When in doubt as to which preposition should be used, try the sentence with all the possible forms, and the correct, logical, preposition will almost always be obvious.
Esperantisto, 8105.
Several friends have called attention to the apparent misprint in the word Trinki, thinking it should be Drinki. There is, however, an important difference between the two. Trink’ (as "made in Germany") is used for the ordinary drinking of man and beast; but with shame we admit that our own vocabulary provided Dr. Zamenhof with the drink’ which represents the excessive tipplings of men and beasts. Let us beware of calling our friends "Drinkuloj" during the dog-days. Trinkulo is the more usual and agreeable word.
Having had occasion to write to the Remington firm on a matter of business, a reply was received in Esperanto, concluding with a question of general interest regarding the sound of "Scii." This word, represented phonetically, does present some difficulty. S-ts-ee-ee is not easy to pronounce. In practice one should elide the first "s" on to the vowel immediately preceding. Thus mi scias is pronounced mis cias.
The pronunciation of the vowels in Esperanto still seems to give some difficulty, for a correspondent queries the sounds of vowels when followed by "r."
Esperanto is a phonetic language. "One letter, one sound," is one of its invariable rules. Therefore, no matter what the letters adjacent to those vowels may be, their value is invariable. Take the word "per" for example. This is sounded as the English "pay," followed by "r," which is slightly trilled, and not silent, as it often is in English. The writer was once talking in Esperanto with a French expert, and at the termination of the conversation asked if there were any noticeable differences between the English and French methods of pronunciation. "None whatever" was the reply, except perhaps in the value of the letter "r."
Beginners must therefore be careful to sound this letter; and, with regard to the vowels, students cannot dwell too much on them at first. Dr. Lloyd, in his most able article on Esperanto, in the current Westminster Review, says that the vowels are neither long nor short, but have a middle value. This is a very happy description of Esperanto vowels as they are spoken, and if beginners are careful to keep them long at first the middle value will assert itself as fluency is attained.