To its advocates, the possibilities of Esperanto are unlimited, and the 89th Universal Congress of Esperanto (UCE) held here from July 24 to 31 is a showcase of "Esperantism": people from various parts of the world, of different backgrounds and diverse interests, gathered in the same place to celebrate their fond dream of a universal language. There are many hassles but no grudges.

Esperantists' sanguinity about their future has a lot to do with their history.

In 1887, L.L. Zamenhof, a prestigious Polish doctor and the founder of Esperanto, published "La unua libro" (The First Book). From then on, Esperantists intrepidly marched toward "Esperantopia"; thousands of books, including the Holy Bible, have been translated into Esperanto, and others have been written in the language. William Auld, who contended for the Nobel Prize in

literature in 1999, has written critically praised books in Esperanto.

The language is simple and poetic. For example, in Esperanto, "prison" literally means "place with no freedom"; and the word for "enemy" is "mal-amiko". Its simple declension and logical grammar have won over many disheartened language learners.

In spite of its merits, the language has been ignored by most people. Most languages evolve over the passage of time. For example, the English word "waterloo," site of Napolean's most notorious defeat, has come to mean debacle or catastrophe. Esperanto has no such kind of history.

The language barrier between nations is thought by Esperantists to be the root cause of many disputes. Esperantists like to refer Rwanda as an example.

In the European Union, inefficiency and mind-boggling fees resulted from multi-language-translation have driven numerous companies to turn to U.S. for patent registration. But the fees and troubles entangled with the popularization of Esperanto also cannot be underestimated. People now are not justifiable to embrace a "linguistic currency".

The International Esperanto Association boasts 10 million adherents. But Renato Corsetti, the president of the association, acknowledged to that its membership is aging.

Altaf Gohar, the president of Pakistan Esperanto Association, said in interview, "To tell you the truth, our delegates seated at the committee meeting can't understand what people are saying. I am really feel ashamed."

As for a "universal Esperanto jubilance," maybe we still need time.

Source: Xinhua