Constructing a Language with Turtles
A Step by Step Procedure for Constructing Your Own Language
Dear Readers,
I hope this letter finds you well. The past week, I was deeply immersed in charting a self-study course for Computational Pragmatics. I am happy to say that I have released the 25 page primer on Arkinfo Notes. It's available to download free of cost. As fellow linguistics enthusiasts, I am sure you are going to find it deeply interesting.
Today, I have a special article for you. It is a step by step guide for creating your own language. I am sure you must have heard of languages such as Dothraki from A Song of Ice & Fire by George R. R. Martin, or Elvish from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. These are what are popularly called conlangs (Constructed Languages).
Creating your own Conlang is an excellent way to understand the key concepts of linguistics. By constructing a language of your own, you start to clearly notice the intricacies within a language, its key elements and structures. So today, I will be giving you a live demo on how to create a conlang. My hope is that at the end of this exercise, I shall successfully entice you into the magical world of language construction and get you motivated to study linguistics and philology. Let’s get started.
Purpose and Influence
The first thing that you need for designing a conlang is a specific purpose. A lot goes into developing a fully fledged language. It is quite difficult to do so without first having a strong enough purpose for attempting such an ambitious project. Determine why you want to create the language. Is it for a fictional world, personal use, artistic expression, or an academic project? My purpose for designing the conlang for this article is simply to demonstrate how to create a language. Ergo I shall design a very simple language.
The next thing that you need is the ‘influence’. Every language is, to some level, influenced by other languages. There is no such thing as a unique language. As the American linguist Edward Sapir said,
Language is a cultural product. The borrowing of words, sounds, and grammatical constructions from one language to another is a constant process. No language is a pure, isolated entity; every language reflects the influences of contact with other languages, making them all inherently interconnected and unoriginal in their own unique way.
So you need to choose what language(s), whether real or conlang(s), shall influence your conlang. Look into existing natural and constructed languages for inspiration. Languages like Esperanto, Klingon, and Dothraki offer diverse design principles. Alternatively, going for well established real languages such as English, French, Arabic, Chinese, or Japanese might give you a stronger foundation to build upon.
For the purpose of this exercise, my conlang is going to be heavily influenced by Japanese and is spoken by fantasy creatures who live in the uninhabited lands of Japan.
Culture and Context
The next thing that you need is to define the culture and context of the people/creatures that speak it. After all, what is language, if not the lifeblood of the people that speak it. Elves speak Elvish, Klingons speak Klingon and the Dothraki speak Dothraki. What does that mean? It means that language is primarily a descriptor of a culture. Ergo, before we define the language itself, we shall have to define the creatures that shall speak it.
The Kamejin
Say hello, to the Kamejin. The Kamejin are the fantasy creatures that I have designed for the purpose of this exercise. You can think of the Kamejin as an evolutionarily advanced breed of turtles that have developed near to human level of intelligence. They are secretive, shy and have lived in the uninhabited lands of Japan for hundreds of years.
Origins and Early History
The Kamejin, an intelligent species of turtle-like creatures, have lived in harmony with the natural beauty of the uninhabited Japanese islands for centuries. Their evolutionary journey began in the lush forests and serene beaches, where their innate curiosity and ingenuity led them to develop simple tools and methods to interact with their environment.
Early Society
Initially, Kamejin society was built around small, tightly-knit clans, each settled in different parts of the islands. Their language, Kamejingo, evolved naturally out of the need to communicate for survival, coordination, and cooperation. The simplicity of their language reflects their straightforward and communal lifestyle.
Development of Agriculture and Craftsmanship
As the Kamejin began to cultivate the land, they developed an extensive knowledge of the local flora and fauna. They used their language to categorise plants and animals, creating specific terms for different species and their uses. This knowledge was passed down through generations, primarily through oral tradition and simple illustrated texts on stone and wood, making language a crucial tool for survival and prosperity.
The Age of Exploration
With their skills in crafting small boats and their natural affinity for the water, the Kamejin began to explore the surrounding seas and islands. This period of exploration brought different clans into contact with one another more frequently, leading to the development of trade and shared cultural practices. The Kamejin's language expanded to include new terms related to navigation, trade, and diplomacy.
