O Fat Obas: the Our Father in Volapük

The Our Father or Lord's Prayer

1880 Schleyer Volapük	1930 de Jong Volapük
O Fat obas, kel binol in süls,	O Fat obas, kel binol in süls!
paisaludomöz nem ola!	Nem olik pasalüdükonöd!
Kömomöd monargän ola!	Regän ola kömonöd!
Jenomöz vil olik, äs in sül, i su tal!	Vil olik jenonöd, äsä in sül, i su tal!
Bodi obsik vädeliki givolös obes adelo!	Givolös obes adelo bodi aldelik obsik!
E pardolös obes debis obsik,	E pardolös obes döbotis obsik,
äs id obs aipardobs debeles obas.	äsä i obs pardobs utanes, kels edöbons kol obs.
E no obis nindukolös in tendadi;	E no blufodolös obis,
sod aidalivolös obis de bad.	ab livükolös obis de bad!
	(Ibä dutons lü ol regän, e nämäd e glor jü ün laidüp.)
Jenosöd!	So binosös!

Most speakers of Volapük these days use the 1930s version, Volapük Nulik. I happen to like Volapük Rigik, though I'd like for it to become simpler through usage--- dropping unneeded rules and forms. Of course Volapük's main use is to comfort Esperantists having difficulties with their chosen international language--- it could be worse, you could be learning Volapük! But it also could have literary uses, like Tolkien's Elvish, or the Klingon language of Star Trek. Volapük may be based on English, but it sure looks alien!

Working with 'simplified Volapük'

I am thinking of making a Facebook page for my 'simplified Volapük'. Though it's not as if I didn't have enough Facebook pages already to tend.

I sincerely doubt the page will get much following. There is not much interest in Volapük, and what I have been able to find is very much in favor of the de Jong 'reformed' Volapük. The problem with the 'reform' is that the language remains highly complicated to learn.

My idea is to use the vocabulary from original Volapük and add language-simplification details from Esperanto and Ido to come up with a Volapük-based IAL which is more-or-less as easy to learn as Esperanto/Ido but has the Volapük look to it.

I want a name for the language that has 'Volapük' in it. Volapükil? Volapüket? Both the endings are diminutives according to my Volapük book. Probably the first. I shall post the new Volapük/Volapükil page's link here once I create it.

Facebook Page for Amerysk Conlang (and others)

Recently I started a Facebook page and a blog for Amerysk, a 1978 conlang I discovered through my friend Oak (the ORIGINAL Oak). I thought I'd share the experience for those doing likewise for their own favorite conlangs. (Doing likewise=starting Facebook page, not hanging out with the Original Oak.)

The first thing I did after starting Amerysk - A Lost Language (Facebook page) is that I clicked the little thingy in the upper right side of the screen and selected to use Facebook as Amerysk - A Lost Language.

Then I started looking for pages to like as Amerysk. I picked out pages dedicated to other conlangs and auxlangs. I got a lot for Esperanto and Volapük, a couple from Interlingua and then searched 'conlang'. I got a couple of pages people put up for their conlangs who wisely put '(conlang)' as part of their page title.

I might have done likewise but for one reason. The creator of Amerysk was a follower of the Asatru (Odinist, Norse Pagan) religion --- as was Oak, who provided me with the original Amerysk booklet. I figured the Asatru community was a natural place to find those interested in Amerysk, and they probably wouldn't be familiar with the word 'conlang'--- though I did use that in the official description of the page.

I did a lot of 'liking' of Asatru and related pages as well. The reason is that when you are using Facebook as your page, anything you 'like' is credited to your page and not to your Facebook account. When you 'like' some lonely conlang page without thousands of previous 'likes', they will notice, perhaps visit your page.

In addition, you'll develop a Facebook feed for your page--- when you are using Facebook as your page--- that is targeted toward the kind of sites that might be interested in your page. You can comment on interesting posts (thoughtfully) and some other folks may get to know you.

You could also like pages that are not directly related to your conlang, but don't be spammy about it, and certainly don't pick hot-topic pages like those for celebrities. Perhaps a selected page or two for some topic you find of interest. (I may 'like' my favorite Doctor Who page--- it's a sci-fi television series--- since the folks that comment on that page seem the type to like 'lost languages' and the like.)

I should add that those Facebook pages that are based on Wikipedia articles are no good--- they don't make posts or anything, so there is no one there to notice that you liked them.

Another essential thing is to add your conlang blog to Networked Blogs. Once you do, you can add a syndication of your page to your Facebook page--- so your blog posts will all be published on your conlang's Facebook page. (You can also have it publish to your main Facebook page--- the one under your name.)

I hope this information will prove useful to other conlangers thinking of starting a Facebook page. Once you do, be sure and go to my Amerysk page and like it, and post a link to YOUR page on my wall so I can like you right back.

sish, vel, shol

sish = 6
vel = 7
shol = 8
zul = 9
deg = 10

EN: In original Volapük the number for 10 was 'bals' --- adding the plural ending to the word 'bal'. Balapuk doesn't have any plural ending, so I adopted the 'deg' from revised Volapük.

EO: En malnova Volapuk 'dek' estas 'bals' --- 'bal' kaj la plurala 's'. Balapuk ne havas pluralo. 'Deg' devenas el nova Volapük.

DE: In alte Volapük 'bals' bedeutet 'zehn'. Der 's' is die Volapükische Mehrzahl. Balapuk hat keine Mehrzahl. So benutze ich das Wort 'deg' aus neue Volapük.

kil e kil binij sish = 3+3=6
fol e fol binij shol = 4+4=8
lul e tel binij vel = 5+2=7
zul e bal binij lul e lul 9+1=5+5

tsal deg e tsalosh shol = ten kings and eight queens/dek reghoj kaj ok reghinoj/zehn Könige und acht Königinnen
tsal e tsaletosh fol e tsalet bal = the king and four princesses and one prince/la regho kaj kvar reghidinoj kaj unu reghido/Der König und vier Prinzessinnen und ein Prinz

Why doesn't Balapuk have a plural? Just because nouns in English add a plural marker (usually 's') doesn't mean that happens in all languages. Some Asian languages don't and that's why an Asian person, speaking English, might say 'Nissa has a lot of cat.' instead of 'Nissa has a lot of cats.'


And besides, I just thought it would be fun to build a language without a plural marker.

bal, tel, kil.....

Today our 'word of the day' is five words--- the first 5 numbers. All of these numbers are taken directly from Volapük. Where Fr. Schleyer* got them from I don't have any idea.....

We also have the verb 'to be' = binij. The verb ending is -ij, which is pronounced like the 'ee' in feet.


bal = 1
tel = 2
kil = 3
fol = 4
lul = 5

bal e bal binij tel = 1+1=2
tel e kil binij lul = 2+3=5
tel e tel binij fol = 2+2=4
fol e bal binij lul = 4+1=5
tel e bal binij kil = 2+1=3

kat bal e katet lul = one cat and five kittens/unu kato kaj kvin katidoj/Eine Katze und fünf Kätzchen
rat fol e katet fol = four rats and four kittens/kvar ratoj kaj kvar katidoj/vier Ratten und vier Kätzchen

*Father Johann Martin Schleyer was the creator of Volapük.

ratetop

ratetop
EN: rat nest, lit. 'baby rat place'.
EO: rata nesto, 'ratidejo'
DE: Ratte-Nest 'Platz für junge Ratten'

EN: Today's Balapuk word is a constructed word using two of the word-building prefixes. Similar words can be constructed to indicated the nesting or whelping areas of different animals. For example, 'katetop' is the place where my cat had her kittens. A cat will only rarely choose a 'katetop' that her person wants her to use for a 'katetop'.

EO: La hodiawa Balapuka vorto estas kunmetita vorto, kiu uzas du afiksoj. Oni povas konstrui similaj vortoj por la nesto aw ido-loko por bestoj. Ekzemple, 'katetop' estas la loko por mia kato kaj shiajn katidojn.


DE: Die heutige Balapuk-Wort ist ein Wort gebaut mit zwei der Präfixe. Ähnliche Wörter kann man machen, für Nesten von viele Vögel und Tiere. 'Katetop' ist der Platz, wo die Katze und ihre 'Kinder' leben.

-op
EN: suffix that indicates places, like Esperanto -ejo or Volapük -öp, which is from the VO word 'top' which means 'place' (from EN 'topography' I presume.)
EO: sufikso kiel '-ejo'. Devenas el 'top' = loko, ejo.
DE: Suffix für Ort oder Platz, wie Esperanto -ejo. Es kommt aus das Wort 'top' = Ort, Platz.

kat e katet in katetop, rat e ratet in ratetop

rat
EN: rat
EO: rato
DE: Ratte
VO: rat
KO: 쥐 (jwi)
JA: ネズミ (nezumi)
ZH: 大鼠 (dà shǔ)

top
EN: place, location
EO: loko, ejo
DE: Ort, Platz
KO: 장소 (jangso)
JA: 場所 (basho)
ZH: 位置 (wèizhì)

in
EN: in
EO: en
DE: in
VO: in
KO: 에 (e)
JA: で (de)
ZH: 在 (zài)

e
EN: and
EO: kaj
DE: und
VO: e
KO: 및 (mich)
JA: と (to)
ZH: 和 (hé)

Balapuk Word of the Day: katet

katet

EN: English = kitten
EO: Esperanto = katido
DE: Deutsch = Kätzchen
VO: Volapük = katil, katül
KO: 한국어 = 새끼 고양이 (saekki goyangi)
JA: 日本語 = 子ネコ (ko neko)
ZH: 简体中文版 = 小猫 (xiǎomāo)

kat

EN: English = cat
EO: Esperanto = kato
DE: Deutsch = Katze
VO: Volapük = kat
KO: 한국어 = 고양이 (goyangi)
JA: 日本語 = 猫 (neko)
ZH: 简体中文版 = 猫 (māo)

kat e katet, katet e kat = kato kaj katido, katido kaj kato

katet Yeonyi

I really love kittens. So I urgently need a word for kitten in Balapuk. I also have included the word for cat so one can compare.

Looking up the Asian languages I've learned some interesting things. I found the Japanese word for kitten using BabelFish. As always, I double-checked by cut-and-pasting the Japanese word into BabelFish to translate it back to English. The result was 'child cat'. And did you notice that the Chinese for cat is 'Mao'? Poor kitties!

Coming soon in Word of the Day--- a word that means both 'chopstick' and 'fork'. And numbers! And eventually verbs--- but not irregular verbs. (Balapuk verbs all use Metamucil.)

For translation I use:
BabelFish
Traduku for Esperanto
Hong's Hangul Conversion Tools for Korean transliteration
Romanji Translator for Japanese transliteration
Chinese to English Conversion for Chinese translation and transliteration