Volapük
Volapuk (pronounced in English, in Volapuk) is a constructed language created in 1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer. Schleyer was a Catholic priest from Germany. He felt that God had told him in a dream to make an international language. The name "Volapuk" comes from the words "vol" (world) and "puk" (language). Volapuk conventions took place in 1884, 1887, and 1889. The aim was to help people from different cultures speak to each other.
Volapuk became less popular after 1887 when Esperanto was published. Part of the reason for this was that Esperanto is easier to learn with a simpler grammar. There are believed to only be 20-30 Volapuk speakers in the world today.
The vocabulary of Volapuk is mostly English, with some words from German and French. The grammar is based on Indo-European languages.
History
Volapuk was created by Johann Martin Schleyer. He first wrote about his idea in 1887. He published a book about Volapuk in 1880. The book was translated into ten languages. Soon, people started creating Volapuk clubs in Europe.
The language started to become popular. People published books and journals in Volapuk. However, not everybody liked the language. The American Philosophical Society thought that Volapuk was too complex.
Example text
Below is the Lord's Prayer written in Volapuk.
References
Other websites
Basic course in Volapuk, in English
Basic grammar of Volapuk, in Esperanto
Volapop: A site about popular culture written in Volapuk
Discussion group on the vocabulary and grammar of Volapuk
A complete Italian grammar of Volapuk (1888) by V. Amoretti
Una grammatica completa di Volapuk in lingua italiana (1888) a cura di V. Amoretti
General Volapuk discussion group
Flenef bevunetik Volapuka / International Friendship of The World Language
Constructed languages