aUI (artificial language)

aUI
Created by	John W. Weilgart
Date	1962
Setting and usage	Designed so that ideally, the meaning of each phoneme would tie into its properties
Purpose	constructed language logical or philosophical language aUI
Language codes
ISO 639-2	art
ISO 639-3	–

aUI was created by Dr. W. John Weilgart, a philosopher and psychoanalyst from Vienna in 1962. Because of its structure it is classified as an a priori, logical language or philosophical language.

History

aUI is taught in Weilgart's textbook, aUI, The Language of Space, 1979, 4th ed.

The word aUI means (in aUI) 'space-mind-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 /ǝ/: 'space'
• e /ɛ/: 'movement'
• i /ɪ/: 'light'
• u /ʊ/: 'human'
• o /ɔ/: 'life'
• y /y/: 'negative'
• q /œ/: 'condition'
• A /a/: 'time'
• E /e/: 'matter'
• I /i/: 'sound'
• U /u/: 'mind'
• O /o/: 'feeling'

• b: 'together'
• c /ʃ/: 'being'
• d: 'through'
• f: 'this'
• g: 'inside'
• h: 'question'
• j /ʒ/: 'equal'
• k: 'above'
• l: 'round'
• m: 'quality'
• n: 'quantity'
• p: 'before'
• r: 'positive'
• s: 'thing'
• t: 'toward'
• v: 'active'
• w: 'power'
• x /x/: 'relation'
• z: 'part'

The language was designed so that, ideally, the features of each phoneme would represent its meaning. 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. It expressing its semantic primitives each as a morpheme that is only one phoneme long is not without precedent: cf. Solresol, where each primitive is a morpheme that is one or two syllables long; and Wilkins' Real Characters, where morphemes are (usually) only one phoneme long, but operate in semantic classification instead of semantic primitives.

Short nasal vowels (marked with an asterisk) are used for numerals: ⟨y*⟩ 0, ⟨a*⟩ 1, ⟨e*⟩ 2, ⟨i*⟩ 3, ⟨u*⟩ 4, ⟨o*⟩ 5, ⟨A*⟩ 6, ⟨E*⟩ 7, ⟨I*⟩ 8, ⟨U*⟩ 9, ⟨O*⟩ 10.

External links and references

• Alan Libert, A Priori Artificial Languages. Lincom Europa, Munich, 2000. ISBN 3-89586-667-9
• The "Language of Space"
• The official aUI website