Portal:Esperanto/Article of the month/June 2008

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The Unua Libro (First Book) was the first publication to describe the international language, Esperanto (then called Lingvo Internacia, "international language"). First published in Russian on July 26, 1887, later editions were published in Russian, 1888, Hebrew, 1889. Polish, French, German and English. This booklet included the Lord's Prayer, some Bible verses, a letter, poetry, the sixteen rules of grammar and 900 roots of vocabulary. Zamenhof declared: "An international language, like a national one, is common property." Zamenhof signed the work as "Doktoro Esperanto," and the title Esperanto stuck as the name of the language — which in Esperanto means "one who hopes." Find out more...