Lapine (Watership Down) - Conlang Profile

Lapine (Watership Down) - Conlang Profile

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Language Name	Lapine
Language Author	Richard Adams
Year Began	1972
Site	Lapine - site 1 Lapine - site 2
Broken Link	No
Site Language	English
Site Author	Jeffrey Henning
Language Type	professional fictional language
Editorial	Richard Adams' Watership Down is one of the classic works of xenofiction, placed as it is among and between the warrens of rabbits in the English countryside. Lapine, the language he sketches for his rabbits, is arguably the best naming language ever created, and is a minimalist virtuoso performance, a haiku of a language compared to the sonnet of Sindarin. It's amazing how much can be accomplished with how little. Lapine went a long way towards establishing the verisimilitude of the rabbits' culture and in the process making Watership Down a bestseller.
Quotation	Hoi, Hoi, U embleer Hrair, M'saion ulé hraka vair!
Explanation	A kind of rabbit's nursery rhyme. The word "hrair" is the Lapine for any number over four and is frequently translated as "thousand". In this case it refers to "The Thousand" which is the term applied to all the rabbits' natural enemies. "Hraka" is the Lapine for droppings.
Translation	Hey, Hey, the stinking Thousand, They attack us even as we stop to pass droppings!
Dictionary	No
Etymologies	No
Grammar	No
Sample Texts	No
Unique Script	No
Primer	No
Babel Text	No
Submitted By	NA
Updated By	Clive Wilson
Date Edited	Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Description Of Update	Added a quotation with translation. Amazed it didn't already have one.
Date To Headline	Wednesday, October 27, 2004

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