Chapter XIII: Appendix: A

SAMPLE PROBLEMS IN REGULAR LANGUAGE

Word-building can be made quite an amusing game for children. For instance, give them the suffixes _-ej_ (denoting place) and _-il_ (denoting instrument), and set them to form words for "school," "church," "factory," "knife," "warming-pan," etc. (_lernejo_, _preĝejo_, _fabrikejo_, _tranĉito_, _varmigilo_).

But since the language is perfectly regular in form and construction, and the learner can therefore argue from case to case, it is a useful instrument for instilling clear ideas of grammatical categories. Thus give the roots—

viv-i = to live san-a = healthy hom-o = man
long-a = long saĝ-a = wise Di-o = God
don-i = to give

and set such sentences as the following to be worked out—

"He lives long"; "A long life is a gift of God"; "It is wise to live healthily"; "God is divine, man is human"; "Human life is short," etc.

The same roots constantly recur with an _-o_, _-a_, or _-e_ tacked on; and the practice in sorting out the endings, and attaching them like labels to nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs, soon marks off the corresponding ideas clearly in the learner's mind.

Analogous to simple sums and conducive to clear thinking are such sentences as the following, for rather more advanced pupils:

Given—

raz-i = to shave serv-i = to serve san-a = healthy
akr-a = sharp mort-i = to die ven-i = to come
uz-i = to use hak-i = to hew kun = with
sent-i = to feel

and the table of affixes (pp. 191-2 [Part IV, Chapter IV]).

Translate—"Constant use had blunted his razor"; "He had his servant shaved"; "He killed his companion with an axe"; "Let us send for the doctor."

More advanced exercise (on the same roots):

Translate—"O Death, where is thy sting?" "Community of service brings together men subject to death, and dulls the perception of their common mortality. Willing service dissipates the weariness of the server; the deadliness of disease is mitigated, and the place of sickness becomes a place of health."

By referring to the table of affixes, the use of which has of course been explained, the learner can work out the answers as follows:

Uz-ad-o estis mal-akr-ig-int-a lian raz-il-on. Li raz-ig-is sian serv-ant-(_or_ ist)on. Li mort-ig-is sian kun-ul-on per hak-il-o. Ni ven-ig-u la san-ig-ist-on.

More advanced:

Ho Morto, kie estas via akr-ec-o? Kun-servo (_or_ kuneco de servo) kun-ig-as la mort-em-(ul)-ojn, kaj mal-akr-ig-as la sent-on de ilia kun-a mort-em-ec-o. Serv-em-ec-o dis-ig-as la el-uz-it-ec-on de la serv-ant-o; la mort-ig-ec-o de la mal-san-ec-o mal-akr-iĝ-as, kaj la mal-san-ej-o iĝas san-ej-o.

No national language could be used in this way for building sentences according to rules, and such exercises should give a practical grip of clear use of language. The student is obliged to analyse the exact meaning of every word of the English sentence, and this necessity inculcates a nice discrimination in the use of words. At the same time the necessary word-building depends upon clear-headed and logical application of rule. There is no memory work, but the mind is kept on the stretch, and the exercise is wholesome as combating confusion of thought and slovenliness of expression.