Montagu Butler: Step by Step in Esperanto

5. How many syllables are there in balau, heroo, Isaako, lilio, opinio, tiea, kie, tieulo? Underline the accented vowel, and read the words aloud.

Never mind what they mean.

6. These words are not translated.

Floro= flower, or, a flower.

Afero= affair , or, an affair .

Ovo= (an) egg.

7. Read the following words with correct pronunciation and accent, and translate them into English. You can safely guess the meanings of most words in the next page or two (see “ Roots”).

Sound every “r”clearly. Pronounce “s”as in kiss , and “z”as in buzz .

Watch your vowels. Thus, pronounce luno(moon) loo-no , not lew-no; pronounce birdo(a bird) beer-do, not ber-do.

Be especially careful with the accent in words ending with ‑io.

8. mato tablo letero familio telefono vazo lampo botelo plezuro telegramo suno nesto butero ombrelo individuo glaso monto persono omnibuso entuziasmo aero idealo teatro idioto boato poemo heroo

9. In Esperanto the sound kis always written k,and not, as in English, either k (kill), c (cat), ch (chaos), ck (tack) qu (conquer) , or cqu (lacquer)!

sako korko muziko sekreto krokodilo fakto kremo kandelo konflikto konduktoro

10. All these words end with o.They are all “nouns” ( names of things).

The main part of the word (e.g., kork, sekret), is the “root” ; the final “o” is a “grammatical ending”.

11. It is well to speak of each letter by its proper name. Every vowel is named by its own sound, and every consonant by its sound plus o.Thus: taso( cup) , is spelled aloud to ah so o ; lakto( milk), lo ah ko to o ; luno( moon), lo oo no o .

12. Ekzameno.Which Esperanto letters are silent? Give an English phrase illustrating the Esperanto vowel-sounds. How are syllables counted in Esperanto? Where does the accent lie in the word opinio( opinion )? Why? What is a noun? What is the noun-ending in Esperanto? What is the Esperanto for the words a, an ? Which rules in Esperanto have exceptions? Name the Esperanto vowels. Spell teo, kafo, kakao( cocoa ), Esperanto, entuziasmo,using the Esperanto names of the letters. Which part of these words is the root?

13. Rozo estas floro,A rose ts a flower . Tempo estas mono,time is money . (You would not say Rose is flower , orA time is money! ) (6). Silento estas konsento.

14. (a) Modelo:Hundo estas BESTO ( A dog is an animal ) — Kato (elefanto, kamelo, leono, leopardo, muso, rato, tigro) estas besto.

(b) Pasero estas BIRDO ( A sparrow is a bird ). — Aglo, kakatuo, kanario, koko ( cock ), pelikano, vulturo.

(c) Tulipo estas FLORO. — Anemono, dalio, konvolvulo, lilio, peonio, violo.

(d) Pomo estas FRUKTO ( An apple is a fruit ). — Banano, figo, limono, melono, olivo, piro ( pear ).

(e) Fluto estas INSTRUMENTO. — Gitaro, harpo, mandolino, orgeno, piano, trumpeto, violono.

(f) Usono ( The U.S.A. ) estas LANDO. — Irlando, Kanado, Nederlando, Palestino, Skotlando.

(g) Londono estas URBO. — Berlino, Dublino, Edinburgo, Leningrado, Madrido, Parizo, Romo, Stokholmo, Vieno.

(h) Ameriko estas KONTINENTO. — Azio, Afriko.

(i) Tamizo ( The Thames ) estas RIVERO. — Amazono, Nilo.

15. (a) KAJ= and (pronounce like ky in sky ). Orgeno kaj fluto,an organ and a flute.Fido, espero, kaj amo,Faith, hope, and love.

(b) Time and money. Butter and cream. Tea and milk. Coffee and cocoa. Faith and hope. A letter and a telegram. A dog and a cat. A cat and a mouse. A cup and a glass. A bird and a nest. A lamp and a candle. A lion and a tiger.

16. (a) KIO= what, what thing.TIO= that, that thing.

N.B. — The question Kio?must be answered by a noun ending in ‑o.

(b) Kio estas peonio? Peonio estas floro. Kio estas banano? orgeno? Kopenhago? tomato? Brazilo? hipopotamo?krokodilo?

(c) Kio estas tio? (Tio estas rozo). Kaj kio estas rozo? (Rozo …). Kaj tio? (Ha! ( Ah! ) Tio estas sekreto!)

17. LA= the . La floro estas rozo,The flower is a rose.La suno estas stelo,The sun is a star.La insekto estas abelo (vespo),The insect is a bee (a wasp).Tio estas la vero( truth ).

Say: La ombrelo, la insekto;not la rombrelo, la rinsekto!

18. The sun and the moon. The tea and the coffee. A sparrow is a bird. The bird is a sparrow. The flower is a lily. That is an animal. The animal is a cat. And what is that? That is a fruit. — a fig. What is Oslo? Oslo is a city. The land is Palestine. The conductor is an idiot. The comrade ( kamarado) is an hero. The affair is a secret. That is a fact. What is the truth? Ah! That is a mystery ( mistero)!

19. (a) EN,in, within.La patro [6]estas en la domo,Father is in the house.La filo estas en la teatro,The son is in the theatre . Sukero estas en la teo,Sugar is in the tea.La pupo estas en la valizo,The doll is in the suit-case.

(b) La kato estas en la sako. La kanario estas en la kato. La familio estas en la boato. Toronto estas en Kanado, kaj Kanado estas en Ameriko.

20. Instead of saying Akvo [7]estas en la glaso,Water is in the glass , one may say En la glaso estas akvo,In the glass (there) is (some) water , or even Estas akvo en la glaso,(There) [8]is (some) water in the glass (it is not usual, however, to begin with Estas). En la libro estas bildo,In the book (there) is a picture . En la skatolo estas mono,In the box (there) is (some) money .

In such sentences the words there and some are not translated.

21. (a) The conductor is in the omnibus. In the nest (there) is an egg. In the letter (there) is a secret. In the house there is a telephone. There’s (some) milk and water in the bottle.

(b) Copying the model akvo … glaso (20), make three sentences with each of the following pairs of words: Birdo … nesto. Teo … taso. Vespo … kremo. Floro … vazo. Sukero … kafo. Silento … domo.