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Volapük - Conlang Profile   Advanced
Language NameVolapük
Language AuthorJohann Martin Schleyer
Year Began1880
SiteVolapük
Broken LinkNo
Site LanguageEnglish
Language Typeinternational auxiliary language
EditorialWith a name meaning "world speech", Volapük became something of a fad in the late nineteenth century and was the second international auxiliary language to win thousands of adherents (after Solresol); it was the precursor to Esperanto in popularity. It has a vocabulary based primarily on English and German roots that have been somewhat simplified for ease of pronunciation and morphological analysis. Its grammar was difficult enough that enthusiasts were rarely able to actually learn to speak the language. The language was successfully reformed in the 1930s. If Esperanto is the GUI (Graphical User Interface) of auxiliary languages, than Volapük is the DOS of the field. The language is primarily of interest now for historical reasons.
Language SourcesEnglish, German and French (in that order), but word stems are often unrecognizable.
Design PrinciplesBased on monosyllabic CVC (rarely CCVC) roots, both suffixes and prefixes (for tenses) start (or end) with a vowel, noun conjugation with three cases, hi- and ji- prefixes can specifically denote sex, loanwords and proper names are not conjugated, instead the article is.
Interest Of OthersApparently very popular in the 1880s, but the popularity faded after the third Paris congress of 1889, which failed to implement the much-needed changes; finally reformed in the 1930s.
DictionaryYes
EtymologiesNo
GrammarYes
Sample TextsYes
Unique ScriptNo
PrimerYes
Babel TextYes
Lexicon Size1,569
Submitted ByNA
Date EditedMonday, September 27, 2004
Description Of UpdateSome more info.
Date To HeadlineMonday, October 04, 2004

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