''Dua Libro de l' Lingvo Internacia'' (''Second Book of the International Language''), usually referred to simply as ''Dua Libro'', is an 1888 book by

L. L. Zamenhof L. L. Zamenhof (15 December 185914 April 1917) was an ophthalmologist who lived for most of his life in Warsaw. He is best known as the creator of Esperanto, the most widely used constructed international auxiliary language. Zamenhof first dev ...

. It is the second book in which Zamenhof wrote about the

constructed language A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

, following ''

Unua Libro ''Dr. Esperanto's International Language'' (russian: wikt:международный#Russian, Международный wikt:язык#Russian, язык), commonly referred to as ' (''First Book''), is an 1887 book by Polish ophthalmologist L. L ...

'' in 1887, and the first book to be written entirely in the language. ''Dua Libro'' consists primarily of translations, which Zamenhof provided as reading material for those who expressed interest in the language after the publication of ''Unua Libro'' the previous year. It also usually includes ''Aldono al la Dua Libro'' (''Supplement to the Second Book''), which was originally published separately. In ''Aldono'', Zamenhof solidified Esperanto into its final form.

History

Zamenhof originally intended to publish ''Dua Libro'' in five or six volumes throughout 1888, with one volume appearing approximately every two months. Zamenhof's intention with the publications was to provide reading material in Esperanto for those who expressed interest following the publication of ''Unua Libro'' in 1887, to respond to questions about the language, and to establish its final form as he promised to do in ''Unua Libro''. Throughout 1888, he considered suggestions for changes to Esperanto, with the goal of establishing its final form by the time of publication of the final volume at the end of the year. After the publication of ''Dua Libro'' in early 1888, Zamenhof decided that there was no need for all the other planned volumes, and instead, in June 1888, he published just one more document to answer some questions he received and to solidify the final form of the language, titled ''Aldono al la Dua Libro'' (''Supplement to the Second Book''), often simply called ''Aldono'' (''Supplement'').

Content

''Dua Libro'' consists of an introduction and three parts, with most versions also including the separately published ''Aldono'' at the end of the book. In the introduction, part I, and part II, Zamenhof wrote about the state of the Esperanto project. In part II, he specifically wrote about the "universal vote" idea proposed in ''Unua Libro''. In part III, he wrote 20 sections of Esperanto text. The texts include collections of model sentences, a translation of "

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

" by

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

, some popular sayings, and two poems—"Kanto de studentoj" and "El Heine'".

''Aldono al la Dua Libro''

In June 1888, Zamenhof published ''Aldono al la Dua Libro'' to answer frequently asked questions about Esperanto and to solidify its final form as he promised to do in ''Unua Libro''. In ''Aldono'', the only change Zamenhof made to the language is the spelling of the endings of the temporal correlative words (''when'', ''then'', ''sometime'', ''always'', and ''never'') from ''-ian'' to the current ''-iam''. He also discusses an initiative led by the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

to help perfect Esperanto and to encourage its use; however, the initiative failed to actualize due to a lack of interest.

Notes

References

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External links