Esperanto Vocabulary
2-minute read • Memory Techniques Wiki
See also the How to Learn Esperanto page.
Table of Correlatives
Question and answer words are linked in a separate system. It consists of five beginnings and nine endings which can be combined in many ways.
| Beginning | Short Clarification |
|---|---|
| ki- | [what] |
| ti- | [that] |
| i- | [some] |
| ĉi- | [every] |
| neni- | [no] |
| Ending | Short Clarification |
|---|---|
| -o | thing |
| -u | one, or person |
| -a | kind of, sort of |
| -el | manner, in … way |
| -e | place |
| -am | time |
| -om | quantity (amount) |
| -al | reason, for … reason |
| -es | one’s, person’s |
Together they form a table:
| kio - what, what thing | tio - that, that thing | io - something, anything | ĉio - everything, all things | nenio - nothing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| kiu - who, which one | tiu - that person, that one | iu - someone, somebody | ĉiu - everyone, everybody | neniu - no one, nobody |
| kia - what kind of, what (a) | tia - that kind of, such a | ia - some kind of, any kind of | ĉia - every kind of, all kinds of | nenia - no kind of |
| kiel - how, in what way | tiel - that way, thus, like that, so | iel - somehow, in some way | ĉiel - in every way | neniel - in no way |
| kie - where, in what place | tie - there, in that place | ie - somewhere, anywhere, in some place | ĉie - everywhere, in every place | nenie - nowhere, in no place |
| kiam - when, at what time | tiam - then, at that time | iam - sometime, anytime, ever | ĉiam - always, at all times | neniam - never, at no time, not ever |
| kiom - how much, how many, what quantity | tiom - so much, as many, that quantity | iom - some, some quantity | ĉiom - the whole quantity, all of it | neniom - not a bit, none, no quantity |
| kial - why | tial - for that reason | ial - for some reason | ĉial - for every reason | nenial - for no reason |
| kies - whose | ties - that one’s | ies - someone’s | ĉies - everyone’s | nenies - no one’s |
Memorizing the Table of Correlatives
This was memorized using a clockwise journey around the inside of a plane:
- Cockpit: iu — “u” is my sound for the number 2, so I used a swan image in a glass of iced tea, which is my image for 01 (“one”). Iu is “one” (someone, that one, which one, etc.).
- Business class: io — I used an image of The Thing holding Io under his arm. “Io” means thing (something, what thing, that thing, etc.).
- Across from door: ia — the number 4 has the sound “a” in my mnemonic system, so I pictured a flag (4) with an image for “kind”. “Ia” means “kind”: some kind, that kind, etc.
- Front of economy class: ie — The sound “e” in my system is 7 and my image for 7 is a boomerang. A slang word for Amsterdam is “mokum” which comes from Hebrew (via Yiddish) and means “place”. So I pictured an Amsterdam coffeeshop with boomerangs on the wall.
- Back of plane: iel — it sounds almost like “eel” and mean’s “way” or “manner”, so I pictured Bill & Ted in a fish tank with eels saying “waaayyyy”.
- Back bathroom: ial — in my system, the sound “al” is represented by the image of a werewolf in a block of ice. In Esperanto, it means “reason” (some reason, what reason, etc.). I picture Voltaire (“reason”) turning into a werewolf in a block of ice.
- A seats in economy class: iam — “am” is a suit of armor in a block of ice. It is holding an hourglass (time).
- Aisle: iom — a yogi saying “om” on top of a particle accelerator (quantum -> quantity)
- Outside the plane’s door: ies — I don’t remember my image for this one, but there was a hat involved. The word stuck by itself.
I memorized the suffixes with the above journey, and then the prefixes like this:
- no prefix — “some”
- “T” for “that”
- “K” for “question”
- “N” for “none”
- “Cx” for the “ch” in “each”
For a similar memorization method, see the comments on the how to learn Esperanto page.
