DERIVATION OF WORDS
The simplest ideas are represented by radicals of one syllable. There are also radicals of two syllables, expressing somewhat more complex ideas.
The radicals have been taken principally from the following languages: English, Latin, German and French. More material has been taken from the English than from any other language. The English words are, however, much modified in adapting them to Volapük.
1. The spelling is changed, the pronunciation being preserved or nearly so.
| Jip, sheep. | Löf, love. |
| Kipön, to keep. | Giv, give. |
| Kömön, to come. | Sin, sin. |
| Gudik, good. |
2. Consonants are dropt or changed when there would be any difficulty of pronunciation.
| Vol, world. | Pükön, to speak. |
| Tat, state. | Ted, trade. |
| Täv, travel. | Tif, (thief) stealing. |
3. The letter r is specially avoided; l being frequently substituted.
| Glen, grain. | Glet, great. |
| Bil, beer. | Telegaf, telegraph. |
| Blod, brother. | Flen, friend. |
4. As radicals seldom begin or end in a vowel the consonants n or l are added, or the letters are transposed.
| Pel, pay. | Lep, ape. |
| Love-, over-. | Nidian, Indian. |
| Nelijik, English. | Nulik, new. |
From the radicals other words are formed by compounding, by prefixing and by suffixing.
