Learning Esperanto through the Bible: Eliro 20:12, -o, -in, familio

Lesson 1: nouns

"Respektu vian patron kaj vian patrinon." Eliro 20:12

"Give honour to your father and to your mother." Exodus 20:12, Bible in Basic English

"Honour thy father and thy mother." Exodus 20:12, Douay-Rheims version

This is the start of a series of about 10 lessons that cover the most important parts of Esperanto for the absolute beginner.

The Bible verse for this lesson is about families, and so this lesson is about families. Many of the words we use when speaking of families are nouns. Nouns are words which are the names of people or things: father, dog, couch, television, and apple are all nouns.

Esperanto, like English, has nouns. But there is something special about Esperanto nouns. They are always marked by the suffix -o. Sometimes there are other suffixes coming after the -o, but the -o is always there.

Esperanto words consist of parts which are put together. There are roots, and there are suffixes and prefixes to add to those roots. Here are some word roots we will need to talk about families: patr, fil, frat, av. In order to use the words, we have to add a suffix to show what part-of-speech it is: whether it is a noun, verb, adjective or adverb.

Adding the -o to these roots, we get:
patro - father (think of 'paternal')
filo - son (think of 'filial')
frato - brother (think of 'fraternity')
avo - grandfather
familio - family

Here are some more general nouns about people:
viro - man
knabo - boy
infano - child (male or female)
bebo - baby (male or female)

In order to make any sentences in Esperanto, we are going to need a verb. The first verb we will learn is 'estas', which means 'is' or 'are'. Here are some Esperanto sentences:

Patro estas viro. = A father is a man.
Filo estas knabo. = A son is a boy.
Frato estas infano. = A brother is a child.
Avo estas viro. = A grandfather is a man.

You will see from these examples that Esperanto does not have a word for 'a' or 'an'. These little words are called 'the indefinite article'. Since Esperanto does not have an indefinite article, the word 'viro' can mean 'man' or 'a man'.

There is another kind of article in English: the definite article. The definite article in English is 'the'. Esperanto does have a definite article, 'la'. Let's use the definite article in some sentences:

La bebo estas frato. = The baby is a brother.
La infano estas knabo. = The child is a boy.
La viro estas la patro. = The man is the father.
La avo estas patro. = The grandfather is a father.

You will notice that our familio words lack the feminine touch. There is an easy way to add that feminine touch--- with the suffix -in, which turns any noun into a feminine noun. Here are our words in feminine form:

patrino = mother
filino = daughter
fratino = sister
avino = grandmother
virino = woman
knabino = girl
infanino = girl child
bebino = girl baby

A very useful word in Esperanto is the word 'kaj', which means 'and.' The 'aj' is pronounced like the 'y' in 'sky'.

patro kaj patrino = father and mother
filo kaj filino = son and daughter
frato kaj fratino = brother and sister
avo kaj avino = grandfather and grandmother
viro kaj virino = man and woman
knabo kaj knabino = boy and girl
infano kaj infanino = child and girl-child
bebo kaj bebino = baby and girl-baby
Patro kaj patrino kaj infano estas familio. = Father and mother and child are a family.

Pronunciation of vowel sounds: The five vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. In Esperanto they are pronounced as follows:
a as the 'a' in father
e as the 'e' in bet
i as the 'ee' in see
o as the 'o' in role
u as the 'oo' in boot

When you read the new words of the lesson out loud, be sure and pronounce the vowels carefully.

The Bible verse: 'Respektu' comes from the word for 'respect'. The '-u' on the end shows that it is a verb being used as a command or request. The Esperanto word for 'your' is 'via', from the word 'vi', which means 'you.'. You will notice that the words 'patro' and 'patrino' have a letter -n at the end. This -n is added to a noun which is the object of a sentence--- the person or thing being acted on by the verb of the sentence. In the sentence "Respektu vian patron kaj vian patrinon," the verb is 'respektu'. Who are you to 'respektu'? Your father and mother-- 'vian patron kaj patrinon'.

If you have a copy of the book 'Step by Step in Esperanto' by Montagu C. Butler, which I very much recommend, the numbered sections to read with today's lesson are: 10, 6, 15, 17, 13, 32 and 2.

Meditation: Some of us are blessed with good mothers and fathers, who teach us, guide us and protect us. Others have less-good mothers and fathers, who may not have been very responsible in their treatment of us or in their behavior generally. And a few people have perfectly dreadful mothers and fathers who mistreat them or even try to kill them for the insurance money!

