Most languages evolve and develop out of generations of practice among a population of people. Creating a new language artificially seems about as daunting a task as crafting a new gene from scratch. And yet, time and again, individuals have invented their own languages, with ambitions ranging from facilitating world peace to giving voice to an alien race from a science-fiction television series.
Arika Okrent's new book, In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, explores the stories behind these attempts, and finds that many language inventors have compelling, if somewhat strange, biographies. Looking at these languages, the 39-year-old linguist says she can understand how an inventor's mind works, and "see the world through his eyes."
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