Volapük

Volapük (V. 'world language') is an international auxiliary language published in 1879 by Johannes Martin Schleyer. It was the first auxlang to reach a major audience, but was soon eclipsed by Esperanto. By the year 1900, Volapük was essentially a dead language. The reasons for this quick demise are probably a too complex grammatical structure, and especially the proprietary attitude of its creator. Schleyer had turned down several reform proposals and asserted that he was the only person allowed to invent new words or change rules of grammar. Thereby, the language could no longer function as a world language.