Constructing Languages: From Esperanto to Dothraki

Why do people create their own new languages — conlangs, when there are 7000 natural languages in the world? What types of artificial languages exist? How are they similar to natural languages, and how do they differ from them? What are their prospects in the modern world?

Alexander Pipersky, the author of the book “Constructing Languages: From Esperanto to Dothraki,” explains that people invent languages for various purposes: to achieve a logical ideal, to better understand each other, or simply to provide themselves and others with aesthetic pleasure. Behind each artificial language are interesting personalities and dramatic stories of successes or failures.

Esperanto, solresol, ro, transcendental algebra, Quenya, blissymbolics, paleneo, Na'vi, Dothraki — this is far from a complete list of languages discussed in this book from both a linguistic and a historical perspective.