inter-",
>"nation" and "-al".  OK... I'm convinced.  Perhaps, I should have used
>the word "global" instead.
>
Yes, indeed! 
>
>Now, with this   definition of "international", I  can   tell you that
>Chinese is also an international language, because there are more than
>1 country  with Chinese as an official   language: China and Singapore
>and (if you count it a nation) Taiwan.
>
I completely agree: there are *many* international languages, each with
its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Nearly all of them give
unfair advantage to some nation(s) in some circumstances.

>Chinese is  indeed highly international.  In  many many countries, you
>can find cities with a Chinatown, in  which many people use Chinese to
>communicate.  :)
>
I heartily agree. 
>
>Then, what's so special of Esperanto?  It's just a minority language.
>-- 

The specialness lies primarily in its neutrality *in regards to its having
no nation behind it*. You often rail against the claim of neutrality based
on a skewed interpretation of the word "neutral". Esperanto's roots are
decidedly European, and therefore not linguistically neutral. But it neither
springs from nor is supported by any nation, and is in that regard 
politically neutral. Especially in contrast to the blatant advantages doled
out by our current de facto use of English as the language of choice in 
commerce and politics.

What's so special about Esperanto? Its non-national status. Perhaps we should
both avoid the term "international" and use instead (depending on context)
"global" or "non-national".


-- 
Miko SLOPER              elna@netcom.com              USA  (510) 653 0998
Direktoro de la          ftp.netcom.com:/pub/el/elna   fax (510) 653 1468 
Centra Oficejo de la     Learn Esperanto! Free lessons: e-mail/snail-mail
Esperanto-Ligo de N.A.   Write to above address or call:  1-800-ESPERANTO
