Questions tagged [conlang]
For linguistical questions about constructed languages.
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To make a conlang indeciphrable [migrated]
How to make a language/code indecipherable or very hard to decipher/learn? What are the key points? How does linguists decipher languages?
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Are there any languages with no distinction between perfect, imperfect, and simple tense aspects?
I am currently trying my hand at making a conlang, and I just wish to know, are there any languages that don't distinguish between perfect, imperfect, and simple tense aspects? Thank you in advance.
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Why aren't conlangs very widely used?
Honestly, I don't see very many conlangs these days and I see that normal languages (Such as Welsh or Irish) are much more widely used? Why is that?
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On the effects of sound changes on case suffixes
I am working on a conlang and I came up with a question that I can't find a good answer too.
How does sound change effect suffixes, as whenever I work on conlangs with suffixes to mark different cases ...
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Is having many iconic features more common in artificial languages?
Is there any reason why the iconic nature of signed languages would historically have made linguists consider them to be artificial languages?
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What would /ɯ/ most likely be replaced by? [closed]
If a language was borrowing words from another language that has /ɯ/, what would the first language possibly substitute it with?
Borrowing language phonology -
Consonants:
m n ɲ p b t d c ɟ k g ts dz ...
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Is there any natural language having minimal pairs over tongue root position?
I am building a conlang, which is very likely going to be an isolating language. As such, I decided to make it a tonal language.
But there is a problem. This language is to be sung very often, so ...
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For English, is there a finite set of patterns for constructing sentences?
I am wondering about conlangs and thinking about English currently. I'm wondering does English have a finite set of patterns for constructing sentences? That is, could you build a computer program ...
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Is a tracheal consonant possible?
I was thinking about whether a tracheal consonant is possible or not. This is a sound through the windpipe. If this type of sound is indeed possible, can we make this sound easily?
Someone else came ...
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Strange Vocal Trills (L, Th, and Q)
I’m currently spending my quarantine working on the language for my novel. The language is alien-like, so I wanted to make it extremely difficult in it’s phonology. There are several trills. The ...
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Reconstructed PIE grammar? Could we be able to speak in Proto-European?
I'm interested in etymology, so I see often the root of a word shown as a reconstructed PIE root, but is it only a set of words, or could we speak this reconstructed language? (even if it's only a ...
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By what means would the root "let" evolve to "ly" in a naturalistic conlang?
I apologize for how this question may be perceived. I am casually learning linguistics with no curriculum. I can understand that this question may have many possible answers, but I am not quite sure ...
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What reasons could be given for Artificial Languages not to be considered part of linguistics study field?
While browsing this question, two of the answers deal about Lojban and Esperanto.
On the answer related to Lojban, there's an upvoted comment which states that Artifical Languages are not to be ...
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Does the Klingon spoken in Star Trek: Discovery present a harsh/ventricular/pressed voice phonation?
The new Klingon dialogue sounds noticeably different, perhaps they could be using a sound filter or simply acting in a lower register; although Klingon character Voq's voice sounds particularly ...
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Transliteration of Cyrillic
I have created a language that uses the Cyrillic alphabet, but I'm unsure as to how I can transliterate these letters for English-speaking readers:
Ii - this is pronounced as a hard letter 'i', as in ...
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Is there a rounded /æ/? Is there a Near-open front rounded vowel?
Okay, so I was just doing a bit of conlanging, and I was coming up with a verb ending /æɸ/. Because of the way I have begun this, /ɸ~ʍ/ are interchangeable. When I first tried saying /æʍ]/ I ...
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How should I form grammatical cases in my conlang?
Now, I'm a Latin student, and that being said, I understand how cases operate and what they do for a language, but I've never enjoyed learning/studying/keeping track of them. That being said, I feel ...
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Where to start with deciphering this language? [closed]
I do apologize if this question has been asked before or has a better place on a different part of the StackExchange network, but I've run out of places to ask this.
While playing through one of my ...
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Creating Unicode Characters for new language
I recently developed a new language with a perfect script, grammar and vocabulary. I even prepared a dictionary for it. Now, I would like to type my language on my laptop in its native script. For ...
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Ending a word in a stressed "h"
I am a native English speaker, and as far as I know, my language has no words that end in a stressed h sound. So, I'm creating a conlang, and I thought about putting one at the end of a word, but I ...
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What would you call a case specifying something is far away from a noun?
There's the adessive case, which can be used to specify something is near a noun, but is there an opposite? Is there a case specifying a far distance from a noun? I'm including this case in my conlang ...
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Experiment of creating an artificial language by cycles of memorizing errors
Once I saw an experiment on a documentary which a simple artificial language (just a set of ten words or something like that) was artificially created by a recurring process of memorizing errors of ...
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Are there languages which require aspiration for some stops?
I'm developing a phonology for a conlang. Many languages distinguish aspirated and unaspirated stops as different phonemes e.g. /p/ vs /ph/. Are there any languages, however, which lack an unaspirated ...
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What is the most expressive language you can make using 20 words? [closed]
I am looking to create a language that has no more than 20 words. What 20 words can I use that, when combined with each other, can be used to say basic things.
Example:
a word for small + a word for ...
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How should I organize my grammar?
So I'm doing a grammar for my conlang (constructed language). My conlang is a very verb-heavy/polysynthetic language. E.g. subordinate clauses are marked on the verb. To create a conditional clause -...
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