Portal:Constructed languages

Introduction

The Conlang Flag, a symbol of language construction created by subscribers to the CONLANG mailing list, which represents the Tower of Babel against a rising sun

A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. A constructed language may also be referred to as an artificial, planned or invented language, or (in some cases) a fictional language. Planned languages (or engineered languages / engelangs) are languages that have been purposefully designed; they are the result of deliberate, controlling intervention and are thus of a form of language planning.

There are many possible reasons to create a constructed language, such as to ease human communication (see international auxiliary language and code); to give fiction or an associated constructed setting an added layer of realism; for experimentation in the fields of linguistics, cognitive science, and machine learning; for artistic creation; for fantasy role-playing games; and for language games. Some people may also make constructed languages as a hobby, or in connection to worldbuilding.

The expression planned language is sometimes used to indicate international auxiliary languages and other languages designed for actual use in human communication. Some prefer it to the adjective artificial, as this term may be perceived as pejorative. Outside Esperanto culture, the term language planning means the prescriptions given to a natural language to standardize it; in this regard, even a "natural language" may be artificial in some respects, meaning some of its words have been crafted by conscious decision. Prescriptive grammars, which date to ancient times for classical languages such as Latin and Sanskrit, are rule-based codifications of natural languages, such codifications being a middle ground between naïve natural selection and development of language and its explicit construction. The term glossopoeia is also used to mean language construction, particularly construction of artistic languages.

Conlang speakers are rare. For example, the Hungarian census of 2011 found 8,397 speakers of Esperanto, and the census of 2001 found 10 of Romanid, two each of Interlingua and Ido and one each of Idiom Neutral and Mundolinco. The Russian census of 2010 found that in Russia there were about 992 speakers of Esperanto (the 120th most common) and nine of the Esperantido Ido. (Full article...)

Read more...

edit

Selected language

Ido /ˈiːdoʊ/ is a constructed language, derived from Reformed Esperanto, created to be a universal second language for speakers of diverse backgrounds. Ido was specifically designed to be grammatically, orthographically, and lexicographically regular, and above all easy to learn and use. In this sense, Ido is classified as a constructed international auxiliary language. It is the most successful of many Esperanto derivatives, called Esperantidos.

Ido was created in 1907 out of a desire to reform perceived flaws in Esperanto, a language that had been created 20 years earlier to facilitate international communication. The name of the language traces its origin to the Esperanto word ido, meaning "offspring", since the language is a "descendant" of Esperanto. After its inception, Ido gained support from some in the Esperanto community, but following the sudden death in 1914 of one of its most influential proponents, Louis Couturat, it declined in popularity. There were two reasons for this: first, the emergence of further schisms arising from competing reform projects; and second, a general lack of awareness of Ido as a candidate for an international language. These obstacles weakened the movement and it was not until the rise of the Internet that it began to regain momentum.

Ido uses the same 26 letters as the English (Latin) alphabet, with no diacritics. It draws its vocabulary from English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish, and is largely intelligible to those who have studied Esperanto. Several works of literature have been translated into Ido, including The Little Prince and the Gospel of Luke. As of the year 2000, there were approximately 100–200 Ido speakers in the world. Find out more...

Archive | Nominate a language...

edit

Did you know...

...that the Klingon language, used in the Star Trek films and television series is a fully formed language developed by linguist Marc Okrand?
...that William Shatner (also of Star Trek fame) once starred in a fully Esperanto-language film, Incubus?
...that language games like Pig Latin are also considered constructed languages, albeit not the best examples of the art?

Archive | Suggest a DYK item...

edit

Current events

(none)

edit

Corresponding categories

edit

Projects

You are invited to participate in WikiProject Constructed languages, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about constructed languages.

edit

Things you can do

Here are some Constructed language tasks:

Join

Constructed Languages WikiProject

Wikipedia:WikiProject Constructed languages/Userbox

Follow

Recent changes in related articles

Tag

{{

WP conlangs

}}

{{

Constructed languages

}}

{{

Infobox language

}}

(see WP:CL Templates)

Evaluate

Category:Unassessed constructed language articles

Report

Edit wars and deletions

Expand:

category:Constructed language stubs

Requests:

Several articles about constructed languages have been deleted for lack of verifiability, independent resources or notability. If you think one of the following subjects meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, don't hesitate dig it up from the graveyard, but don't forget to add proper references: