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What are constructed languages? -

Really, all languages are constructed, but most develop very slowly over time. The term "constructed language," or "conlang," refers to languages that were deliberately developed or invented over a relatively short period of time to serve a specific purpose.

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A short history -

Conlangs had their heyday during the 19th and 20th centuries, but they've been around since ancient times, both in reality and in mythology. The concept of creating languages on a whim dates as far back as ancient Greece.

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The Language of the Birds -

The troubadours and traveling songsmiths of medieval France used their own conlang to discretely communicate amongst themselves. Their conlang was commonly known as the Language of the Birds, and consisted mostly of homonyms and innuendos.

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Plains Hand Talk -

Since time immemorial, Native Americans of the Great Plains have used a unique sign language known as Plains Hand Talk. Plains Hand Talk is a conlang most likely developed with the cooperation of many tribes of numerous languages in order to properly communicate and trade between cultures.

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To a priori or not to a priori? -

When it comes to linguistics, a priori is a very important term to understand. In general, a priori means that something is developed through theoretical reasoning, as opposed to drawing on historical precedents. In the context of language, an a priori language is developed from scratch, and isn't developed from another language. Many conlangs are made a priori, since they're designed using their own novel word roots and syntax, unlike languages like English that developed naturally out of older Germanic languages.

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The concept of a universal language -

The idea of a universal language has intrigued linguists, philosophers, and other thinkers for centuries. Proponents of a universal language argue that it would bring the cultures of the world closer together and would do away with many countless cultural miscommunications that plague the world today.

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The quest for an international language -

But developing a universal, international language is easier said than done. Many conlangs have arisen with the hope of being adopted all over the world, but none have been successful in achieving full acceptance.

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Common conlangs -

Even still, conlangs are used by millions of people around the world. Some are even considered the second official language of certain areas or nations, while others are spoken by mere dozens of people in very specific situations.

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Esperanto -

Esperanto is without question the most popular and well-known conlang in the world. It has no geographic center, but it is spoken on almost every continent on Earth.

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The world's most widely-spoken conlang -

According to Ethnologue, there are over two million fluent speakers of Esperanto, commonly called "Esperantists," or Esperantistoj in Esperanto. Esperanto is likely the only conlang with a population of native speakers. Estimates vary, but there may be anywhere from 400 to 2,000 people alive today who were taught Esperanto as a first language.

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L. L. Zamenhof -

The history of Esperanto starts with an ophthalmologist based in Warsaw named L. L.  Zamenhof. Born in 1859, Zamenhof was still in medical school when he began to develop Esperanto. Zamenhof began publishing literature concerning Esperanto during the 1870s, under the pseudonym Doktoro Esperanto.

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Unua Libro -

The holy text of Esperanto is 'Dr. Esperanto's International Language,' most commonly known as Unua Libro. First published in 1888, Zamenhof's manifesto explains the structure and practical usage of Esperanto in great detail.

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A language of pacifism -

Zamenhof was inspired to develop Esperanto out of a deep and profound desire to see peace on Earth. According to Unua Libro and Zamenhof himself, the purpose of a universally-understood language was to bring people together in a common tongue where peace and understanding could reign supreme.

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What language family does Esperanto belong to? -

While Esperanto was somewhat developed a priori, it also borrows from both Romance and Germanic languages, for the purpose of making it as easy as possible for most people to learn. Esperanto generally falls into the Indo-European language family.

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Agglutination -

When talking about language, agglutination is the ability to combine word parts and morphemes together to make up words on the spot to fit a given situation. Esperanto has been described as "intensively agglutinative," as the language allows for just about any morphemes to be combined with others to create expressive and easily understandable words on the spot.

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Where is Esperanto taught? -

While no country exists today that has named Esperanto as its official language, there are thousands of areas and communities across the world that teach and promote Esperanto to those who want to learn. Hungary and China, for example, offer Esperanto lessons in their education system.

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Esperantujo -

Esperantujo is the Esperanto word for the global Esperanto-speaking community. More than 120 extant countries include an Esperantistoj community, and there is a long history of infant nations intending on implementing Esperanto as their official language.

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Neutral Moresnet -

One of the earliest of these nations was the microstate of Neutral Moresnet. Known as Amikejo, or the "Place of Friendship," in Esperanto, this nation-state existed from 1816 to 1920 in a small enclave of Belgium. Strong and in-depth plans were in place to make Esperanto the micronation's official language, but these intentions were cut short when the Treaty of Versailles officially entrusted the land to Belgium.

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Rose Island -

One of the most infamous micronations in recent history, the Republic of Rose Island, a miniscule Adriatic island off the coast of Italy, used Esperanto as its official language for all of its existence, from June 1968 to February 1969.

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Molossia -

In the microstate of Molossia, which is surrounded by the American state of Nevada on all sides, Esperanto is spoken as an official language alongside English.

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Other conlangs -

While Esperanto is far and away the most popular and widely-used constructed language, it's not the only one. Many others have been developed for various reasons and to varying degrees of success.

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Toki Pona -

Toki Pona is a relatively recent and popular conlang with a specific and principled goal. Toki Pona emphasizes positivity and simplicity and employs particularly small and easy-to-grasp vocabulary.

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The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis -

It might seem impossible to create a comprehensive language that promotes positivity. This problem is addressed in the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which argues that language determines and influences one's thoughts and outlook, instead of thoughts and opinions influencing language. Toki Pona takes the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as truth, and attempts to build a language that leads to a generally more positive outlook than other extant languages.

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The "language of good" -

In its own language, Toki Pona means "language of good." Its alphabet is short and pleasing to the eye. Toki Pona's inventor, linguist Sonja Lang, describes it as "fun and cute," emphasizing simplicity in a way that makes communication easy, efficient, and enjoyable.

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Linguistic minimalism -

Toki Pona has been called an experiment in linguistic minimalism. The language consists of only 14 phonemes, or sound parts, used to form only 137 "essential words" and a smattering of "unessential" terms. These phonemes are designed to be easily spoken by anyone from any language background, making it immensely accessible and easy to learn for those who are interested.

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The Toki Pona alphabet -

The Toki Pona alphabet, known as the sitelen pona, was introduced by Lang in 2014 as an alternative to the 14 letters of the Latin alphabet that were used until then (a e i j k l m n o p s t u w). These characters are more similar to hieroglyphics than letters, in that they usually represent full thoughts or ideas on their own.

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A language of essentials -

Proponents and practitioners of Toki Pona insist that every idea under the sun can be expressed with their isolationist alphabet and phonology. In fact, Toki Pona is meant to simply do away with all of the clutter of other languages, to make communication simple and fun.

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Klingon: An extant language? -

Anyone who's seen 'Star Trek' knows about Klingon. It's an invented language spoken by a fictional race of space beings called Klingons. What no one could have expected, however, is that die-hard fans would take the Klingon language off the screen and start speaking it in the real world. Many can speak a bit of Klingon here and there, but only about a dozen or so consider themselves fluent in the once-fictional alien language.

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The future of conlangs -

So far, no conlangs, even the mighty Esperanto, have been able to catch on in a real and meaningful way. That doesn't mean we should give up hope on adopting a universal language, though. Maybe their enthusiasts are right, and finding common linguistic ground would help in the seemingly endless journey for universal understanding.

Sources: (Britannica) (The Guardian) (Toki Pona)

See also: The world's most endangered languages

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