Cultural Flourishing
Trade and interaction between clans led to a golden age of Kamejin culture. They built small, picturesque villages, each with its own unique artistic styles and customs, but all sharing the common thread of their language. The Kamejin are particularly fond of gardening, which is evident in their meticulously maintained flower gardens and the numerous words in Kamejingo related to different types of flowers and gardening techniques.
Communication and Education
To ensure the preservation and dissemination of their culture, the Kamejin established communal learning centres where young Kamejin are taught the essentials of their language, history, and environmental stewardship. These centres are also places where elders share stories and knowledge, further enriching the community's collective wisdom. The simplicity of Kamejingo makes it accessible to all, ensuring that knowledge is easily shared and retained.
Modern Society
In modern times, the Kamejin continue to thrive in their secluded islands, maintaining a balance between tradition and innovation. They have developed simple yet effective methods to harness natural energy sources, allowing them to lead sustainable lives while preserving their environment. Their language continues to evolve, incorporating new concepts as needed but always retaining its fundamental simplicity and charm.
A Philological Overview of Kamejingo
We have established the creatures, their culture, history, and lore. Now let us get to the fun part, which is designing a conlang for the Kamejin.
Kamejingo, the language of the Kamejin, draws heavily from the phonetic and structural principles of Japanese but simplifies them to suit the needs of its speakers. The language retains the SOV (subject-object-verb) word order and employs a minimal set of particles to denote grammatical relationships, much like Japanese. However, Kamejingo is distinguished by its drastically reduced phonetic inventory, featuring only eight consonants and five vowels, leading to a highly streamlined and accessible syllabary. This reduction in phonemes ensures that the language is easy to learn and use, reflecting the straightforward and communal lifestyle of the Kamejin.
While Kamejingo mirrors Japanese in its use of simple, unambiguous sentence structures and a focus on context-driven meaning, it diverges significantly in its morphological simplicity. Unlike Japanese, which has complex verb conjugations and a variety of politeness levels, Kamejingo employs a basic tense system and eschews honorifics altogether, emphasising clarity and brevity. The language's lexicon is heavily influenced by the natural environment of the Kamejin, with numerous terms for flora, fauna, and ecological phenomena. This linguistic simplicity and environmental focus underscore the Kamejin's deep connection to their surroundings and each other, making Kamejingo a unique and functional tool for communication within their society.
Phonology
Phonology is where a language begins. Phonology deals with phonemes, which are the smallest units of sound that can distinguish meaning between words, and explores how these phonemes are arranged and interact with each other. It also investigates features such as stress, intonation, and rhythm, which contribute to the overall sound structure of a language. Phonologists analyse how sounds change in different contexts and how these changes affect meaning and communication. By understanding the principles of phonology, linguists can gain insights into the cognitive processes underlying speech and the evolution and variation of languages over time.
Phonology of Kamejingo
For Kamejingo, we are going to keep the phonetics pretty simple and basic.
Consonants: /k/, /s/, /t/, /n/, /m/, /r/, /h/, /p/
Vowels: /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/
Phonotactics
The next thing to define are the phonotactics of the language. Phonotactics focuses on the patterns and structures of sound sequences, determining which phonemes can appear together and in what order. For instance, phonotactic rules define acceptable syllable structures, clusters of consonants, and the positioning of vowels and consonants within words. These rules vary significantly across languages; for example, while the combination "str" is allowed at the beginning of English words (as in "street"), it is not permissible in some other languages. Understanding phonotactics helps linguists and language learners grasp the specific sound patterns that are considered natural or unnatural within a language, aiding in the development of accurate pronunciation and the identification of potential areas of difficulty for non-native speakers.
Phonotactics of Kamejingo
For Kamejingo, we will define a very simplified phonotactic structure with just one rule, i.e., a consonant followed by a vowel.
