Constructed language

An artificial or constructed language (known colloquially as a conlang among aficionados), is a language whose phonology, grammar and vocabulary are specifically devised by an individual or small group, rather than having naturally evolved as part of a culture as with natural languages. Some are designed for use in human communication (usually to function as international auxiliary languages), but others are created for use in fiction, linguistic experimentation, secrecy (codes), or for the experience of doing so (artistic languages, language games). These languages are sometimes associated with constructed worlds.

Overview

Constructed languages are often divided into a priori languages, in which much of the grammar and vocabulary is created from scratch (using the author's imagination or automatic computational means), and a posteriori languages, where the grammar and vocabulary are derived from one or more natural languages.

Related Topics:
A priori - A posteriori

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Fictional and experimental languages can also be naturalistic, in the sense that they are meant to sound natural and, if derived a posteriori, they try to follow natural rules of phonological, lexical and grammatical change. Since these languages are not usually intended for easy learning or communication, a naturalistic fictional language tends to be more difficult and complex, not less (because it tries to mimic common behaviours of natural languages such as irregular verbs and nouns, complicated phonological rules, etc.).

Related Topics:
Phonological - Grammatical - Fictional language

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In light of the above, most constructed languages can broadly be divided as follows:

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• engineered languages (engelangs), further subdivided into philosophical languages and logical languages (loglangs) - devised for the purpose of experimentation in logic or philosophy
• auxiliary languages (auxlangs) - devised for international communication (also IALs, for International Auxiliary Language)
• artistic languages (artlangs) - devised to create aesthetic pleasure

The boundaries between these categories, however, are by no means clear. For example, there are fictional auxiliary languages, and with some constructed languages, it is hard to decide whether they are 'artistic' or an 'engineered'.

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A constructed language can have native speakers if children learn it at an early age from parents who have learned the language. Esperanto has a considerable number of native speakers, variously estimated to be between 200 and 2000. A member of the Klingon Language Institute, d'Armond Speers, attempted to raise his son as a native (bilingual with English) Klingon speaker. However, as soon as a constructed language does have a number of native speakers, it begins to evolve, and thereby loses its constructed status over time. For example Modern Hebrew was modelled on Biblical Hebrew rather than engineered from scratch, and has undergone considerable changes since the state of Israel was founded in 1948.

Related Topics:
Esperanto - Native speakers - Klingon Language Institute - D'Armond Speers - Klingon - Modern Hebrew - Israel - 1948

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Proponents of particular constructed languages often have many reasons for using them. Among these, the famous but disputed Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is often cited; this claims that the language one speaks influences the way in which one thinks. Thus, a "better" language should allow the speaker to reach some elevated level of intelligence, or to encompass more diverse points of view.

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In the CONLANG Mailing List, a community of conlangers has developed, which has its own customs, such as translation relays.

Related Topics:
CONLANG - Translation relay

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