Portal:Constructed languages

Introduction

The Conlang Flag, a symbol of language construction created by subscribers to the CONLANG mailing list, which represents the Tower of Babel against a rising sun

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. (Full article...)

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Ido /ˈiːdoʊ/ is a constructed language, derived from Reformed Esperanto, created to be a universal second language for speakers of diverse backgrounds. Ido was specifically designed to be grammatically, orthographically, and lexicographically regular, and above all easy to learn and use. In this sense, Ido is classified as a constructed international auxiliary language. It is the most successful of many Esperanto derivatives, called Esperantidos.

Ido was created in 1907 out of a desire to reform perceived flaws in Esperanto, a language that had been created 20 years earlier to facilitate international communication. The name of the language traces its origin to the Esperanto word ido, meaning "offspring", since the language is a "descendant" of Esperanto. After its inception, Ido gained support from some in the Esperanto community, but following the sudden death in 1914 of one of its most influential proponents, Louis Couturat, it declined in popularity. There were two reasons for this: first, the emergence of further schisms arising from competing reform projects; and second, a general lack of awareness of Ido as a candidate for an international language. These obstacles weakened the movement and it was not until the rise of the Internet that it began to regain momentum.

Ido uses the same 26 letters as the English (Latin) alphabet, with no diacritics. It draws its vocabulary from English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish, and is largely intelligible to those who have studied Esperanto. Several works of literature have been translated into Ido, including The Little Prince and the Gospel of Luke. As of the year 2000, there were approximately 100–200 Ido speakers in the world. Find out more...

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Did you know...

...that Adjuvilo, although it was a fully developed language, was merely created to help create dissent in the then-growing Ido movement?
...that Winston Churchill initially supported Basic English as an international language, but was put off when he was told that "blood, toil, tears and sweat" translates as "blood, hard work, eyewash and body water"?
...that Kēlen is a constructed language that has no verbs, but still is able to express anything?

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category:Constructed language stubs

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Several articles about constructed languages have been deleted for lack of verifiability, independent resources or notability. If you think one of the following subjects meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, don't hesitate dig it up from the graveyard, but don't forget to add proper references:

Abakwi, Ancient Language, Arovën, Baza, Bluddian, Dremlang, Eaiea, Eloi, Ekspreso, Esperando, Fasile, Glide, Herman Miller, Language Creation Society, Latejami, Mezhdunarodny Nauchny Yazyk, Mirad, Modern Indo-European, Mondlango, Musbrek, Noxilo, Or'zet, Romanica (rd), Romanova (rd), Signuno, Sperethiel, Szkev, Tceqli/Ceqli, Thosk, Tokcir, Troscann, Unas, UNI, Universalspråket, Vorlin.