The Declaration on the Essence of Esperantism ( eo, Deklaracio pri la esenco de Esperantismo), commonly referred to as the Declaration of Boulogne (''Bulonja Deklaracio''), is a historic document that establishes several important premises for the

Esperanto movement The Esperanto movement, less commonly referred to as Esperantism ( eo, Esperantismo), is a movement to disseminate the use of the planned international language Esperanto.See the definition in theDeklaracio pri la Esenco de la Esperantismo ("Bul ...

. The Declaration was written by L. L. Zamenhof and ratified in 1905 by the attendees of the first

World Esperanto Congress The World Esperanto Congress ( eo, Universala Kongreso de Esperanto, UK) is an annual Esperanto convention. It has the longest tradition among international Esperanto conventions, with an almost unbroken run for 113 years. The congresses have be ...

, held in

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Department ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Content

The Declaration of Boulogne consists of an introduction and five points. In the introduction, Zamenhof clarifies that the five points of the Declaration are necessary to establish because many people misunderstand the nature of the Esperanto movement. The five points are largely in response to these widely held misconceptions. # Esperantism is a movement that supports the introduction of an

international auxiliary language An international auxiliary language (sometimes acronymized as IAL or contracted as auxlang) is a language meant for communication between people from all different nations, who do not share a common first language. An auxiliary language is primaril ...

(IAL). No further meaning can be attached to it. It is politically, religiously, and morally neutral, and it does not seek to replace any existing languages, only to supplement them. # It recognizes that

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 communic ...

is the most realistic IAL that exists, and they work to further it based on this goal. # Esperanto belongs to no one. Anyone can use it for any reason they like. # ''

Fundamento de Esperanto ''Fundamento de Esperanto'' (English: ''Foundation of Esperanto'') is a 1905 book by L. L. Zamenhof, in which the author explains the basic grammar rules and vocabulary that constitute the basis of the constructed language Esperanto. On August ...

'' is the single, perpetual obligatory authority over Esperanto, and it cannot be modified. Otherwise, Esperanto depends on no legal authority, neither a governing body nor an individual, including Zamenhof himself. If a linguistic matter is not covered in ''Fundamento'', it is up to the individual on how to handle the matter. # An

Esperantist An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperant ...

is a fluent Esperanto speaker. Involvement in the

Esperanto community Esperantujo () or Esperantio () is the Esperanto community; the community of speakers of the Esperanto language and their culture, as well as the places and institutions where the language is used. The term is used "as if it were a country." Alt ...

is encouraged but not required.

References

Works cited

* {{Cite book , title=Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of a Universal Language , last=Schor , first=Esther , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5DLpDAAAQBAJ , location=New York , publisher=

Henry Holt and Company Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. Currently, the company publishes in the fields ...

, year=2016 , isbn=978-1-42994-341-3 , lccn=2015018907 , access-date=November 16, 2017

External links

Declaration of Boulogne
English translation Esperanto history 1905 in France 1905 documents Esperanto in France