this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2024
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"Misuse" is an inappropriate word to employ here. The correct way to speak a language is the way that others speak the language, so that you are mutually intelligible. Changes to how language is used aren't a deviation from the "correct way" for exactly the reasons you've pointed out: language is not prescribed.
Esperanto, however is explicitly prescriptive. This is because early speakers believed that allowing it to evolve naturally would hinder its ability to be used as an international and universal method of communication, since past writings could end up unintelligible to future readers. For that reason, Esperanto grammar and most of its vocabulary is set in stone. The Declaration of Boulogne states that the definitive reference work for Esperanto is the Fundamento de Esperanto written by L. L. Zamenhof.
That's all well and good, but I maintain my position both with regard to the previous commenter and – though I hadn't meant to address it at the time – also to Esperanto. If uptake of the language is sufficient, it will devolve into dialects and further, in spite of the intentions of its inventors.
There has been some change to it over the years, such as riismo adding gender neutral pronouns, while still not going as far as complete reform like Ido. In my opinion it's struck the right balance.