A Guide to Constructed Languages: What They Are and How Many Are There?

Did you think that Dotharki is an actual language when you heard it in Game of Thrones? Well, it’s not. It is a constructed language that is not actually spoken by anyone in the world. That’s interesting, right?

Constructed languages are the ones that are created for an intended purpose. Believe it or not, there are a few such languages that are actually spoken by approximately 2 million speakers around the world.

In this blog, we will take you through the world of these languages, what they are, how many there are, and how you can learn one. 

Ready? Let’s get started!

Key Takeaways

• Constructed languages (conlangs) are intentionally created for specific purposes.
• They fall into three types: auxiliary, engineered, and artistic languages.
• Creating one involves designing sounds, grammar, and vocabulary.
• Some conlangs are inspired by existing natural languages.
• Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed language.
• Popular examples include Klingon, Elvish, Dothraki, and Minionese.
• Many are created to enhance storytelling in fiction and media.

What Are Constructed Languages?

A constructed language can be defined as a language that has been consciously created for an intended purpose. The creator of a constructed language is called a conlanger, a term coined by 20th-century linguist Otto Jespersen. 

The language is also known as a planned, artificial, or auxiliary language. You have come across constructed languages in books, movies, and TV shows. 

It falls under 3 categories, namely auxiliary, engineers, and artistic. Here’s what each of these means: 

• Auxiliary (auxlangs) – This is created to improve communication within a community
• Engineers (engelangs) – This is devised as an experiment, mostly to show the difficulty of creation, adoption, and/or adaptation
• Artistic (artlangs) – Artlang is devised by writers or authors to add depth to a fictional world. 

Wondering if language translation services can help you translate these? Well, they can help you understand and share a few tips about learning them.

How to Make Your Own Constructed Language (Conlang)?

Before we go into the various examples and types of constructed languages, let’s understand how to construct one. Generally, these languages take inspiration from the grammar, vocabulary, and phonology. Also, these can be inspired by one or two natural languages. 

That being said, how can anyone create a language? Well, one can if they consider these things: 

A. Define Purpose and Context

The first thing you need to define is what the language is for: personal use or a fictional culture. It helps in finding the right structure and vocabulary. 

B. Establish Phonology (Sounds)

The next step is to create a set of consonants and vowels. You can use the International Phonetic Alphabet to define unique sounds. Also, decide on the tone and syllable structure, like the consonant-vowel patterns. 

C. Set Grammar and Syntax

Understand how words form sentences. Set rules for word order, verb conjugation, and noun plurals. 

D. Develop Vocabulary

Create a dictionary by making root words. Expand the vocabulary by compounding roots to create new words. 

That will help you construct a language and better understand the constructed language definition. Various translators from translation services UK take an interest in this and often try creating a new language by combining one or more elements of the languages they know. 

Examples of Constructed Languages: Have You Heard about Them?

This is the most interesting part of the discussion. Constructed or artificial languages have been a point of interest for many. Many of you have also tried learning a few of them to have secret conversations with your friend. Don’t lie, we know you have. To help you know them better, we will take you through some examples of constructed languages like Esperanto, Klingon, and Toki Pona. 

So, without further ado, let’s take you through a few famous constructed languages: 

A. Klingon

The Star Trek language is by far the most popular conlang. The language was first mentioned in the 1967 episode, ‘The Trouble with Tribbles’, even before it was developed. Later, in 1979, the language officially made its debut in ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’.

This was created to intentionally sound alien. The language is characterised by harsh, throaty sounds and was designed not only to emphasise the alien nature but also to reflect on the Klingons’ violent and aggressive natures. Translators offering media translation services take an interest in this language, all due to its popularity across the globe. 

The fictional language has also been used in ‘The Big Bang Theory’, where Leonard and Sheldon used it to converse without letting Penny and Amy understand what they were saying. 

B. Esperanto

Created as an international auxiliary language, Esperanto is an easy to learn and simple language. Polish doctor Ludovic Zamenhof created this language in the 19th century with the hope of making it a language that everybody can use to communicate. 

While the primary objective was not met, Esperanto continues to be one of the well-known conlangs and is still spoken by 2 million people across the world. You might find similarities with the Creole language in terms of mixing existing languages. 

The language is characterised by simple vocabulary and grammar, with much of its phrasing inspired by the Romance languages. You will come across this language if you go through the history of constructed languages. 

C. Elvish Languages

J.R.R. Tolkien created several languages during his work revolving around Middle-earth. The Elvish language, or the language of the Elves have found popularity in The Lord of the Rings, where it was used. 

Tolkien created several languages as part of Elvish. Yet, only Sindarin or ‘grey Elvish’ was the most popular one. Sindarin borrows a lot of elements from the literary Old Welsh and a lot of elements from Old English and Old Norse. 

D. Dothraki

The massively popular series Game of Thrones, based on the books of George R.R. Martin, brought forward many foreign tongues for the audience. Out of all the languages, High Valkyrian and Dothraki are two of the most famous ones. 

David J. Peterson, the brains behind the language, found it difficult to keep up with the expectations. The language needed words and descriptions already mentioned in the books, and it needed to be easy for the actors to pronounce. Translating the language feels more like translating the untranslatable. 

Dothraki has a massive influence of other real-world languages like Estonian, Inuktitut, Turkish, Russian, and Swahili. The language represented the nomadic horseback-riding warriors of George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire. 

E. Interslavic

The language is based on Old Church Slavonic and uses elements that are commonly used in all Slavic languages. It is an auxiliary language, but unlike other international auxiliary languages, like Esperanto, it is designed for ease of understanding, not for ease of learning. 

F. Minionese

If we are talking about conlangs, it will be a crime if we skip Minionese. The little yellow creatures from Despicable Me introduced a language that seems gibberish, but they are actually talking in Minionese. 

The Minion language is massively influenced by Spanish, Italian, and Chinese, and is characterised by a few noticeable patterns within its speech. This characteristic makes the language even more fun. While it sounds gibberish, you will end up understanding every fourth word. 

That will help you understand what are constructed languages and why do they matter. 

To End with,

Although the list does not end here, all the ones mentioned are more popular than other constructed languages. Other conlangs include Na’Vi from Avatar, words from Harry Potter movies, and many more. 

While there’s no existing language like these, knowing about them is fun. Especially for the ones that enjoy watching movies like Minions, Star Trek, etc., this gives them an additional advantage. This will help you understand how are constructed languages different from natural languages. 

That being said, we suggest you don’t stop being curious and look for other such languages as well. If you feel we have missed out on any, drop a comment mentioning the language. Let’s make this a two-way learning process.

Frequently Asked Questions