Frequent Questions
72 questions
9
votes
1
answer
753
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How does one go about designing phonotactics for a conlang?
Most every conlanger has heard of phonotactics. However, I have yet to encounter resources about how should one go about the design of a conlang's phonotactics. How should one go about creating a ...
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29
votes
3
answers
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Are there any good programs out there to help when constructing languages?
Are there any tools out there to keep track of which works you have already defined, managing your lexicon easily, and storing conjugations and the like?
Barring that, what are some good strategies ...
- 463
24
votes
10
answers
5k
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What's a good starting place to work on vocab?
Obviously, generating a lexicon is very time-consuming, and there's so much that needs to be done, I often find myself suffering with analysis paralysis, because I just can't decide where to begin.
...
user348
22
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How to "Naturalize" a Conlang?
Many conlangs that I have encountered have an “artificial” feel to them–all conjugations and declensions are perfectly regular, stress rules for speaking are rigorously adhered to, ...
- 1,152
14
votes
4
answers
6k
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Are there any free online conlang creation tools?
I was wondering if anyone knows of any conlang creation websites that are free to use.
I know this sounds silly but I have little experience to go on as for creating a custom language.
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23
votes
2
answers
832
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Is there a constructed language in existence that has graduated to "natural" status?
That is, are there any such languages in use today that are in use for day to day activities, or are formally recognized, etc?
- 331
18
votes
3
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972
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What makes lojban such a "logical" language?
The title says it all. While I have not studied it, I have repeatedly heard that lojban is an especially "logical" language, one that could even be a way to speak a "natural" language to the computer ...
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16
votes
2
answers
1k
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What is the difference between tense and aspect?
Many conlangs contain tense, some contain aspect as well or instead, and much of the recommended reading for conlangers assumes that you know what tense and aspect are and what the difference between ...
- 3,431
14
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4
answers
1k
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Are there any "unspeakable" languages?
Sorry, my title is slightly misleading; what I'm after is more like a written language that doesn't have its roots in spoken language, and has no definitive translation into speech, but is none-the-...
- 243
14
votes
5
answers
536
views
How can I make my conlang's borrowings naturalistic?
As something of a follow-on to my question about “naturalizing” conlangs, I’m looking for any information - actual tools would be nice, too, if available - for “borrowing”...
- 1,152
14
votes
3
answers
884
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What are the defining traits of a Euro-centric conlang?
I know that a Euro-centric conlang is a conlang based mostly on Indo-European grammar, or more generally a conlang that is written from a worldview (conscious or not) that the "normal" language is ...
- 143
13
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1
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Is there any evidence that learning a zonal Slavic conlang can help conversing with native speakers of Slavic languages
The relatively high degree of mutual intercomprehensibility of the Slavic languages has fascinated a lot of people for a long time. It was also a motivation in the design of zonal constructed ...
- 11.8k
11
votes
2
answers
1k
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How to develop a detailed, realistic a posteriori conlang?
Background
To begin, I’ve been conlanging ‘properly’ for around two to two and a half years now and have been into it for far, far longer. However, I have yet to create a conlang that is truly in-...
- 195
9
votes
2
answers
1k
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What are the common features of "Elvish" conlangs?
I want to create a fantasy world with Elves speaking their own language. In order to avoid unwanted associations with works of other authors, the Elves should speak a newly invented language. What ...
- 11.8k
8
votes
4
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543
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Roadmap for effective construction of a novel language
I have trivially dabbled in Esperanto, Klingon, and a few other languages. Now I want to build one, and not a distorted copy of an existing one. I want to make a non-junk constructed language.
Is ...
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