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Languages have always fascinated me. I remember my mother telling my twin sister and me how we had our own language when we first learnt to talk. The only words I remember of this now are “nonie” (a clothes peg of all things) and “gee” (to pinch).
As we grew, we both developed a fascination with languages and would try to create our own languages. Though we didn’t know at the time, what we were doing was making a conlang, or a constructed language. Interestingly, we both became language teachers and writers!
Now, I don’t profess to know any conlangs myself, but I love the concept and if I had time, would love to learn Esperanto or create my own! So, what are conlangs? Let’s dig in.
What are conlangs?
The word conlang is short for constructed language. It’s an artificial language with vocabulary, grammar, and phonology that have been devised consciously rather than being a natural linguistic development.
There are lots of reasons for the creation of conlangs. They could be planned as a way to ease communication, like Esperanto, or as a fictional language in literature, like J. R. R. Tolkien’s Sindarin and Quenya.
Fun facts about conlangs
Now that we know what we’re talking about, let’s learn some facts about conlangs.
1. Esperanto is the most famous conlang
Arguably the most famous of all conlangs is Esperanto. This is the world’s most widely spoken of all constructed languages. It was created by an ophthalmologist named L. L. Zamenhof in 1887.
Zamenhof intended for Esperanto to be an international language or a universal second language for people to communicate across nations. The name itself translates as “one who hopes.”
In terms of speakers, there are as many as 180,000 worldwide. Esperanto even has native speakers now and there are around 1,000 of them.
2. There are different types of conlangs
Not all conlangs are the same or used in the same way. There are roughly three types of constructed languages. These are:
- Engineered languages
- Auxiliary languages
- Artistic languages
Engineered languages have been designed to specific criteria and to prove or test hypotheses about language and how a language works. Many of these are experimental languages.
Auxiliary languages are constructed languages that have been designed to allow people from two different nations to communicate without a common first language. Esperanto is the most well-known.
Artistic languages are conlangs that have been designed for phonetic pleasure or aesthetics. These often have irregular grammar, like natural languages do, and are designed within a specific context like a fictional world.
All of these languages can either be a priori, which means their vocabulary and grammar aren’t based on an existing language, or a posteriori, which means they are based on an already existing language.
3. Oldest known conlang
Conlangs have been a topic for many hundreds of years. The first known conlang was a musical language created by François Sudre in 1828. Solresol (based on musical notes) was originally called Langue universelle (meaning universal language in French).
The words are made up of the musical sounds do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti/si. Examples of words are:
- Redofafa? Is your health good?
- Redofafa dore. My health is good.
4. There are many conlang examples in literature
One of the most famous conlang creators was author J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien created many different constructed languages and spent years developing them.
The most famous of Tolkien’s conlangs is Quenya, which is also known as Elvish. Tolkien believed that languages needed mythology in order to work or exist. It’s believed that he began to write Lord of the Rings because of Quenya, rather than the other way around.
Quenya was inspired by Finnish, Ancient Greek, and Latin, and Tolkien began to construct it in 1910 when he was still in school. Though he changed its grammar and conjugation over the years, the vocabulary stayed largely the same. Tolkien created many other conlangs too.
Other conlangs in literature include Bordurian and Syldavian, which were used in The Adventures of Tintin. Bordurian was the national language of the fictional Borduria and was written using the Latin alphabet.
Syldavian, on the other hand, also uses the Cyrillic alphabet. Syldavian resembles languages of central Europe, albeit superficially. It’s clearly a Germanic language with a vocabulary that closely resembles German and Dutch.
5. There are also conlangs made just for film and television
If you’re a fan of Star Trek then you’ll already know languages exist here. There’s Vulcan, Romulan, and Klingon.
Klingon has been so popular among fans that there have been at least nine works of literature translated into the language. These include Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Much Ado About Nothing.
Another set of conlangs was created just for the TV show Game of Thrones. Though George R. R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, paid reference to people speaking different languages in the books, he didn’t actually create the languages other than a few words here and there for effect.
When the book became Game of Thrones, the Language Creation Society and HBO held a contest for people to create the Dothraki language. The end result was created by David J. Peterson. Peterson created his blueprint of the language with 2,000 words and functional grammar.
Other artificial languages created for the show include High Valyrian, spoken by Daenerys of House Targaryen, Low Valyrian, Asshai’I, and Qarth.
How to make a conlang
There is no right and wrong when it comes to creating your own language. Some people start with vocabulary while others use an online conlang generator to get some ideas. Here are some possible steps to take to make constructing your language easier:
1. Begin with the phonology and sounds – what do you want it to sound like?
2. Next, come up with the phonotactics (how you want the vowel sounds and consonants to go together)
3. Build your vocabulary and lexicon. Don’t forget to consider stresses and syllables.
4. Establish your grammar. Think about the syntax, parts of speech, and verb conjugations. Consider, will things change order for questions or exclamations, for example? Do you need conjugations or will time determiners suffice?
5. Establish a writing system. You can use your own script or borrow letters from an existing alphabet like Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, or Arabic to name a few.
Final thoughts: Do you want to learn conlangs or create one?
Creating a new language isn’t easy but it can be a lot of fun. Whether you’re interested in learning an existing conlang or creating your own, there are many resources out there.
For anyone wanting to learn Esperanto, Klingon, or High Valyrian, these are available on Duolingo. Esperanto is also available on Drops and italki. If you want to create your own language and meet other people who share this interest, the Language Creation Society is a great place to start. There are loads of resources to help you too.
Remember, Tolkien spent years perfecting his languages — but that’s all part of the fun! Finally, if you can get someone to work with you on developing a conlang, you’ll have someone you can converse with too!