constructed language
Let an agent explain constructed languages and their purposes, identify a conlang and its resources, distinguish auxiliary, engineered and artistic languages, relay codes and community information, and separate conlangs from natural languages, pidgins and programming languages.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent explain constructed languages and their purposes, identify a conlang and its resources, distinguish auxiliary, engineered and artistic languages, relay codes and community information, and separate conlangs from natural languages, pidgins and programming languages.
A language whose grammar and vocabulary were deliberately designed by a person or group rather than having developed naturally, for purposes such as international communication, philosophical experiment, artistic world-building or controlled technical use; examples include Esperanto, Volapuk, Lojban, Klingon and Toki Pona.
What it is for: Communication, experiment or art by design.
It can be identify a constructed language and its purpose; explain its design and resources; distinguish kinds of conlang; relay codes and communities.
Distinguishing features
Deliberately designed
Purpose defines the kind
Documented from creation
Community and use may follow or not
What it looks like
Not visible; seen in texts, grammars and communities using the language.
Physical character
Esperanto speakers: estimates vary widely people - from tens of thousands of fluent speakers to millions with some knowledge
How it is recognised
Known creator or design group and date
Documented grammar and vocabulary from the start
Pidgins and creoles arise naturally; programming languages are formal, not human languages
Related models
is a kind of - a designed language
is contrasted with - developed without deliberate design
includes - the most widely used example
is confused with - a formal notation, not a human language
In practice
Families and kinds
international auxiliary languages such as Esperanto and Interlingua
philosophical and engineered languages such as Lojban
artistic languages such as Klingon and Quenya
controlled natural languages for technical writing
derived languages from earlier conlangs, such as Ido
minimalist languages such as Toki Pona
Identifiers
ISO 639-3 per language, such as epo for Esperanto assigned to some conlangs
ConLang Code Registry per language community registry for others
Standards and regulation
ISO 639 language code assignment rules
Copyright treatment of constructed languages, which varies
Academies or bodies for some languages, such as the Akademio de Esperanto
Failure modes and hazards
Overstated speaker numbers
Confusing conlangs with pidgins or codes
Ownership disputes over languages
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Identify Which language and kind.
Identity.
Which
Name and purpose.
Which
Which.
- Which constructed language is meant, who designed it, when, and for what purpose? definition
- Is it a constructed language, a natural language, a pidgin or a formal notation? boundary
Kind
Kind.
Kind
Kind.
- Is it auxiliary, engineered, artistic or controlled, and what follows from that? definition
- Which entry fits the specific language? action
Design How it is built.
Design.
Grammar
Grammar and vocabulary.
Grammar
Grammar.
- What are the design principles of its grammar, phonology and vocabulary? provenance
- Which grammar or reference documents it? provenance
Evolution
Change after creation.
Evolution
Evolution.
- How has the language changed through use, and who governs it? provenance
- Which entry fits language change? action
Use Community and resources.
Use.
Community
Speakers and community.
Community
Community.
- Who uses the language, where, and how are speaker numbers estimated? measurement
- Which sources give estimates? provenance
Resources
Learning and codes.
Resources
Resources.
- What learning resources, codes and registries exist? provenance
- Which entry fits language codes? action
Context History and study.
Context.
History
History of conlangs.
History
History.
- How did constructed languages develop from philosophical languages to modern auxiliary and artistic languages? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Study
Scholarship.
Study
Study.
- How do interlinguistics and linguistics study constructed languages? provenance
- Is the presentation neutral about the merits of particular languages? boundary
What the second pass must settle
- Should each major conlang be a separate entry?
- How should speaker estimates be sourced?
- The registry entry has merged aliases naming derived languages and mixed languages; should they be split off?