Questions
Questions About EuroLSJ
- “What is EuroLSJ?”
- “European - for what? Eventually, everyone speaks English!”
- “Don't we have other Problems than such pettinesses with the language? The climate change is an existential threat to human race!”
- “Is not the Brexit the counter-evidence to the thesis that Europe is growing together with respect for the native languages of its citizens?”
- “Why European? - There is already Esperanto, and that has failed, too!”
- “Should one use European directly?”
- “The vocabulary contains many foreign words of latin origin, whose wide distribution is nothing new!”
- “You only use the latin alphabet. Couldn't european language also be written in cyrillic or greek letters?”
“What is EuroLSJ?”
L, S and J are the most common first letters of the word for "language" in Europe. The idea was originally inspired by international student exchange and the contents of etymological dictionaries.
A well-researched etymological dictionary can already vividly demonstrate the scope of the international spread of words - a diversity which at the same time carries unity in itself. It was against this background that collecting European language material was the central, and to this day fascinating, challenge.
Over the years, the technology that has become better and better, the direct involvement of contributors with various native languages, as well as many information from scientists at linguistic congresses in Europe, have helped, such as the self-experience of lectures, that have mostly been held in the local language.
“European - for what? Eventually, everyone speaks English!”
The problem is not that we can speak English. The problem is that we are forced to do so because we have no choice. Because English alienates the Europeans from each other rather than bringing them together and making them familiar with each other.
The most important languages of Europe are the mother tongue of the conversation partner and the own mother tongue:
The mother tongue of the conversation partner is an important gesture of respect and interest and motivates to cooperation. This creates community and makes everyone feel like a member of it.
The own mother tongue is the only language that is not just a tool for transporting information, but a system of thinking and feeling - a means of being authentic and present.
Europe is where the languages of the Europeans are spoken. European represents them all and makes them accessible to everyone. In this way it is possible to awake Europe to life.
“Don't we have other Problems than such pettinesses with the language? The climate change is an existential threat to human race!”
Constructive action arises from appreciation. Climate protection thus begins with the conversation climate.
Life on earth has never been so dependent on joint constructive acting as today. A native language communication is a prerequisite for this. Communication in a foreign language is not only not reliable, but also creates destructive defense reactions that we absolutely don't need now.
So also this topic is particularly about handling multilingualism and concentrating on common ground. The EuroLSJ project is the perfect example for this - indeed not for the whole world, but at least for the european languages. It is the best approach existing for this aim.
So the choice is not 'EuroLSJ or climate protection', but: EuroLSJ and climate protection, or none of both.
“Is not the Brexit the counter-evidence to the thesis that Europe is growing together with respect for the native languages of its citizens?”
Although the EU is trying to enforce the mother tongue of the Brits against all others, Britain has become the first country to opt out of the EU. Is Brexit not the counter-evidence to the claim that community is generated by the mother tongues of its members? - This is an important question!
Well, in this case, one cannot compare Brits with the Europeans of the continent. The mother tongues of most Europeans are hardly learned or spoken as a foreign language abroad. Therefore, for a European of the continent applies: 'where my language is spoken, is inland, is home.' Who speaks the native language of the conversation partner, and be it only a few words, expresses interest in him and his background and affiliation, and already this behavior creates community.
For a Brit, the situation is completely different: as a result of the British Empire, daughter-state peoples of anglo-saxon nation have come into being all around the globe. A Brit can make a world-voyage today without leaving his language area. If then Europeans come and speak English only as a foreign language, it is clear that the native language factor has no effect whatsoever. The focus of attention remains on the loss of sovereignty through membership of the EU. But this applies only to Brits.
For Europeans, Brexit is thus no reason to doubt that Europe's most important language is the mother tongue of the conversation partner.
“Why European? - There is already Esperanto, and that has failed, too!”
Esperanto is the old suggestion of a new language. European language, on the other hand, is old and has always existed; only the documentation of this language by EuroLSJ is new. The number of native speakers of Esperanto is close to zero, that of partial European at 600 million in Europe and about once again so many outside. The distribution figures for each individual case are indicated in the dictionary.
The fact that european language can be compared to Esperanto at all, may be because both are voice recordings that are not assigned to any single nation or region. The difference, however, is that the record of Esperanto was based on the principle of simplicity, whereas the record of european language on reality. Therefore, in the case of Esperanto, a dictionary is a recommendation, in the case of european language, it is information.
“Should one use European directly?”
This question will be answered under "Activities". You can come back from there to here with the "back" arrow on your browser.
“The vocabulary contains many foreign words of latin origin, whose wide distribution is nothing new!”
Yes – yet. But it also depends on where you look. Where the words begin with c- or re-: certainly; under bl- and k- things are different already.
It was also intended to show contributions from as many subject-areas and language-levels as possible: everyday language, jargon, technical terms, terms of science, religion, politics, etc.
Here, words that originate from the classical educational languages, i. e. Latin and Greek, and are found in today's individual languages as foreign words, have the advantage that their distribution in Europe has a particularly good coverage. Thus they demonstrate very vividly, how each individual language assimilates the words and adapts them to its habits. Therefore, for the beginning, to become familiar with the subject, these words are useful indeed.
However, as research into everyday language progresses, this proportion will be relativized, and more and more vocabulary will be recruited, that stems from other combinations of languages.
“You only use the latin alphabet. Couldn't european language also be written in cyrillic or greek letters?”
Yes, certainly. Serbo-Croatian is the template: one language in two alphabets with the same orthography! It would also be an opprtunity for every european to get familiar with all the three european alphabets.
However, me alone, I don't want to invent the new chars, that will be necessary to reproduce representative european orthography in cyrillic or greek letters.
This will not be possible without native users of the cyrillic and the greek alphabet. But I am absolutely open and grateful for ideas in that direction.
translated with the help of Google. last update: 01.03.2020
(c) EuroLSJ 2020