But God doesn't say 'honor the GOOD mothers and fathers.' He wants you to honor YOURS. Even the worst parents sacrifice themselves for their children sometimes. They go through childbirth, they give up time and money to provide us with food and diapers, and in that way they reflect God's work in giving us life. It is the image of God as father that we are asked to honor by honoring our father and mother.

Of course for those who have suffered by having a homicidal parent, that honoring is done best by staying well away from the parent in question and praying for him. In that way we are denying a wicked parent the chance to sin against us yet again.

Loving parents, however imperfect, are God's plan for young children, to help them grow up physically and emotionally healthy. Respecting your parents is your way to show them that the work they did raising you is something you value.

Exercises:
1. Read the Esperanto Bible verse aloud seven times each day.
2. Practice reading the Esperanto words and sentences aloud. Memorize each word with its meaning.
3. Construct 10 Esperanto sentences using the words in this lesson.
4. If possible, obtain a copy of the book 'Step by Step in Esperanto'. The Esperanto association in your country may stock it, or you may try Amazon.com.

Learning Esperanto through the Bible: Mateo 7:7-8, -anto

"Petu, kaj estos donite al vi; serĉu, kaj vi trovos; frapu, kaj estos malfermite al vi; ĉar ĉiu petanto ricevas, kaj la serĉanto trovas, kaj al la frapanto estos malfermite." Mateo 7:7-8

"Make a request, and it will be answered; what you are searching for you will get; give the sign, and the door will be open to you: Because to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire, and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open." Matthew 7:7-8, Bible in Basic English

" Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." Matthew 7:7-8, Douay-Rheims version.

This verse illustrates the use of the suffix -anto. Using the -anto suffix on a verb turns it into a noun meaning 'one who (verbs)', '(verb)ing person'.

We know -anto through the name of the language 'Esperanto'. The verb 'esperi' is 'to hope'. 'Esperanto' means 'one who hopes' or 'hoping one'. The creator of Esperanto, L. L. Zamenhof, used the pen name 'Doctor Esperanto' on the first book about his language.

Let's look at the -anto words in this verse:

Petanto = asker, petitioner, from peti = to ask
Serĉanto = searcher, seeker, from serĉi = to seek
Frapanto = knocker, one who knocks, from frapi = to knock

There are a great many verbs in this verse. Let us list them and then try to use -anto on them.

Peti = to ask; petanto = asker, petitioner
doni = to give; donanto = giver, donator
serĉi = to seek; serĉanto = seeker, searcher
trovi = to find; trovanto = finder
ricevi = to receive; ricevanto = receiver

The book 'Step by Step in Esperanto' by Montagu C. Butler deals with -anto in numbered section 453. It gives a few other -anto words:

disputanto = disputant
korespondanto = correspondant
lernanto = learner, student
Protestanto = protestor, Protestant

This verse also features -u verbs. A verb ends in -u when it is a command or a request. Jesus makes three requests in this verse:

petu = ask
serĉu = seek
frapu = knock

Try using -u to make commands or requests from other verbs. -U is covered in sections 70 and 71 of 'Step by Step in Esperanto'.

Jesus makes promises about what will happen in the future to those who obey His words and petu, serĉu and frapu. These promises will use the Esperanto future tense, using an -os ending. Here are the future tense promises:

petanto: estos donite al vi = will be given to you
serĉanto: vi trovos = you will find
frapanto: estos malfermite al vi = it will be opened to you

The Esperanto future tense is covered in section 751 of Step by Step in Esperanto.

Meditation: Why does God want us to 'petu, serĉu and frapu'? Doesn't He already know what we need? Why doesn't He just give it to us whether we want it or not, for our own good?

It's because even though we do not compare to God either in power or in holiness, God respects us as individuals enough to allow us to make choices. He could force us to love Him and obey Him, but to do that He'd have to take away our free will and make us just that little bit less like humans and more like programmed robots.

He waits for us to ask, to seek and to knock. It's a mark of His love for us. It is up to us to decide whether we choose to receive His love, or to go another way.

Exercises:
1. Read the Bible verse Mateo 7:7-8 aloud at least 7 times. Copy the verse out into a notebook. Look up any unfamiliar words in your Esperanto dictionary.

2. Read sections 452, 70, 71 and 751 in 'Step by Step in Esperanto'.

3. Use each of the following words in an Esperanto sentence: petanto, donanto, serĉanto, trovanto, ricevanto.

4. Pick ten other Esperanto verbs. Add the -anto ending to them, and write them down along with their English meaning.

5. Use five of the 'anto' words from exercise 4 and use them in an Esperanto sentence.

Written by Nissa Annakindt. Permission is granted to post this lesson to your blog or website provided you include a link back. Permission is also granted to translate this lesson into other languages and post it on a blog or website, so long as there is a link back.