Volapűük nulíik

Volapȕük nulíik
Created by	ArmasUkko
Date	2018
Setting	Earth, year 2018, history dates back about 2500 years
Native speakers	ca. 10 Mio. (2016)
Language family	volapük volapük tsänodik volap'üük nulíik. Volapȕük nulíik
Official status
Official language in	Volapükȁän

Introduction

Real setting

Volapȕük nulíik was a project which came into existence as some kind of a game with morphology and phonetics, especially with Volapük but also Gaeilge and Inuktitut. I have tried to create other conlangs from other constructed languages (e.g. Esperanto), but since the morphology of Volapük involves some degree of complexity, it was easier for me to use elements within the language (particles, case suffixes, prepositions etc.) and combine them in a new way. There is no real purpose or design goal of this language that might become visible, as it does not look that well-built; for instance, there is no special syllable structure designed for euphonic reasons. There are, however, some elements that add a special tone to sound, such as initial sound mutation, which has become a feature of verbal and noun morphology.

Fictional setting

The language is located in the old country of Volapükȁän. The country has been inhabited for more than 5000 years. Written records of the language exist from about 1500 years BC. About 1000 years (1000 AD) ago new settlers arrived at the shores of the northern coast. Those settlers, Irishmen and Inuktituts, found their dwellings and as an ongoing process intermixed with the local population, leaving deep traces in the language. The traces are less visible in the vocabulary but are far moreso in the structure and morphological richness that makes the language a unique mixture of very distinct features. The language continues to be used as a language of official affairs, media, daily conversation, etc., and thus is fully functioning. Due to its special stress patterns, it is not a preferred mean of poets, yet they have developed a style of their own to suit the special requirements of its stress patterns.

Phonology

Orthography

Volapȕük nulíik is written in Latin script with four diacritics (¨ ̏ ´ `)for vowels. Long vowels and geminated consonants are written with two graphemes. Besides the diactrics given, there are two more special letters: <Å>, <å> and <Đ>, <đ>. Their phonetic value will be explaned in the sections vowels and consonants. Names of persons, places, countries, companies are written with a capital letter. The orthography is strictly phonetic. This gives way to a phenomenon that occurs in many languages with a diverging representation of dialects: words tend to be written slightly differently in different dialects due to small difference in the phonetic inventar of each dialect. This holds stand also for Volapȕük nulíik whose five dialects differ especially in the representation of diptongs in wordstems.

Consonants

The following table provides an overview of the phonemic inventar of Volapȕük nulíik:

The phonemic inventar of Volapȕük nulíik

	place of articulation
	bilabial		labiodental		dental		alveolar		postalveolar		palatal		velar		glottal
type of articulation	unvoiced	voiced	unvoiced	voiced	unvoiced	voiced	unvoiced	voiced	unvoiced	voiced	unvoiced	voiced	unvoiced	voiced	unvoiced	voiced
plosive	p <p>	b <b>			t <t>	d <d>					c <ty>	ɟ <dy>	k <k>	g <g>
nasal		m <m>				n <n>						ny <ɲ>		n <ŋ>
trill				r <r>
fricative		β <bh>	f <f>	v <v>		ð <đ>	s <s>	z <z>	ʃ <š>	ʒ <ž>			x <x>	ɣ <gh>	h <h>	ɦ <ħ>
affricate					t͡s <ts>	d͡z <dz>			t͡ʃ <tš>	d͡ʒ <dž>
approximant				ʋ <w>
lateral approximant								l <l>				ʎ <ly>

Most of the consonants present may appear in a long and short form: pomíba 'my apple [acc.]' vs. pommidön 'to eat an apple'. The ratio of length between a short and a long consonant is 1:2. Lenghened plosives are lengthened by holding the air for a longer period of time before release. The consonants which appear only as weak grades of lenited consonants [β, ð, ɣ, ʋ] do not have a lengthened counterpart since they do not appear in basic stems, prefixes or suffixes. When written as a lengthened consonant, the single grapheme is usually doubled:

single consonant	phoneme	geminated consonant	phoneme
p	[p]	pp	[p:]
b	[b]	bb	[b:]
t	[t]	tt	[t:]
d	[d]	dd	[d:]
k	[k]	kk	[k:]
g	[g]	gg	[g:]
m	[m]	mm	[m:]
n	[n]	nn	[n:]
r	[r]	rr	[r:]
f	[f]	ff	[f:]
s	[s]	ss	[s:]
z	[z]	zz	[z:]
š	[ʃ]	š	[ʃ:]
ž	[ʒ]	žž	[ʒ:]
h	[h]	hh	[h:]
l	[l]	ll	[l:]

Consonants that are represented by a digraph and able to undergo gemination have a different approach:

single consonant	phoneme	geminated consonant	phoneme
ty	[c]	tty	[c:]
dy	[ɟ]	ddy	[ɟ:]
ry	[rʲ]	rry	[r:ʲ]
my	[mʲ]	mmy	[m:ʲ]
ny	[ɲ]	nny	[ɲ:]
sy	[sʲ]	ssy	[s:ʲ]
zy	[zʲ]	zzy	[z:ʲ]
ly	[ʎ]	lly	[ʎ:]

Lenition

As many morphophonological processes in many languages in the world, such as consonant graduation in Balto-Fennic languages, ecclipse, lenition and nasalisation in Celtic languages and consonant adaptation in Inuktitut, the process called lenition [Vpk. translation] shares two features. The first feature is phonetic / phonological. It means that a consonant is articulated within a specific environment differently as it would be without this specific environment. The second feature is a rule which describes the environment in which this change of articulation takes place. This rule will be dealt later again, however in another section. This following section will take a look at the phonetic realisation of this process, the phonological environment and the dialectal variation. The specific rules when lenition does occur will not be treated in this paragraph, it will be explained later on where also an overview of the historic development and the influence from other languages will be given which favoured the creation of this process.

Phonologically speaking, several processes are subsummised under this term "lenition".

1. Voiceless consonants become voiced. This applies to plosives and fricatives.

2. Nasals and laterals are lengthened. This rules does not apply to all dialects.

3. Voiced plosives become voiced fricatives.

4. Voiced fricatives will lengthen the vowel following. If the following vowel is already long, the fricative will be lengthened.

5. The voiced labiodental fricative becomes a voiced labiodental approximant.

These rules give the following changes subsumised under "lenition":

Plosives

Normal form	IPA	Lenited form	IPA	Rule / Process
< p >	[p]	< b >	[b]	1 / voicing
<t>	[t]	<d>	[d]	1 / voicing
<k>	[k]	<g>	[g]	1 / voicing
< b >	[b]	<bh>	[β]	3 / fricativisation
<d>	[d]	<đ>	[ð]	3 / fricativisation
<g>	[g]	<gh>	[ɣ]	3 / fricativisation

Fricatives

Normal form	IPA	Lenited form	IPA	Rule / Process
<f>	[f]	<v>	[v]	1 / voicing
< s >	[s]	<z>	[z]	1 / voicing
<š>	[ʃ]	<ž>	[ʒ]	1 / voicing
<h>	[h]	<ħ>	[ɦ]	1 / voicing

Dialectal variations

Though most of the rules are universal to the language, some variations have come up in the five dialects.

Dialectal variations

Normal Form	Central dialect	Southern dialect	Eastern dialect	Western dialect	Northern dialect
b [b]	bh [β]	w [ʋ]	w [ʋ]	v [v]	v [v]
d [d]	đ [ð]	dd [ð]	dd [ð]	dy [ɟ]	dh [ð]
g [g]	gh [ɣ]	gg [ɣ]	gg [ɣ]	h [h]	h [h]
l [l]	ll [l:]	ll [l:]	ll [l:]	ly [ʎ]	ly [ʎ]
n [n]	nn [n:]	nn [n:]	nn [n:]	ny [ɲ]	ny [ɲ]
m [m]	mm [m:]	mm [m:]	mm [m:]	mm [m:] / w [w]	w [w]
ts [t͡s]	dz [d͡z]	dz [d͡z]	dz [[d͡z]	s [s]	tt [t:] / [θ] / [t']
tš [t͡ʃ]	dž [d͡ʒ]	dž [d͡ʒ]	dž [d͡ʒ]	š [ʃ]	šš [ʃ:]
h [h]	hh [h:]	- [-]	- [-]	ħ [ɦ]	ħ [ɦ]

Vowels

Volapȕük nulíik has a quite large vowel inventory. Besides the quality of a vowel, the length of a vowel plays an important role as well. In the proto-language, the inventory was rather small:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i /i/ ü /ü/		u /u/
Close-mid	e /e/ ö /ö/		o /o/
Close-open	ä /ɛ/
Open	a /a/

All vowels shared a closed quality and could be combined quite freely into combinations of two vowels which did not form a single syllable, thus dipthongs were unknown in the proto-language.

Over time this inventory underwent several changes. The first of those changes was that almost all highly articulated vowels were lowered when they occured in an open syllable. Later, this process took also place in closed syllables which had single vowels. Combinations of two vowels remained higher or kept a higher pronounciation. This devision broadened the vowel inventory:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i /i/ ü /ü/		u /u/
Near-close	î /ɪ/ û /ʏ/		u: /ʊ/
Close-mid	e /e/ ö /ö/		o /o/
Near-open	ë /ɛ/ ô /œ/		o: /ɔ/
Near-open	ä /æ/
Open		a /ä/

The next big change in the inventory was the lengthening of short vowels which occur in main-stressed syllables of the stem. Vowels of inflectional suffixes do not undergo this shift. Due to this change in pronounciation, the opposition between short and long vowels is established.

	Front short	Front long	Central short	Central long	Back short	Back long
Close	i /i/ ü /ü/				u /u/
Near-close	î /ɪ/ û /ʏ/	îî /ɪ:/ ûû /ʏ:/			u: /ʊ/	uu: /ʊ:/
Close-mid	e /e/ ö /ö/				o /o/
Near-open	ë /ɛ/ ô /œ/	ëë /ɛ:/ ôô /œ:/			o: /ɔ/	oo: /ɔ:/
Near-open	ä /æ/	ää /æ:/
Open			a /ä/	aa /ä:/

This system starts to develop further in this sense that those combinations of vowels containing an /i/ as the second part start to shift to /e/ (with the exception of /ui/, /üi/ and /ii/) and furthermore become long vowels. The quantity of these long vowels is slightly longer than the quantity of those close-mid and near-open long vowels with a roughly distinction of (short : long 'open' : long 'closed') 1 : 1,75 : 2. This means that now both "closed" and "open" vowels have an opposition of quantity between long vs. short. The vowel /ä/ splits into the vowels /a/, /a:/ for open vowel positions and /ɑ/, /ɑ:/ for closed vowel positions.

	Front short	Front long	Central short	Central long	Back short	Back long
Close	i /i/ ü /ü/	ii /i:/ üü /ü:/			u /u/	uu /u:/
Near-close	î /ɪ/ û /ʏ/	îî /ɪ:/ ûû /ʏ:/			u: /ʊ/	uu: /ʊ:/
Close-mid	e /e/ ö /ö/	ee /e:/ öö /ö:/			o /o/	oo /o:/
Near-open	ë /ɛ/ ô /œ/	ëë /ɛ:/ ôô /œ:/			o: /ɔ/	oo: /ɔ:/
Near-open	ä /æ/	ää /æ:/
Open	a /a/	aa /a:/			a: /ɑ/	aa: /ɑ:/

The latest development was the creation of the sound /ɒ:/ <åå> that evolved from the combination / later dipthong /o.a/ ~ /o‿a/. This vowel does not occur in every dialect, however it is recognised as in the standard language.

	Front short	Front long	Central short	Central long	Back short	Back long
Close	i /i/ ü /ü/	ii /i:/ üü /ü:/			u /u/	uu /u:/
Near-close	î /ɪ/ û /ʏ/	îî /ɪ:/ ûû /ʏ:/			u: /ʊ/	uu: /ʊ:/
Close-mid	e /e/ ö /ö/	ee /e:/ öö /ö:/			o /o/	oo /o:/
Near-open	ë /ɛ/ ô /œ/	ëë /ɛ:/ ôô /œ:/			o: /ɔ/	oo: /ɔ:/
Near-open	ä /æ/	ää /æ:/
Open	a /a/	aa /a:/			a: /ɑ/	aa: /ɑ:/ åå /ɒ:/

The last change occurred in the 1920s, when the orthographic representation was modified to represent current usages:

	Front short	Front long	Central short	Central long	Back short	Back long
Close	î /i/ ü /ü/	îi/íî /i:/ üü /ü:/			û /u/	ûu/úû /u:/
Near-close	i /ɪ/ ü /ʏ/	ii /ɪ:/ üü /ʏ:/			u /ʊ/	uu /ʊ:/
Close-mid	ê /e/ ö /ö/	êe/éê /e:/ öö /ö:/			ô /o/	ôo/óô /o:/
Near-open	e /ɛ/ ö /œ/	ee /ɛ:/ ôô /œ:/			o: /ɔ/	oo /ɔ:/
Near-open	ä /æ/	ää /æ:/
Open	a /a/	aa /a:/			â /ɑ/	âa/áâ /ɑ:/ åå /ɒ:/

Prosody

Stress

The term stress refers to an articulatory phenomenon that causes one syllable in one word to be spoken at a higher pitch than all other syllables in a word. In Volapȕük nulíik this syllable is in defined position in verbs and nouns. Verbs feature a main stress and, under certain conditions a second, less higher pitch. Nouns only have one stressed syllable. The main stress is marked by an acute accent (´) on a vowel, giving [á, é, í, ó, ú] and on vowels with a trema [··] [ȁ, ȍ, ȕ]. The main stress is always set first. The second stress is uniformously marked by grave accent [`] giving [à, è, ì, ò, ù, ȁ, ȍ, ȕ]. In handwriting, the main stress is also done with a double acute accent on [ä, ö, ü], yet due to technical restriction this has not been possible and thus the language board has decided to allow a grave accent to mark main stress on these three vowel letters.

