conlangs1-1 Exercise 1: Sorting Five Languages =============================================== Language Kind Main motive Reason ---------- -------- ------------------- ----------------------------------- Esperanto Auxlang Communication Designed as a neutral second language for everyone. Klingon Artlang Art and fiction Built to make a fictional people sound believable on screen. Lojban Engelang Logic and thought Grammar built on predicate logic so that sentences are unambiguous. Toki Pona Engelang Logic and play Tests how much meaning a tiny vocabulary can carry. Quenya Artlang Art (then fiction) Tolkien built it for the pleasure of invention; the stories came later. Languages that fit more than one kind: Esperanto: mainly an auxlang, but it also has a literature and a culture, so the artistic motive is real. Klingon: an artlang, but fans use it as a hobby language for conversation, which is the play motive. Toki Pona: an engelang in design, but most people use it for play and as a community hobby. The point: the three kinds are a map, not boxes. Ask what the language is mainly for.