Volapűük nulíik

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 (¨ ̏ ´ `). Long vowels are written with two graphemes. Names of persons, places, countries, companies are written with a capital letter.

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":

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-än-á-m-s.

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

"We are twenty men."

Nouns

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

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

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 thirty 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.

Prefixes

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

Determiners

Modal particles

Verbs

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.]

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.