Approaches to Interlinguistics and Esperanto Studies

The present volume is intended to open the field of interlinguistics to a wider audience interested in research on languages and international communication. It focuses on planned languages, and the most widely-spread Esperanto is taken as a major research object, both in its original conception and history. The alignment of Esperanto with the general evolutionary tendencies of natural languages is also examined.
Structural and comparative linguistics, historical linguistics, and sociolinguistics are called upon to ensure a comprehensive overview of interlinguistics – due to the authors of different fields and countries. No other book combines so many different approaches to interlinguistics and Esperanto studies: the topics range from the role and specificity of Esperanto as a lingua franca in international communication and sociolinguistic considerations to linguistic descriptions of its phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicology. Quantitative aspects of Esperanto and the analysis of some of its literary output are also covered.