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Language is inherently complex. With diverse rules, writing systems, and sounds, mastering a new language like Mandarin can be daunting for English speakers, and the reverse is equally true. Some believe there’s a better approach—enter conlang creators. A constructed language, or conlang, is a deliberately crafted linguistic system with its own grammar, vocabulary, and sound patterns. Here are five conlangs worth exploring.
1. Toki Pona
While English boasts over 100,000 words—expanding to hundreds of thousands when considering multiple meanings—could you manage with just 120? Linguist Sonja Lang designed Toki Pona in 2001 with the goal of “understanding life’s meaning in 120 words.” Today, Toki Pona speakers use 137 “core words,” yet the language remains remarkably concise.
The term for “simple” also means “good”: pona. If this feels more like a life philosophy than a language, it’s no coincidence. Lang developed Toki Pona as a way to cope during a depressive episode, as reported by The Globe and Mail.
In language learning, simplicity is beneficial—or at least efficient. Toki Pona can be mastered in just about 30 hours. (For comparison, learning French typically takes 30 weeks.) The conlang’s lexicon is inspired by English, Esperanto, Finnish, Croatian, Georgian, Dutch, and Chinese. You can connect with over 10,000 speakers worldwide on Discord to practice.
Not your style? As Toki Pona puts it, nasin ante li pona tawa jan ante, meaning “Different paths suit different people.” In other words, to each their own.
2. Lojban
Lojban stands out among conlangs for having an xkcd comic dedicated to mocking it. “If you mastered Lojban, your communication would be perfectly clear and logical,” Cueball remarks in the comic. “True,” Black Hat responds. “But then I’d have to interact with the kind of people who are into Lojban.”
Lojban evolved from Loglan, also known as logical language, created by sociologist and sci-fi writer James Cooke Brown in the 1950s with a central question: Could a culturally neutral, logically structured language alter how its speakers think? In the 1980s, a split within the Loglan community led to the creation of Lojban, an enhanced logical language. Its name derives from the Loglan terms for “logic” and “language”: logji and bangu [PDF]. Today, Lojban boasts a larger community, retaining much of Loglan’s principles, grammar, and vocabulary.
Lojban’s foundational words, or gismu, are sourced from six languages—English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic—and its grammar is crafted to remove ambiguity. To see this in action, consider translating Occam’s Razor [PDF
There are numerous proficient Lojban speakers, with many more in the process of learning. (The Lojban website reports over 200 subscribers to its mailing list.) They gather online to connect and practice.
3. Klingon
A Klingon cosplayer in action. | HENNING KAISER/GettyImagesParseltongue (Harry Potter), Dothraki (Game of Thrones), Na’vi (Avatar), Quenya (The Lord of the Rings) ... Some of the most famous conlangs are deeply rooted in pop culture—and none have been embraced as passionately as Klingon.
Linguist Marc Okrand created Vulcan for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Klingon for Star Trek III in the 1980s. His aim with Klingon was to make it sound distinctly alien. “Every sound in Klingon exists in some real language, but their combination is unique,” he explained to CNN.
Klingon boasts a rich vocabulary centered around space, combat, and space combat. loghDaq Suvrupbogh SuvwI'pu' chaH Hoch SuvwI'pu''e' translates to “in space, all warriors are cold warriors.” Notice the uppercase letters? They represent sounds absent in English, requiring speakers to master huffs, hisses, and guttural sounds.
According to conlang expert (and Mytour contributor) Arika Okrent, there are roughly 20 to 30 fluent Klingon speakers capable of spontaneous conversation (with hundreds more proficient in written Klingon). To connect with them, visit the Klingon Language Institute.
4. Ithkuil
While many conlangs aim for simplicity and ease of learning, Ithkuil stands apart: it requires precision from its users—primarily writers—that is not suited for the casual learner. Ithkuil doesn’t just feature subjects and objects; it includes enablers, experiencers, stimuli, recipients, and contents. “Ithkuil’s purpose is to express deeper layers of human thought than typical languages allow,” creator John Quijada explained to The New Yorker.
When describing Marcel Duchamp’s artwork Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, Quijada—who dedicated 30 years to developing Ithkuil—crafted the phrase aukkras êqutta ogvëuļa tnou’elkwa pal-lši augwaikštülnàmbu. This translates roughly to “a conceptual depiction of a nude woman descending a staircase through a sequence of interconnected bodily motions, forming a three-dimensional trail behind her, creating a timeless, unified entity to be appreciated intellectually, emotionally, and aesthetically.”
Thousands of Ithkuil enthusiasts are learning the language online, but no one has achieved fluency—not even Quijada himself. “I’m fairly skilled with the script but still need to reference the rules when writing,” he admitted on his website.
5. Esperanto
An Esperanto postcard from Britain, circa 1917. | Culture Club/GettyImagesOphthalmologist L. L. Zamenhoff, using the pseudonym Dr. Esperanto, introduced his international language textbook in 1887. His vision was to create a universal language for global communication: “If there were an international language, all translations would be made into it alone ... and all nations would unite in a shared bond of brotherhood,” he wrote. Today, Esperanto is spoken by anywhere between 30,000 and 2 million people worldwide.
Esperanto’s Indo-European roots and straightforward grammar make it accessible to a broad audience. You might even decipher this proverb without much difficulty: Kiam kato promenos, la musof festenas. When the cat’s away, the mice will play.
Begin your journey at the Akademio de Esperanto website. Practice on Duolingo, and soon you’ll be ready to converse with fellow Esperanto speakers in person.
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