Syllable structure: (C)V
Examples: ka, su, to, mi, re, ho, pa, nu
Writing System
Languages don’t inherently require a writing system in order to be functional. Even today, there are plenty of languages in the world that are unlettered and only used as a means of verbal communication. But in the case of conlangs, we have to create a writing system. Conlangs are basically languages created by our imagination coupled with real-life influences, ergo, we will have to write its rules and create its vocabulary. Unless you can remember the entire conlang in your mind, which is virtually impossible, you are going to need a script.
Kamejingo Script
For the sake of brevity we shall borrow the Hiragana (classical Japanese alphabet) for scripting Kamejingo.
Grammar
Now we get into the more technical aspects of the language, which is to define a comprehensive set of structural rules that governs the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given language. It encompasses syntax (the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences), morphology (the study of the structure of words and the ways in which words are formed), semantics (the meaning of words and sentences), and phonology (the sound system of a language, though sometimes considered separately). Grammar provides a framework for understanding how to construct sentences that are both meaningful and syntactically correct, ensuring effective communication. It includes guidelines for word order, tense, agreement, case, and other aspects of language that allow speakers to convey precise and complex messages.
Kamejingo Grammar
Let us now define some basic minimum required grammar rules to make our conlang functional.
Word Order
SVO (Subject-Verb-Object).
Example: "Kame pa hana po miru." (The turtle sees the flower.)
Particles
pa (topic marker)
po (object marker)
ni (direction marker)
no (possession marker)
ka (question marker)
Verbs
Basic verb conjugation for present and past tense.
Present: verb root + -ru
Past: verb root + -ta
Example
Verb: Miru (to see).
Present: miru (みる).
Sentence: かめ は はな を みる。|| Kame pa hana po miru. || The turtle sees the flower.
Past: mita (みた)
Sentence: かめ は はな を みた。|| Kame pa hana po mita. || The turtle saw the flower.
Vocabulary
At this point, our conlang is pretty much good to go. We have completed laying out its structure. All that is left now is to flesh it out with some vocabulary.
We cannot have a language without vocabulary. It is fundamental to communication, as it allows individuals to express thoughts, ideas, emotions, and information effectively. It is acquired through both direct learning (such as studying word lists) and indirect exposure (such as reading and conversation). A rich vocabulary enables more precise and varied expression, enhancing both comprehension and articulation in spoken and written forms. The scope of a language’s vocabulary can significantly influence its ability to understand and engage with complex notions, participate in diverse conversations, and convey nuanced ideas.
Basic Vocabulary of Kamejingo
The Kamejin have existed for thousands of years, ergo their vocabulary is nuanced enough to fit all their needs. For the purpose of this article however, I will share only a few words which shall suffice for us to write a short story in our conlang.
Nouns
kame (かめ) - turtle
hana (はな) - flower
mori (もり) - forest
misu (みす) - water
ame (あめ) - rain
umi (うみ) - sea
hi (ひ) - day
hihi (ひひ) - day (as in mainihi - every day)
Particles
pa (ぱ) - topic marker
po (ぽ) - object marker
ni (に) - direction marker
no (の) - possession marker
ka (か) - question marker
Verbs
miru (みる) - to see
nomu (のむ) - to drink
suki ni natta (すき に なった) - grew fond of
mamoru (まもる) - to protect
itte (いって) - to go (te form)
motte kita (もって きた) - brought (to bring)
hatta (はった) - gave (to give)
Adjectives and Adverbs
totemo (とても) - very
kirei (きれい) - beautiful
sara ni (さらに) - even more
itsumo (いつも) - always
Others
aru (ある) - one (as in "one day")
pesu / tasu (ぺす / たす)- is/are (equivalent of "desu")
tat (たつ) - was/were (equivalent of "datta")
na (な) - marker used in place of 'ん' in original Japanese (e.g., sunateiru for sundeiru)
hi (ひ) - used in place of 'ち' in original Japanese (e.g., mainihi for mainichi)
ka (か) - used in place of 'が' in original Japanese (e.g., ame ka futta for ame ga futta)
ha (は) - used in place of 'や' in original Japanese (e.g., hana po hatta for hana po yatta)
In addition to this, the Kamejin use a very miniscule amount of Kanji (Chinese characters) in their script for novel self-descriptive words such as Kamenji or Kamenjigo.
