IN CONCLUSION

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By Dr. :Ivo; Lapenna
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- :. . .,. . It. all .be.gan wi th my art!icl:e'. published in the July/ ,- .' .
August 1issue, 1962, of the monthly '"Esperanto". I am therefore
glad '.that .. I have now the opportuniity to stress in conclusion
the following points:
1. The has shown that there is still,even
among some professiqnal philologists, a considerable lack of
knowledge about

facts in Esperanto . It
L'i.. can be hoped that 4h:e loyal and frank cri ticism of such dis-
. tortions will help in avo_iding similar gross mistakes in the
<f-.ture. If I am pernii tted, I would. advise all who intend to
. write anything about Esperanto, to first acquaint themselves
with the language, its literature and all aspects of its use
in practice bef ore taking up the pen.
.. 2. Everyone who has seriously studied the language prob-
: lern in present-day international relations recognizes that
there is a growing need for a language of common intercourse
_, betwe_en the peoples of the world. I am deeply convinced that
nly a language truly international in its structure, aims,
social basis and practical use can effectively fulfil this
funct.ion. This automatically precludes all national languages
As I .--see it, humanity becomes more and more intellectually .
.. ready for precisely this solution.
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' 3. Esperanto satisfies to the utmost all the criteria
postulated f or an instrument of international communication.
-':i ' Wi thout entering again into discussion about the meri ts of
Esperanto from a purely linguistic point of view, the fact
.: .. itse.lf that of all the projects for a common language only
Zamenhof's International Language has been transformed into
J .l.i.:.n a :living tongue spreading more and more all over the world,
is enough evidence of its superiority.
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:: :: ' . People who, for whatever reason, like to create new
o;r:- tci jump from one to another will presumably con-
. " tinue to do this. Such proj ects, appearing and disappearing
- the time, and the public noise which they occasionally
provoke, cause corifusion and hinder somewhat an even more
extensive 'spreading of Esperanto, but definitely they cannot
stop it. Therefore all who sincerely seek a speedy solution
. to the burning lang-uage problem in all aspects of interna-
tional relations should le.arn Esperanto, .make use of the ad-
vantages .that this knowledge gi ves them,,,:. and uni te their
efforts in promoting it. . :. . :
Prof. D-ro Ivo Lapenna, 77 Grasmere Av.enue; Wembley,
Middlesex, England, _is Executive Direct{?r f the Universal
Esperanto Association and Research Fellow at; the London
School of Economics and Political Science,' Uhiversity of
London; formerly Professor of International Law at the
University of Zagreb and author of a number of important
, ,:. works in Esperanto, including "Retorik".
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