With just two suffixes, verbs change their form at will—the invention of 'intransitivization and transitivization' in Esperanto

Have you ever had this experience while learning English? The single word "close" can mean both "to close (something)" and "to close (by itself)."

This is the transitive verb "close," where "I" act upon the door to close it.

This is the intransitive verb "close," where the door itself closes.

Despite having the same spelling and pronunciation, the meaning shifts solely based on the subject and the presence or absence of an object. You have no choice but to judge by context, and you end up feeling like you understand it only vaguely.

Esperanto does not allow for this "vagueness." Instead, it provides surprisingly simple tools. By adding "-iĝi" to a verb stem, it becomes intransitive, and by adding "-igi," it becomes transitive. Just two suffixes. However, once you understand this mechanism, the very design philosophy of the Esperanto language becomes clear.

Regularly creating "to close" and "to be closed," or "to laugh" and "to make someone laugh"

Creating intransitive verbs from transitive verbs with "-iĝi"

First, let's take the basic transitive verb "fermi" (to close) as an example.

This is a transitive sentence where the subject, "I," acts upon the door to close it. The point is that the object "la pordon" appears here.

If you add the intransitivizing suffix "-iĝi" to this, you can regularly create an intransitive verb meaning "to close naturally" (rather than someone closing it).

This is an intransitive sentence where the subject, "the door," closes itself. No object appears, and only the change in the door itself is described.

In the opposite direction, creating transitive verbs from intransitive verbs with "-igi"

Now, let's try the opposite: adding "-igi" to a stem that is originally intransitive. Let's take "ridi" (to laugh) as an example.

This is an intransitive sentence where the subject, "the child," is laughing themselves.

If we add the transitivizing suffix "-igi" here, we can regularly create the transitive verb "to make (someone) laugh."

This is a transitive sentence where the "father" acts upon the "child" to make them laugh. The point is that the object "la infanon" appears.

fermi→fermiĝi was in the direction of "adding -iĝi to a transitive stem to make an intransitive verb." On the other hand, ridi→ridigi is in the direction of "adding -igi to an intransitive stem to make a transitive verb." Even though the arrows are reversed, the action is the same. By adding just one suffix to the stem, the nature of the verb is regularly reversed. This bidirectionality can be said to be the essence of the "-iĝi" and "-igi" pair.

Unlike English, you can express "to be born" directly

The value of this regularity is even more apparent in "to give birth / to be born." Let's take the Esperanto transitive verb "naski" (to give birth) as an example.

This is a transitive sentence where the subject, "she," acts upon a child to give birth. The point is that the object "knabon" appears.

If we add the intransitivizing suffix "-iĝi" here, we can regularly create the intransitive verb "to be born."

This is an intransitive sentence spoken of as an event that happened to the subject, "the boy," himself. No object appears, and the event of "being born" itself is being described.

In English, there is actually no pure intransitive verb that corresponds to "to be born." One finally expresses it by borrowing the passive voice, as in "I was born." In other words, English speakers are using a detour through the passive voice of a transitive verb to talk about an event that is inherently intransitive.

In Esperanto, this detour is unnecessary. You can accurately distinguish and express the transitive act of "giving birth" and the intransitive event of "being born" from the same root with just one suffix. This can be said to be a good example showing the high expressive power of the language.

The freedom to construct, rather than the burden of memorization

The suffixes '-iĝi' and '-igi', which pair intransitive and transitive verbs, might at first glance seem like minor rules that impose a burden on learners. In reality, however, the opposite is true; it is a convenient mechanism that allows you to systematically construct the nuances you want to express using combinations of roots and suffixes, without having to memorize words one by one.

Choosing a design that 'creates meaning through rules' rather than relying on 'polysemous words that look convenient at first glance but are ambiguous,' like the English word 'close.' This is likely one of the reasons why Esperanto has remained a language that is 'easy to learn yet loses none of its expressive power' for over 130 years. (Ryotaro)

[Note from the editorial staff]

This article is based on the personal views and experiences of an Esperanto learner. It does not represent the official view of the Kansai Esperanto Federation. This note is operated as a space where federation members can freely express their opinions from their respective perspectives.