BBC: Inventing languages-2

Another famous constrcuted language, Esperanto, was invented in 1887 by Polish doctor, Ludwik Zamenhof. He wanted to make it easier for people who spoke different languages to communicate with each other. 

Listen as David Peterson speaks Esperanto with Michael Rosen and tests how much he understands for BBC 4 programme, Word of Mouth:

You are an English speaker from Western Europe, and in the 19th century 'universal' meant 'able to be understood by people from WesternEurope'.

And so, for example to say, 'I speak Esperanto', 'mi parolas Esperanton'.

Yes, I might have got that one- the 'parle' bit from its Latin root, and 'me', obviously. Try me again. 

Kiel vi fartas?

Who is my father? No, 'Where am I traveling'? Er, no I got stuck on that one!

Like Spanish, Italian and other modern European languages, Esperanto is based on Latin. Michael guessed the meaning of the Esperanto word 'parolas' fromit Latin root- the origin or source of a language. 

But the second sentence of Esperanto isn't so easy. Michael gets stuck on that one- he can't answer because it's too difficult. 

 I think I'd probably get stuck on that as well. But at least Esperanto was invented for humans, not alien creatures from outer space!

And speaking of cdreatures from outer space, did I get the right answer to your quiz question, Sam?

I asked Neil about an unusual first achieved by the made-up alien language, Klingon. 

I guessed it was the first invented language to have it own dictionary.

Which was... the wrong answer, I'm afraid. Incredibly, the correct answer was c)- in 2010 a company of Dutch musicians and singers performed the first ever Klingon opera! The story must have been hard to follow but I'm sure the singing was out of this world!

MajQa! That's Klingon for 'great'. OK, let's recap the vocabulary from our discussion about invented languages, also called constructed languages, or conlangs for short. 

A living language, like English, is a language that people still speak and use in their ordinary lives. 

The phrase, my bad, originated in the United States but is also used in Britain as an informal way to say, 'my fault' or to ell someone that you've made a mistake. 

A patron saint is someone believed to give special help and protection to particular activity. 

And finally, if you get stuck on somethign, you're unable to complete it because it's too difficult.