'Lapine' is an invented language that features in which Richard Adams novel?

'Lapine' is a fictional language spoken by the rabbit characters in Richard Adams' 1972 novel 'Watership Down'. The name 'Lapine' comes from the French word for rabbit, 'lapin'.

Adams included a glossary of all 'Lapine' words at the end of the book. The rabbits speak mostly in English except for words for things that are unique to rabbits, or unfamiliar man-made objects. For example, instead of saying car, the rabbits use the 'Lapine' word 'hrududu'. Other words include 'homba' (fox), 'hlessi' (homeless rabbit), 'rah' (a chief rabbit), 'thlay' (fur) and 'inlé' (moon).

'Watership Down' tells the story of a Warren of rabbits living in the north of Hampshire, England. The rabbits display a human-like intelligence and have their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry and mythology.

Richard Adams (1920-2016) was an English author. 'Watership Down' began as a story to tell his daughters. Adams won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.