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Uropi is a constructed language which was created by Joël Landais, a French English teacher. Uropi is a synthesis of European languages, explicitly based on the common Indo-European roots and aims at being used as an international auxiliary language for Europe and thus contributing to building a European identity. Besides, given the spread of Indo-European languages outside Europe (today half the world population speaks an I-E language), it could be an international language for the world.

Uropi
Created byJoël Landais
Setting and usageInternational auxiliary language
Purpose
Constructed language
  • International auxiliary language
    • A posteriori language
      • naturalistic planned language(?)
        • Uropi
Sourcesbased on Indo-European languages
Official status
Regulated byJoël Landais Official website
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
GlottologNone
IETFart-x-uropi

Uropi was begun in 1986; since then, it has undergone certain modifications; its vocabulary keeps growing (the French-Uropi dictionary has over 10,000 words).

Uropi became known in Europe in the early 1990s.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]


Creator


Joël Landais, Uropi Kreator, creator of the auxlang Uropi.
Joël Landais, Uropi Kreator, creator of the auxlang Uropi.

After studying languages at the University of Orléans, then at the Sorbonne and at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, Joël Landais obtained the Agrégation diploma in English. He speaks French, English, Italian, Spanish, German and has a working knowledge of modern Greek and Russian. Today, he teaches English in a Chartres college. Parallel to his training as a linguist, his travels throughout Europe, Senegal, the Maghreb, Egypt, Mexico, former USSR, Vietnam and the West Indies, together with a passion for languages, led him to create Uropi.


Orthography and phonology


Uropi alphabet [12]
Upper case ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTUVWXYZƷ
Lower case abcdefghijklmnoprstuvwxyzʒ
IPA phonemes a b ʃ d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v w x y z ʒ

The Uropi alphabet has 26 letters, the 26 letters of the ISO Basic Latin alphabet minus q, plus the letter ʒ, which comes from the International Phonetic Alphabet. Each letter corresponds to a sound and each sound to a letter.

All consonants are pronounced as in English except

The vowels a, e, i, o, u are pronounced as in Italian or Spanish: casa, solo, vino, luna, pepe. Stress normally falls on the main root. For example, in apkebo = to behead, the stress falls on keb = head. However some suffixes (such as -èl indicating an instrument) and the ending for the past are always stressed; when two or more suffixes are combined, the stress always falls on the penultimate suffix (the last but one). The stress is marked with a written accent (à è ì ò ù) on the stressed vowel when it falls on the last syllable. For example: kotèl, perì, fotò, menù = "knife, carried, photo, menu".


Vocabulary



Roots


Uropi roots can be divided into three categories:


Indo-European roots

First and foremost Uropi claims to be a way to recreate a unity between Indo-European languages. With this aim, a great many Uropi roots correspond to common Indo-European roots which have been simplified, in their pronunciation and length (very often Uropi roots have one or two syllables). Thus, mother is mata (from Indo-European: mātēr*); sun is sol (from Indo-European: sāwel*). This simplification corresponds to the natural evolution of Indo-European roots which have given birth to the words which are used today in modern I-E languages. Thus mata corresponds to Hindi mata, sol to Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, Icelandic, and Scandinavian sol.


"Hybrid" roots

When there is no common Indo-European root or when there are several roots to express the same reality in various languages, Uropi may use "hybrid" words, crossing two different roots taken from different languages so as to create the most easily recognizable term for speakers of the greatest number of Indo-European languages. Thus, in liamo, to love, the li- comes from Germanic and Slavic languages (cf German lieben and Russian liubit), and the -am, from Latin languages (amo, amare, amar); or in mand, hand, the ma- comes from Latin languages and the -and, from Germanic languages (cf Latin manus and German hand) This process is not so artificial as it seems at first sight: It has been observed in natural languages, for example, the French haut (high) comes from the crossing between old Fr. aut (from Latin altus) and Frankish hōh. Likewise, the English island comes from the crossing of Old English īeġland (from Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą) and Old French isle (from Latin insula)[13]. It has also been deliberately used in languages like English to form new words: "portmanteau-words", for instance, the famous London "smog" comes from the crossing of '"smoke" and "fog". Let us also mention the words 'franglais (Fr = français + anglais), denglisch (Ger. = Deutsch + Englisch), spanglish (US = Spanish + English). These "hybrid" words only account for 3% of Uropi vocabulary.


