conlanger

English

WOTD – 7 February 2013

Etymology

From conlang +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑn.læŋ.ɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒn.læŋ.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧lang‧er

Noun

conlanger (plural conlangers)

1. Someone who creates constructed languages (conlangs).
   • 2005, Mari C. Jones, Ishtla Singh, Exploring Language Change, page 154:

     The fact that the Internet has given visible shape to communities of invented language proponents through web sites and chat rooms for enthusiastic conlangers (‘language constructors’) has probably done little to dispel its reputation as a somewhat unusual and, to all intents and purposes, intangible undertaking.

   • 2006, William Allison Shimer, The American Scholar‎^[1], volume 75, page 99:

     The split was between two groups. The first was composed of people interested in quietly developing and discussing the languages they crafted for science-fictional worlds, what-if-a-language-did-this playfulness, or Tolkienesque fun (the true conlangers).

   • 2012, Bryan Cogman, Inside HBO′s Game of Thrones‎^[2], page 174:

     The goal of a conlanger, a language creator, is to realize a linguistic system that′s both unique and authentic—something that doesn't exist anywhere on Earth, but which a linguist wouldn′t be surprised to find in the wild.

Coordinate terms

• auxlanger

Translations

one who creates constructed languages

• Finnish: keinokielen kehittäjä
• French: idéolinguiste (fr), conlanger (fr) m or f
• Hebrew: קונלנגר (he)
• Italian: glossopoeta (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: språkforfatter m

• Polish: językotwórca m