Lingvo kiel ĉies propraĵo, ŝanĝo kiel ĉies rajto: vortelekto, lingva aŭtoritato kaj normigado en Esperanto

During a debate in an Esperanto association in Paris, Esperantists were discussing technology, surveillance, and freedom, when the question of how to say “drone” in Esperanto emerged. At this point, the previous political debate became a linguistic discussion on possible Esperanto equivalents (drono, droneo, or spavo) and vocabulary choice. Based on socio-anthropological research, this study seeks to explain why, instead of looking for the “right” word in a dictionary, Esperantists often try to create their own words in the language. In everyday conversations in a constructed language, how can speakers refer to things they have no words for? After Zamenhof (the original language authority) died, who can decide whether drono is a neologism, non-standard language use or an error? I propose three principles – flexibility, internationality, and originality – to understand how the linguistic ideology of equality and inclusion upon which Esperanto is based helps to develop vocabulary in this language. Finally, I use Esperanto as point of departure to reflect on language authority, variation, and errors, comparing Esperanto to more standardized languages.