Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-02-17
F0LAPUK.
ProEreBs OF the Universal LApKuaSs
Throughout the world.
Frank Leslls's NeEspaper


| Frank Leslle's Newspaper
A great deal is heard of loIspuk In
these days, and there are some excellent
! people who seem to believe thAt in Vols
puk We have universal language adapted
to literature IS well IS to common use. II
may be that Volspuk has 9 use as 8 COM
| mercisl language, but We do not think
that msyed stulS subin tikas slegsloms
de Milton, or the majesty OF the ctyle
aud the elevation Of the thoughts
OF Milton, could be as impress
siVe in Volapuk. Neither would 1t
be easy for poet to express the tender
sentiment in language which looks aud
sounds very much like the Chinook
lRrgon invented as means Of communi-
cation between the Hudson Bay Com
psny's men, the trappers and the Indians
OF the Pacific Northwest. That, indeed,
WAS q sort of universal language COM
pounded Of English, French, possibly
Russian and the Siwssh dialect, and
sound not unlike the language or the
Chinese, by whom 1t WAS quickly under
stood. But Volspuk is something far
more pretentious, aud 1t is necessary to
record 9 remarkable increase in the
number OF Its users. Although the
system was not published until 1879 by
Its inventor, German Roman Catholic
priest, the Rev. Father Johann Martin
Schleyer Of Constance, Baden, yet there
are now over 20, 600 VINO are speaking or
studying Volspuk in Austria and Ger
many alone, and 1t is esti-
mated that there are over 10O, 600 IN the
world. There are more than 100 Volspuk
societies, and ten Volspuk magazines ara
nOhliahpH In uarfOna
the recent Munich congress . lady from
Ssn Francisco was the sole American
representative, although Mr.. Charles
(. Sprsgue was appointed the
American member of q committee 70
supervise the spread Of the language,
which In this country has been as vet
studied by not over thirty persons.
Nevertheless, interest IN the subject is
rapidly increasing, and 1t seems possible
to demonstrate the superiority OF Vola-
puk as means OF ready commercial
communication over other universal
systems" like the ineomprehensiole
''AluSto," devised by the late Stephen
Pearl Andrews, or the oVer-eIaborate
''PAsi-lingua," invented by Herr
Steiner, one of the imitators
OF Schleyer. Herr Schleyer reasoned
that the whole world could not be persu-
AIDED to adopt any one Language now In
use, and yet mastery of q very small pro-
portion OF al spoken languages is impos-
sible. he argued that there was need of
! simplifed language containing as few
words as possible, absolutely regular In
ts construction, and using the best
words to be found in the four or five Ian
5uages in common use in Europe. His
dictionary contains IL, 0Gs words. The
grammar Is remarkably simple, contains
10 artificial genders, a single coRiugation,
Ind no Irregular verbs. The
method OF derivation is alEsys the
same, as the adjective, verb, and sdyerb
IRE regularly formed from the substan-
i've snd have invariably the same ter
nination. He took dictionary and
translated the common words into Vola-
'uk, using the best words to be found in
english, German, French and Spanish.
For house bis word is dom, and the de-
tensions are dom, the house, dome, to
he house, domi, by the house. This is
he declension Of every noun in Volspuk.
'lurals are always formed by adding 8.
The prefix ''of" expresses the feminine
ender. The verbs generally have q sub
tsntive for their root, ana their sopiugs-
lon Is regular and easy. The adjective Is
ormed by adding "ik" to the eubstsn-
I've. We are told that the Yolapuk gram
1ar contains only sixteen pages of Isrge
ype, and the language ran be learned
efficiently for the writing of business
stters within month. 1t is in business
hat Volapuk is expected to prove Its
sefuiness. To-day corresponding clerks,
be really valuable, must know three
r four languages. With Yola-
uck this will be unneces-
airy. Already Yolapuk Is taught
, some of the commercial schools of
and Volspuk interpreter is
mployed at the great Paris shop, the
PrlntemDs." kilograms In Volapuk, Ii
said, cannot bear more than one con.
'ructiop, and 1t certainly appears, not
the failure of other attempts
this direction, that Volapuk offers
ome advantages as q means OF business
Some poems In Volapuk
ere read at the Munich Congress, but 1t
improbable that there will ever be a
olspuk literature. Indeed, many friends
the system do not expect that the Ian
uage will ever be generally spoken.
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