Constructed language
human language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary have been consciously devised for human or human-like communication
A constructed language or conlang is a language for communication between humans (i.e. not with or between computers) which, unlike most languages that naturally emerge from human interaction, is devised by a person or group for a particular purpose. The term constructed language is often shortened to conlang and, as a relatively broad term, it encompasses subcategories including: fictional, artificial, engineered, planned and invented languages. Conlangs may include aspects reminiscent of natural language including phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary. Interlinguistics includes the study of constructed languages.
History
Ancient linguistic experiments
Grammatical speculation dates from classical antiquity; for instance, it appears in Plato's Cratylus in Hermogenes's contention that words are not inherently linked to what they refer to; that people apply "a piece of their own voice [...] to the thing".
Athenaeus tells the story of two figures, Dionysius of Sicily and Alexarchus:
Dionysius of Sicily created neologisms like menandros 'virgin' (from menei 'waiting' and andra 'husband') for standard Greek parthenos; menekratēs 'pillar' (from menei 'it remains in one place' and kratei 'it is strong') for standard stulos; and ballantion 'javelin' (from balletai enantion 'thrown against someone') for standard akon.
Alexarchus of Macedon, the brother of King Cassander of Macedon, was the founder of the city of Ouranopolis. Athenaeus recounts a story told by Heraclides of Lembos that Alexarchus "introduced a peculiar vocabulary, referring to a rooster as a 'dawn-crier', a barber as a 'mortal-shaver', a drachma as 'worked silver', [...] and a herald as an aputēs [from ēputa 'loud-voiced']. [...] He [Alexarchus] once wrote something [...] to the public authorities in Casandreia.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Constructed language” as human language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary have been consciously devised for human or human-like communication. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q33215. The Library of Congress control number is sh85074581. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Constructed language” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.