History

The main stress used to fall always on the last sylable in Volapük. This means that nouns used to have a main stress on its stem, e.g. dóm 'house', however when a case ending was added to the stem, it shifted from the stem to the last vowel, giving e.g domá 'of the house', domí 'the house (acc.)' This principle is still visible in the present noun declension: dóom : domá : domí : niđomé. In nouns this main stress on monosyllabical words led to a lengthening of the consonant and created finally the length distinction between nominative / vocative and all other oblique cases and nounforms with a reduced [unshortened] stem vowel. With verbs this principle gave the following pen'ön 'to write' : pen'ob 'I write' : epen'ob 'I have written'. Due to a reanalysis of the future forms, e.g. open'ob 'I will write', the second vowel before the personal pronoun suffix was reanalysed as the carrier of the tense information and thus changed analogically: epen'eb, open'ob, ipen'ib, etc. The first letter was abandoned leaving only the vowel before the personal pronoun suffix with the information concerning time. This gave rise to the present situation that the mains tress falls on the time slot and also explains why a tense has always to be stated in every verb.

Verbs

In conjugated verb forms falls the main stress on the first vowel after the stem and before the personal pronoun suffix: penáb 'I write', löfábaf 'I love her'. kabenbóleb. 'You will be able to write me.' In non-conjugated forms, however, not the tense marker is not stressed but the last suffix: pen'ön 'to write', pepen'öl 'written'. This main stress is however not marked on the last syllable as this rule dates back to the very beginning of the language.

Phonotactics

The syllabic structure of a language can be analysed from different perspectives. One perspective is to take a look at the maximum structure of a syllable. Another perspective is the question, which sounds are allowed on which position.

Maximum syllable structure

The maximum syllable structure in Volapȕük nulíik is:

(C(C(CV)(V)C))C).

A minimum syllable consists of CV, which indicates that no syllable may beginn with a vowel. Personal pronouns are an exception to this rule, since they favour a syllabic structure V:C. The maximum structure consisting of three consonants in the onset is mainly reserved for clusters like str-, skr-.

Morphology

The basic morphology of Volapȕük nulíik encompasses only three categories:

-Nouns

-Verbs

-Interjections

Adjectives

Adjectives are predominantly nouns - they have a fixed position within the noun phrase and may function as nouns on their own. However, they may also function as a verb in conjunction with the copula verb "binön" or they may function as a verb on their own, which is considered a higher style.:

Binán	klotéedat	šerlíik.
Bin-á-n	klotéed-at	šer-líik.
BE-pres.-3.sg.obj.	LADYDRESS-demons.near	EXPENSIVE-adj.

Šerlikán	klotéedat.
Šer-lik-á-n	klotéed-at
[EXPENSIVE-adj.]verb.copula-pres.-3.sg.obj.	LADYDRESS-demons.near

"This dress is expensive."

The first version is more common among speakers of a lower social status, whereas the second has a more official and literary style. The first version, however, may also be used by people of higher status, especially in situations when someone wants to emphasize that the dress really IS expensive. This is in contrast to languages like German or English, as Volapűük_nulíik expresses emphasis not on the intonational level but on the morphological.

Numerals

Numerals also belong, just like adjectives, predominantly to the category of nouns, but can be used as verbs as well:

Lödáps	niđom	žönlig	giló
Löd-á-p-s	ni-đom	žön-lig	gil-ó
RESIDE-pres.-m./f.pl.	IN-HOUSE-abs.	BEAUTIFUL-adj.abs.	THREE-loc.

"They live in three beautiful houses."

Telđegänáms.

Telđeg-an-á-m-s.

[TWENTY]verb.copula-pers.n-pres.-m.pl.

"We are twenty men."

Nummerals will be discussed in detail in the section "Nummerals".

Adverbs

This category does not appear as a category of itself but appears in different forms:

1. suffixes

2. incorporated roots

3. nouns in essive case

4. nouns in a noun phrase starting with "mod".

Suffixes

This type of adverbs encompasses adverbs of time, place and degree. They are suffixed to verbal structures and nouns and thus cannot appear on their own. If one wants to emphasise these adverbal meanings, they have to use a similar meaning noun, add suffixes and place it before the verb, for example:

"Deedȁpšimokdȁäl." [no emphasis]

DEED-ȁ-pš-i-m-ok-dȁäl.

KILL-past-3.pl.anim.neutr.-acc.-3.sg.anim.mask.-here-yesterday

They killed him here yesterday.

"Topakó deedȁpšimdȁäl." [place emphasised]

TOP-ak-ó | DEED-ȁ-pš-i-m-dȁäl

PLACE-this-loc. | KIIL-past-3.pl.anim.neutr.-acc.-3.sg.anim.mask.-yesterday

Dȁälú topakó deeddȁpšim. [place and time emphasised, place a bit more important than time]

DÄÄL-ú. | TOP-ak-ó | DEEL-ȁ-pš-i-m

YESTERDAY-ess. | PLACE-this-loc. | KILL-past-3.pl.anim.neutr.-acc.-3.sg.anim.mask.

The word right before the verb structure receives the most emphasis and the farer away a word stands, it is less emphasised. This implies that normally only about three or four words are put separately before a verbal structure.

Incorporated roots

This adverbal structure is reserved for verb-nouns ending in -íik or -líik. The verb-noun appears in a lenited form, example:

Penžönlikfáminemnù penöní.

PEN-ŠÖNLIK-f-á-m-i-n-e-m-nù |PENÖN-í

WRITE-BEAUTIFUL-bitr.-pres.-3.sg.anim.masc.-acc.-3.sg.inam.-dat.-3.sg.anim.masc.-now |LETTER-acc.

"He writes beautifully a letter to him."

This type of adverbal structure is reserved for single adverbs only. Adding several adverbs to a verb will need a noun structure.

Nouns in essive case

Nouns in a noun phrase with "mod"

Nouns/Nemavȍöds

The category of nouns encompasses all words that denote concrete and abstract objects, persons, animals, plants, feelings, and concepts. Noun is the basic category of words, since each adjective, verb, and so on is based on a nominal root and derived from it. Nouns inflect for case, number, and possession and may receive further conjunctive/modal particles

Each noun is built up according to a fixed scheme:

Prefix	Stem	Determiner	Case suffix	Number suffix	Possessiv suffix	Modal particles

Numbers/Núums

Nouns inflect for number, meaning they indicate whether a noun appears as a single entity (singular), as a pair/in two (dual), or in more than one entity (plural). Each number has a specific marker:

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Suffixes	-ø-/-b-	-t-/-d-	-s-/-z- (-š-/-ž-)

Since the singular is a category that almost any object, person, animal, idea, or anything else can appear in, it is considered the 'default' category and remains unmarked. This is also true for most natural languages, where there is no explicit suffix denoting a single unit of something. However, there are languages, such as Welsh, which provide a singular suffix for nouns that normally denominate entities that exist in conglomeration, e.g. the trees of a forest coed, where a single tree is derived from the whole via the suffix -en, thus giving coeden 'a tree'. This system does not apply to Volapȕük nulíik. Every noun has the default numerical value 1, and thus is in the singular by default. The second suffix for the singular number is actually a suffix occasionally used, e.g. for poetic purposes or when a speaker wants to stress the singularity of a noun. The dual suffix has a correspondence with the number word for 'two' tel. It can appear in a voiced alternative, which evolved as a result of voiced surrounding consonants. This applies also to the plural marker s, which alternates with z. In personal endings there is also the alternation -š-/-ž- which evolved due to phonological changes.

Cases/Nemavödamagéeds

Volapȕük nulíik has a complex set of cases. The complexity arises from a set of nine primary cases, which exist independently but can also be combined with a set of prefixes of local, temporal, or abstract function. This combination creates more than seventy different cases, which can not all be named and are not all actually regarded as cases of their own.

The basic cases and their suffixes are:

Case	Name	Suffix	Main function(s)
Nominative	serafáal	-ø	Subject of transitive & intransitive verbs
Vocative	vokafáal	-ø/-ȍ	Form of a noun to call someone/something
Genitive	faláak	-á(-)	Relational case, direct object in negative sentences
Dative	faléek	-é(-)	Receiver of bitransitive verbs, [logical] subject of emotional verbs, locative: origin of movement
Accusative	falíik	-í(-)	Direct object of transitiv verbs
Locative	falóok	-ó(-)	Indicating position in a place, space etc.
Translative	falȕük	-úu(-)/-ȕ(-)	Change of state
Essive	falúuk	-ú(-)	Being in a changeable state
Exlative	falwéek	-wé(-)/-wȁ(-)	Ending of a state

The Northern dialect has retained a tenth case, which has collapsed in other dialects with the dative suffix -é(-), and thus adding its meaning to the dative case:

Case	Name	Suffix	Main function(s)
Nominative	serafáal	-ø	Subject of transitive & intransitive verbs
Vocative	vokafáal	-ø/-ȍ	Form of a noun to call someone/something
Genitive	faláak	-á(-)	Relational case, direct object in negative sentences
Dative	faléek	-é(-)	Receiver of bitransitive verbs, [logical] subject of emotional verbs
Accusative	falíik	-í(-)	Direct object of transitiv verbs
Locative	falóok	-ó(-)	Indicating position in a place, space etc.
Delative	falȁäk	-ȁ(-)	Origin of movement
Translative	falȕük	-úu(-)/-ȕ(-)	Change of state
Essive	falúuk	-ú(-)	Being in a changeable state
Exlative	falwéek	-wé(-)/-wȁ(-)	Ending of a state

The Vocative provides two optional endings: a) a zero-ending, differing from the nominative only in this feature that the beginning of the word appears in its lenited form:

Nominative	Historical vocative	Modern vocative	Meaning
dóom	o đóom!	đóom!	house
táal	o dáal!	dáal!	earth
góod	o ghóod!	ghóod!	god / God
píid	o bíid!	bíid	regret

The particle -ö was traditionally used to express exclamations, e.g. seelȍ! "Quiet!" < seel "being quiet", moȍ! "Get out of here!" < mo "away". This usage has extended towards nouns and names of persons: Kal ("Charles") > Kalȍ!, Floor ("flower") > Floorȍ!, etc.

In the Northern dialect this principle has remained to the very day and developed in a manner that adding the suffix showed the person addressed a form of respect. Addressing a "normal" person was gradually done by simply using the nominative form. However, about two hundred years ago, the people speaking the northern dialect started to adopt a fashion of using the lenited nominative form as a normal form of address. Therefore, the dialect incorporated both forms, having a "normal" vocative form and a "special" vocative form, showing extra respect to the person addressed.:

Vocative	Usage	Meaning intended
o Gal!	Most dialects	normal form of adressing someone
Kal!	Northern dialect	normal form of adressing someone; other dialects: harsh adressing
Kalȍ!	Northern dialect	respectful manner of adressing someone

The further development spread the -ȍ-suffix to other dialects and within about 50 years the usage as a marker of respect evolved. Therefore, the language today has two forms of marking the vocative case: a) using the lenited nominative stem b) adding the suffix -ȍ to show more respect to the person addressed.

Nominative

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Locative

Delative

Translative

Essive

Exlative

Prefixes/Büyümóots

The category Prefix encompasses a wide range of lexical elements that have two things in common:

a) all of them were prepositions and became attached to the stem at some point in the history of the language.

b) they change the beginning of the noun they are attached to by a process called lenition. This process is explained in detail in the section morphophonological processes.

c) they do occur alone but are always combined with a specific case suffix. In some cases a single prefix may be combined with more than one case suffix and thus giving a specific, different meaning with each case suffix.

Local prefixes

These prefixes indicate spatial relations. In most natlangs and conlangs these relations are expressed via separate words. In Volapȕük nulíik this used to be done as well. However, about two thousand years ago, speakers started combining adverbs with prepositions, e.g. in domó 'at the house' > indomó. These new expressions were very quickly recognized and analyzed as complete words and only about 100 years after the first appearance of such constructions were they written with the initial syllabic structure CV-, including a change of the initial consonant: niddomó ( dd representing a dental fricative [ð]).

Most of these prefixes kept the phonetic structure they had as prepositions.

Since these prefixes inherit a local meaning they are combined with the locative case. They do this if they mean a place or a location where an action takes place. When they indicate the aim of a movement, they are combined - as e. g. in German or many Slavic languages with the accusative case. The third option is different depending on the style of language used. For indicating the origin of a movement, the Northern dialect employs the delative case (expressed by the suffix -ȁ-), the other dialects and the standard language use the dative case (-é-) instead.

