Conlangs

Conlanging is the art of language creation.

When I talk to most people about conlanging, at least beyond the initial 'what is that' conversation, they conceptualise it as a pursuit with a purpose. They imagine that I have specific goals in mind to which languages are the means to an end. And I can't blame them considering that most people's perception of language invention is a part of fiction - be it literature, film or TV - or they are put in mind of arguably Eurocentric philosophical musings about world cooperation.

In reality, conlanging is a form of art as vague as wielding a brush on canvas, charcoal on paper or a chisel on marble. Sometimes there are goals and sometimes there is nothing but the peculiar human silence of a brain conferring with itself and guiding your hand as you create something from nothing.

There are so many forms of conlanging - be those the kinds of languages you like to make, or the reasons you make them. Personally I would describe myself as an artlanger - that is, I like making conlangs for purely artistic purposes - and a naturalist - that is, I like to wield enough precision in my process to create a language that is linguistically conceivable and internally consistent. I don't envision my languages uniting people or fitting some philosophical ideal. I just want to create something that is beautiful to my eyes and ears.

If you're interested in reading a little more about some of my specific languages, there's a handful I've written about: