Constructed language

A constructed or artificial language — also colloquially known as a conlang — is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary have been devised by an individual or group, instead of having naturally evolved. Among the many possible reasons to create a constructed language are the will to ease human communication (see international auxiliary language and code); to make a fictional story or a constructed world more veracious; linguistic experimentation or simply for aesthetic pleasure.

Overview

There are two main categories into which a constructed language can be classified:

• A priori language: The grammar and vocabulary is created from scratch using the author(s) imagination or, less usually, by taking strings randomly generated by a computer. Examples: Klingon language.

• A posteriori language: Its grammar and/or vocabulary are based on some existing language, either as a variation of one or as a mixture of various. Examples: Esperanto.