Terms for the Kamejin and Their Culture
Kamejin (亀人) - The turtle-like intelligent species.
Kamejingo (亀人語) - The language of the Kamejin.
Kame no Hana (亀の花) - The Turtle's Flower (a cultural symbol or story).
Festivals and Cultural Practices
Hana Matsuri (花祭り) - Flower Festival
Monogatari Kai (物語会) - Storytelling Circle
Tanken no Tabi (探検の旅) - Exploration
A Short Story in Kamenjigo
Finally, our conlang is ready to use! I will now write a short story in our newly designed conlang to commemorate this achievement. The name of the story is かめ の はな (Kame no Hana) which means ‘The Turtle’s Flower’.
かめ の はな (The Turtle’s Flower)
かめ ぱ もり に すなている。
Kame pa mori ni sunateiru.
The turtle lives in the forest.
まいにち、かめ は もり の みす を のむ。
Mainihi, kame pa mori no misu po nomu.
Every day, the turtle drinks water from the forest.
ある ひ、かめ は はな を みる。
Aru hi, kame pa hana po miru.
One day, the turtle sees a flower.
はな は とても きれい たす。
Hana pa totemo kirei tasu.
The flower is very beautiful.
かめ は その はな を すき に なった。
Kame pa sono hana po suki ni natta.
The turtle grew fond of the flower.
まいにひ、かめ は その はな を みる。
Mainihi, kame pa sono hana po miru.
Every day, the turtle looks at the flower.
ある ひ、あめ か ふった。
Aru hi, ame ka futta.
One day, it rained.
かめ は はな を まもる。
Kame pa hana po mamoru.
The turtle protects the flower.
あめ か はなた あと、はな は さらに きれい たった。
Ame ka hanata ato, hana pa sara ni kirei tatta.
After the rain stopped, the flower was even more beautiful.
かめ は うみ に いって、みす を もって きた。
Kame pa umi ni itte, misu po motte kita.
The turtle went to the sea and brought back water.
はな に みす を はった。
Hana ni misu po hatta.
The turtle gave water to the flower.
かめ と はな は いつも ともだひ たす。
Kame to hana pa itsumo tomodahi tasu.
The turtle and the flower were always friends.
Writing Prompts
And there it is! We have successfully designed a conlang! Now it’s your turn. You can either design your own conlang influenced by a language you are comfortable with, or you can simply use my conlang, Kamejingo, to make creative stories. Feel free to expand the vocabulary and grammar rules as you see fit. You can also take the help of tools such as Google Translate or Jsho to find the Japanese equivalent of a word and then convert it into a Kamejingo appropriate term.
To get you started, I will leave you with a few writing prompts that could help you formulate some interesting stories about the Kamejin.
Hana Matsuri (花祭り) - The Kamejin Flower Festival
The Kamejin hold annual festivals celebrating their love for flowers and gardening. These events are filled with activities where Kamejin share gardening techniques and showcase their most beautiful floral arrangements.
Monogatari Kai (物語会) - The Kamejin Storytelling Tradition
Elders gather with younger Kamejin to share stories of their ancestors and the natural world. These gatherings are a vital part of cultural education and community bonding.
Tanken no Tabi (探検の旅) - The Kamejin Tradition of Maritime Exploration
Young Kamejin are encouraged to embark on small exploratory journeys to nearby islands. These voyages are both a rite of passage and a way to strengthen their navigational skills and knowledge of their environment.
Tolkien on Storytelling and Language
To end this article, I would like to share the thoughts of J.R.R. Tolkien on the art of writing stories and its intrinsic connection to language. The words are a paraphrasing of Tolkien’s thoughts on language and storytelling taken from a letter he had written to W.H. Auden dated June 7, 1955.
“To me, a name comes first and the story follows. That is, I have often used an existing name and attached a tale to it, or if I made up a name, it has in turn suggested a story. I find it impossible to contemplate any kind of story without some sort of linguistic invention.”
This is fantastic