I just finished re-reading one of my favorite books: Watership Down by Ricahrd Adams. It's the tale of a band of rabbits forced to leave their warren and embark on a dangerous journey to find a new home. Rabbits have their own special language, Lapine, and here are a few select words that I learned:
Elil: An enemy, e.g. fox, weasel, cat, owl, man, etc.
Embleer: Stinking- the word for the smell of a fox.
Flayrah: Appetizing foods such as lettuce or carrots.
Frith: God.
Fu-Inlé: Midnight.
Hlessi: A solitary rabbit living in the open, wandering for long periods without a hole. Plural: Hlessil.
Homba: A predator.
Hrair: a lot or a thousand. Rabbits can count up to four, so any number above is Hrair.
Hrairoo: Little Thousand or the little one of a lot.
Hraka: Rabbit droppings.
Hrududu: Tractor or any motor. Plural: Hrudrudil.
Marli: a doe (female rabbit).
ni-Frith: Noon.
Owsla: A group of strong or clever rabbits, second year or older, surrounding the Chief Rabbit and his doe and exercising authority over the warren. Owslas vary- they may be very military in style or they may consists of clever patrollers or garden-raiders. Sometimes a good story-teller may find a place, sometimes an intuitive rabbit.
Silflay: To feed.
Tharn: The state of staring, glazed paralysis that comes over terrified or exhausted rabbits.
U Hair: The Thousand. Used to mean the collective of all enemies.
Zorn: finished or destroyed.
“'All other elil do what they have to do and Frith moves them as he moves us. They live on the earth and they need food. Men will never rest till they've spoiled the earth and destroyed the animals.'” Holly a brave rabbit who survived the destruction of his warren.
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