This table givs an overview of the local prefixes and their meaning:

Suffix	Name	Meaning	Case combined (case in other languages)	Example	Translation
ni-	nivalóok	inside of	locative (inessive)	niđomó	in the house
ni-	nivalíik	into sth.	accusative (illative)	niđomí	into the house
ni-	nivaléek	out of sth.	dative/delative (elative)	niđomé / niđomȁ	out of the house
fo-	fovalóok	in front of	locative (?)	fođomó	in front of the house
fo-	fovalíik	into the front of	accusative (?)	fođomí	into the front of the house
fo-	fovaléek	from the front of	dative/delative (?)	fođomé / fođomȁ	from the front of the house
po-	povalóok	behind	locative (?)	pođomó	behind the house
po-	povalíik	into the backside of	accusative (?)	pođomí	into the backside of the house
po-	povaléek	from the backside of	dative/delative (?)	pođomé / pođomȁ	from the backside of the house
di-	divalóok	under	locative (?)	diđomó	under the house
di-	divalíik	into the underside of	accusative (?)	diđomí	into the underside of the house
di-	divaléek	from the underside of	dative/delative (?)	diđomé / diđomȁ	from the underside of the house
lü-	lüvalóok	the direction of	locative (?)	lüđomó	in the direction of the house (place)
lü-	lüvalíik	into the front of	accusative (?)	lüđomí	in the direction of the house (movement)
lü-	lüvaléek	from the direction of	dative/delative (?)	lüđomé / lüđomȁ	from the direction of the house
lo-	lovalóok	above	locative (?)	lođomó	above the house
lo-	lovalíik	into the space above of	accusative (?)	lođomí	above the house (movement)
lo-	lovaléek	from the space above of	dative/delative (?)	lođomé / lođomȁ	from the space above of the house
su-	suvalóok	on	locative (?)	suđomó	on the house
su-	suvalíik	onto	accusative (?)	suđomí	onto the house
su-	suvaléek	from the upside of	dative/delative (?)	suđomé / suđomȁ	from the upside of the house
be-	bevalóok	between	locative (?)	beđomót	between the two houses
be-	bevalíik	in between	accusative (?)	beđomít	in between the two houses (movement)
be-	bevaléek	from in between of	dative/delative (?)	beđomét / beđomȁt	from in between of the two houses
da-	davalóok	through	locative (?)	dađomó	through the two houses (place)
da-	davalíik	through sth.	accusative (?)	dađomí	through the house (aim)
da-	davaléek	from through of	dative/delative (?)	dađomé / dađomȁ	from in through the house (origin)
le-	levalóok	into the space at	locative (?)	lođomó	into the space at the house
le-	levalíik	from the space at sth.	accusative (?)	lođomí	from the space at the house (movement)
le-	levaléek	from at	dative/delative (?)	lođomé / lođomȁ	from at the house
mu-	muvalóok	next to	locative (?)	muđomó	next to the house
mu-	muvalíik	into the space next of	accusative (?)	muđomí	next to the house (movement)
mu-	muvaléek	from the space next of	dative/delative (?)	muđomé / muđomȁ	from the space next of the house
ta-	tavalóok	against [local]	locative (?)	tađomó	against the house
ta-	tavalíik	against [movement]	accusative (?)	tađomí	against the house (movement)
ta-	tavaléek	from the space against of	dative/delative (?)	tađomé / tađomȁ	from the space against of the house
plö-	plövalóok	outside of [local]	locative (?)	plöđomó	outside of the house
plö-	plövalíik	outside of [movement]	accusative (?)	plöđomí	into the space outside of the house
plö-	plövaléek	from the space outside of	dative/delative (?)	plöđomé / plöđomȁ	from the space outside of the house
nü-	nüvalóok	inside of [local]	locative (?)	nüđomó	inside of the house
nü-	nüvalíik	inside of [movement]	accusative (?)	nüđomí	into the space inside of the house
nü-	nüvaléek	from the space inside of	dative/delative (?)	nüđomé / nüđomȁ	from the space inside of the house
de-	devaléek	from [loc.]	dative (ablative)	deđomé	from the house
šü-	šüvalíik	until	accusative (terminative)	šüđomí	up to the house

Temporal prefixes

The second large group of prefixes is the group of temporal prefixes, which indicate information on time. Due to their specific meaning they occur normally only in time-related words and expressions. They have in common that they combine only with the essive case suffix. As an example the noun déel "day" will be used, except for dü- which is only used with a specific point of time.

Suffix	Name	Meaning	Case combined (case in other languages)	Example	Translation
nö-	növalúuk	at / in / on [temporal]	essive (?)	nöđelú	on a day
bü-	büvalúuk	before	essive (?)	büđelú	before the day
po-	povalúuk	after [temp.]	essive (?)	pođelú	after the day
de-	devalúuk	from [temp.]	essive (ablative)	deđelú	from the day on
du-	duvalúuk	during	essive (?)	duđelú	during the day (as a period of 24 hours)
šü-	šüvalúuk	to / until	essiv (?)	šüđelú	to the day
dü-	düvalúuk	at ... o'clock	essive (?)	düdegú	at ten o'clock
plö-	plövalúuk	outside of	essive (?)	plöwobú	outside of working hours
tü-	tüvalúuk	within [temp.]	essive (?)	tüđelút	within two days
si-	sivalúuk	since [point of time]	essive (?)	siđelatú	since this day
fo-	fovalúuk	for [space of time]	essive (?)	fođelút	for two days
tö-/te-	tövalúuk/tevalúuk	in ... time	essive (?)	töwekú/tewekú	in one week

Modal prefixes

Another category are modal prefixes. This prefixes transfer a variety of meanings, e. g. the mean by which something is done or the medium via something has been transmitted. Therefore, their case suffixes vary and

Suffix	Name	Meaning	Case combined (case in other languages)	Example	Translation
fa-	favalúuk	through sth. [abstract]	essive (mediative?)	fawüretodú, favlenú	through the internet, through a friend
me-	mevalúuk	with sth. [instrument]	essive (instrumental)	menneefú	with a knife
ko-	kovalúuk	with s.o. [comitative]	essive (comitative)	kovlenú	with a friend
sä-	sävalúuk	as if / like	essive (comparative?)	sämmotú, sännaanú	as a mother [standard, northern dialect]
sa-	savalúuk	as (same quality)	essive (comparative)	sammotú, savlenúba	as my friend (the same height, the same weight)
ka-	kavaléek	than [comparison]	dative (comparative)	kavlenéba	than my friend
ko-	kovaléek	because of [circumstance]	dative (circumstantial causative	kovlenéba	because of my friend being there (no direct causation)
bi-	bivaléek	because of [causation]	dative (direct causative effect)	bizdoné	because of the stone (the stone fell and the vase broke)
ma-	mavalúuk	according to [oral citation]	essive (quotative)	mawödúfes/mawödúfäs	according to her words (the words she said, according to her opinion)
ba-	bavalúuk	according to [written text]	essive (quotative)	ballonú	according to the law (as it is written)
ta-	tavulúuk	against (abstract)	essive (?)	binön tagrigú	to be against war
pro-	provalúuk	for, in favour of	essive (?)	binön prollon nulikú	to be for / in favour of the new law
dö-	dövalúuk	about [sth., a theme]	essive (?)	dödzarús buk	a book about the Tsars
be-	bevalúuk	among [concrete, visible]	essive (?)	bemmenatús	among those people
vü-	vüvalúuk	among [abstract]	essive(?)	vünnetús	among nations, internationally [vünnetulíik = international]
se-	sevaláak	from, out of	genitive (?)	sellaná	out of wool, [made] from wool

The two cases used for quotation are used for different quotation purposes. Mavalúuk indicates an oral citation, something that is said and not recorded, something from the memory, a citation of an oppinion. Bavalúuk on the other hand quotes texts, written sources or natural laws, in general things that are fixed in stone, on paper and not an opinion. If there is an opinion written down on a paper, mavalúuk is used instead.

Negative preffixes

Negative prefixes encompass meanings of negativity and exclusion. They combine exclusively with the genitive suffix, which is also used in verbal structures to mark a direct object in a negative statement or question.

Suffix	Name	Meaning	Case combined (case in other languages)	Example	Translation
ne-	nevaláak	without	genitive (abessive)	nevlená	without a friend
plä-	plävaláak	except for	genitive (privitative)	plävlenába	except for my friend
da-	davaláak	of sth.	genitive (partitive)	davlená	a friend/no friend (usage cf. partitive in Basque and Finnish in neg. sentences)

Negation is normally marked on the verb (by the prefix no-), however sometimes also a noun or a whole noun phrase needs to be negated, e.g. "I am not searching for peace, not for clarity, not for freedom, but for war, for misconception, for slavery." In this case, the negation can also be expressed on a noun or a noun phrase. The noun/noun phrase remains as it is in a positive statement, however the prefix "no-" is added [no lenition is applied] and at the end of the noun/the noun phrase the suffix -k is added, to mark the end of the negation. Since negation accourse very often of direct objects, the following case is genitive, but in general any other case could be used. As an example the phrase will be used:

"I am not searching for peace, not for clarity, not for freedom, but for war, for misconception, for slavery."

"Zukkában püdá, nokleeliká, nolibiká, sukkábintà krigí, pölsuemí, slafí."

Zukk-á-b-a-n	püd-á	no-kleel-i-k-á	no-lib-i-k-á	suk-k-á-b-i-n-tà	krig-í	pöl-suem-í	slaf-í.
LOOK FORneg.-pres.-1.sg.-gen.-3.sg.obj.	PEACE-gen.	neg.-CLARITY-acc.-nominalizer-gen.	neg.-FREEDOM-acc.-nominalizer-gen.	LOOK FOR-pres.-1.sg.-acc.-3.sg.obj.-in contrast	WAR-acc.	ERROR-UNDERSTANDING-acc.	SLAVERY-acc.

Determiners/Fümetéeds

Determiners are used to specify a noun. In Volapȕük nulíik they follow the noun immidiately but in contrast to derivational suffixes they do never take the stress of the word which reminds before or after the determiner.

Suffix	Etymology	Meaning	Example	Person	Translation	Place	Translation
-ak	ak < *at	this	dóomak "this house"	pösóodak	this one / this man	tóopak	this place / the place here
-ek	ek < *et	that	dóomek "that house"	pösóodek	that one / that man	tóopek	that place / the place there
-al	al < *al, alik	every	dóomal "every house"	pösóodal	every person / everyone	tóopal	every place, everywhere
-Cal	Cal < *val, valik	all	dóommal "all houses" (coll. dóommals)	pösóoddal	all people, everyone	tóoppal	all the places
-an	an < *anik	some	dóoman "some house(s)" (coll. dóomans)	pösóoddan	some persons / people	tóopan	some places
-on	on < *no	no	dóomon "no house"	pösóodon	no one / nobody	tóopon	no place, nowhere
-em	em < *seimik	any	dóomem "any house"	pösóodem	any person, anyone	tóopem	any place, anywhere
-om	om < *somik	such	dóomom "such a house"	pösóodom	such a person	tóopom	such a place
-ot	ot < *ot	same	dóomot "the same house"	pösóodot	the same person	tóopot	the same place
-Cot	Cot < *vot-	other	dóommot "the other house"	pösóoddot	the other person	tóoppot	the other place
-[C]im	im < prim	the [very] first	dóom[m]im "the very first house"	pösóoddim	the very first person	tóoppim	the very first place
-Cät	lät < lätik	the [very] last	dóommät " the very last house"	pösóoddät	the very last person	tóoppät	the very last place

Personal pronouns/Pösodenéem pösodlíiks

Since verbs and nouns contain all personal related information, personal pronouns do occur quite rarely on their own. One situation they are used is when a speaker wants to give another person / other persons the chance to say somehting.

The basis of every personal pronoun is the personal suffix that is added as the possessive stem to nouns.

As an example for all cases, the firs singular pronouns will be presented:

Case name	Pronoun 1.sg.	Remarks
serafáal	oob
vokafáal	vob!
faláak	aab
faléek	eeb
falíik	iib
falóok	obó
falȁäk	obȁ
falúuk	obú
falȕük	obȕ
falwéek	obwé

Personal pronouns with prefixes

The prefixed forms on personal pronuns are a bit mor complicated than the nominal forms. Since pronominal forms retain very often old features or forms that have been used centuries ago, they appear irregular, even in languages that otherwise feature regular nominal forms, e.g. Finnish talo : talo-n : talo-a vs. minä : minu-n (!): minu-a (!) or Turkish dil : dile : dili vs. ben : bana (!) : beni. Volapȕük nulíik is no exception to this type of rule. Since the prefixes used to be indipendent prepositions with a different ending, at first, they were glued together quite easily: kod 'because of' obú > kodobú 'because of me', pos 'behind' + obú > posobú, ni 'in' + obó > niobó. A lot of this prepositions were nouns and thus had a structure (C)CVC which after adding the noun to the personal pronoun created a final structure CVCV'C((C)C)V. This structure became widespread and even prepositions with the syllabic structure CV that had no final consonant received an extra consonant, as a rule, the initial consonant, before the first o of the pronoun, e. g. niobé 'in me' > ninobé. suobé 'on me' > susobé and so on. This intervocalic voiceless consonant got during a period of around 100 years (Volapȕük tsenolíik) period) voiced and created a new set of scheme for personal pronouns: C1VC2VC3((C)C)V, where C1 and C2 are identical, except for voicing: C1 voiceless, C2 voiced. This new rule changed the pronominal system alot: pos + obú > posobú >> pobobú; kod + obú > kodobú >> kogobú; su + obé > susobé > suzobé. This process did not simply stop, but over a period of about another 100 - 150 years, these forms began to become simplier. The voiced consonant between vowels started to fell out: suzobé > suobé; pobobú > poobú; kogobú > koobú. The forms with a /b/ as C2 were the first to lose their /b/, especially in first person and third person neutral animate forms. After around another 200 years, these pronouns had evolved into a structure CVV'CV. These forms are today accepted as literal forms which should be used in books, written texts in general. However, during the last 300 years [this development took place within the last 800 years], these standard forms have changed in spoken and colloquial language. Nowadays the standard pronoun reference form is CV'C((C)C)V, where CV marks the prefix and 'C((C)C)V marks the pronoun. In the dialects, espcially the northern dialect the older forms still exist and especially for monoconsonantal pronouns (singular) are preferred: plööbé [Northern dialect] vs. plöobé [stan.] / plöbé [coll.]. Because of this, the next table will not only show the given forms used today but also provide information on earlier stages and the etymology of the prefixes.

Posession

The category of possession is build up the same way as the personal suffixes for verbs. So, the category features three numbers (singular, dual and plural) and three persons: speaker, person addressed and a third person. The third person itself divides itself into the main categories animated and inanimated, dividing the first category into three other subcategories, masculine, feminine and a neutral person. This neutral person is either used to indicate a person of unknown gender / sex or is used to refer to person who do not identify themselves as masculine or feminine. From a etymological perspective this suffix arose from a mixture of the masculine /-m/ and feminine suffix /-f/ giving a preform *-mf which later developped into *-mp and finally losing the nasal part giving -p as a fully productive personal suffix which can be combined with various other persons.

