| Volapük | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Logo of the Volapük movement (2nd phase) |
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| Created by | Johann Martin Schleyer | |||
| Date created | 1879–1880 | |||
| Setting and usage | International: mostly in Europe | |||
| Users | 20[1] (2000) | |||
| Category (purpose) | ||||
| Writing system | Latin | |||
| Category (sources) | vocabulary from English, German, and French | |||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-1 | vo | |||
| ISO 639-2 | vol | |||
| ISO 639-3 | vol | |||
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Volapük (pronounced [volaˈpyk], English: /ˈvɒləpʊk/,[2] also Volapuk) is a constructed language, created in 1879–1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany. Schleyer felt that God had told him in a dream to create an international language. Volapük conventions took place in 1884 (Friedrichshafen), 1887 (Munich) and 1889 (Paris). The first two conventions used German, and the last conference used only Volapük. In 1889, there were an estimated 283 clubs, 25 periodicals in or about Volapük, and 316 textbooks in 25 languages.[3] In 2000, it was estimated that there were 20–30 Volapük speakers in the world;[1] the Yahoo Group for Volapük has over 200 members.[4] As of October 2011, the Volapük Wikipedia had the 35th highest count of Wikipedia articles with approximately 119,000 articles.[5] Volapük was largely displaced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, specifically by Esperanto, Ido and Interlingua; all three have fewer distinct vowels, and are easier for English and Spanish speakers to pronounce.[6]
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Note: ä, ö and ü do not have alternative forms such as the ae, oe and ue of German.
There are no diphthongs; each vowel letter is pronounced separately.
The author Alfred A. Post mentions in his Comprehensive Volapük Grammar some additional letters created by Schleyer:
Polysyllabic words are always stressed on the final vowel; for example, neai "never" is pronounced [ne.a.ˈi]. (However, the question clitic "-li" does not affect the stress of the word it attaches to.) Where there is secondary stress, as is found in the compounding of several roots together, it is found on the final syllable between the roots.
The letter r was avoided in Schleyer's original Volapük, on the principle that it would be difficult for Chinese speakers to pronounce, and in the adoption of foreign roots r was generally changed to l. For example, English rose becomes lol. However, other uncommon phonemes, such as ö /ø/ and ü /y/, were not avoided,[7] and Arie de Jong added /r/ in his 1929 revision of the language. Modern Volapük has minimal l-r pairs such as rel "religion" vs lel "iron".
Schleyer adapted the vocabulary mostly from English, with a smattering of German and French. Some words are modified beyond easy recognizability, though many others remain readily recognizable for a speaker of one of the source languages.[8] For instance, vol and pük are derived from the English words world and speak. Although unimportant linguistically, and regardless of the simplicity and consistency of the stress rule, these deformations were greatly mocked by the language's detractors. It seems to have been Schleyer's intention, however, to alter its loan words in such a way that they would be hard to recognise, thus losing their ties to the languages (and, by extension, nations) they came from. Conversely, Esperanto and Interlingua are commonly criticized as being much easier to learn for Europeans than for those with non-European native languages.
The grammar is roughly based on that of Indo-European languages but with a regularized agglutinative character: grammatical features are indicated by putting together unchanging elements, rather than shifting, multi-meaning inflections.
As in German, the Volapük noun has four cases: nominative, genitive, dative and accusative. In compound words, the first part of the compound is usually separated from the second by the genitive termination -a, e.g. Vola-pük, "of-world language". However, the other case endings (-e dative, -i accusative) are sometimes used, or the roots may be agglutinated in the nominative, with no separating vowel.
The following is the declension of the Volapük word vol, "world":
| Volapük declension | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | vol (world) | vols (worlds) |
| Genitive | vola (of the world) | volas (of the worlds) |
| Dative | vole (to the world) | voles (to the worlds) |
| Accusative | voli (world) | volis (worlds) |
Adjectives, formed by the suffix -ik, normally follow the noun they qualify. They do not agree with the noun in number and case in that position, but do if they precede the noun, are separated from it by intervening words, or stand alone. Adverbs are formed by suffixing -o, either to the root or to the adjectival -ik (gudik "good", gudiko "well"); they normally follow the verb or adjective they modify.
The pronouns begin with o-. In the singular, they are ob "I", ol "thou", om "he", of "she", on "it, s/he". They are pluralized with -s: obs "we", ons "they". The possessive may be formed with either the genitive -a or with adjectival -ik: oba or obik "my". Prepositions, conjunctions and interjections are also formed from noun roots by appending appropriate suffixes.
The verb carries a fine degree of detail, with morphemes marking tense, aspect, voice, person, number and (in the third person) the subject's gender. However, many of these categories are optional, and a verb can stand in an unmarked state. A Volapük verb can be conjugated in 1,584 ways (including infinitives and reflexives). However, for simple present, the pronouns are added to the verb stem: binob "I am", binol "you (sg.) are", etc. The passive takes the prefix pa-: palöfons "they are loved".
