conlang

English

WOTD – 14 April 2021

Etymology

A hymn written in Sindarin, a conlang created by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien as a language spoken by elves in his Lord of the Rings works.

The noun is a syllabic abbreviation of constructed language, while the verb is derived from the noun. By surface analysis, con- (“constructed”) +‎ lang or -lang (“language”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnlæŋ/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnˌlæŋ/, /ˈkɑnˌleɪŋ/
• Hyphenation: con‧lang

Noun

conlang (plural conlangs)

1. (linguistics, colloquial) Alternative form of constructed language (“a human language consciously devised by an individual or a small group, as opposed to having naturally evolved as a natural language”) [from 1990s]

   Synonyms: (humorous) clong, cloŋ

   The Klingon language is a conlang created for use in the Star Trek franchise.

   • 2012 October 31, Laura Wright, “UT Language Creation Society invites students to learn origins of newer languages”, in The Daily Texan‎^[1], Austin, Tex.: Texas Student Media, University of Texas at Austin, published 8 April 2013, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 August 2020:

     You might be familiar with more a priori conlangs than you think: The Klingon language from the television series "Star Trek," the Na’vi language from the movie "Avatar," and the Dothraki language from the television series "Game of Thrones" are all examples of a priori languages. […] Others both inside and outside the academic community feel that conlanging veers too easily into the realm of cultural exploitation (viewers of “Game of Thrones” will remember how the portrayal of the Dothraki race on the show, including the conlang the Dothraki people speak, seemed to many like a portrayal of Native Americans as “barbaric” and “exotic”).

Derived terms

• artlang
• auxlang
• engelang
• loglang
• romlang

Related terms

English terms prefixed with con- (constructed)

conculture

conlang

conlanguage

conperson

conpidgin

conreligion

con-script

conscript

consociety

conworld

Descendants

• → Russian: конла́нг (konláng)
• → Ukrainian: конла́нг (konlánh)
• → French: conlang

Translations

constructed language — see constructed language

Verb

conlang (third-person singular simple present conlangs, present participle conlanging, simple past and past participle conlanged)

1. (ambitransitive, linguistics) To create or work on a conlang (constructed language).

   I've been conlanging since I was nine years old.

   Brithenig was conlanged with the purpose of looking how Welsh might have developed if it were a Romance language.

Derived terms

• conlanger
• conlanging

Translations

to create a conlang

• Polish: tworzyć język sztuczny impf, stworzyć język sztuczny pf
• Spanish: conlanguear