conlang

English

WOTD – 14 April 2021

Etymology

A hymn written in Sindarin, a conlang created by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien as a language spoken by elves in his Lord of the Rings works.

The noun is a blend of constructed + language,[1] while the verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒnlæŋ/
  • (file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɑnˌlæŋ/, /ˈkɑnˌleɪŋ/
  • Hyphenation: con‧lang

Noun

conlang (plural conlang or conlangs)

  1. (linguistics, colloquial) Alternative form of constructed language (a human language consciously devised by an individual or a small group, as opposed to having naturally evolved as a natural language) [from 1990s]
    The Klingon language is a conlang created for use in the Star Trek franchise.

Verb

conlang (third-person singular simple present conlangs, present participle conlanging, simple past and past participle conlanged)

  1. (transitive, intransitive, linguistics) To create or work on a conlang (constructed language).
    the conlanging community
    Brithenig was conlanged with the purpose of looking how Welsh might have developed if it were a Romance language.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. conlang, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2014; conlang, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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