Constructed languages

The day that human civilisation realized that it could actually ‘concoct’ languages artificially instead of having to use existing ‘natural’ tongues, constructed languages were born. Conlangs, as they are fondly referred to by language buffs, are nothing more than contrived grammatical, phonological and vocabulary codes that are woven together to form a new language. However, constructed languages have a rich and illustrious history that begins as far back as the Platonic Era of nearly two and a half millennia ago.

Historically Speaking

The first known reference to linguistic experimentation was made by Plato in Cratylus. Later, other authors penned their theories and speculative constructs of grammar that formed the precursors to modern-day conlangs. It was not until the 12^th century, however, that constructed languages made their presence known. The first recorded work that contained an artificially constructed language was Lingua Ignota (which means unknown language in Latin). Grammatical speculation, as it is known, was officially born.

In historic times, speaking in languages other than naturally derived ones was considered to be a supernatural act that was thought to be divinely inspired. Since then, conlangs have been used for everything from cryptography to the propagation of Christianity.

On Stranger Tongues

Conlangs come in many shapes and sizes, and each serves a specific purpose. Some ‘planned languages’ are expressly meant to facilitate human communication for the purpose of trade; some are merely a part of language games and appear as Pig Latin and other variants; others are fully crafted languages – with complete and complex vocabulary and grammar – that serve to satisfy the cravings of science fiction aficionados. However, there is no doubt that every one of these languages has played and continues to play a significant role in human interaction.

Esperanto

This unique conlang was created in 1887 and is one of the few real-world languages that have practical applications. In classic style, Hollywood proceeded to romanticise this language and project it as the future language of all humanity – fortunately, this was the very goal of L. L. Zamenhof, the inventor. Esperanto speakers today are estimated to number over 2 million. The language even has a distinct dialect called Ido.

Interlingua

This International Auxiliary Language (IAL – a term given to languages that are used for cross-cultural human interaction) was developed in the mid-20^th century primarily from Latin. It is a naturalistic IAL, which means that the vocabulary and grammar have been adapted from an existing language – in this case, Latin. Although only a few hundred people actually speak this language, proponents of Interlingua claim that the language is easily understood by those that speak Romance Languages such as Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, and Romanian. Irrespective of biased views, it is undeniable that Interlingua is relatively easy-to-learn for people who speak languages from which Interlingua has taken its vocabulary.

Klingon

This full-fledged language is probably the only fully formed one of its kind in the realm of science fiction. Many other attempts have been made at concocting languages aimed at science fiction buffs, but none come anywhere near Klingon. There is Huttese – the ‘court language’ of Star Wars character Jabba the Hutt; there is Sindarin – invented by JRR Tolkien as the language of the elves; there is also Vampirese – featured in the Blade trilogy. None of these conlangs, however, can claim to have achieved the fame and popularity that Klingon enjoys to this day. Estimates put the number of fluent Klingon speakers of this unique conlang at no more than 30; but despite the fact that this language seems to be so exclusive that only a handful of people are able to speak it at the ‘native’ level, it has been featured in nearly two dozen movies and television shows. In fact, it is so popular that fans have translated the Bible, Sun Tzu and even Shakespeare’s Hamlet into Klingon. All this despite the fact that Klingon has a meagre vocabulary of only 3,000 words!

A Look at Non-Verbal Conlangs

Apart from the wide range of speech-based languages that attempt to bridge the gap between cultures or create a new culture, there are other languages that employ symbols or sounds to achieve the same objectives. Solresol, for example, uses musical nomenclature (Do Re Mi Fa and so on) as its key construct element. Since the musical notes can be represented as symbols or hand gestures or  even using the colours of the rainbow, Solresol ‘speakers’ can communicate in a variety of ways. Natursprache emerged in the early 17^th century as a ‘natural language of the senses.’ Every one of these was an attempt at unifying diverse peoples through spoken language. Most of them died a natural death for lack of interest in promoting them, but many still live today as a reminder to humanity that were are still one of the world’s most fragmented species.

Conclusion

The world today speaks no fewer than 6,900 languages encompassing tens of thousands of dialects. It would seem that any attempt at unification from a linguistic approach would prove futile. However, this has not stopped man from pursuing the ultimate goal of bringing all of humanity under one language. Esperanto was possibly the most grandiose attempt at doing so, but it is certainly not going to be the last of these staggering attempts to teach 7 billion people to speak the same language!