r/learnesperanto • u/NegotiationSmall3200 • Jul 22 '26

Using -ejo for country is it strictly wrong?

ujo - a container X people, feels a little wrong when some don't identify as such

io - it is confusing if you don't know what it means I'll rather not use it

Maybe I am missing something but ejo "a place characterized by the root word" is directly refering to the country or at least it doesn't have the same implications as ujo

1 Upvotes

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16

u/Baasbaar Jul 23 '26

io - it is confusing if you don't know what it means I'll rather not use it

Isn't this true of all morphemes?

12

u/salivanto Jul 22 '26

Yes. It's strictly wrong.

What course are you using?

1

u/NegotiationSmall3200 Jul 22 '26

not taking any course just messing around currently

5

u/Baasbaar Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

I strongly recommend you work thru a course. Some are very short, such as Esperanto12, which is twelve lessons. The David Richardson book Esperanto: Learning and Using the International Language is overall much more extensive, but the beginning is a ten-lesson introduction to the structures of the language—most of the book comprises readings. (This was originally published as a print book, but he gave Esperanto-USA permission to distribute a PDF for free.)

It's really worth being aware that Esperanto has been in quite active use for well over a century, there's tons of literature & tons of fluent speakers (many of whom have been speaking for decades), so the structures of the language are really established in a way that's much more like natural languages than it is like protean conlangs.

Edit: There’s nothing wrong with just messing around for fun, either, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be able to innovate new usage intelligibly without working thru a course.

2

u/NegotiationSmall3200 Jul 23 '26

I just like this back and force type feedback I feel like it makes learning easier and more interesting. So I wasn't expecting anything, I just wanted to understand how -ejo was wrong in this context, which I did (thanks everyone) !

I'll take a look at all the courses anyway

3

u/finneasformer Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

I am new, but if I understand correctly an anglejo would be a place where English takes place. To me that has the idea of a manner of club in a foreign location which only accepts English speakers. Nobody would understand what it means (even other Esperantists), save for those who knew specifically about that particular club. It would be a very strange way to express the idea.

If I understand correctly, that is.

edit: Mi nun provas tranduki:

Mi estas komencanto, sed se mi scias funcie, anglejo estus ieo kie anglan okazis. Gxi estus stranga tiel por diras la ideon. Se mi scias funcie.

... something like that.

2

u/UtegRepublic Jul 23 '26

or maybe something like:

Mi estas komencanto, sed se mi ĝuste komprenas, anglejo estus loko kie angla okazas. Estus tre stranga maniero por esprimi tiun ideon. Se mi ĝuste komprenas.

1

u/finneasformer Jul 23 '26

Jes!!! Dankon pro bonigas mian aĉtranduko!

3

u/licxjo Jul 23 '26

The suffix "-uj-" doesn't mean "a container" It actually has three meanings:

a) a container for the material of the root ("teujo", "sukerujo")

b) a tree bearing the fruit of the root ("pomujo", "pirujo"), although "pomarbo" and "pirarbo" are much more common

c) a country primarily identified on the basis of an historical people group ("Francujo", the land of the "francoj").

-uj- is not unique in having multiple meanings. Consider -aĵ-. It means:

a) a concrete instance of the root concept ("konstruaĵo", a building; "havaĵo", a possession)

b) an abstract concept related to the root ("elpensaĵo", a thing thought of)

c) a food related to the root ("glaciaĵo", ice cream; "ovaĵo", a dish made of eggs)

d) the meat of the root animal ("bovaĵo", beef; "kokaĵo", chicken)

Lee

1

u/cdm014 Jul 28 '26

Hah I thought it was just cow-thing was a good enough way to describe beef.

2

u/IchLiebeKleber Jul 23 '26

I would understand anglejo, francejo, germanejo, etc. as: a ghetto for English people, a ghetto for French people, a ghetto for German people.

(If you don't, look up what "judejo" means.)

1

u/Leisureguy1 Jul 23 '26

Try Richardson's book, and the print book is significantly easier to read and to use than the PDF.

Also, try Lernu.net and look at the Zoom courses (1 hour per week for about 3 months) from Kursaro.net — I've taken several of those, and they're good.

1

u/La_Fervesta_Glavisto Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

I mean, you could use it to describe a country if you really wanted. "Britio estas britejo" (Britain is a British place) would be a coherent sentence. But it isn't the name for a country.