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About Esperanto Trivia Quiz

Esperanto is an artificial language created by L. L. Zamenhoff in 1887. This is a quiz about the language not of the language. It may prove to be a bit tough for some.

A multiple-choice quiz by oofahlandian. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
oofahlandian

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
230,710

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
421

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Esperanto is a language invented in 1887 by an occulist named L. L. Zamenhof. The name of the language comes from the pseudonym he used for his first book. That pseudonym was "Doktoro Esperanto". What does the word "esperanto" mean in the language of Esperanto? Hint

one who hopes

change

language

peace

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Question 2 of 10

2. Dr. Zamenhof invented the Esperanto language for the purpose of: Hint

Replacing all national languages

Creating a common second language

Creating a language for religion

Creating a common language for pilots and air traffic controlers

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Question 3 of 10

3. Dr. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, was able to compile the grammar of the Esperanto language into how many rules? Hint

160

1600

None of these

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Question 4 of 10

4. Speakers of Esperanto are often called Esperantists. Throughout history, where were Esperantists persecuted for their interest in the language? Hint

Nazi Germany

The Soviet Union

All of these

The United States

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Question 5 of 10

5. The League of Nations ALMOST made Esperanto the official second language of the world. What country vetoed the resolution? Hint

France

Russia

The United Kingdom

The United States

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Question 6 of 10

6. Esperanto as a learning tool? You can master Esperanto in a fraction of the time it takes to gain beginner status in other languages. In 1965, two groups of English-speaking students were separated, one learned French for four years, while the other studied Esperanto for one year and French for three years. What was the result? Hint

The results were inconclusive

Those studying French for three years had about the same proficiency in French as the other group.

Those studying French for three years were more proficient in the language than those studying for four years.

Those studying French for three years were less proficient that those studying for four years.

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Question 7 of 10

7. What is the symbol of Esperanto? (Many Esperantists will wear a pin displaying this thing when travelling abroad.) Hint

None of these

a purple horseshoe

a green star

a pink triangle

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Question 8 of 10

8. Of what nationality was Dr. Zamenhoff, the creator of Esperanto? Hint

Polish

Iranian

Georgian

American

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Question 9 of 10

9. The original vocabulary of Esperanto contained how many root words, which because of the Esperanto concept of "word-building" with affixes and compound words, allowed a speaker to quickly understand and speak tens of thousands of words? Hint

900

90000

9000

None of these

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Question 10 of 10

10. Every vowel represents a new syllable. How many syllables does the Esperanto word for "boat" have: boato? Hint

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: one who hopes

The Esperanto verb "esperi" means "to hope". Adding "anto" to the end of the verb creates a noun participle meaning "one who does this".

2. Dr. Zamenhof invented the Esperanto language for the purpose of:

Answer: Creating a common second language

Esperanto is not designed to replace your current language. It was designed to make discussions among people of other national languages fair in that no one was speaking in their native tongue while the other relies on translations or his or her own limited knowledge of the language.

3. Dr. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, was able to compile the grammar of the Esperanto language into how many rules?

Answer: 16

The rules are esoteric to someone unfamiliar with the study of languages, but yes, you can break down the grammar of Esperanto into just 16 rules.

4. Speakers of Esperanto are often called Esperantists. Throughout history, where were Esperantists persecuted for their interest in the language?

Answer: All of these

Tyrants thrive on creating enemies. Esperanto helps unite people of many various nationalities; common language brings common understanding. Under Nazi Germany, Esperantists were singled out and sentenced to death or worse in concentration camps for their interest in the language (in "Mein Kampf", Hitler calls it "the language of spies"). Stalin had Esperantists killed, and US Senator Joseph McCarthy considered knowledge of Esperanto to be nearly synonymous with sympathy for the "Communist cause".

5. The League of Nations ALMOST made Esperanto the official second language of the world. What country vetoed the resolution?

Answer: France

French was the language of international communication then, much like English is now. The United States was not a member of the League of Nations, and Russia ceased to exist shortly before the end of World War I (replaced by the USSR). Two years after the French delegate vetoed the resolution, he called for the language to be taught in French schools.

Answer: Those studying French for three years were more proficient in the language than those studying for four years.

Taking the time to learn this simple auxiliary language has proven time and again to better prepare students for natural languages. This study took place in Europe. Similar results were shown when the language studied was Japanese or when the time was reduced to two years.

It turns out that mastering a language--even an artificial one--improves confidence and understanding of language structures.

7. What is the symbol of Esperanto? (Many Esperantists will wear a pin displaying this thing when travelling abroad.)

Answer: a green star

Esperanto actually has its own flag: a field of green with a white block in the upper-left corner in which appears the green star.

8. Of what nationality was Dr. Zamenhoff, the creator of Esperanto?

Answer: Polish

He grew up in a neighborhood in Poland where there were speakers of many different languages. He witnessed a lot of anger between the various groups, and believed that if they shared a common language, there would be more understanding and less violence.

Answer: 900

Prefixes and suffixes have uniform meaning and any words can be combined to create a new meaning. The most useful prefix is "mal--" which means "the direct opposite of". Given words like "alta" (high), "pura" (clean), and "sana" (healthy), you can easily double your vocabulary with "malalta" (low), "malpura" (dirty), and "malsana" (sick).

10. Every vowel represents a new syllable. How many syllables does the Esperanto word for "boat" have: boato?

Answer: 3

Esperanto letters all have one sound only, and there are no silent letters. "Boato" is pronounced "boh-AH-toe" The accent is always on the second to last syllable.

Source: Author oofahlandian

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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