Buchanan's Journal of Man, August 1887: Volume 1, Number 7
Religion
Buchanan's Journal of Man, August 1887: Volume 1, Number 7
Medicine -- Periodicals; Phrenology -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
The verbs in Volapük are all regular, and there is only one
conjunction. The tenses are denoted by the vowels a, ä, e, i, o, u,
placed before the verbs. When these vowels are preceded by p, it shows
that the verb is in the passive voice. The personal pronouns are:
_ob_, I; _ol_, thou; _om_, he; _of_, she; _os_, it; _ok_, one's self.
S added makes the plurals. _Löf_, meaning love, _löfób_, means I love;
_löfól_, thou lovest, etc.; _älöfób_, I loved; _ilöfóm_, he had loved;
_ulöfós_, it will have loved, etc.; _palöfóms_, they are loved;
_pulöfófs_, they will have been loved, etc. As it is only necessary to
remember the few particulars named, all conjugation may be acquired in
five minutes.
Enough has been given--and there is very little more of it--to show
the extreme simplicity of the Volapük grammar. It can be learned in an
hour, and, as the variations of the nouns and verbs are indicated by
the vowels taken in their regular order, they are not easily
forgotten. The principal labor necessary to acquire the language
consists, therefore, in memorizing the vocabulary. Since more than
one-half the roots are English, a person speaking that language can
naturally acquire the new one in less than one-half the time required
for any foreign language, and the better knowledge he has of Latin,
French and Spanish, the faster will be his progress.
After Father Schleyer published his first book, in 1881, he was soon
able to interest a few persons in Germany in Volapük. It next got a
foothold in Switzerland, and then in Paris. English linguists are just
beginning to give attention to it, the only publication in English
until very recently having been a bad adaptation of an abridged
grammar. But on the Continent it has gained in popularity very rapidly
during the last two or three years, so that there are now at least ten
thousand persons who are familiar with and use it. More than three
hundred and fifty have received diplomas as adepts. There are eight
monthly periodicals printed wholly in Volapük, or partly in Volapük
and partly in other languages.
In the United States not more than twenty persons have studied
Volapük, and only about half a dozen can read and write it. Mr.
Charles E. Sprague, of New York, who holds the diploma of
Volapükatidel, reads and writes it with ease, and to him I am under
obligations for assistance in preparing this article. There are no
Volapükese clubs or periodicals published in the language or in its
interest either in this country or in England. A large number of books
in Volapük, or about it, have appeared in Germany, including grammars
in eighteen languages, a German-Volapük dictionary containing twelve
thousand words, a biography of the inventor, Father Schleyer,
pamphlets, etc.
PROGRESS OF THE MARVELLOUS.
Mrs. L. C. Moulton, London correspondent of the _Boston Herald_, sends
the following, published July 17:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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