The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-10-09
HON VOLAPUX SOUNDS.
Opinions of n Listener at the Recon
Convention in BostOH.

Opinions of n Listener at the Receaf
Convention IN BostOa.
The convention opened with an ad-
dress in volapuk by the president of the
association, Col. Charles E. Sprague, OF
New York. Of course his address was
received attentively, but it cannot be
said that he was speaking to people In
their own language. His listeners
doubtless understood part Of his re-
marks, for he was applauded two or
three times, but to the majority Of the
people it was evident that understand
ing came only with difficulty. Now,
how did the new invention sound? Well,
there was great predominance OF the
European and Cor ee) and Of the long
o. In every sentence eaGleOne of these
vowels seemed to outnumber all the
others put together. ConsOnants were
obscure as Col. Sprague spoke them,
and it was noticeable that the sibilant
S was very frequent. The letter l also
seemed to be hard worked member or
the volapuk alphabet.
From the prominence Of these few
security of other consonants one can get
an idea Of how volapuk sounds. The
pronunciation follows the French in
having no accent. That is, Col. Sprague
talked with Just about the same stress
on each syllable, and l paid close atten-
ton to this feature of the flow Of sound
after noticing it, Lacking accent, VIOLA
puk lacks the force which is so strong
characteristic of English, and it also
shows sadly the need OF the virile con-
sonants, which are the life Of German.
Perhaps nothing better could be expect
ed Of an invented tongue. for the English
and German are the result of genius and
struggle, of wars and disputes, Of ora
tons and poems, Of business sharpness
and philosophical contemplation. They
are alive. Volapuk is wooden and dead.
That is the impression made upon me
by hearing Col. Sprague's address IN his
vernacular-no, not his nor anybOdy's.
1t was a convention Of English speaking
people using neither their own vernacu-
lar nor that of any other people under
heaven. 1t was just hashed up Choctaw.
Col. Sprague talked seriously, but his
wordma1ing had its humorous aspect.
He was wonderfully proficient, and is TO
be praised highly for his ability to talk
in that which has no dialect and no
every day vocabulary, and so is above
the usual perils to translators. In book
translated into English from German by
a Dutchman who had 10 learn both the
former languages l have seen the most
| curious mistakes and odd combinations,
| vet not in violation of rules given in the
/ books. But there was no one to Criticlse
/ the colonel, who was born and bred a
| Volapuk. he was not perfect, however.
I He would 60 wrong sometimes, and then
| step back for fresh start, like a boa;
humping up to float bow on, and then
rebounding for a second approach. But
he got through very creditably.
A delegate from the floor said some
thing in Volapuk in labored way and
soon struck into English 1t was as If
he had been stumbling across lots in a
bog meadow and had come out into the
travelled road again. He certainly
seemed much relieved and got along
much easier in English.-Springfeld
! (Mass.) Republican.