Lapine: The Rabbit Language from Watership Down

Richard Adams’ Watership Down (New York: Macmillan, 1972) is one of the classic works of xenofiction (the fiction set in strange cultures, real or imagined), placed as it is among and between the warrens of rabbits in the English countryside. Lapine, the language he sketches for his rabbits, is arguably the best naming language ever created, and is a minimalist virtuoso performance, a haiku of a language compared to the sonnet of Sindarin.

The following documentation of the language is derived from Adams’ own appendix to Watership Down, but is reconstructed as extensively as possible from the limited examples. All hypothetical reconstructions are preceded by an *asterisk.

Vocabulary from the sequel has been deliberately left out, as the point of this example is how much can be accomplished with how little. Lapine went a long way towards establishing the verisimilitude of the rabbits’ culture.

Lapine	Plural	Etymology	POS	Translation
Crixa			proper noun	A crossroads, the center of Efrafa, located at the crossing point of two bridle paths.
Efrafa			proper noun	A warren founded by General Woundwort.
El-ahrairah		[< Elil + hrair + rah, “Enemies Thousand Prince” or “The Prince with a Thousand Enemies”.]	proper noun	The legendary rabbit folk hero.
*eli		[Hypothetical reconstruction of the singular, based on the patterns of other plurals. Could, alternatively, be *ela (as in hombil from homba).]	common noun	Enemy of rabbits.
elil			common noun	Enemies of rabbits.
embleer			adjective	Stinking, as in the smell of a predator, esp. a fox.
fa		[Reconstruction from Owslafa.]	common noun	Watcher? Augmentative?
flay	*flay		common noun	Food, especially grass or other edible plants.
flayrah		[< Flay + rah, “Food Prince” or “The Prince Of Foods”.]	common noun	Lettuce, or other unusually good food.
Frith			proper noun	The sun god of the rabbits.
Frithrah		[< Frith + rah, “Sun Prince” or “The Lord Sun!”.]	exclamation	An exclamation.
fu			preposition	After (later than), afterwards.
fu inlé			phrase	After moonrise.
*hain	*hainil	[Reconstructed from Nildro-hain, “Blackbird’s song”.]	common noun	Meaning uncertain: either blackbird or song. Probably song.
hlao	*hlao-il		common noun	Any dimple or depression formed in the grass, such as that formed by a daisy plant or a thistle, which can hold moisture.
Hlao			proper noun	The name of Pipkin in Lapine.
Hlao-roo		[< Hlao + roo, diminutive.]	proper noun	A nickname of Pipkin.
hlessi	hlessil		common noun	An outcast rabbit, living above ground, without a regular hole or warren.
homba	hombil		common noun	A fox.
hrair			adjective	Any number over four, a great many, an uncountable number. Loosely translated as “a thousand”.
Hrairoo		[< Hrair + roo, diminutive.]	proper noun	The name of Fiver in Lapine, so called for being the last in a litter of five or more rabbits.
hraka	*hrakil		common noun	Droppings, excretions.
hrududu	hrududil		common noun	A motor vehicle such as a car or tractor.
*hy(z)		[Reconstruction from Hyzenthlay.]	verb	To shine.
Hyzenthlay		[< *hy(z) + *zen(th) + thlay, “Shine Dew Fur” or “Fur Shining Like Dew”.]	proper noun	The name of a doe who lived in Efrafa.
Inlé			proper noun	Literally, the moon or moonrise. Figuratively, darkness, fear and death.
lendri	*lendril		common noun	A badger.
li	*lil		common noun	Head (body part).
marli	*marlil		common noun	Literally, a doe. Figuratively, a mother.
m’saion			sentence	“We meet them.”
narn			adjective	Pleasant to eat.
*ni		[Reconstructed from ni-frith.]	common noun	Time? High or highest?
ni-frith		[< ni, “high”? + frith, “sun”.]	common noun	Noon.
*nildro	*nildril	[Reconstructed from Nildro-hain, “Blackbird’s song”.]	common noun	Meaning uncertain: either blackbird or song. Probably blackbird.
Nildro-hain.		[< “Blackbird’s Song”.]	proper noun	The name of a doe who lived in Efrafa.
Owsla			proper noun	The strongest rabbits in a warren. The elite rulers.
Owslafa		[< Owsla + fa.]	proper noun	Council Police. A term only used in Efrafa.
Pfeffa	*pfeffil		common noun	A cat.
Rah			augmentative	A prince, leader or chief. Usually suffixed, dropping the ‘r’ when following an ‘r’.
Roo			diminutive	A diminutive, usually affectionate. Suffixed.
sayn	*saynil		common noun	Groundsel.
silf			adjective	Outside, not underground.
silflay		[< silf + flay, “outside food”.]	verb	To go above ground to feed.
silflay	*silflay	[< silf + flay, “outside food”.]	common noun	Food available above ground (outside the warren).
tharn			adjective	Literally hypnotized with fear (think of the “deer caught in the headlights” only with a rabbit), stupefied, distraught. Figuratively, foolish, forlorn or heartbroken.
Thethuthininang		[< “Movement of Leaves.”	proper noun	The name of a doe who lived in Efrafa.
thlay	*thlay		common noun	Fur.
thlayli		[< thlay + li, “fur head”]	proper noun	A nickname.
threar	*threaril		common noun	A rowan tree or mountain ash.
Threarah		[< Threar + rah, “Lord Threar”.]	proper name	Lord Threar.
u			definite article	Similar to “the” in English.
U Hrair		[< U + Hrair + Elil, “The Thousand Enemies”.]		The Thousand (Enemies)
vair			verb	To excrete.
yona	yonil		common noun	A hedgehog.
*zen(th)		[Reconstruction from Hyzenthlay.]	common noun	Dew.
zorn			adjective	Destroyed, murdered; suffered a catastrophe.
???			proper noun	Translated by Adams as “Lapine”, meaning the language and religion of the rabbits. Whether Lapine actually has a word for Lapine is unknown. [From English lapin n. Rabbit fur, especially when dyed to imitate a more expensive fur.]
???			proper noun	The Lapine word is unknown, but Adams translates it as “bob stones” and calls it a traditional game among rabbits.

Photo credit: Photo by Ансплэш Степана on Unsplash.