# I've created a language. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 2, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347 "2011-10-02T15:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/1 "2011-10-02T15:00:00Z")
I did it just for the fun and challenge of coming up with a lexicon and grammar. It’s designed with 2 goals in mind: to sound beautiful and to be easy to learn. It’s derived from Indo-European roots, so it has similarities to all of the IE languages including English. [http://www.umop.net/caruvat/](http://www.umop.net/caruvat/) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/2 "2011-10-02T15:11:20Z")
_Gratulojn! Mi esperas, ke via nova lingvo vivkreskas bone!_ 🙂 Congratulations! I hope that your new language will flourish! ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/3 "2011-10-02T15:27:26Z")
Dear Upside Down, 我想訂閱你的通訊 Sincerely, Cabin\_Fever ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/4 "2011-10-02T16:35:07Z")
Thank you **Sunspace**! 🙂 > [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > 我想訂閱你的通訊 na noyam. 😕 Translation: I don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/5 "2011-10-02T16:40:34Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > 我想訂閱你的通訊 Please to place English translation in spoiler? ---
**Author:** ![XRaeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f14d63/32.png) [@XRaeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XRaeth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/6 "2011-10-02T16:59:11Z")
Google translate perhaps? i get “I want to subscribe to your newsletter” it says its Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/7 "2011-10-02T22:32:31Z")
Welcome to the joys of conlanging. I keep starting languages, but I don’t get much of a lexicon. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/8 "2011-10-03T14:25:07Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > Welcome to the joys of conlanging. I keep starting languages, but I don’t get much of a lexicon. Do you base them on anything? ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/9 "2011-10-03T15:10:17Z")
I don’t see any information on the subjunctive. Am I missing it? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/10 "2011-10-03T16:00:54Z")
ery vay ice nay! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/11 "2011-10-03T16:41:19Z")
So are you fluent? ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/12 "2011-10-03T18:19:01Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > I don’t see any information on the subjunctive. Am I missing it? It’s under Verbs -\> Uncertainty. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/13 "2011-10-03T18:25:23Z")
Cool! Now, the next step is either a) to come up with an imaginary backstory for the language and how it evolved. Then, use the backstory to write a massively popular and influential fantasy trilogy about the imaginary world; b) convince the producers of a popular and long-running science fiction series (including both movies and TV series) to regularly use your language for a fictional race; or c) acquire absolute unchecked political power over a large region, mandate use of your language, and systematically destroy any traces of previously existing languages in the region. This may require either a superhumanly long lifespan or having successors equally committed to the plan. If I can help with any of these, let me know. ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/14 "2011-10-03T18:44:59Z")
Why do you create a language. I ask this out of respect and not criticism, as I wanted to know. You’re not the first to create a language, but it seems you must be highly intellegent to do this. Is it just fun. Like putting a puzzle together is fun for some people, but there’s no point to it. Again, I don’t mean it as a criticism, I don’t see the point to it. Unless you just found it to be a lot of fun. It just seem like it would take a LOT of work. Since you’re here I’d like to ask you I’d like to ask how much time does one have to devote to this? How do you test it? How do you know if you got the vocabulary right? How do you plan this? You must have an outline right? Do you outline the rules and such and go from there? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/15 "2011-10-03T19:02:31Z")
> [@umop\_ap\_sdn](#): > > Do you base them on anything? Not usually. I’ve got one that’s based somewhat on Japanese and another that’s going to be vaguely Arabic, but usually it’s just improv. > [@AndyLee](#): > > Why do you create a language. I ask this out of respect and not criticism, as I wanted to know. You’re not the first to create a language, but it seems you must be highly intellegent to do this. > > Is it just fun. Like putting a puzzle together is fun for some people, but there’s no point to it. > > Again, I don’t mean it as a criticism, I don’t see the point to it. Unless you just found it to be a lot of fun. It just seem like it would take a LOT of work. > > Since you’re here I’d like to ask you > > I’d like to ask how much time does one have to devote to this? > > How do you test it? How do you know if you got the vocabulary right? > > How do you plan this? You must have an outline right? Do you outline the rules and such and go from there? > > Thanks Some people make them to use in stories (see Tolkien, Diane Duane, etc). A lot of people make them because they enjoy language. It’s like building a model train set. What’s the point? Experimenting, mixing bits from different sources, it’s just fun. How much time? I’ve had one I worked on for years. You just fiddle with it whenever you like. There is no ‘right’, just what works for the creator. I kind of improv. If you want to see some other people’s work (professional linguist type people) Mark Rosenfelder at [zompist.com](http://zompist.com) has done a couple of families of languages and is well known in the conlanger community for creating the Language Construction Kit which is something of a how-to and has some good resource links. There’s also the Language Creation Society at [conlang.org](http://conlang.org). ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/16 "2011-10-03T19:18:50Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > c) acquire absolute unchecked political power over a large region, mandate use of your language, and systematically destroy any traces of previously existing languages in the region. This may require either a superhumanly long lifespan or having successors equally committed to the plan. Fear my beautiful army! 😃 All kidding aside, yes it is just for fun. I came up with the idea a few years ago and it gradually coalesced over time. I made up a table of sound correspondences and then generated a lexicon from that, then started putting together grammatical rules. I don’t think it requires intelligence so much as a familiarity with grammar. As for testing it, that’s the hard part as it has only one speaker (and not even a fluent one I admit). ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/17 "2011-10-03T20:56:49Z")
> [@umop\_ap\_sdn](#): > > As for testing it, that’s the hard part as it has only one speaker (and not even a fluent one I admit). Heh. Try it with a lexicon specifically designed for a nonhuman vocal apparatus. My (very minor) work on a conlang is for a race of large feline predators, so the phonemes don’t conveniently match up. Fortunately, it never needs to be spoken for my purposes–I just want to be able to put together a few internally consistent sentences. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/18 "2011-10-03T21:24:10Z")
I was just looking at the vocative page, how often do you speak to ants? On the plus side, I see you have a word for the exclamation “Yay!” which means that this is a happy language. On the minus side, I don’t think you have a word for ebullience. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/19 "2011-10-03T23:39:28Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > My (very minor) work on a conlang is for a race of large feline predators, so the phonemes don’t conveniently match up. What sorts of phonemes does it have? Glottals, velars, uvulars? (Come to think of it, I wonder if cats even have uvulae…) > [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > I was just looking at the vocative page, how often do you speak to ants? On the plus side, I see you have a word for the exclamation “Yay!” which means that this is a happy language. On the minus side, I don’t think you have a word for ebullience. I speak to aunts on Facebook, does that count? 😃 Hmm, ebullience :: looks it up on Wiktionary :: I guess you could come close by saying sirashu svrayétsi but now that you mention it the language really needs a word for enthusiasm. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-created-a-language/598347/20 "2011-10-04T00:54:47Z")
> [@umop\_ap\_sdn](#): > > What sorts of phonemes does it have? Glottals, velars, uvulars? (Come to think of it, I wonder if cats even have uvulae…) Mostly velars, with “rumbly” sounds approximated as uvulars, though I think they would actually be glottals for a cat. (And no, cats don’t have uvulas.)