Conlang
Noun
- A language that has been artificially created; a constructed language.
Example Sentences
“Many sci-fi books and films have a conlang developed by the writer.”
“My sister and I once created a conlang to keep secrets from our parents.”
“Esperanto is a conlang created in the 1880s, but it has never caught on as the international language it was intended to be.”
Word Origin
English, 1990s
Why this word?
George R. R. Martin conceived of several conlangs — including the Common Tongue, High and Low Valyrian, and Dothraki — when he penned “A Song of Ice and Fire” and the subsequent books in the series, but he wrote only the few words needed for the story. When HBO commissioned the TV adaptations, they brought in linguist David J. Peterson to design complete languages for Valyrian and Dothraki, and used Peterson’s conlangs to build the dialogue for the shows.