Basic suffixes of the possessive suffixes

category			suffix
singular			Ø
dual			-t
plural			-s
1. person			-b
2. person		formal	-r
		informal	-l
3.person	animate	masculine	-m
		feminine	-f
		neutral	-p < *mp < *mf
	inanimate	object	-n

Overview of possessive suffixes [standard language]

				Singular	Dual	Plural
						Dual +1	Plural + 1	Plural + 2	Plural + 3+
1. Person	general			-b-	-bd- / -dd- [bd < *bt]	-bz- / -zz-
	inclusive		informal		-lb-	-dmV- / -dvV- / -dbV- [d < *bd]	-lbz-
			formal		-rb-	-dmV- / -dvV- / -dbV- [d < *bd]	-rbz-
	exclusive		masculine		-mb- < -m- + -b-		-mbz-	-mdž- < *mtbž < *mtbz [d < tb]	-zbž- < *msbž < *msbz
			feminine		-vb- < -f- + -b-		-vbz-	-vdž- < *fdž < *ftbž < *ftbz	-sbž- < *fsbž < *fsbz
			neutral		-bb- < -p + -b-		-bbz-	-bdž- < *ptbž	-spš- < *sps
2. Person	inclusive		informal	-l-	-lt-	-lz-
			formal	-r-	-rt-	-rz-
	exclusive	informal	masculine		-lmV-	-lmzV-
			feminine		-lfV-	-lvzV-
			neutral		-lpV-	-lpsV- / -lbzV-
		formal	masculine		-rmV-	-rmzV-
			feminine		-rfV-	-rvzV-
			neutral		-rpV-	-rpsV- / -rbzV-
3.Person	animate		masculine	-m-	-mt-	-mz-
			feminine	-f-	-ft-	-fs-
			neutral	-p-	-pt-	-ps-
	inanimate			-n-	-nt-	-nz-

A general formular for composing the suffixes cannot be given, hower there some tendency visible:

1. The speaker / person addressed appears first and gives the first element of complex suffixes.

2. The plural / dual suffix is the last to be attached.

3. The plural suffix is voiced when possible

4. The dual suffix is almost never voiced, except /b_

5. Additional persons are placed in between.

6. An exception to this rule are the first person plural + 1 suffixes which indicate a group of people (we)with another single person. Here the extra person is mentioned first hand and the 'group'-suffix is rendered afterwards. This difference in ordering is due to phonotactic rules that prohibit the following of a sibilant by another sibilant, nasal or plosive sound.

7. Inanimate objects are never combined with animate suffixes.

Overview of possessive suffixes [colloquial language]

				Singular	Dual	Plural
						Dual +1	Plural + 1	Plural + 2	Plural + 3+
1. Person	general			-b-	-dd- / -d-	-z- / -ž- (-bž-)
	inclusive		informal		-lb-	-dmV- / -dvV- / -dbV- [d < *bd]	-lž- / -lbž-
			formal		-rb-	-dmV- / -dvV- / -dbV- [d < *bd]	-rž- / -rbž-
	exclusive		masculine		-mb- < -m- + -b-		-mž-	-mdž- < *mtbž < *mtbz [d < tb]	-zbž- < *msbž < *msbz
			feminine		-vb- < -f- + -b-		-vž-	-vdž- < *fdž < *ftbz	-sbž- < *fsbž < *fsbz
			neutral		-bb- < -p + -b-		-bž-	-bdž- < *ptbž [d < tb]	-spš- < *sps
2. Person	inclusive		informal	-l-	-lt-	-lš-
			formal	-r-	-rt-	-rš-
	exclusive	informal	masculine		-lmV-	-lmšV-
			feminine		-lfV-	-lfšV-
			neutral		-lpV-	-lpšV-
		formal	masculine		-rmV-	-rmšV-
			feminine		-rfV-	-rfšV-
			neutral		-rpV-	-rpšV-
3.Person	animate		masculine	-m-	-mt-	-mš-
			feminine	-f-	-ft-	-fš-
			neutral	-p-	-pt-	-pš-
	inanimate			-n-	-nt-	-nš-

The difference between standard and colloquial language is mainly a difference in the plural suffix (standard: -s- / -z- (rarely -ž-), colloquial: -š- / -ž- (in general after /b/, which falls out)). First persona general forms are even more reduced, very often to just one letter: -b- (singular), -d- (dual), -z- / -ž- (plural). A more formal colloquial language retains the geminated -dd- (dual) and the plural suffix -bž-. The overall number of categories is the same, independently of standard or colloquial language. This indicates that these categories are well established and vastly accepted by the speakers.

Modal particles

These particles do not only appear in nouns but are also used in verbal construction. They encompass different types of lexical particles, e.g. conjunctions, particles of degree and so on. This means the particles in this category have different functions but have one common place to be put into in each noun or noun phrase. Therefore, they are grouped under this term.

suffix	meaning	example	translation
-te	only	kaf balíte	[I take] only one coffee
-ti	almost	šitsilíti	[he hit] almost the girl
-mu	extreme	fit grandíikmu	an extrem big fish
-(g)ee	and	Petéer Páulee	Peter and Paul
-(g)ee ... -(g)ee	both ... and ...	Petéeree Páulee	both Peter and Paul
-(g)uu	or	Petéer Páuluu	Peter or Paul
-(g)uu ... -(g)uu	either ... or ...	Petéeruu Páuluu	either Peter or Paul
-ba	maybe, perheps	?	?
-la	possibly	?	?
-le	completely, the whole; not at all	?	?
-no	yet / not yet	?	?
-(g)ii	too, also	Petéerii	Peter, too
-mö	much	níifmö	much snow
-ve	very	váad koldíikve	very cold water

Examples / sáams

kozdudannotúbabagèe

ko-STUDAN-[n]ot-ú-bi-ba-èe

with-STUDENT-all-ess.-1.sg.-acc.-maybe-and

"and maybe with all my students"

kååpáfa mevaabotúnotigùu

kååp-á-f-a | me-FAAB-ot-ú-n-o-ti-uu

BODY-gen.-3.sg.anim.fem.-gen. | instr.-FIBRE-every-essive-3.sg.inam.-loc.-almost-or

"or with every fibre of her body."

Nummerals / Nȕüms

The numeral system in Volapȕük nulíik consists of cardinal and ordinal numbers. Both types of numbers are part of the larger realm of nouns. The original counting system is a decimal system with seperate words for hundred and thousand. Due to the immigration of Inuit and Irish a vigesimal system has evolved. This system has a fixed range of uses, especially counting people, units of time [years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds, the age of a person]. Due the presence of two counting systems and the speakers' ability to switch between the two systems, the development of a third system has taken place. this system is not officially regulated but depends on the individual abillity of every speaker two switch between the two systems. This third system presents itself as a mixture between decimal and vigesimal to varying degrees and replacements. In general, the tens are kept in the vigesimal and the hundreds, thousens and so one are used in decimal. However, different collocations are possible, too. This third system is an integer part of colloquial speech and will be avoided completely in the written and official language. In recent years, it has become a dominant system to count non-human animate entities, such as animals and plants. In the written language, these have to be counted in decimal, not vigesimal.

The basic numbers

The basic numbers include the numbers from 0 to 20. These numbers do not change, independently of the counting system. The numbers from 0 to 10 are monosyllabic and have a short vowel.

Numerical value	Word	Colloquial forms	Translation
0	ser	-	zero
1	bal	-	one
2	tel	-	two
3	kil	-	three
4	fol	-	four
5	lul	-	five
6	mäl	-	six
7	vel	-	seven
8	šöl	-	eight
9	tsül	-	nine
10	deg	-	ten

Numerical value	Word	Colloquial forms	Translation
11	degbal	debal	eleven
12	dektel	dekel	twelve
13	dekkil	dekil	thirteen
14	dekfol	defol	fourteen
15	deglul	delul	fifteen
16	degmäl	demäl	sixteen
17	degvel	devel / devvel	seventeen
18	dekšöl	dešöl	eighteen
19	dektsül	detsül / desül	nineteen
20	telđeg	teleg / teeg	twenty

The short form teeg is the basis of the vigesimal system. This number has led to a colloquial short form of tens.

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
21	telegbal	teegbal / teebal	twenty-one
22	telektel	teektel / teetel	twenty-two
23	telekkil	teekkil / teekil	twenty-three
24	telekfol	teekfol / teefol	twenty-four
25	teleglul	teeglul / teelul	twenty-five
26	telegmäl	teegmäl / teemäl	twenty-six
27	telegvel	teegvel / teevel	twenty-seven
28	telekšöl	teekšöl / teešöl	twenty-eight
29	telektsül	teektsül / teetsül / teesül [slang]	twenty-nine
30	kilđeg [teegdeg]	kileg / kiig	thirty

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
31	kilegbal [tee[g]de[g]bal / teedeg bal]	kiigbal / kiibal	thirty-one
32	kilektel [tee[g]de[k]tel / teedeg tel]	kiiktel / kiitel	thirty-two
33	kilekkil [tee[g]de[k]kil / teedeg kil]	kiikkil / kiikil	thirty-three
34	kilekfol [tee[g]de[k]fol / teedeg fol]	kiikfol / kiifol	thirty-four
35	kileglul [tee[g]de[g]lul / teedeg lul]	kiiglul / kiilul	thirty-five
36	kilegmäl [tee[g]de[g]mäl / teedeg mäl]	kiigmäl / kiimäl	thirty-six
37	kilegvel [tee[g]de[g]vel / teedeg vel]	kiigvel / kiivel	thirty-seven
38	kilekšöl [tee[g]de[k]šöl / teedeg šöl]	kiikšöl / kiišöl	thirty-eight
39	kilektsül [tee[g]de[k]tsül / teedeg tsül]	kiiktsül / kiitsül / kiisül [slang]	thirty-nine
40	folđeg [teldeeg]	foleg / foog	fourty

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
41	folegbal [teldee[g]bal / teldeeg bal]	foogbal / foobal	fourty-one
42	folektel [teldee[k]tel / teldeeg tel]	fooktel / footel	fourty-two
43	folekkil [teldee[k]kil / teldeeg kil]	fookkil / fookil	fourty-three
44	folekfol [teldee[k]fol / teldeeg fol]	fookfol / foofol	fourty-four
45	foleglul [teldee[g]lul / teldeeg lul]	fooglul / foolul	fourty-five
46	folegmäl [teldee[g]mäl / teldeeg mäl]	foogmäl / foomäl	fourty-six
47	folegvel [teldee[g]vel / teldeeg vel]	foogvel / foovel	fourty-seven
48	folekšöl [teldee[k]šöl / teldeeg šöl]	fookšöl / foošöl	fourty-eight
49	folektsül [teldee[k]tsül / teldeeg tsül]	fooktsül / footsül / foosül [slang]	fourty-nine
50	lulđeg [teldee[g]deg]	luleg / luug	fifty

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
51	lulegbal [teldeeg de[g]bal]	luugbal / luubal	fifty-one
52	lulektel [teldeeg de[k]tel]	luuktel / luutel	fifty-two
53	lulekkil [teldeeg de[k]kil]	luukkil / luukil	fifty-three
54	lulekfol [teldeeg de[k]fol]	luukfol / luufol	fifty-four
55	luleglul [teldeeg de[g]lul]	luuglul / luulul	fifty-five
56	lulegmäl [teldeeg de[g]mäl]	luugmäl / luumäl	fifty-six
57	lulegvel [teldeeg de[g]vel]	luugvel / luuvel	fifty-seven
58	lulekšöl [teldeeg de[k]šöl]	luukšöl / luušöl	fifty-eight
59	lulektsül [teldeeg de[k][t]sül]	luuktsül / luutsül / luusül [slang]	fifty-nine
60	mälđeg [kildeeg]	mäleg / määg	sixty

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
61	mälegbal [kildee[g]bal / kildeeg bal]	määgbal / määbal	sixty-one
62	mälektel [kildee[k]tel / kildeeg tel]	määktel / määtel	sixty-two
63	mälekkil [kildee[k]kil / kildeeg kil]	määkkil / määkil	sixty-three
64	mälekfol [kildee[k]fol / kildeeg fol]	määkfol / määfol	sixty-four
65	mäleglul [kildee[g]lul / kildeeg lul]	määglul / määlul	sixty-five
66	mälegmäl [kildee[g]mäl / kildeeg mäl]	määgmäl / määmäl	sixty-six
67	mälegvel [kildee[g]vel / kildeeg vel]	määgvel / määvel	sixty-seven
68	mälekšöl [kildee[k]šöl / kildeeg šöl]	määkšöl / määšöl	sixty-eight
69	mälektsül [kildee[k][t]sül / kildeeg tsül]	määktsül / määtsül / määsül [slang]	sixty-nine
70	velđeg [kildee[g]deg]	veleg / veeg	seventy

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
71	velegbal [kildeeg de[g]bal]	veegbal / veebal	seventy-one
72	velektel [kildeeg de[k]tel]	veektel / veetel	seventy-two
73	velekkil [kildeeg de[k]kil]	veekkil / veekil	seventy-three
74	velekfol [kildeeg de[k]fol]	veekfol / veefol	seventy-four
75	veleglul [kildeeg de[g]lul]	veeglul / veelul	seventy-five
76	velegmäl [kildeeg de[g]mäl]	veegmäl / veemäl	seventy-six
77	velegvel [kildeeg de[g]vel]	veegvel / veevel	seventy-seven
78	velekšöl [kildeeg de[k]šöl]	veekšöl / veešöl	seventy-eight
79	velektsül [kildeeg de[k][t]sül]	veektsül / veetsül / veesül [slang]	seventy-nine
80	šölđeg [foldeeg]	šöleg / šöög	sixty

