Lapine is an artificial language constructed by Richard Adams and spoken by the fictional rabbits of his novel Watership Down. The fragments of language presented by Adams consist of about a few tens of distinct words, and are used for naming rabbits, their mythological characters, and objects common to their world. "Lapine" comes from the French word for rabbit, lapin, and can also be used to describe rabbit society. The rabbits mostly speak english. As, there are only a few words in Lapine. An artificial or constructed language (known colloquially as a conlang among aficionados), is a language whose vocabulary and grammar were specifically devised by an individual or small group, rather than having naturally evolved as part of a culture as with natural languages. ... Richard George Adams (born May 9, 1920 in Newbury, Berkshire, England) is a British novelist who is best known for two novels with animal characters, Watership Down and The Plague Dogs. ... Peter Rabbit & wife, Benjamin and Flopsy Bunny and the little Flopsy Bunnies, from the Beatrix Potter stories This is a list of fictional rabbits. ... For other uses, see Watership Down (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Adams commented that the motivation for the sound of Lapine was that it should sound "wuff-fluffy" (as in the name "Thethuthinnang") and akin in some phonological respects to Arabic (from his time in North Africa in World War II). For example, the proper Lapine name "Kehaar" is quoted as being reminiscent of the Arabic "Behaar". The Arabic language ( ), or simply Arabic ( ), is the largest member of the family of Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic. ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead...

Other authors, academics and fans of the book have attempted to expand on the few words and phrases extant in the corpus of "Watership Down" and develop it into a fuller language.

Richard George Adams (born May 9, 1920 in Newbury, Berkshire, England) is a British novelist who is best known for two novels with animal characters, Watership Down and The Plague Dogs. ... For other uses, see Watership Down (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Watership Down (disambiguation). ... Tales from Watership Down was a follow-up to Richard Adams highly successful novel about rabbits, Watership Down, and was first published in the United Kingdom in 1996. ... Watership Down is acclaimed animated film, directed by Martin Rosen based on the book Watership Down by Richard Adams and released in 1978. ... Watership Down is a 1999 animated TV series based on the novel Watership Down by Richard Adams. ... Bigwig is a fictional character, a rabbit, from the novel Watership Down by Richard Adams. ... Blackavar is a fictional character: a buck rabbit in Richard Adamss novel Watership Down. ... Blackberry is a fictional character: a buck rabbit in Richard Adams novel, Watership Down. ... Campion is a fictional character, a rabbit from the novel Watership Down by Richard Adams. ... Cowslip is a character in Watership Down. ... Dandelion is a fictional character: a buck rabbit in Richard Adams novel, Watership Down. ... Fiver (Lapine: Hrair-roo, sometimes Hrairoo) is a fictional character: a buck rabbit who is one of the central characters in Richard Adams novel Watership Down. ... General Woundwort is a fictional rabbit villain in the Richard Adams novel Watership Down. ... Hazel is a fictional character, a rabbit in Richard Adams novel Watership Down. ... For other uses, see Watership Down (disambiguation). ... Vervain is one of the Efrafan rabbits from the tale Watership Down. ... . ... El-ahrairah is a fictional character, the rabbit folk hero in Richard Adamss Watership Down and the protagonist of nearly all of the rabbits stories. ... Efrafa Efrafa is a fictional warren is the novel Watership Down; originally portrayed as a fascist regime. ... The River Enborne is a river that rises near Newbury, Berkshire and flows into the River Kennet. ... The West of England Main Line is the British railway line from London Waterloo to Exeter. ... Redstone is a fictional warren from Watership Down, found in the TV series only; there is no mention of Redstone in either the original book or the feature film. ... Categories: UK geography stubs | Rivers in Hampshire | Southampton ... Categories: UK geography stubs ... In the novels Watership Down, and Tales from Watership Down by Richard Adams, the chief rabbit is the top-ranking rabbit in a warren. ... There are a number of concepts in Watership Down that were created for the story by Richard Adams. ... An owsla is a group of physically strong and well-trained rabbits who guard and defend a warren, in Richard Adams book Watership Down. ...

External links

• Expansion of the Lapine language by Patrick Jemmer
• Frithaes! A Guide To Colloquial Lapine
• Lapine Conlang Profile
• Lapine-English Dictionary