secret_vice ([info]secret_vice) wrote in [info]conlangs,
@ 2008-05-11 16:55:00
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Current mood: amused

conlang books

Hi I was wondering if anyone here might know a good conlang book(s) that might be of use to new conlangers such as myself. In particular I am looking for a how-to book that uses simplistic language as I only have a very basic understanding of the subject matter -so nothing too complicated please.


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[info]odrowonz
2008-05-11 09:20 am UTC (link)
Never heard of such stuff %/
But, you may try this one: http://zompist.com/kit.html
It's not a book, but a short guide of "how to". Still, it covers much (if not all) areas of language creation.

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[info]oneironaut
2008-05-11 11:47 am UTC (link)
Pablo Flores' language construction pages are even better (though they owe much to Rosenfelder's work); they have been absent from their usual URL for a few years, but are still available via the Wayback Machine. Conlanging is such an open source hobby I can't imagine anyone actually needing a book; more and probably better information is available free.

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[info]moltare
2008-05-11 12:24 pm UTC (link)
Flores' text is available at http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/nyh/how__all.html now.

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[info]secret_vice
2008-05-11 01:50 pm UTC (link)
This is exactly the sort of stuff that I was looking for -I have quickly skimmed over it and now I am kicking myself as I regret the fact that I have only just come across it. To bad that I will have to wait for a little while before I can print it off.

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[info]myth
2008-05-11 06:30 pm UTC (link)
I cut my teeth on the Model Languages Newsletter, which is old but still useful (if only to add the word "onomastics" to your vocabulary.)

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[info]i81pizza
2008-05-25 04:00 pm UTC (link)
I don't know of any books myself, but I suppose the first thing you might want to decide is what kind of language you want to invent. For instance, if you speak a second language, you could use that as a base for your own variation. Or use an assortment of various languages. Ask yourself what it is about making a conlang that interests you. Is it how it looks, how it sounds, its potential for secrecy, its inventiveness, does it relate to a culture you're devising, a story you want to write, etc... Experiment with this, have fun and brainstorm ideas. When you have your basic idea, then you can decide on the sounds for your language. Write them down and if you want an exotic alphabet, start working on that too. Omniglot.com has a conlang section within their writing systems pages. It's a fantastic resource, where you will find all sorts of variations of alphabets. Omniglot is also a resource for just about every spoken language in the world, so you can pull ideas from any language that attracts you. Be it French, Turkish, or Balinese, Omniglot will have a brief page about the language, with links at the bottom of the page where you will find gobs of detailed information. My advice for starting off is to focus on the fun, keep it simple and clear at first. If you have a simple base at the beginning, you will be able to build very complex ideas that come from that foundation. Organize your notes. Get a notebook with dividers so that you can keep track of your language as it grows. For instance, have a tab for verbs, another for nouns, etc... This way, your grammar rules will be easy to find. Here's an idea for a dictionary: I bought a dictionary that has very wide margins on each page. All I had to do was look up the English word I was to invent and write my invented word next to it. It's already alphabetized that way. Then, for cross reference, I write my language on one side of a flash card with the English translation on the other side, and file it in alphabetical order in a file box. Now I can look up my own invented vocabulary. This way, you're on top of all of your invented vocabulary. Have fun!

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