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
81	šölegbal [foldee[g]bal / foldeeg bal]	šöögbal / šööbal	eighty-one
82	šölektel [foldee[k]tel / foldeeg tel]	šööktel / šöötel	eighty-two
83	šölekkil [foldee[k]kil / foldeeg kil]	šöökkil / šöökil	eighty-three
84	šölekfol [foldee[k]fol / foldeeg fol]	šöökfol / määfol	eighty-four
85	šöleglul [foldee[g]lul / foldeeg lul]	šööglul / šöölul	eighty-five
86	šölegmäl [foldee[g]mäl / foldeeg mäl]	šöögmäl / šöömäl	eighty-six
87	šölegvel [foldee[g]vel / foldeeg vel]	šöögvel / šöövel	eighty-seven
88	šölekšöl [foldee[k]šöl / foldeeg šöl]	šöökšöl / šööšöl	eighty-eight
89	šölektsül [foldee[k][t]sül / foldeeg tsül]	šööktsül / šöötsül / šöösül [slang]	eighty-nine
90	tsülđeg [foldee[g]deg]	tsüleg / tsüüg	ninety

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
91	tsülegbal [foldeeg de[g]bal]	tsüügbal / tsüübal	ninety-one
92	tsülektel [foldeeg de[k]tel]	tsüüktel / tsüütel	ninety-two
93	tsülekkil [foldeeg de[k]kil]	tsüükkil / tsüükil	ninety-three
94	tsülekfol [foldeeg de[k]fol]	tsüükfol / tsüüfol	ninety-four
95	tsüleglul [foldeeg de[g]lul]	tsüüglul / tsüülul	ninety-five
96	tsülegmäl [foldeeg de[g]mäl]	tsüügmäl / tsüümäl	ninety-six
97	tsülegvel [foldeeg de[g]vel]	tsüügvel / tsüüvel	ninety-seven
98	tsülekšöl [foldeeg de[k]šöl]	tsüükšöl / tsüüšöl	ninety-eight
99	tsülektsül [foldeeg de[k][t]sül]	tsüüktsül / tsüütsül / tsüüsül [slang]	ninety-nine
100	tum [luldeeg]	baldum	a hundred

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
101	tumbal [luldee[g]bal / luldeeg bal]	baldumbal	a hundred and one
102	tumtel [luldee[k]tel / luldeeg tel]	baldumtel	a hundred and two
103	tumkil [luldee[k]kil / luldeeg kil]	baldumkil	a hundred and three
104	tumfol [luldee[k]fol / luldeeg fol]	baldumfol	a hundred and four
105	tumlul [luldee[g]lul / luldeeg lul]	baldumlul	a hundred and five
106	tummäl [luldee[g]mäl / luldeeg mäl]	baldummäl	a hundred and six
107	tumvel [luldee[g]vel / luldeeg vel]	baldumvel	a hundred and seven
108	tumšöl [luldee[k]šöl / luldeeg šöl]	baldumšöl	a hundred and eight
109	tumtsül [luldee[k][t]sül / luldeeg tsül]	baldumtsül / baldumtsül / baldumsül [slang]	a hundred and nine
110	tumdeg [luldee[g]deg / luldeeg deg]	baldumdeg	a hundred and ten

Numerical value	Word [vigesimal]	Colloquial forms	Translation
111	tum de[g]bal [luldeeg de[g]bal]	baldum de[g]bal	hundred-eleven
112	tum de[k]tel [luldeeg de[k]tel]	baldum de[k]tel	hundred-twelve
113	tum de[k]kil [luldeeg de[k]kil]	baldum de[k]kil	hundred-thirteen
114	tum de[k]fol [luldeeg de[k]fol]	baldum de[k]fol	hundred-fourteen
115	tum de[g]lul [luldeeg de[g]lul]	baldum de[g]lul	hundred-fifteen
116	tum de[g]mäl [luldeeg de[g]mäl]	baldum de[g]mäl	hundred-sixteen
117	tum de[g]vel [luldeeg de[g]vel]	baldum de[g]vel	hundred-seventeen
118	tum de[k]šöl [luldeeg de[k]šöl]	baldum de[k]šöl	hundred-eighteen
119	tum de[k]tsül [luldeeg de[k][t]sül]	baldum / de[k]tsül / de[t]sül [slang]	hundred-nineteen
120	tumteleg [mäldeeg]	baldumteeg	a hundred-twenty

Besides the vigesimal and decimal system, a second system has developped that is used to express larger numbers. It is based on the basic decimal numbers - deg [10], tum [100] and mil [1000]. These bases are combined with suffixes that are derived from the numbers 1 - 9 and indicate the times the base number is multiplied with itself.

Numerical value	Word basic	suffix	numerical value
1	bal	-Cab	x^1
2	tel	-Cet	x^2
3	kil	-Cik	x^3
4	fol	-Cof	x^4
5	lul	-Cul	x^5
6	mäl	-Cäm	x^6
7	vel	-Cev	x^7
8	šöl	-Cöš	x^8
9	tsül	-Cüts	x^9
10	deg	-Ceg/-Ced	x^10

Suffix	base 10 [numerical value]	base 100 [numerical value]	base 1000 [numerical value]
[-Cab]	deggab [10]	tummab [100]	millab [1.000]
[-Cet]	degget [100]	tummet [10.000]	millet [1.000.000]
[-Cik]	deggik [1.000]	tummik [1.000.000]	millik [1.000.000.000]
[-Cöf]	deggöf [10.000]	tummöf [100.000.000]	millöf [1.000.000.000.000]
[-Cul]	deggul [100.000]	tummul [1.000.000.000]	millul [1.000.000.000.000.000]
[-Cäm]	deggäm [1.000.000]	tummäm [100.000.000.000]	milläm [1.000.000.000.000.000.000]
[-Cev]	deggev [10.000.000]	tummev [100.000.000.000.000]	millev [1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000]
[-Cöš]	deggöš [100.000.000]	tummöš [10.000.000.000.000.000]	millöš [1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000]
[-Cüts]	deggüts [1.000.000.000]	tummüts [1.000.000.000.000.000.000]	millüts [1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000]
[-Ceg/-Ced]	deggeg/degged [10.000.000.000] tummeg / tummed [100.000.000.000.000.000.000]	milleg / milled [1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000]

Numbers with the suffix -Cab do exist theoretically but are not used neither in written nor in spoken language.

The suffixes may also be used for units of surface and space:

méet [metre] + Cet > *méettet > mettéet 'squaremetre' [m.-et]

metíil [kilometre] + Cet > *metiillet > metilléet 'squarekilometre' [mm.-et]

metáak [centimetre] + Cet > *metaakket > metakkéet 'squarecentimetre' [mdg.-et]

méet [metre] + Cik > *méettik > mettíik 'cubic metre' [m.-ik]

metáak [centimetre] + Cik > *metaakkik > metakkíik 'cubic centimetre' [mdg.-ik]

metíll [kilometre] + Cik > *metiillik > metillíik 'cubic kilometre' [mm.-ik]

Since numeral expressions follow the noun, kilo-, mega - a.s.o. are expressed in the format unit of measurement[partitive] + numeral expression. Examples:

dammetá [metre, part.] + mil > dammetamíil [mm.] 'kilometre' [coll. metíil]

daghramá [gram, part.] + mil > daghramamíil [gm.]'kilogram' [coll. gramíil]

daghramá [gram, part.] + deggäm > daghramadeggȁäm [gg.] 'ton' [coll. gramȁäm]

dametá [metre, part.] + dađegá > dametadađegáak [mdđ.] 'dekametre' [coll. međáak]

dametá [metre, part.]+ dađeggetá > dametadeggetáak [mdg.] 'centimetre' [coll. metáak]

dametá [metre, part.] + dammilá > dametadammiláak [mdm.] 'millimetre' [coll. memáak]

dametá [metre, part.] + dammilletá > dametadammilletáak [mdmt.] 'micrometre' [coll. meláak]

dametá [metre, part.] + dadummulá > dametadadummuláak [mdtl.] 'nanometre' [coll. medáak]

dawatá [watt, part.] + millet > dawatamilléet [vmt.]'megawatt' [coll. vatéet]

daghramämá [ton, part.] + millet > daghramämamilléet [gmm.] 'megaton' [coll. gramäméet]

dawatá [watt, part.] + millik > dawatamillíik [vmk.]'gigawatt' [coll. vatíik]

daghramämá [ton, part.] + millik > daghramämamillíik [gmk.] 'gigaton' [coll. gramämíik]

Verbs/Dunavȍöds

Verbs are the core of every sentence in Volapȕük nulíik. A sentence can be made without any noun but may not lack a verb, be it even an adjective used as a verb. This focus on verbal structures is expressed in that way that verbs normally open a sentence, except e. g. for emphasis. Verbs are so important because they bear a lot of information which allow them to function as single-word sentences. Each verb is built up in a strict manner and though a verb can have several suffixes following the stem and giving special information on space, time and point of view, they all follow the very same structure.

Verbal structures encompass the following information based on slots:

Slot I	Slot II	Slot III	Slot IV	Slot V	Slot VI	Slot VII	Slot VIII	Slot IX	Slot X	Slot XI	Slot XII
Passiv + tense	Modal prefix	Motional	Hearsay	Stem	tense (habitual)	Subject (nom.)	Object [1.Acc./Gen. 2. Dat. 3.Essive 4. Translative 5. Exlative]	Lokative / Temporal	Modal particle	Subordinated phrase	Questions & Moods

Negation

The negative suffix noL- can be inserted before any of the slots I - IV, depending on what element should be negated.

Persons/Pösóods

The category of person is included in every verb, independently if it is the subject, direct or indirect object. Only participles and infinitives can be used without personal suffixes but this happens rarely, e. g. as entrances in dictionaries. The following table gives an overview of the personal suffixes in the standard language. In colloquial speech this endings might change a bit, but the suffixes are the same as the possessive suffixes used for nouns. Therefore, this table will be sufficient for an overview.

Overview of possessive suffixes [standard language]

				Singular	Dual	Plural
						Dual +1	Plural + 1	Plural + 2	Plural + 3+
1. Person	general			-b-	-bd- / -dd- [bd < *bt]	-bz- / -zz-
	inclusive		informal		-lb-	-dmV- / -dvV- / -dbV- [d < *bd]	-lbz-
			formal		-rb-	-dmV- / -dvV- / -dbV- [d < *bd]	-rbz-
	exclusive		masculine		-mb- < -m- + -b-		-mbz-	-mdž- < *mtbž	-zb- < *msb
			feminine		-vb- < -f- + -b-		-vbz-	-vdž- < *ftbž	-sb- < *fsb
			neutral		-bb- < -p + -b-		-bbz-	-bdž- < *ptbž	-sp- < *sp
2. Person	inclusive		informal	-l-	-lt-	-lz-
			formal	-r-	-rt-	-rz-
	exclusive	informal	masculine		-lmV-	-lmzV-
			feminine		-lfV-	-lvzV-
			neutral		-lpV-	-lpsV- / -lbzV-
		formal	masculine		-rmV-	-rmzV-
			feminine		-rfV-	-rvzV-
			neutral		-rpV-	-rpsV- / -rbzV-
3.Person	animate		masculine	-m-	-mt-	-mz-
			feminine	-f-	-ft-	-fs-
			neutral	-p-	-pt-	-ps-
	inanimate			-n-	-nt-	-nz-
	cataphoric			-k-	-kt-	-ks-
	anaphoric			-t-	-tt-	-ts-

Slot I / Bóok I

This slot is soley used to indicated passive voice. All verbal structures in passive will start with the suffixe p- + a tense vowel that equals the vowel in slot V. This structure is inherited from the proto-language. Without the p-prefix it indicated time back then. However this vowel was moved to Slot V and thus created a "double tense marking" in the passive.

Slot II / Bóok II

This slot is reserved for modal prefixes. All modal prefixes lenite the following consonant.

Modal prefixes

Prefix	Etymology	Meaning	Example
ka-	<kan-	ability	Kabükkábin Volapükin nulikí 'I can speak Volapȕük nulíik.'
mö-	<mög-	possibility / chance	Möbükkáltinot Volapük nulikí. 'You both have here the chance to speak Volapȕük nulíik.'
su-	<sev-	knowledge (how to)	Sebenkábins vödemís. 'I can write texts [I know how to]
vi-	<vil-	wish / want	Vibükkábin Volapük nulikí. 'I want to speak Volapȕük nulíik.'
dä-	<däl-	be allowed to	Däzagválineb konotatí faWolapüg nulikú. 'You may tell me this story in Volapȕük nulíik.'
mü-	<müt-	must; obligation	Müzagválineb konotatí faWolapüg nulikú. 'You must tell me this story in Volapȕük nulíik!'
sö-	<söt-	should	Sözagválineb konotatí faWolapüg nulikú. 'You should tell me this story in Volapȕük nulíik.'
pli-	<plid-	like	Plizagvábinelš konotís faWolapüg nulikú. 'I like to tell you stories in Volapȕük nulíik.'
ste-	<steif-	to try	Stennisullivéb, dennisullivébab. 'I tried to reach the island but I failed.'
de-	<def-	to fail	Dezuemgébin vödemíle. 'I failed to understand your text [the one you sent me].'
pri-	<prim-	to start	Prillärngábin Volapük nulikí. 'I start learning Volapȕük nulíik.'
ro-	<rop-	to interrupt	Rozbikodpábem Hyacinthé. 'I interrupt my conversation with Hyacinth [and continue it later].'
fi-	<fin-	to end	Firreedgébinfò bukakí. 'I have finally reading this book.'
ko-	<komand-	to recomend	Korreedvábinel buketí. 'I recommend you reading this book.'
pro-	<prom-	to promise	Pronniđaadilamkábvoog. 'I promise to come to your banquet next week.'
slu-	<slud-	to decide	Slummerikiglém. 'He has taken the decision to go to America.'
se-	<sed-	to let, to have done	Sebeneddenbámeb. 'He has the letter written by me.'
ke-	<koed-	to permit, to refuse to prevent	Keđeadgȁfim. 'She let him die.' [she did nothing to prevent him from dying]
le-	<lead-	to permit, to allow	Lenniveriglépsib. 'I was allowed to enter university.' [to enroll in studies]

Subject versus Object

Slot III / Bóok III

This slot is reserved for motional prefixes. This prefixes indicate a type of movement that is done in order to fulfill the action of the main verb. In English and other languages this is done via a construction like "I go shopping.", "she went dancing." or "He went to fetch him from the station." In Volapȕük nulíik this task is done by motional prefixes. Those prefixes are:

prefix	etymology	meaning	example
go-	gol- 'to go'	to go	Gođanüdáb nidzifí. 'I to the city to dance. / I go dancing in the city.'
kö-	köm- 'to come'	to come [from doing sth.]	Köbäskarébgaad. 'I came from fishing this morning.'
rö-	rön- 'to run'	to run [for doing sth.]	Röbhlünkȁmin dünáan nuní. 'The servant ran to deliver the message.'
si-	siim- 'to swim'	to swim	Sinnisullivȁbnäät. 'I swam to reach the island last night.'
fu-	fug- 'to flee'	to flee	Fuđeedémsim. 'They have fled from killing him.' [They could not kill him and fled instead.]

