Special Topics Courses

Winter 2027

LING 399/MST399

Topic Title: Constructed Languages

People have been deliberately building languages for centuries, for fiction (Elvish, Klingon, Dothraki), as social experiments (Esperanto, Guosa, Volapük), or even just as linguistic thought experiments (Lingua Ignota, Lojban, Toki Pona). In this course, students explore the rich tapestry of conlangs, artlangs, engelangs, and auxlangs, with reference to the known patterns and variety of natural languages (natlangs) for comparison.

This exploration informs students' work as they each build their own conlang over the semester. They make choices about the social setting, sounds, phrase structure, and other aspects of the language. We draw on the knowledge of experts – professional conlangers – and test our ideas together in discussion and practical exercises as we build our languages. No linguistic knowledge is assumed going in, but at the end each student has built the core of a language and written a mini-grammar describing it.

In addition to the sheer creative thrill of the exercise, conlangs are used in written fiction, in shows and movies, in computer games, and even in education. So, although every one taking the course is really just in it for some nerdy fun, they may accidentally walk away with some practical knowledge and skills!

Instructor:  Tim Mills