Constructed language
In the dialogue Cratylus, Plato recorded Hermogenes claiming that words are not inherently linked to what they refer to. He argued that people apply a piece of their own voice to the thing itself. This philosophical speculation dates back to classical antiquity and questioned the natural connection between sound and meaning.
Athenaeus told stories about Dionysius of Sicily creating neologisms like krotalon for standard Greek. He also invented terms such as chrysos for gold and arguros for silver. These were deliberate attempts to replace common vocabulary with new coinages.
Alexarchus of Macedon founded the city of Ouranopolis and introduced a peculiar vocabulary there. He referred to a rooster as a dawn-crier and a barber as a mortal-shaver. Heraclides of Lembos reported that Alexarchus once wrote something to public authorities in Casandreia that even the Pythian god could make sense of.
The 17th century saw Francis Lodwick publish A Common Writing in 1647. He followed this with The Groundwork or Foundation laid for the Framing of a New Perfect Language in 1652. Sir Thomas Urquhart contributed Ekskybalauron in 1651 and Logopandecteision in 1652.
George Dalgarno published Ars signorum in 1661 while John Wilkins released An Essay towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language in 1668. These systems produced hierarchical classifications intended for both spoken and written expression.
Leibniz developed his lingua generalis in 1678 aiming at a lexicon of characters upon which users might perform calculations. This work yielded true propositions automatically and served as a side-effect developing binary calculus. These projects sought to arrange all human knowledge into characters or hierarchies.
Volapük emerged in 1879 proposed by Johann Martin Schleyer. Within a decade, 283 Volapükist clubs were counted all over the globe. Disagreements between Schleyer and prominent users led to schism, causing the language to fall into obscurity by the mid-1890s.
Esperanto arrived in 1887 created by L. L. Zamenhof. It became the successor to Volapük and gained significant traction among speakers. Interlingua followed much later, emerging in 1951 when the International Auxiliary Language Association published its dictionary and grammar.
Leslie Jones attempted to mix elements of English and Spanish with Eurolengo. The success of Esperanto did not stop others from trying to construct new auxiliary languages despite the decline of earlier attempts.
J. R. R. Tolkien developed Quenya and Sindarin for his legendarium first published with The Hobbit in 1937. Marc Okrand designed Klingon for the science-fiction franchise Star Trek starting in 1985. Sylvia Sotomayor created Kēlen in 1998 while Paul Frommer developed Na'vi for Avatar in 2009.
David Peterson crafted Dothraki and Valyrian for Game of Thrones beginning in 2011. Madhan Karky invented Kiliki for the Baahubali films released in 2015. These languages were designed to create aesthetic pleasure or humorous effect within fictional settings.
Actors must be able to easily pronounce these constructed languages if they are used by fictional characters. They should also fit with fragments already invented by the book's author and incorporate personal names of fictional speakers.
The Conlang Mailing List was founded in 1991 and later split off an AUXLANG mailing list dedicated to international auxiliary languages. Sarah Higley reported that demographics of the Conlang list were primarily men from North America and western Europe. An age range spanned from 13 to over 60 years old.
Patrick Jarrett conducted a survey in 2001 showing an average age of 30.65 among participants. The average time since starting to invent languages was 11.83 years. Many conlangers spend a relatively small amount of time on any one language before moving to another project.
Online communities like the Zompist Bulletin Board have existed since 2001. Discussion there includes presentation of members' constructed languages and feedback from other members. Translation challenges and translation relays became customs developed by this community.
Modern Hebrew pronunciation norms were developed following Mishnaic Hebrew and Biblical Hebrew traditions after Israel was founded in 1948. Linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann argues it is a Semito-European hybrid based on Yiddish and other languages spoken by revivalists.
Esperanto has evolved significantly from the prescriptive blueprint published in 1887. Modern editions of the Fundamenta Krestomatio, a 1903 collection of early texts, require many footnotes on syntactic and lexical differences between early and modern usage. When a constructed language gains a large population of speakers, it tends to evolve and lose its constructed nature.
Hungarian census data from 2011 found 8,397 speakers of Esperanto while Russian census of 2010 recorded about 992 speakers in Russia. Ethnologue estimates 200, 2000 people speak Esperanto as a first language.
In a 2015 lawsuit, CBS and Paramount Pictures challenged a fan film project called Axanar. They stated the project infringed upon intellectual property including the Klingon language among other creative elements. Marc Okrand expressed doubt regarding whether Paramount's claims of ownership were valid during the controversy.
The Language Creation Society submitted an amicus curiae brief claiming the Klingon language itself is not copyrightable under section 102(b) of the Copyright Act of 1976. They argued it functions as a procedure or system for communication rather than expression of an idea.
David J. Peterson created multiple well-known languages including Valyrian and Dothraki yet advocated that theoretically anyone can publish anything using any language he created. Comprehensive learning material for High Valyrian and Klingon has been published on Duolingo but those courses are licensed by respective copyright holders.
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Common questions
Who created the constructed language Esperanto and when was it published?
L. L. Zamenhof created Esperanto which arrived in 1887. It became the successor to Volapük and gained significant traction among speakers.
When did Plato record philosophical speculation about words not being inherently linked to what they refer to?
Plato recorded this speculation in the dialogue Cratylus during classical antiquity. Hermogenes argued that people apply a piece of their own voice to the thing itself.
Which languages were developed by J. R. R. Tolkien for his legendarium first published with The Hobbit in 1937?
J. R. R. Tolkien developed Quenya and Sindarin for his legendarium first published with The Hobbit in 1937. These languages were designed to create aesthetic pleasure or humorous effect within fictional settings.
What happened to the constructed language Volapük after Johann Martin Schleyer proposed it in 1879?
Volapük emerged in 1879 proposed by Johann Martin Schleyer but fell into obscurity by the mid-1890s due to schism between Schleyer and prominent users. Within a decade, 283 Volapükist clubs were counted all over the globe before disagreements caused its decline.
Who created the constructed language Klingon and when did design work begin for Star Trek?
Marc Okrand designed Klingon for the science-fiction franchise Star Trek starting in 1985. He expressed doubt regarding whether Paramount's claims of ownership were valid during the controversy involving the fan film project Axanar in 2015.