Slot IV / Bóok IV

This category encompasses suffixes that express the way in which someone has received an information, e. g. via hearing, reading, listening, seeing, feeling, knowing etc. The subject of the main verb is put in the accusative. Therefore, these suffixes automatically activate the -k/-g or -f/-v suffix [accusative or accusative-dative], since the suffix requires an accusative object. A noun that is an object to the main verb will be placed as a seperate word.

prefix	etymology	meaning	example
li-	lil-	to hear	Lillominkekábimnäät. 'I heard him coming home last night.
lo-	log-	to see	Lodiffébimem hipulí moní man bäldiké. 'I saw the boy stealing money from the old man.'
se-	sen-	to sense, to feel	Sedžemiglekȁfim lȁäd bleeníik man yunikí. 'The old lady sensed the young man entering the room.'
nu-	nol-	to know [to know from knowledge]	Nuđeadgábin Napoleoní sulLebakó! 'I know that Napoleon died on Elba!
ti-	tik-	to think [to suppose]	Tidiffébimem hipulakí moní man bäldiké. 'I think this boy stole has stolen the money from the old man.'
bi-/be-	betik-	to consider	Beđäsingélinslì vabís? 'Have you considered drawing cars?'
re-	read-	to read	Ressevgábim Sherlock Holmesí Doyleá bukís. I know Sherlock Holmes from reading Doyle's books.
tse-	tsed-	to mean	Tseđitfóbimellà. I think you should leave him.
ši-	šin-	to appear	Pežiđeedbémep katé. He seems to be killed by the cat.

Slot V / Bóok V

This category contains the main verb. The slot can be filled with simple verb stems, such as fitön 'to eat', golön 'to go', penön 'to write' or derived verb stems, such as nüdugön 'to introduce', ledanön 'to thank very much'. The stem may be followed by a suffix that indicates which object a noun will have. These suffixes apply only to verb stems who may appear on their own, with a dative or with an accusative object or with both. Nouns that are suffixed with a co-verb suffix will not receive the accusative case suffix as the noun is automatically the accusative object. They may however receive a accusative and dative marking suffix. The [e] is inserted if there is a consonant cluster before the suffix. There are three suffixes:

suffix	cases	example	translation
-[e]k- / -[e]g-	accusative/genitive	pengábin vödemí. = Vödemmenáb.	I write a text.
-[e]k / -[e]g-	accusative/genitive	fitkábin mití. = Mittitáb.	I eat the meat.
-[e]p- / -[e]b-	dative	penbábel.	I write you.
-[e]p- / -[e]b-	dative	givbábepš.	I give them.
-[e]f- / -[e]v-	accusative/genitive + dative	Givvábinsel bukís.	I give you the books.
-[e]f- / -[e]v-	accusative/genitive + dative	Kanitfúbinert Volapükäná hümí.	I will have sung the hymn of Volapükȁän for you [formal]

In this group of suffixes, there is a fourth suffix: -s- / -z-. It does not infere in the distribuition of objects, i. e. does not mark the following dative / accusative or dative & accusative object, but rather conveys the idea that the subject of a sentence does not control the process expressed in the verb by pure volition but is "follows" the process independently of its own will. Typical verbs for this suffix are 'to sink', 'to go down', 'to die [as a natural process]', 'to be born [in Latin the verb rendering this meaning was a medio-passive verb], to tremble / to shiver. The subject is given in the essive case instead of the nominative.

Examples:

Dremzȁäpnäättè tsilú. The child only trembled the night.

[Drem-z-ȁä-p-näät-tè | tsilú | TREMBLE-val.ess.-pret.gen.-3.sg.anim.neutr.-only | CHILD-ess.]

Falfifsȁb. I fell to the front.

[Fal-fif-s-ȁ-b | FALL-to.the.front.-val.ess.-pret.-1.sg.]

Tülzȁb. I felt dizzy.

[Tül-z-ȁ-b. | TURN-val.ess.-pret.-1.sg.]

Danüdzȁm. He danced as in trance.

[Danüd-z-ȁ-m. DANCE-val.ess.-pret.-3.sg.anim.masc.]

Goolniđitsȁmit lüđomíma bibhirémö. He went home tottering because he had too many beers.

[Gool-niđit-s-ȁ-m-i-t | lü-đom-í-m-a | bi-bhir-é-mö || GO-to.right.to.left.-val.ess.-pret.-3.sg.anim.masc.-dir.-deict.cataph. | dir.-HOME-acc.-3.sg.anim.masc.-gen. | caus.dir.-BEER-dat.-excessive].

Slot VI / Bóok VI

This slot is reserved for the tense marker and the habitual marker. The vowel in this slot receives the main stress of the verb and is therfore and important unit in every verbal structure. Since this slot has to be filled always, there is actuall no real tenseless verbal structure. However, the present habitual / generic marker serves as an aorist which is also used in laws and other time independent texts and rules.

This table presents them:

Tense marker

marker	tense	usage	habitual version
-a-	present	present events occuring at the moment, on the day; events that started in the past and continue to the present moment	-aa-
-e-	perfect	events that have occurred in the past and whose results are visible now	-ee- (rarely used)
-ä-	preterite	past events that started and ended in the past; story telling: framework story	-ää-
-i-	past preterite	events that happened in the past prior to another event	-ii-
-o-	future	events that will take later, the next day, in the next year	-oo-
-u-	future perfect	events that will be finished in the past.	-uu-

The habitual present has a special function. It is not only used for repetitive action / repeated actions but functions as an aorist, thus indicating no time reference. This function is only active if there is no explicit adverb of frequency in the verbal structure. Otherwise the habitual function is active. This form is used in law texts, for scientific laws, grammatical rules and so on.

Usage of tenses

present

The present tense [dunavödamagéed nulíik] describes the

perfect

[dunavödamagéed fimekégöl]

preterite

[dunavödamagéed konotlíik]

past preterite

[dunavödamagéed balidlíik]

future

[dunavödamagéed toollíik]

future perfect

[dunavödamagéed tuullíik]

Slot VII / Bóok VII

This slot includes the personal endings. The default value of this slot is nominative. However, if slot V provides the suffix -s- / -z- the case is the essive case.

Slot VIII / Bóok VIII

This slot includes the suffixes for the primary case endings. All suffixes used in this slot are compunt of two elements:

1. Vowel to indicate the case

2. Consonant/Consonant clusters to indicate the person involved.

Which case suffixes appear in this slot depends on many factors. One of this factor is the suffix of slot for:

valence marker	suffixes	case suffix filled in slot VIII	translation
accusative	-k- / -g-	-i-	normally direct object [also used for negated verbal complexes where it corresponds with genitive.]
dative	-p- / -b-	-e-	indirect object, benefective, obligative for passive voice
accusative-dativ	-f- / -v-	-i- / -e-	direct & indirect object are given

The object of verbs of transformation / abstraction are rendered in this slot via the tranlative, exlative and essive case.

The origin of these suffixes is rather obscure. -p- / -b- seems to be related to the passive prefix p- and and therefore at the beginning it may have been used as a reinforcement of the passive voice. Later on the relation nominative - dative might have established and then, later on, it has become a valence marker.

The marker for accusative seems to be related to the deictic suffix -k. Probably this suffix was used as a shortening / ellipse structure: Logéb diní at. > Logéb diní ak. > Logéb dinakí. > Logkéb dinakí > Loggéb [dinakí.] > Loggéb diní. If this theory holds true, the suffix denoted at the beginning a definite object and only gradually changed to become a general valence marker. The structure with the direct object being inserted after the subject marker, which is standard nowadays "Loggébin diní." appears roughly at 1500 for the first time and becomes standard within ca. 200 - 300 years. The definite meaning vanishes and is now expressed via the deictic suffixes -ak / -et.

Slot IX / Bóok IX

Locative / temporal

This slot provides information concerning the place where an action takes place and the time. This slot is restricted for adverbs of place, time and frequency. Personal pronouns may be included to indicate a person who is present or at which place the action takes place. This slot is licenced for a secondary stress. It may, however, not be stressed if there is a suffix in the question slot.

Locative endings

case marker	suffix	meaning	translation
-o-	-k-	"the place [near the speaker]"	"here"
-o-	-t-	"the place [near the listener]"	"there"

Examples:

Pepenvénok penéedam. "His letter has been written here."

Stanȁfotlì, šenȁnädù saséen? "Did she stand there when the murder took place?"

Binȁbom, šenȁnädù saséen. "I was with him / at his place when the murder took place."

Binȁbdäälòm, šenȁnädù saséen. "I was yesterday with HIM / at his place, when the murder took place." [Not: Binȁbomdȁäl is a second grammatically option but puts an emphasis on the time rather than on the person, so "I was YESTERDAY with him." [not today or the day before yesterday].

Temporal endings

This clase of endings is much larger than the previous. The proto-language had temporal adverbs that combined tense suffixes with expressions of time [day, year, month, ...] to creat meanings like "tomorrow, yesterday, the day before yesterday, and so on." In the development, this adverbs changed in a manner that gave rise to the the development of suffixes. A few examples will clearify the process:

English	Proto-language	Early form	Early modern form	Modern form	Suffix
today	adelo	adaló	daaló	daal	-daal-
yesterday	ädalo	ädäló	dääló	dääl	-dääl-
next year	oyeló	oyoló	yooló	yool	-yool-

English	standard word	before the last	last	this	next	after the next	some...	regular
moment	timȕül	-tiil-	-tääl-	-taal-	-tool-	-tuul-	-tüül-	-tael-
minute	minúut	-miit-	-määt-	-maat-	-moot-	-muut-	-müüt-	-maet-
hour	dȕüp	-diip-	-dääp-	-daap-	-doop-	-duup-	-düüp-	-daep-
morning	gȍöd	-giid-	-gääd-	-gaad-	-good-	-guud-	-güüd-	-gaed-
midday	tsedéel	-tsiil-	-tsääl-	-tsaal-	-tsool-	-tsuul-	-tsüül-	-tsael-
evening	sóar	-siir-	-säär-	-saar-	-soor-	-suur-	-süür-	-saer-
day	déel	-diil-	-dääl-	-daal-	-dool-	-duul-	-düül-	-dael-
night	néet	-niit-	-näät-	-naat-	-noot-	-nuut-	-nüüt-	-naet-
week	véeg	-viig-	-vääg-	-vaag-	-voog-	-vuug-	-vüüg-	-vaeg-
month	móol	-miil-	-määl-	-maal-	-mool-	-muul-	-müül-	-mael-
spring	florȕüp	-fiip-	-fääp-	-faap-	-foop-	-fuup-	-füüp-	-faep-
summer	hitȕüp	-hiip-	-hääp-	-haap-	-hoop-	-huup-	-hüüp-	-haep-
autumn	flukȕüp	-liip-	-lääp-	-laap-	-loop-	-luup-	-lüüp-	-laep-
winter	nifȕüp	-niip-	-nääp-	-naap-	-noop-	-nuup-	-nüüp-	-naep-
year	yéel	-yiil-	-yääl-	-yaal-	-yool-	-yuul-	-yüül-	-yael-
time / occasion	náad	-niid-	-nääd-	-naad-	-nood-	-nuud-	-nüüd-	-naed-
time [epoque]	tíid	-tiid-	-tääd-	-taad-	-tood-	-tuud-	-tüüd-	-taed-

This inclusion of temporal markers implies that a song title such as "Yesterday" by the Beatles cannot be rendered properly by just stating the suffix -dääl- but rather needs an implementation within a verb: e.g. "šenȁndääl" / "šenȁkädȁäl" / "šenȁtädȁäl" lit. 'it happened yesterday' or "Loggȁbindȁäl." / "Lilgȁbindȁäl." 'I saw / heard it yesterday.'. In consequence, the openess of meaning that lies in the simple mentioning of the word "yesterday" is lost and cannot be rendered in Volapȕük nulíik.

Slot X / Bóok X

Modal particles

These particles give information concerning the likeliness, the degree to which an action is performed and conjunction.

The table gives an overview:

suffix	meaning	example	translation
-le	completely, the whole; not at all [negated]	?	?
-ti	almost	Flaptȁmiftì šitsilí	He almost hit the girl
-tää	then, next	Badikáan líif, deadzóptää	Life is bad, then you die.
-no	yet / not yet [negated]	Nobhukkadébno	I have not yet read the book.
-(g)ee	and	Petéer Páulee	Peter and Paul
-(g)ee ... -(g)ee	both ... and ...	Petéeree Páulee	both Peter and Paul
-(g)uu	or	Petéer Páuluu	Peter or Paul
-(g)uu ... -(g)uu	either ... or ...	Petéeruu Páuluu	either Peter or Paul
-(g)ii	too, also	Petéerii	Peter, too
-ba	maybe, perheps	Möyyufpálembà.	Maybe you can help him.
-fe	in deed, factually	?	?
-le	possibly	?	?
-sä	as if	?	?
-fä	if only	?	?
-bo/-so	little, not much	Nollärnȁbdäälbo.	I did not study much yesterday.
-ni	some	Lärnȁbdäälni.	I did learn something yesterday (not little nor much).
-mö	much	Mittidȁmväägmö	Last week he ate much meat.
-tu	too much	?	?
-mu	extreme	fit grandíikmu	an extrem big fish
-ve	very	váad koldíikve	very cold water
-te	only	kaf balíte	[I take] only one coffee
-sö	consequently, so	kvisinbábel, mövidádd.	I cook for you, so we both can eat [together].
-su	immediately	Robledabsugȍd kođogú gufpabemeegȍd!	Stop playing with the dog immediately and help me!

If more than one suffix will be used, then there is a hierachy of suffixes:

1. completion of action/time information [-ya | -no | -le | -ti | -tää | -sö]

2. emphasis [-te | -ve]

3. likelyhood [-ba | -fe | -la | -sä]

4. degree of quantity [-bo/-so | -ni | -mö | -mu | -tu]

5. conjunction [-(g)uu | -(g)ee | -(g)ii ]

An example of several suffixes:

"Peneddenémyatebà." He might have already written only the letter."

[Pened-[d]en-é-m-ya-te-bà | LETTER-write-perf.-3.sg.anim.masc.-already-only-maybe]

The particle meaning "but" does belong to this category but it varies, according to the dialects:

dialect	suffix	etymology	example
North	-lua / -lwa	< Inuktitut *-(C)aluaq	Viyyufpȁbefluà! But I wanted to help her!
South/East	-bä/-be	< vo. *ab [through methasis and differentiation	Viyyufpȁbefbȁ! / Viyyufpȁbefbè!
West/Central	-xa	< Old Irish *acht	Viyyufpȁbefxà! But I wanted to help her!

Slot XI / Bóok XI

Subordinated clause

This slot includes suffixes that make the whole following phrase a subordinated clauses. The syntax of subordinated and main clauses does not differ, the question if a clause is a main or a subordinated clause is rather marked by the presence or absence of a subordinated clause marker. A subordinated marker may receive a second stress.

suffix	meaning	example	translation
-bi	because	Lüvgóbil löfkábilbì.	I leave you because I love you.
-do	although	Plödiglábs reenánotdò.	We go outside, although it is raining there.
-da	that	Saggábin domimakmémda Markus.	I say that Markus has come from his home.
-ne	without	Lüvém dinonnagémne.	He has left without saying anything.]
-fi	if
-ad	in order to
-(i)bsä	unless

Slot XII / Bóok XII

Question marker

This slot is reserved for question marker. These include the question marker -li and suffixes based on the stem -ky-/-ki- < *ki- for persons, -ks- < *ks- for objects and abstract ideas, -ly-/-li- < *li- for quality and -kl- < *kel- for relative clauses. This last suffix is used manly in written language. In spoken language, the marker for subordinated clauses -da- is combined with the personal, objectional or qualitive suffix to create a relative clause. This slot may receive a second stress if there is no other slot that can take the stress before.

The question marker for yes-no-questions is -li.

Wh-questions [sȁäk kolíiks / ksolíiks / lyolíiks]

Question marker for persons

Question	Basic suffix	Case	Suffix used	Variations [dialect] / Evolution
Who?	-ky-	-o [Nom.]	-kyo	-ko [South/East] / kyo < *kio
Whose?	-ky-	-a [Gen.]	-kya	-ka [South/East] / kya < *kia
[To] Whom?	-ky-	-e [Dat.]	-kye	-ke [South/East] / kye < *kie
Who?	-ky-	-i [Acc.]	-kii	-ki [South/East] / kii < *ki-i
With whom? At whose place?	-ky-	-öp [old loc.]	-kyöp	-köp [South/East] / *ki-öp
As who?	-ky-	-u [Ess.]	-kyu	-ku [South/East] / *ki-u
To who [transforming]?	-ky-	-ü [Transl.] <iw(e)	-kyü	-kü [South/East] / <küü[Western] <*kiw <*kiwe<*ki+we [< we< u+e]
At which time? [precise]	-ky-	-im [time]	-kim	- / kim < kiim [Northern] < *ki+im
When? [general]	-ky-	-üp [time precise]	-kyüp	-küp [South/East] / kyüp < *ki-üp
Because of whom?	-ky-	-ib [reason]	-kib	- / kiib [Western] < *ki-ib]

Question markers for objects / abstract things / non-human living things

Question	Basic suffix	Case	Suffix used	Variations [dialect] / Evolution
What?	-ks-	-o [Nom.]	-kso	ks-o < *ks- < *kis-
Of what?	-ks-	-a [Gen.]	-ksa	ks-a < *ks- < *kis-
[To] What?	-ks-	-e [Dat.]	-kse	ks-e < *ks- < *kis-
What?	-ks-	-i [Acc.]	-ksi	ks-i < *ks- < *kis-
Where?	-ks-	-öp [old loc.]	-ksöp	ks-öp < *ks- < *kis-
As what?	-ks-	-u [Ess.]	-ksu	ks-u <*ks- < *kis-
To what [transforming]?	-ks-	-ü [Transl.] <iw(e)	-ksü	ks-ü *ks- < *kis-
At which time? [precise]	-ks-	-im [time]	-ksim	ks-im < *ks- < *kis-
When? [general]	-ks-	-üp [time precise]	-ksüp	ks-üp < *ks- < *kis-
Why?	-ks-	-ib [reason]	-ksib	ks-ib < *ks- < *kis-

Question marker for Quality

Question	Basic suffix	Case	Suffix used	Variations [dialect] / Evolution
How [is]?	-ly-	-o [Nom.]	-lyo	ly-o < *ly- < *li-
of what type?	-ly-	-a [Gen.]	-lya	ly-a < *ly- < *li-
[To] Which type?	-ly-	-e [Dat.]	-lye	ly-e < *ly- < *li-
How [did one do smth.]?	-ly-	-i [Acc.]	-lii	li-i < *li- + -i
at what kind of place?	-ly-	-öp [old loc.]	-lyöp	ly-öp < *ly- < *li-
As what?	-ly-	-u [Ess.]	-lyu	ly-u < *ly- < *li-
To what [transforming]?	-ly-	-ü [Transl.] <iw(e)	-lyü	ly-ü < *ly- < *li-
At which time? [precise]	-ly-	-im [time]	-liim	li-im < *li- + -ib
When? [general]	-ly-	-üp [time precise]	-lyüp	ly-üp < *ly- < *li-
Why?	-ly-	-ib [reason]	-liib	li-ib < *li- + -ib

The marker for objects and quality are used on nouns to form questions like "which...?" [-ks-] and "what kind of / what type of?" [-ly-/-li-].

Examples:

Readgálinnù bukíksi? [coll. Readgálinnù bukíks?]

READ-val.acc.-pres.-2.sg.-acc.-inam.obj.sg.-now | BOOK-acc.-qm.ob.-acc.

"Which book are you reading?"

Short question: "Readgálinnuksì?"

Readgálinnù bukílii? [coll. Readgálinnù bukíli?]

READ-val.acc.-pres.-2.sg.-acc.-inam.obj.sg.-now | BOOK-acc.-qm.qu.-acc.

"What kind of book are you reading?"

Short question: "Readgálinnulìi?"

The last group of question markers is to some degree special, as they came out of active usage about 500 years ago. However, they belong to the literal language and are there expected to be used. The spoken language [colloquial and formal] does create relative sentences differently. Instead of employing a relative sentence marker, this language variations combine a quotationmarker "-da-" [receives secondary stress] and one of the question markers [person, object or quality] to create relative sentences. Examples:

Yesterday I bought the book that I like [the book that pleases me].

"Remgȁbindȁäl bukí plidbánebklò." (Literal language) "Rem-g-ȁ-b-i-n-dȁäl buk-í plid-b-á-n-e-b-klò." BUY-val.acc.-pret.-1.sg.-acc.-inam.obj.sg.-yesterday | BOOK-acc. | LIKE-val.dat.-pres.-inam.obj.sg.-dat.-1.sg.-rlm.-nom.

"Rem-g-ȁ-b-i-n-dȁäl buk-í plid-b-á-n-e-b-dà-kso BUY-val.acc.-pret.-1.sg.-acc.-inam.obj.sg.-yesterday | BOOK-acc. | LIKE-val.dat.-pres.-inam.obj.-sg-dat.-1sg.-quot.-qm.obj.-nom.

The Relative clause markers [used in literary language only]

Question	Basic suffix	Case	Suffix used	Variations [dialect] / Evolution
which?	-kl-	-o [Nom.]	-klo	kl-o < *kl- < *kel-
Of which?	-kl-	-a [Gen.]	-kla	ks-a < *kl- < *kel-
[To] which?	-kl-	-e [Dat.]	-kle	ks-e < *kl- < *kel-
which?	-kl-	-i [Acc.]	-ksi	kl-i < *kl- < *kel-
where?	-kl-	-öp [old loc.]	-klöp	kl-öp < *kl- < *kel-
As which?	-kl-	-u [Ess.]	-klu	ks-u < *kl- < *kel-
To which [transforming]?	-kl-	-ü [Transl.] <iw(e)	-klü	kl-ü *kl- < *kel-
At which time? [precise]	-kl-	-im [time]	-klim	kl-im < *kl- < *kel-
When? [general]	-kl-	-üp [time precise]	-klüp	kl-üp < *kl- < *kel-
Why?	-kl-	-ib [reason]	-klib	ks-ib *kl- < *kel-

Mood

The category of mood encompasses suffixes of different categories. One group are clearly mood suffixes, as imperative [-öd], respectful request [-ös] and subjunctive [-la] but also the infinitiv [-ön] and the gerundium / participle suffixe [-öl] is located in this slot. Since sentences can be either questions or requests or infinitivs / participle, all suffixes in this category are mutally exclusive, thus in this category only one suffix is allowed. These suffixes are stressed by default and take the main accent. Therefore, all infinitives, participles and so on are stresst on the last syllable.

Reflexivity/Reciprocity

Reflexivity describes a linguistic concept in which the agent of and action and patient / receiver of an action are identical. Many language use specific pronouns to express reflexivity. Volapűük nulíik does not have a specific set of pronouns for this purpos but expresses this concept by repeating the subject pronoun suffix in the object position:

"Lavám."

LAV-á-m

WASH-pres.-3.sg.anim.masc.

He washes.

"Lavgámin."

LAV-g-á-m-i-n

WASH-val.acc.-pres.-3.sg.anim.masc.-acc.-3.sg.inam.

He washes it.

"Lavgámip."

LAV-g-á-m-i-p

WASH-val.acc.-pres.-3.sg.anim.masc.-acc.-3.sg.anim.neutr.

He washes them [singular].

"Lavgámif."

LAV-g-á-m-i-f

WASH-val.acc.-pres.-3.sg.anim.masc.-acc.-3.sg.anim.fem.

He washes her.

"Lavgámim."

LAV-g-á-m-i-m

WASH-val.acc.-pres.-3.sg.anim.masc.-acc.-3.sg.anim.masc.

He washes himself.

If the person mentioned washes another person of the same gender, the deictic pronoun -t is used:

"Lavgámit."

LAV-g-á-m-i-t

WASH-val.acc.-pres.-3.sg.anim.masc.-acc.-3.sg.deic.dist.

"He washes him."

In singular contexts, this procedure is not complicated or causes much problems. In dual or plural contexts, however, more possible constellations are possible and theirfore require a different approach.

1) Each member of group is doing something to themself.

If a group of two, three or more members is undergoing the process of washing and the recipient is identical to the agent, then the doer is in the dual / plural and the recipient is singular:

"Lavgápsip."

LAV-g-á-ps-i-p

WASH-val.acc.-pres.-3.pl.anim.neutr.-acc.-3.sg.anim.neutr.

"They wash themselves." [each one individually]

"Lavgáptip."

LAV-g-á-pt-i-p

WASH-val.acc.-pres.-3.du.anim.neutr.-acc.-3.sg.anim.neutr.

"They two wash themselves." [each one individually]

2) Within a group of three or more members, one member is the patient / receiver and all other members are doing the work. In this case the deictic closeness pronoun is used:

"Lavgápsik."

LAV-g-á-pt-i-k

WASH-val.acc.-pres.-3.pl.anim.neutr.-acc.-3.sg.deict.clos.

"They wash him." [He is a member of the group].

3) Within a group of three or more people, each member is washing every other member. This case is considered a case of reflexivity and thus expressed via repetition of the plural subject marker:

"Lavgápsips."

LAV-g-á-pt-i-ps

WASH-val.acc.-pres.-3.pl.anim.neutr.-acc.-3.pl.anim.neutr.

"They wash themselves." [every member every other member]

Co-verb suffixes

Supposedly upon Inuktitut influence there has been a development of suffixes which were derived from basic verbs and attached to nouns. When attached to nouns, they lengthen the last consonant of the noun / noun phase and by this are seperated from similar derivational suffixes. These new suffixes turned the whole structure into verbs which can be conjugated the same any other verb can be. These verbs encompass verbs of perception (logön, lilön, smelön), basic human activities (drinön, fidön. Most of the nouns they are attached to function as the object of the action and thus are considered accusative objects. In contrast to accusative objects which are used independently, they do not change the case to genitive in a negated sentence nor do they receive any pronominal conjuncture after the subject phrase. Due to phonological restraints (a syllable initial consonant cluster may not involve a long consonant), these suffixes can only be placed after a singular stem. This means that nouns in plural or dual are not licensed for suffixation.

