3.3 Noun
Substantives are formed by adding the ending
o to the stem.
E.g.:
domo – house,
amiko – friend,
arbo – tree,
birdo – bird,
teo – tea,
tago – day,
radio – radio,
Eŭropo – Europe,
tablo – table,
biero – beer,
papero – paper,
bildkarto – post
card
This final o may be dropped and
replaced by an apostrophe. The stress is not affected. It is impossible to drop
the noun ending if it is followed by plural or accusative ending.
E.g.:
mia amik’ – my
friend
3.3.1 Proper
names
Proper names can be classified into three groups – totally
assimilated, partly assimilated and original.
The form of totally
assimilated names was transcribed to Esperanto alphabet, has Esperanto
pronunciation and follows Esperanto grammatical rules (they have
o
ending).
Jakobo – James,
Paŭlo –
Paul, Ĝenevo – Geneva,
Eŭropo – Europe,
Javo – Java,
Nov-Zelando – New Zealand, Maro
Ruĝa – Red Sea,
Prago – Praha, Prague,
Ŝekspiro –
Shakespeare
Female proper names are formed the same way
(Lukrecio – Lucretia,
Mario – Maria) or are created
from male names by prefix in
(Paŭlino – Pauline,
Juliino – Julia,
Mariino – Maria). Today the
tendency is to keep original form as much as possible. The names are often
without an ending (Elizabet –
Elisabeth) or with the ending a, which is
normally used for adjectives, is used:
Eva,
Johana – Joan,
Marta.
The partially assimilated
names use Esperanto alphabet (with or without Esperanto pronunciation) but do
not have noun ending and the non-assimilated names keep their original
form:
Beijing, Elizabeth, Eva, Allah, Nelahozeves,
Praha, Goethe, Fuĵijama, Gorbaĉov, Shakespeare.
3.3.1.1 Declination
of proper names
There is no no problem with assimilated names – they are declined as
any other Esperanto word. If the unassimilated name ends with a vowel
(pronounced), the accusative ending n is simply
added to it (often preceded by a hyphen to facilitate understanding):
Dante-n,
Evan,
Anna-n,
Brno-n,
Bordeaux-n. If the name ends with a
(pronounced) consonant, the noun ending is added: Bill-on
Clinton-on, Lebanonon.
Proper names are normally only in singular.
However, there are few exceptions: Andoj
– Andes mountains, Filipinoj
– Filipines, la Burbonoj –
Bourbons.
3.3.1.2 Capitalization
The basic rules for capitalization are the same as in the most of other
languages – with capitals are written the proper names of persons, towns,
rivers, countries, continents, books, etc. Very often also names of months,
nations. For the rest of the rules, see PAG
§39.
Petro – Peter,
Napoleono,
Clinton,
Eŭropo – Europe,
Kanado – Canada,
Pasko – Easter,
Dio – God,
Allah, la
Biblio – Bible, Plena Ilustrinta
Vortaro – The Full Illustrated Dictionary,
Junio – June,
angloj or
Angloj – Englishmen,
etc.