International words

Uropi also uses many words which are already "international", like taksì, skol (school), bus, art, matc (match), polìz (police), simfonij (symphony), and tabàk (tobacco).


Compounds


As many other conlangs, Uropi uses many compounds, either combining two roots, or using prefixes and suffixes. Among the former, there are the following examples: lucitòr, "lighthouse", from luc, "light" and tor, "tower"; or, with sopo, "to sleep", sopisàk, "sleeping-bag", or sopivagòn, "sleeper" (train).

There are also numerous examples of compounds built with prefixes or suffixes: for example with davo, "to give", disdavo, "to distribute", can be formed; with tel, "goal, purpose", atelo, "end up in, come to", can be formed; with breko, "to break", and us, "out", usbreko, "to break out", can be formed; with apel, "apple", aplar, "apple tree", and aplaria, "apple orchard", can be formed.

In most cases, those compounds reveal the roots and thus the meaning of the compound. However, some of those compounds, even if they follow the etymology of equivalent words in living European languages, have a more obscure, rather metaphorical meaning. Thus, ruspeko, literally "to look back", means "to respect"; or incepo, literally "to seize, to grasp inside", means "to understand" (reminiscent of "to grasp (a concept)").


Grammar



Substantives


Like some modern Indo-European languages, Uropi has a very limited declension with only two cases: nominative and genitive in the singular and the plural. Uropi substantives are divided into three groups: those ending in a consonant, those ending in -a and those ending in another vowel.

Among those ending in a consonant are all masculine nouns, i.e., nouns denoting men or male animals: man: "man"; kat: "(tom)cat".

Those nouns take an -e in the plural; the genitive singular is marked with an -i, and the genitive plural with -is: man, mane, mani, manis = "man, men, man's, men's".

All feminine nouns, i.e., nouns denoting women or female animals end in -a: ʒina: "woman"; kata: "(she)cat". These nouns take an -s in the plural. The -a becomes -u in the genitive singular, -us in the genitive plural: gala, galas, galu, galus = "hen, hens, hen's, hens'".

All the other substantives are neuter: they can equally end with a consonant or with an -a: for example, tab: "table", ment: "mind", or teatra: "theatre", centra: "centre". They correspond to the neuter personal pronoun je = "it".

The nouns ending with another vowel are essentially "international" words like taksì, eurò, menù. They take an -s in the plural, but no specific mark in the genitive.


Adjectives


As in English, qualifying adjectives are invariable. They are placed before the noun they qualify. Some are "pure" adjectives: bun: "good"; glen: "green", kurti: "short", others are derived from nouns. In this case, their form is identical to that of the genitive singular: mani: "manly, man's"; ʒinu: feminine, "woman's".

A few quantitative indefinite adjectives which are also pronouns take an -e in the plural: mol, mole = "much, many", poj, poje = "little, few", tal, tale = "every, all", ek, eke = "some, a few".


Pronouns


Personal pronouns have three cases: nominative, accusative (also used with all prepositions) and dative. Possessive adjectives are used for the genitive. As in English, there are three pronouns in the third person singular (masculine: he; feminine: ce; neuter: je) as well as a reflexive pronoun. For example: i = "I" (nominative), ma = "me" (accusative), mo = "to me" (dative), tu, ta, to = "you", etc.

List of personal pronouns: i, tu, he, ce, je, nu, vu, lu = "I, you (singular), he, she, it, we, you (plural & polite form), they". Reflexive pronoun: sia = "oneself".


Verbs


Uropi verbs have indicative, imperative and conditional moods, as well as a simple form, a durative (continuous) form and a perfect form.


Numbers


1: un; 2: du; 3: tri; 4: kwer; 5: pin; 6: ses; 7: sep; 8: oc; 9: nev; 10: des; 100: sunte; 1000: tilie. 357: trisunte pindes-sep. Ordinal numbers are formed by adding -i or -j (after a vowel): duj: "second"; trij: "third", kweri: "fourth", pini: "fifth"; the exception is pri: "first".

