an artificial language invented by Dr. Zamenhof of Warsaw, who, under the assumed name of Dr. Esperanto, published his first pamphlet upon the subject in 1887. From this the language takes its name. Esperanto is claimed to be the best attempt so far to produce an international language. The vocabulary is formed by selecting first the root words which are common to all the principal European languages; second, those that are common to all but one; then those that are common to all but two, and so on. The grammar is regular and very simple. By means of an elaborate system of prefixes and suffixes the vocabulary is extended to an almost unlimited degree; thus, bona means good, malbona, bad; fermi means close, malfermi, open. The suffix in denotes feminine; knabo means boy knabino, girl. Several books have been published in Esperanto. Other languages competing with Esperanto for place as an international language are Volapuk, Idiom, Neutral and Bolak.