Schleyer first published a sketch of Volapük in May 1879 in Sionsharfe, a Catholic poetry magazine of which he was editor. This was followed in 1880 by a full-length book in German. Schleyer himself did not write books on Volapük in other languages, but other authors soon did.
André Cherpillod writes of the third Volapük convention,
The Dutch cryptographer Dr. Auguste Kerckhoffs was for a number of years Director of the Academy of Volapük, and introduced the movement to several countries. However tensions arose between Dr. Kerckhoffs and others in the Academy, who wanted reforms made to the language, and Schleyer, who insisted strongly on retaining his proprietary rights. This led to schism, with much of the Academy abandoning Schleyer's Volapük in favor of Idiom Neutral and other new constructed language projects. Another reason for the decline of Volapük may have been the rise of Esperanto. In 1887, the first Esperanto book (Unua Libro) was published. Many Volapük clubs became Esperanto clubs. By 1900, there were only 159 members of Volapük clubs recognized by Schleyer.[9]
In the 1920s, Arie de Jong, with the consent of the leaders of the small remnant of Volapük speakers, made a revision of Volapük which was published in 1931. This revision was accepted by the few speakers of the language. De Jong simplified the grammar, eliminating some rarely-used verb forms, and eliminated some perceived sexism in the pronouns and gendered verb endings. He also rehabilitated the phoneme /r/ and used it to make some morphemes more recognizable. For instance, lömib "rain" became rein.[10]
Volapük enjoyed a brief renewal of popularity in the Netherlands and Germany under de Jong's leadership, but was suppressed (along with other constructed languages) in countries under Nazi rule and never recovered.
Regarding the success of this artificial language, the Spanish scientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal wrote in the first edition of his Tonics of Willingness, in 1898:
"Nowadays, many scientific papers are published in more than six languages. To the likely attempt of restoring Latin or using Esperanto as the universal language of science, wise men have responded by multiplying the number of languages in which scientific works are published. We have to acknowledge that Volapük or Esperanto are practically one more language to be learnt. This result was predictable because neither the essentially popularized and democratic tendencies of modern knowledge, nor the echonomic views of authors and editors consent in a different way"[11]
However, some years later (1920), in the third edition of the same book, he added the following footnote to the former assertion:
Large Volapük collections are held by the International Esperanto Museum [12] in Vienna, Austria; the Centre de documentation et d'étude sur la langue internationale in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland; and the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[13]
There are an estimated 20 Volapük speakers in the world today.[1] There has been a continuous Volapük speaker community since Schleyer's time, with an unbroken succession of Cifals (leaders).
The list of past cifals:
| 1880 Schleyer Volapük | 1930 de Jong Volapük |
|---|---|
| O Fat obas, kel binol in süls, paisaludomöz nem ola! | O Fat obas, kel binol in süls! Nem olik pasalüdükonöd! |
| Kömomöd monargän ola! | Regän ola kömonöd! |
| Jenomöz vil olik, äs in sül, i su tal! | Vil olik jenonöd, äsä in sül, i su tal! |
| Bodi obsik vädeliki givolös obes adelo! | Givolös obes adelo bodi aldelik obsik! |
| E pardolös obes debis obsik, | E pardolös obes döbotis obsik, |
| äs id obs aipardobs debeles obas. | äsä i obs pardobs utanes, kels edöbons kol obs. |
| E no obis nindukolös in tendadi; | E no blufodolös obis, |
| sod aidalivolös obis de bad. | ab livükolös obis de bad! |
| (Ibä dutons lü ol regän, e nämäd e glor jü ün laidüp.) | |
| Jenosöd! | So binosös! |
Ven lärnoy püki votik, vödastok plösenon fikulis. Mutoy ai dönu sukön vödis nesevädik, e seko nited paperon. In dil donatida, ye, säkäd at pebemaston, bi tradut tefik vöda alik pubon dis vöds Volapükik. Välot reidedas sökon, e pamobos, das vöds Volapükik pareidons laodiko. Gramat e stabavöds ya pedunons in nüdug; too loged viföfik traduta pakomandos ad garanön, das sinif valodik pegeton. Binos prinsip sagatik, kel sagon, das stud nemödik a del binos gudikum, ka stud mödik süpo.
Translation: When one is learning another language, vocabulary presents difficulties. One must continuously search for unknown words, and consequently interest is lost. In the elementary part, however, this problem has been overcome, because the relevant translation of each word appears below the Volapük words. A selection of readings follows, and it is suggested that the Volapük words be read out loud. The grammar and a basic vocabulary have already been done in the introduction; nevertheless, a quick glance at the translation is recommended to ensure that the overall meaning has been acquired. There is a maxim which states that a little study a day is better than a lot of study all at once.
The word Volapük is also used to mean "nonsense" and "gibberish" in certain languages, such as Danish[14] in the expression Det er det rene volapyk for mig (It's pure Volapük to me). Also in Esperanto, a rival constructed language, the expression Tio estas volapukaĵo por mi (That is a Volapük-thing for me) is sometimes used like the English "it's Greek to me" (that is, "I can't understand this" or "this is nonsense"). Volapukaĵo is also a slang Esperanto term for "Nonsense".[15]
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