Category: intervjuo
D. Gary Grady is Vice President of the American Association of Teachers of Esperanto (AATE). He lives in Durham, NC.
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In English we can say, “I brush my hair with a brush and comb my hair with a comb,” which seems simple enough. So why is it that in Esperanto we say, “Mi brosas miajn harojn per broso kaj kombas miajn harojn per kombilo”?
One difference is that in Esperanto the word haro means a single hair, so we refer to brushing or combing our harojn, plural. This is logical, and it’s similar to the way many other languages say it, but a literal translation sounds comical to native English speakers because we say “hairs” only in reference to hairs that are noticeably few and relatively far apart. (Yes, like the ones on the top of my head. Thanks for reminding me.) Someone learning Esperanto might be amused by this, but probably not confused.
The other difference is more puzzling. Why do we refer to the two hair care instruments in question as brosoj kaj kombiloj? Why not brosoj kaj komboj, or brosiloj kaj kombiloj? Why does one require the -il suffix and not the other?
