Portal:Constructed languages/Intro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An artificial or constructed language (known colloquially as a conlang among aficionados), is a language whose phonology, grammar and vocabulary are specifically devised by an individual or small group, rather than having naturally evolved as part of a culture as with natural languages. Some are designed for use in human communication (usually to function as international auxiliary languages), but others are created for use in fiction, linguistic experimentation, secrecy (codes), or for the experience of doing so (artistic languages, language games). These languages are sometimes associated with constructed worlds.
The synonym planned language is sometimes used when referring to international auxiliary languages, and by those who may object to the more common term "artificial". Some speakers of Esperanto avoid the term "artificial language" because they deny that there is something "unnatural" in communicating in this language. However, outside the Esperanto community the term language planning refers to prescriptive measures taken regarding a natural language. In this regard, even "natural languages" may be submitted to a certain amount of artificiality, and in the case of regularized grammars, the line is difficult to draw.
