Editing Lapine language (section)

==Linguistic analyses==
Some fans of the book, including authors and academics, have written about the words and phrases extant in the corpus of ''Watership Down'' and have analyzed the language and its variations on a linguistic level.

Within the books, the rabbits' use of Lapine is presented to readers as [[Standard English]] with the inclusion of a number of specialized Lapine lexical terms.<ref name=corder/> Albert Valdman notes that inter-rabbit Lapine is alternately [[Formality level|formal]] and [[Colloquial language|colloquial]] "marked by hesitations, interruptions, interjections, incomplete sentences, and false starts".<ref name=valdman/> [[Pit Corder]] breaks this down further, finding that the Lapine spoken by the rabbits consists of 64% [[simple sentence]]s, 14% [[compound sentence]]s (with 30% [[paratactic]] and 70% marked [[Conjunction (grammar)#Coordinating conjunctions|coordination]]), and 22% [[complex sentence]]s.<ref name=corder/> The mean Lapine sentence length is 6.3 words.<ref name=corder/>

Adams includes a glossary of all Lapine words in the book at the end. Notable traits include the plural marker ''-il'' (which replaces a final vowel if it is present in the singular: ''hrududu'', "automobile", pl. ''hrududil''), and the fact that cardinal numbers only go up to four, with any number above that being called ''hrair,'' "many", although the runt Hrairoo's name is translated into English as "Fiver" instead. The use of Lapine words is often (although not exclusively) used to indicate concepts unique to rabbits, such as ''silflay'' (aboveground grazing) or ''tharn'' ([[Apparent death|tonic immobility]]).

When speaking to other animals, the rabbits adopt a [[lingua franca]] known as "Hedgerow."  However, in both examples given in the book (i.e. the mouse<ref name=valdman/> and [[Kehaar]] the gull<ref name=corder/>) the conversation reverts to Lapine once initial contact has been established. More specifically, the rabbits adopt [[Formality level|formal]] Lapine;<ref name=valdman/> the other animals employ a Lapine [[Foreigner talk theory|Foreigner Talk]] that Corder describes as "a reduced code or incipient [[pidgin]]".<ref name=corder/><ref name=valdman/> He further notes that the general rules of "Foreigner Talk" are well-established in societies, even among natives who have never communicated with a foreigner. Corder attributes the learning of the rules of "Foreigner Talk" to its use within native-speaker-oriented literature and other media as a proxy for [[interlanguage]].

Because Lapine is presented in the novels as Standard English, Lapine Foreigner Talk is essentially English Foreigner Talk with a Lapine gloss; thus, it provides an example of linguistic [[enculturation]] for children who read the books. Breaking down the [[syntax]] of Lapine Foreigner Talk to compare with that of standard Lapine, Corder finds that they are roughly the same with the only notable difference being an inversion of the proportion of paratactic to marked coordination in compound sentences. Specifically, Corder reports Lapine Foreigner Talk to consist of 73% simple sentences, 15% compound sentences (70% paratactic and 30% marked coordination), and 12% complex sentences (with 60% [[Complement (linguistics)|complemented]] by the four verbs "think", "know", "say", and "tell").<ref name=corder/> Valdman further notes differences between the Lapine Foreigner Talk used to facilitate discussion as with Kehaar the gull, and that used to signal the depreciated status of the unnamed mouse (a less powerful animal in the rabbit world).<ref name=valdman/>