View source for Lapine

{{Infobox language
|name=Lapine
|creator=[[w:Richard Adams|Richard Adams]]
|created=1972
|setting=''[[w:Watership Down|Watership Down]]''<br/>''[[w:Tales from Watership Down|Tales from Watership Down]]''
|familycolor=conlang
}}
'''Lapine''' is a conlang spoken by British rabbits in [[w:Richard Adams|Richard Adams]]' 1972 novel [[w:Watership Down|''Watership Down'']]. Very little vocabulary is given, and, at least within the book, no guide to pronunciation nor implication of a native script exists. The name derives from French [[wikt:lapin#French|''lapin'']] ("rabbit").

It is written in a very English-looking use of the Latin script, with the exception of the character [[wikt:é|''é'']], which appears to be the only use of any diacriticals in the transcriptions. One may assume this is to establish the vowel quality as closer to /ei/ than, say, /i/ - but for all we know this could have to do with stress or pitch or simply aesthetics. [[w:Arabic phonology|Arabic]] has been cited as an inspiration, but the phonological resemblance is unclear, if present at all.