Fractions are formed by adding -t to numbers: u trit: "a third", u kwert: "a fourth, a quarter"; the exception is mij: "half".


Example: "A Child's Thought", by R. L. Stevenson


U Men Kidi A Child's Thought
Be sep, wan i it a led,

I find sul’ imaʒe in mi ment,

Ki dragone valgan aròn kastele,

Gardine wo un find maʒiki frute;

Lovi damas in u tor inkarsen,

O perlasen in u fost insaren;

Wo galan kwalore rait su ber rijis

We se de frontias da landi soinis.

I find ja, sa klarim in mi ment

Be sep, wan i it a led.

Be sep, revos ma vekan

De maʒiki land i cek in van;

U sel se stan za wo stì de kastèl,

De gardini bod wen u tapìz cel.

Nun feja se vadan tra de plor,

Bote, ne kwalore, se stan ner de dor,

Id wo de blu rije sì flujan ki rikle

Num u banar id vodikrùg je ste;

I cek de maʒiki land in van

Be sep, revos ma vekan.

At seven, when I go to bed,

I find such pictures in my head:

Castles with dragons prowling round,

Gardens where magic fruits are found;

Fair ladies prisoned in a tower,

Or lost in an enchanted bower;

While gallant horsemen ride by streams

That border all this land of dreams

I find, so clearly in my head

At seven, when I go to bed.

At seven, when I wake again,

The magic land I seek in vain;

A chair stands where the castle frowned,

The carpet hides the garden ground,

No fairies trip across the floor,

Boots, and not horsemen, flank the door,

And where the blue streams rippling ran

Is now a bath and water-can;

I seek the magic land in vain

At seven, when I wake again.

Robert Louis Stevenson


See also



References


  1. Ducos, Étienne, «Joël Landais invente la 251e langue», in Libération, October 16, 1986
  2. Bremer, Hans-Hagen, «Vok vu Uropi: Ein Lehrer träumt nachts auf europäisch» in Frankfurter Rundschau, November 24, 1986
  3. Долгополов, Николай, «Уроки Уропи» in Комсомольская Правда, November 21, 1987
  4. Étienne Ducos, «Des lettres russes arrivent par centaines chez Joël Landais», in L'Écho républicain, December 15, 1987
  5. Webster, Paul, «Uropi, the new lingua franca», in The Guardian Weekly, week of January 15, 1989
  6. Singer, Enrico, «Uropi, una nuova lingua per l'Europa», in La Stampa, February 24, 1989
  7. Tabone, Bénédicte, «L'Uropi n'est pas une utopie», in La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest, July 2, 1989
  8. Author not mentioned, «Uropi, mehr als eine private Geheimsprache - Ein Chance in Europa» in Tagespost, October 28–29, 1989
  9. Долгополов, Николай, «Мы снова говорим на разных языках» in Комсомольская Правда, April 29, 1990
  10. Hrabovský, Jiří, «Vok vu Uròpi? Hovoříte po Evropsku?» in Svět v Obrazech, November 29, 1990
  11. Tribout, Carole, «Les Suisses se penchent sur l'Uropi», in République du Centre, October 23, 1991
  12. "1 - Generalities - Uropi Vordar id Gramatik". sites.google.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-09.
  13. "island | Etymology, origin and meaning of island by etymonline". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2022-02-25.



На других языках


- [en] Uropi

[fr] Uropi

L'Uropi est une langue construite créée en 1986 par Joël Landais, un enseignant français, dans le but de servir de langue auxiliaire pour l'Europe et pour aider à construire l'identité européenne. L'uropi est basée explicitement sur les langues indo-européennes.

[it] Uropi

L'uropi è una lingua ausiliaria internazionale creata da Joël Landais, un professore francese, a partire delle radici comuni alle lingue indoeuropee. Lo scopo dell'uropi è di diventare una lingua ausiliaria comune per l'Europa e quindi di contribuire alla costruzione di una identità europea. Inoltre, data l'estensione delle lingue indoeuropee fuori dell'Europa, l'uropi è anche una lingua ausiliaria adatta a tutto il mondo.



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