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Intro to Conlanging

About

Course Overview

Klingon, Elvish, Dothraki, Na’vi…

Yes, these are “made-up” languages. No, they’re not just gibberish! They are constructed languages – conlangs for short – and while they aren’t natural languages like English and Mandarin that evolved over time through use, they are fully functional languages with entire descriptions of the rules behind sounds, grammar, and even cultural and historical influences.

Whether you’re interested in fleshing out a fictional world through giving it a language history, creating a super complicated grammar system so no one can read your diary, or facilitating world peace by streamlining international communication, this class is designed to help create a conlang of your very own. Through weekly lectures and in-class lab assignments, you will be equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your very own conlang. Additionally, this class will provide a space for conlangers to come together, discuss their (newfound or existing) love of conlanging, and bounce ideas off of each other.

Prerequisite: None!
No background in linguistics is necessary for success in this class, but it will be useful! We teach all of the linguistics skills you will need from the ground up.

Through this class, you will:

  • Explore basic linguistics topics through the lens of language creation
  • Develop an appreciation for the diversity and possibility of language
  • Get the tools to provide meaningful, enriching context for fictional literary universes
  • Gain a fresh new perspective on linguistics: imagining what language can be rather than observing what it is
  • Create a conlang that can be further developed after the course

Grading Breakdown

The class is out of 150 points, and you will pass if you earn 70% of the available points (105 points) and you must turn in a final project.

  • Attendance (5 points per meeting * 13 meetings = 65 points or ~43% of total): We like having you around. Please come to class. If you miss a class, include a short summary of the lecture based on the slides (or ask a friend!) at the top of the adjoining lab to get attendance points back.
  • Labs (5 points each * 10 labs = 50 points or ~33% of total): Labs consist of exercises relating to each week’s lecture, and are designed to be completed during class. If you turn in your lab at the end of class, we’ll read it and give feedback by the next class. If you want to spend more time on it, that’s fine! Just know that feedback might not be provided by the next class.
  • Final Project (35 points or ~23% of total): The final project is a written exploration of your conlang. It’s basically a combination of all your labs. We encourage, but do not require, everyone to present their conlang to their classmates at the end of the course.

Labs

WIP