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Volapük Fasilik in 10 simple rules:


1 - Phonetics

There are 8 vowels in Volapük Fasilik (with their International Phonetic Alphabet equivalent):
a /a/ - e /e/ - i /i/ - o /o/ - u /u/ - ä /ɛ/ - ö /ø/ - ü /y/
These vowels are pronounced with a clear sound and, unlike English, they are not diphtongized.
*Inside words, two consecutive vowels can be pronounced together as a diphtong, or separately, at the discretion of the speaker.

Volapük has the following 19 consonants (with IPA equivalents), and some of them have alternate pronounciations:
b /b/ - c /tʃ/ or /dʒ/ - d /d/ - f /f/ - g /g/ - h /h/ - j /ʃ/ or /ʒ/ - k /k/ - l /l/ - m /m/ - n /n/ - p /p/ - r /r/ or /ɾ/ - s /s/ or /z/ - t /t/ - v /v/ - x /ks/ or /gz/ - y /j/ - z /ts/ or /dz/


2 - Roots

Roots are the basic building block of a word in Volapük. They denote primary notions and are usually nouns.
Volapük Fasilik's phonology requires that a root always begins and ends in a consonant.
The final consonant of a root must not be one of the following: c, h, j, s, x, z
Stress in Volapük always falls on the last syllable
Roots can be modified by prefixes and suffixes. See rule 10 - Affixes


3 - Nouns

The noun in Volapük has two numbers: singular and plural. The plural is marked with the ending -s. E.g.: buk (book) - buks (books)
There are four often used cases in Volapük: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive:
- nominative: no ending (the root) - Buk binon is. (The book is here.)
- accusative: -i - Logob buki. (I see the book.)
- dative: -e - Givob buke tegi nulik. (I give the book a new cover.)
- genitive: -a - Subyek buka binon nitedik. (The subject of the book is interesting.)

Three aditional cases exist, but they are seldom used: E.g.: dom (house)
- predicative: -u - Välons oni presidanu - They elected him (as) president.
- ablative: -ao - Erivons domao (= se dom) - They arrived from the house.
- allative: -io - Muvons domio (=lü dom) - They are moving towards the house.

The plural of the cases is formed by adding -s to those endings: -s, -is, -es, -as, -us, *-aos, *-ios
*It is acceptable to omit the accusative if the object follows the verb, but not if the word order is different

There are no genders in Volapük Fasilik. A root is inherently neuter or of either gender.
A word can take the prefix ji- to be marked as explicitly feminine and hi- to be marked as explicitly masculine.
There are no definite or indefinite articles. The article el can be used to introduce quotations or foreign names.


4 - Adjectives

Adjectives follow the noun and they end in the ending -ik
The comparative of adjectives is formed with the suffix -um *or with the adverb plu
The superlative of adjectives is formed with the suffix -ün *or with the adverb leplu


5 - Numerals

Cardinal numerals:
ser (0), bal (1), tel (2), kil (3), fol (4), lul (5), mäl (6), vel (7), jöl (8), zül (9)
deg (10), *sent (100), mil (1000), milion (1000000)

Other numerals can be formed with the following suffixes:
ordinal numerals (first, second, etc.): -id: balid, telid, kilid ..
multiplicatives (simple, double, etc.): -ik: balik, telik, kilik ..
iteratives (once, twice, etc): -na: balna, telna, kilna ..
*fractions (1/n): -im: balim (haf) (1/2), kilim (1/3), degim (1/10)


6 - Pronouns

1st sg. (I): ob (nom.-acc.) - obe (dat.) - oba (gen.)
2nd sg. (you): ol - ole - ola
3rd sg. (he/she/it): on - one - ona
3rd sg. (impersonal): os - ose - osa
1st pl. (we): obs - obes - obas
2nd pl. (you all): ols - oles - olas
3rd pl. (they): ons - ones - onas


7 - Verbs

Verbs in Volapük are inflected for: tense, person and mood. The indicative present is:
-ob: (Ist sg.) lärnob
-ol: (IInd sg.) lärnol
-on: (IIIrd sg.) lärnon
-obs: (Ist pl.) lärnobs
-ols: (IInd pl.) lärnols
-ons: (IIIrd pl.) lärnons

Other tenses receive a prefix: present: a- (in practice, the present tense prefix is omitted)
past: e- elärnob
imperfect: ä- älärnob
past perfect: i- ilärnob
future: o- olärnob
future in the past: u- ulärnob

Other moods are attached at the end:
interrogative: -li lärnob-li?
conditional: -öv lärnoböv
imperative: -ös lärnobös
The conditional can be combined with the interrogative: lärnoböv-li?


8 - Other parts of speech

Adverbs determine a verb and take the ending -o
You can make an adjective into an adverb by adding -o to the final -ik: gudik (good) > gudiko (well)
Prepositions, conjunctions and interjections are either primary or derived.
Derived prepositions are formed from the root with the ending -ü, conjunctions are formed with -ä, and interjections are formed with -ö
As a shortcut, an interrogative command can be expressed as an interjection: lärnö! (equivalent to lärnolös!)


9 - Demonstratives and correlatives

Demonstratives: at (this), et (that), it (self), ot (same), ut (the one that..)

Correlatives
- person (who): kin
- object (what): kis
- place (where): kiplado
- mode (how): lio
- quantity (how much): liomödo
- time (when): ven


10 - Affixes

Volapük has a rich system of affixes to form new meaning from existing roots.
Volapük Fasilik has a total of 20 prefixes and 20 suffixes:

Prefixes: - hi: masculine - ji: feminine - läx: former, ex- - le: augmentative - lu: of lesser status - mi: bad - ne: negative - vi: vice Adverbial prefixes: - beno: good, 8 positive - dönu: repetition

Prepositional prefixes: - bai: according to, agreement, con-* - bü: before, ante-*, pre- - de (de, dö): from, about - di: disassemble, undo, dis- - fo: in front of, ante-* - ge: reciprocation, re- - kon (ko): with, together, community, con-* - nin (in, ini): inside, interior, in- - nen: without, lacking, a- - ni (ön): under, sub- - pos: after, post- - ta: against, anti-, contra- - vü: between, amongst, inter- - ze: in the middle, center - zü: around, circum-

Suffixes: - ab: ability (-able) - am: action - an: person - av: science - äd: generalisation - äl: mental quality - än: country - ed: particularisation - em: group of persons or objects - er: device or tool - iäl: desire or inclination - ier: container - ik/ük: to become smth./ to make smth. - ism: movement - ot: example - öf: property or measure - öp: place - üp: time