AUI (constructed language)

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aUI (constructed pronunciation: [auːiː]) is a philosophical, a priori language created in the 1950s by W. John Weilgart, Ph.D. (March 9, 1913 – January 26, 1981; born Johann Wolfgang Weixlgärtner,^[2] and also known as John W. Weilgart^[3]), a philosopher and psychoanalyst originally from Vienna, Austria. He described it as "the Language of Space", connoting universal communication, and published the fourth edition of the textbook in 1979;^[3] a philosophic description of each semantic element of the language was published in 1975.^[4]

In his psychotherapy work, Weilgart sometimes used client-created aUI formulations to reveal possible subconscious associations to problematic concepts.^[5] aUI can also be considered an experiment in applied cognitive lexical semantics, and Weilgart originally envisioned it serving as an international language.

aUI has 31 morpheme-phonemes each with an associated meaning, i.e. each morpheme = a phoneme = a sememe.

Character	Meaning	Letter	IPA	Mnemonics
	Space	a	/a/	Open mouth to a wide space. [a] is the most open vowel, granting the most space.[6]
	Movement	e	/e/	A spiral nebula's primal cosmic movement. [e] is a front vowel, indicating forward movement.[6]
	Light	i	/ɪ/ or /i/	Source of light and rays spreading out. [i] is the quickest, high frequency vowel, reflecting that light is the fastest thing in the universe.[6]
	Life	o	/o/	A leaf; photosynthesis is the basis of earthly life. [o] is pronounced with the lips rounded, similar in shape to cells, the basis of life.[6]
	Human	u	/u/	Human legs or arms, depicting duality. [u] is articulated at two parts of the mouth, reflecting how humans have symmetric bodies and ambiguous natures.[6]
	Time	A	/aː/	Humans measure time in the elliptical orbits of earth and moon; an elongation of space. [aː] is a long vowel, reflecting the passage of time.[6]
	Matter	E	/eː/	A brickstone of matter. [eː] is a long vowel, reflecting how matter lasts longer than movement.[6]
	Sound	I	/iː/	A sound wave. [iː] is a long vowel, reflecting how sound travels slower than light.[6]
	Feeling	O	/oː/	The heart reflects human feelings in blood pressure and pulse. [oː] is a back vowel, as humans hold their most inner feelings back.[6]
	Spirit / Mind	U	/uː/	A trinity; there are several trinities within philosophy, psychology, and religions. [uː] is a back vowel, reflecting how a mind holds thoughts back.[6]
	Condition	Ø (formerly Q)	/œ/ or /øː/	Conditions create restrictions similar to parentheses. [ø] is articulated with the lips rounded, reflecting how the future is enclosed until events meet conditions.[6]
	Negation	Y	/y/ preceding consonants; /j/ preceding vowels	This minus sign negates or opposes whatever stands below it. [y] is pronounced at the top of the mouth, negating everything beneath it.[6]
	Together	b	/b/	Two dots joined by an arc. [b] is a bilabial consonant articulated with both lips pressed together.[6]
	Existence	c	/ʃ/	When one stands up, one exists. [ʃ]'s voiced counterpart [ʒ] represents equality, reflecting how one must remain equal to oneself to exist.[6]
	Through	d	/d/	A line crossing through another. [d] is an alveolar consonant in which the tongue crosses diagonally through the mouth.[6]
	This	f	/f/	An abbreviated arrow pointing down to the "this". [f] is a labiodental consonant where the lip points forward at a subject.[6]
	Inside	g	/ɡ/	A dot inside a circle. [g] is a velar sound pronounced deep inside the mouth.[6]
	Question	h	/h/	A simplified question mark. [h] is similar to a gasp made when a person is full of questions.[6]
	Equal	j	/ʒ/	Equation sign joined so it can be written in one line. [ʒ] sounds similar to flowing water, which stands equal in height when still.[6]
	Above	k	/k/	A dot above a line like a musical quarter note. [k] is articulated with the tongue raised above the jawline.[6]
	Around	L	/l/	A circle around a circle. [l] is a lateral consonant articulated by rounding the tongue.[6]
	Quality	m	/m/	A rounded form of the quantity glyph. [m] is a nasal consonant, reflecting how smell can determine quality.[6]
	Quantity	n	/n/	A container measuring quantity. [n] is pronounced further back than [m], reflecting how the mouth is a container measuring quantity.[6]
	Before	p	/p/	A dot before a line. [p] is a bilabial consonant pronounced before the lips.[6]
	Positive	r	/ʀ/ or /r/	A plus sign indicating positive. [r] is similar to the trills animals make to indicate positive feelings.[6]
	Thing	s	/s/	Round thing, closed in itself, lends concreteness to concepts. [s] is a sibilant hissed between the teeth, reflecting how concrete things can be physically enclosed unlike abstract things.[6]
	Toward	t	/t/	A shortened arrow pointing towards something. [t] is an alveolar consonant articulated with the tongue towards the front.[6]
	Active	v	/v/	A bolt of lightning is most active in nature. [v] is a voiced labiodental consonant that requires vibration of the lips.[6]
	Power	w	/w/	Potential power lying down. [w] requires co-articulation with the lips and tongue, requiring more power.[6]
	Relation	x	/x/	A double arrow to relate two objects. [x] is a fricative articulated with friction, as relations cause friction.[6]
	Part	z	/z/	Half of a round object cut apart. [z] is a dental consonant, as teeth bite parts off.[6]

Additionally, short nasal vowels (marked with an asterisk) are used for numerals:

aUI is currently included in the unofficial ConScript Unicode Registry (CSUR), which assigns code points in the Private Use Area. aUI code points are mapped to the range U+E270 to U+E28F.

The eight “Aux” variant fonts of Kurinto (Kurinto Text Aux, Book Aux, Sans Aux, etc.) support aUI.

• Victor Klemperer and his book LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii ISBN 9780826457776

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