This course will explore the world of artificial or constructed languages (“ConLangs”), and examine their characteristics, their use, and the motivations behind their development. ConLangs have captured the public imagination as a creative product in literature, film, television, and gaming; this enriches the lesser known but equally engrossing history of artificial languages as (intended) engines of idealistic social change: as a means to reformulate nationalisms, enable universal communication, and even optimize the efficiency of the human mind. Through this course, discussion and study of existing constructed languages will provide context and guidance as students work to create and refine their own nascent ConLangs, and to articulate their motivations and goals for engaging in this creative-cum-analytic exercise.
Learning Outcomes:
Students in this course will:
1) Reinforce and expand their understanding of critical tenets of typological and descriptive linguistics.
2) Employ knowledge of the essential properties of human languages to innovatively re-imagine them in an original form.
3) Reflect on the ways in which languages -- natural and artificial -- influence and reflect the lived experiences of their users.
Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Prerequisites:
Previous successful completion of any one of LIN 4109, LIN 4110 or LIN 4112.
Course Level: 4000-level
Credits: 2
W 10:00AM - 11:50AM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 16
Course Frequency: Every 2-3 years
Categories: 4000 , All courses , CSL , Four Credit , Fully In-Person , Linguistics , SCT , Sociolinguistics
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