Examples:

suffix	etymology	meaning	example sentence
-Cind	*-rind < *drinön	to drink	Vattindáb niwäreté. vat-TIND-á-b 'I drink water out of a glass.'
-Cid	*fidön	to eat	Nommittidábnèe. no-mit-TID-á-b-nèe 'I never eat meat.'
-Cet	*getön	to receive	Florretáabeldȍl. flor-RET-á-b-e-l-dȍl 'I receive flowers from you every day.'
-Civ	*givön	to give	Bukkivbábel. Buk-KIV-á-b-e-l. 'I give you the book.'
-Cum	*sumön	to take	Florruméföv. Flor-RUM-é-f-öv. 'She would have taken a flower.'
-Cok	*sokön < sukön	to look for	Kikabbokábnu. 'I am looking for my key.'
-Cuv	*tuvön	to find sth.	Kikabbuvébnu. 'I have found just my key.'
-Civ	*rivön	to reach	Nisulliváb. nisul-LIV-á-b 'I reach the island.'
-Cog	*logön	to see	Dogallogáboknùu. dog-al-LOG-á-b-o-k-nùu 'I am seeing your dog here.
-Cil	*lilön	to hear	Kagatodrennilȁbiktȍd. ka-gat-o-dren-NIL-ȁ-b-i-k-tȍd 'I could hitherto hear your cat weep the whole time.'
-Cem	*smelön	to smell	Pligafonnullemáabii. pli(d)-gaf-o-nul(ik)-LEM-áa-b-ii. 'I always like smelling fresh coffee [new coffee].'
-Cuk	*-tuq < Inuktitut	to make [food]	Plibitsakkukáabeldȍl. pli(d)-bitsak-KUK-áa-b-e-l-dȍl. 'I like making pizza for you every day.'
-Cek	*meekön	to make [non-food]	Tooddekémš. tood-DEK-é-mš. 'The men have made a car.' [coll.]
-Ced	*nedön	to need [sth.]	Nünömmedálksüp? nünüm-MED-á-l-ksüp 'Why do you need a computer?'
-Cof	*yofön	to enjoy	Pennofpábef motéba. pen-NOF-p-á-b-e-f 'I enjoy writing my mother.'
-Cen	*penön	to write	Peneddenáb. pened-DEN-á-b 'I write a letter.'
-Cad	*readön	to read	Peneddadáb. pened-DAD-á-b 'I read a letter.'
-Cif	*tifön	to steal	Kaparabbifél. kapar-ab-BIF-é-l 'You have stolen my goat.'
-Cin	*binön	to exist	Dawatakkináan niđärsätó. 'There is water in the dessert.' Niđärsätokkináan dawatá. 'In the desert, there is water.'
-Cüt	*mütön	to cause to do [by force]	Penedakkennütpépsem. 'They have forced him to write this letter.'
-Cun	*flunön	to influence s.o.	Penedakkennunbépsem. 'They have influenced him to write this letter.'
-Cag	*sagön	to say, to tell	Konottagbémeb. 'He has told me a story.

-Cüt / -Cun are also used to create causatives in Volap'üük nulíik.

Verbs of motion can also combine with placenames to indicate a motion to or from a certain place. These co-verb suffixes do take either the accusative (-i-) for a movement directed to the place or the dative (-e-) case for movement from this place. The Northern dialect will use the ablative (-ä-) here.

suffix	etymology	meaning	example sentence
-gl-	*gol-	to go	Merikiglób! 'I'll go to America!'
-km-	*köm-	to come	Domilakmél nüdzälülúu. 'You came from [your] home to the party.'
-rg-	*rig-	to originate	Helsinkikergáaf. 'She is from Helsinki.' [the generic present is used, since it is an unchangeable fact.]
-sl-	*solu-	to die [in a place]	Moskovisléf. 'She has died in Moscow. [the original meaning 'to dissolve' was used as a metaphore of a soul that loses its connection to the material world when a a person dies. Since the original meaning implies a directional movement (dissolve into something), the placename appears in the accusative case.]
-bl-	*ble-	to stay	domoblársöd! Stay at home!

Another category of co-verb suffixes are directional and local suffixes. These suffixes are different to the ones mentioned before for two reasons:

1. they convey spatial / directional meanings;

2. they do not combine with the last consonant by lenghtening it.

3. their vowels differ depending if a local reference is meant (-o- / locative), a direction (-i- / accusative [directive]) or the original of a movement (-e- [-ä- in the northern dialect] / dative / exlative.

They lengthen the vowel of the verbal stem.

a)

Compass points:

meaning	direction	suffix	example sentence
north	nol	-nVl-	Goolnilémz. 'The men have gone north.'
south	sul	-sVl-	Düvlorfüpó fliitseláapsayàel sóals. 'Each year, the swallows come from the south in spring.'
west	ves	-vVs-	Goolvisös! 'Go west!'
east	lof	-lVf- [-lVs- south/east]	Püükneeflofsáapš. 'They speak slowly in the east."

Spatial elements can also be included:

meaning	direction	suffix	example sentence
above	löp-	-lVp-	Köömlepáp räníid. 'A spider is coming from above.'
down	don-	-dVn-	Siindinzȁn Atlantíis nimmelí. 'Atlantis sank in the sea [downwards].'
front	föf-	-fVf-	Faanbetkȁmib tiirfifkȁmibee. 'He caught me from right behind and pulled me to the front.
behind	bäk-	-bVk-	Goolbikarsös probyed đegú. 'Go back ten feet.'
side	[f]lan- / sim-	-lVn- / -sVm-	Mogoollinȁp kráab. 'The crab went away sideways.'
inside	nin-	-nVn-	Köömninös! 'Please, come in!'
outside	(p)löd-	-lVd	Sliiplodáap dóog. 'The dog sleeps outside.'
right	det-	-đVt-	Gooldetáam himatáanif. 'Her husband always walks on the right side. [the weaker side;= he has no power at home.]
left	ned-	-nyVd-	"Ghooldetaalnaagöd, goolnedaalaagöd, o zóonab!" 'Never walk on the right side, always walk on the left side, my son!" [Try to be a strong man at your own home]

On the basis of this system of suffixes new suffixes have been created. They combine one element of a position and one element of the suffixes for "right" or left":

basic suffix	first part	right / left	example	translation
-lVp-	-l-	-d[et]-	-lVđ-	above, right side
-lVp-	-l-	-n[ed]-	-lVny-	above, left side
-dVn-	-d-	-d[et]-	-dVđ-	-underneath, right side
-dVn-	-d-	-n[ed]-	-dVny-	-underneath, left side
-fVf-	-f-	-d[et]-	-fVđ-	-front, right side
-fVf-	-f-	-n[ed]-	-fVny-	-front, left side
-bVk-	-b-	-d[et]-	-bVđ-	-behind, right side
-bVk-	-b-	-n[ed]-	-bVny-	-behind, left side

Syntax

The word order of a neutral phrase is V-S-O. This applies to main and dependend clauses. Questions follow the same pattern, with the question word attached to the main verb. If the subject of a question is another noun than a pronoun, the verbal phrase still has a filler pronoun without specific meaning.

Loggéfim maní. "She has seen a man."

Loggéfimlì maní? "Has she seen a man?"

Loggéfim vóom maní. "The woman has seen a man."

Loggéfimlì vóom maní? "Has the woman seen a man?

Noun phrase

A noun phrase consists at least of a noun or a pronoun. The noun itself may contain the following parts: the noun itself, determiners, case suffixes, numeral suffixes, posessive suffixes and modal suffixes. Examples:

Pronoun:

'Oob'

nom.-1.sg.

"I"

"Iilmz"

acc.-2.sg./3.pl.masc.

"You [plural]"

Nouns:

"dóom"

HOUSEnom.

"house"

"niđomósamt"

"in-HOUS-loc.-pl.-gen.-3.sg.masc.-dual"

"in their houses / in the houses of the two men"

A Nounphrase can be expanded with noun-verbs, numbers and possessors.

The sequence general sequence is "possessor [gen.] - NOUN - noun-verb - number". The noun phrase in the proto-language was put together of several elements that shared the same endings:

"nigadzóba nismaliksóba nilulóba."

in-GARDEN-pl.-loc.-1.sg.-gen. | in-SMALL-pl.-loc.-1.sg.-gen. | in-FIVE-loc.-1.sg.-gen.

"in my five gardens"

The second step in the development was that repetition of marks was reduced and, among other things, the lenition started to develop:

"nigadzó nizmaliksó nilulóba." [loss of possessive suffixe on the noun and verbal-noun phrase]

"nigadzó zmaliksó nlulóba." [loss and reduction of prefix on the adjective and numeral]

"nighadó zmalikó lluló[z]ba." [loss of plural marker on the noun and noun-verb; addition of the plural marker to the numeral]

"nighadó zmalike llulózba." [reduction of the locative suffix on the noun-verb. The remaining vowel serves to facilitate prononciation. Only beginning and end are marked for case.]

"nighade zmalike lluló[z]ba." [reduction of the locative suffix on the noun. Plural suffix on numerals becomes optional.]

"nighad[e] zmalik[e] llulóba." [plural marker on numerals disappears. the loss of the reduced further locative suffix beginns. The middle elements are the first to lose their end-vowels completely.]

"nighad[e] zmalik lulóba." [the reduced vowel(s) of the middle elements is completed. The lenition process is partly reduced, especially for liquids and nasals [not for dialects that replace /m/ : /w/]

"nighad zmalig lulóba." [loss of the reduced vowel on the noun, which is partly retained, especiall in southern dialects. Voiceless consonants in the ending of nouns and noun-verbs become voiced.]

Example texts

Examples of translations:

"If I had a flower for every time I think of you, I could walk forever in my garden." - Claudia A. Grandi

Translation:

"Florretáabaafì tikábilbalbì, nesimlikánöv gáadba."

Florretáabaafì	tikábilbalbì	nesimlikánöv	gáadba.
Flor-ret-áa-b-aa-fì	tik-á-b-i-l-bal-bì	ne-sim-lik-á-n-öv	gáad-ba.
FLOWER-receive-pres.gen.-1.sg.-always-if	THINK-pres.-1.sg.-acc.-2.sg.-one.time-because	[neg.-BORDER-adj.]verb.copula-pres.-3.sg.obj.-cond.	GARDEN-1.sg.gen.

Literally: "If I always get a flower because I think of you one time, my garden would be endless."

"He who hesitates is lost."

"Tsogáapaabì flotáapaa nivlumedó."

Tsogáapaabì	flotáapaa	nivlumedó.
Tsog-áa-p-aa-bì	flot-áa-p-aa	ni-vlumed-ó.
HESITATE-pres.gen.-3.sg.f./m.-always-because	FLOAT-pres.gen.-3.sg.f./m.-always	IN-RIVER-loc.

Literally: "Since he/she always hesitates he/she always floats in a river."

"I love pizza."

"Pitsakkiddofáab."

Pitsakkiddofáab.

Pitsak-kid-dof-áa-b.

Pitsak-Cid-Cof-áa-b.

PIZZA-eat.v-enjoy.v-pres.gen.-1.sg.

Literally: "I enjoy eating pizza."

"My heart is empty, I feel it."

Translations:

Senäláb vagälikánda láadba. literally: "I feel that my heart is empty." [Very modern styled and more common among younger people]

Vagälikán láadba. Senäláneb. literally: "My heart is empty. It feels to me." [traditional]

Nesenällabán láadba, senäláneb. literally: "My heart is without emotions. It feels to me." [very traditional and stylistically on a high level.]

"Sunlight takes about eight minutes and twenty seconds to reach Earth."

Translation:

"Bináans minúut šölza sekúun telđegee kontagáanadla solalíit talá suzürfatí."

Bin-áa-n-s	minúut	šöl-za	sekúun	telđeg-ee	kontag-áa-n-ad-la	sola-líit	tal-á	su-zürfat-í
BE-pres.gen.-3.sg.obj.-pl.	MINUTE	EIGHT-about	SECOND	TWENTY-and	TOUCH-pres.gen.-3.sg.obj.-fin.-subj.	SUN-LIGHT	EARTH-gen.	on-SURFACE-acc.

Greetings

Daily greetings

"Gudikáperös / Gudikápelös Múun." -> Good day. [literally: May the God of time be good to you.]

"Slippudólös / Slippudórös dunneetú." -> Good night. [literally: May you sleep good during the night.]

"Gudikónös déella." -> Good morning. [literally: May your day be good.]

Informal greeting:

"Dazauná éel / éelt / éels / éelš" [Hello] "Saun éel / éelt / éelš" [Youth talk / colloquially]

Welcoming someone:

"Gudikékelà nikömelen!" [lit. May your having come in be good]

Thankfulness

Showing one's thankfulness is an important value in the society of Volapükáan. Therefore, there is not only one translation for "thank you" but several, depending on the person to thank, the person(s) who receive the thank and finally the circumstances.

1. Circumstances

There are three main verbs which translate as "to thank":

danön - to thank [generally]

danilön - to thank a little [a small favour done]

ledanön - to thank [a big favour done / saving someone's life].

2. Basic structure

The verb "danön" and its derivations all follow the following pattern:

subject - person who says 'thank you'

accusative - thing / action that is thanked for

dative - person who receives the 'thank you'.

3. Persons

The subject is generally a first person, thus a first person suffix will be used. However, since Volapüük nulíik diferentiates very explicitly between singular, dual, plural, exclusive and inclusive forms, there are in total 19 different suffixes which can be placed in this positon.

Birthday wish

Full wish:

"Vipábanel Motedadät läbliká."

Vip-á-b-a-n-e-l	Moted-a-dät	läb-lik-á
WISH-pres.-1.sg.-gen.-3.sg.obj.-dat.-2.sg.inf.	BIRTH-gen.-DATEabs.	HAPPINESS-adj.-gen.

Of course, in spoken language the word is very often omitted and thus only "Motedadät läbliká" is used as a with for one's birthday. If a full wish wants to be said, it is important to remember, which person(s) receive the wish. The literal translation motedadéel refers only to the day of birth, so the day when a baby is born. After that a human being (or pet) can only have "motedadȁät".