AUI (language)

language
name = aUI
creator = John W. Weilgart
date = 1962
setting = Designed so that ideally, the meaning of each phoneme would tie into its properties
fam2 = logical or philosophical language
fam3 =
posteriori =
iso3 =

aUI is a constructed language credited to John W. Weilgart, created in the beginning of the 1960s. Because of its structure it is clasified as a logical language or philosophical language.

History

aUI first appeared in the 1962 publication "aUI: The Language of Space: Pentecostal Logos of Love & Peace" and is described by Weilgart to be a purely logical and rational language.

John W. Weilgart, a psychiatrist from Iowa of Austrian origin claims to have learned the language from a being of outer space. The word "aUI" means (in aUI) "mind-space-sound". Other books by the same author analyzing this language more deeply are "aUI: The Language of Space: For the First Time Represented and Adapted to the Needs of This Planet" (1967) and "Cosmic Elements of Meaning: Symbols of the Spirit's Life: A Cosmology for Mankind's Survival in the Atomic Age of Space" (1975).

Characteristics

aUI has 42 phonemes (including nasalized variations on the vowels for numbers), each with an associated meaning:

*a (pronounced like a in about): 'space'
*e (pronounced like e in bend): 'movement'
*i (pronounced like i in win): 'light'
*u (pronounced like u in bush): 'human'
*o (pronounced like o in port): 'life'
*y (pronounced like ü in German fünf): 'negative'
*q (pronounced like eu in French jeune): 'condition'
*A (pronounced like a in water): 'time'
*E (pronounced like ai in hair): 'matter'
*I (pronounced like ee in sleep): 'sound'
*U (pronounced like oo in soon): 'mind'
*O (pronounced like o in go): 'feeling'

*a*: 1 (asterisk indicates that the sound is short, nasal and stands for a numeral)
*e*: 2
*i*: 3
*u*: 4
*o*: 5
*A*: 6
*E*: 7
*I*: 8
*U*: 9
*O*: 10
*y*: 0

*b: 'together'
*c (pronounced like sh in short): 'being'
*d: 'through'
*f: 'this'
*g: 'inside'
*h: 'question'
*j (pronounced like s in television): 'equal'
*k: 'above'
*l: 'round'
*m: 'quality'
*n: 'quantity'
*p: 'before'
*r: 'positive'
*s: 'thing'
*t: 'toward'
*v: 'active'
*w: 'power'
*x (pronounced like ch in Bach): 'relation'
*z: 'part'

The language was designed so that ideally, the meaning of each phoneme would tie into its properties. The phoneme /b/, for instance, meaning "together", is pronounced with the lips pressed together. The short i, which means "light", takes the brightest, highest-frequency sound, while the long I, which means "sound", takes longer to say, because sound travels more slowly than light.

Each phoneme also has a character that represents its meaning. The symbol for a, meaning "space", for instance, is a circle to enclose an open space. The symbol for e, meaning "movement", follows the movement of a spiral nebula. The u, meaning "human", is a caret shape, suggesting two legs. The o, meaning "life", is represented by the shape of a leaf, plants and photosynthesis forming the basis of all life. The v, meaning "active", is represented by a lightning bolt, the most active thing in nature. The character for g, meaning "inside", is a dot inside a circle. The character for t, meaning "toward", is a split arrow shape pointing towards the right.

aUI attempts oligosynthesis.

External links and references

* Alan Libert, "A Priori Artificial Languages". Lincom Europa, Munich, 2000. ISBN 3-89586-667-9
* [http://www.anomalist.com/reports/language.html The "Language of Space"]