Languages of Zyem

There are thousands of languages on Zyem, just as there are on our Earth. However, just as here, only a few have world-wide significance, either because of the number of speakers or the involvement of its speakers on the world stage. At this Website, we consider six major languages and one minor, but related language.

All the languages of Zyem are constructed languages, invented by me. In devising them, I had two goals in mind:

To create a 'natural' language, one with the messy texture of a real, naturally-evolved language. So many constructed languages seem to me sterile or overly rigorous in their laws. I did not want my languages to be 'artificial', even though they are constructed.
To explore features of language little-used or unknown among natural languages. To me, constructed languages that are simply codes for English or another existing language are very boring, unless they have some other unique point to them. My languages vary from existing languages to different degrees, but all have some unique feature I wanted to try out.

One area of language I have concentrated on is word-formation. Convincing etymologies and word associations give a constructed language a truly natural feel, I believe. Too many constructed languages have arbitrary vocabularies, with words for related concepts seeming to have no organic connection. I've even seen software to generate such random vocabularies! I feel that word-formation must be the foundation of any constructed language that wants to appear natural.

I've been making constructed languages (conlangs) since I was a young teenager. I've often pondered the attraction of conlangs for me. I think part is the desire to experience something new: if thought is really conditioned by language (the Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis), then knowing a new language could lead to new patterns of thought, new ways of looking at the world. I've studied natural languages avidly, too, probably for this same reason, but, let's face it, it can take a long time to gain enough proficiency in a foreign language to achieve this effect. Conlangs usually have the advantage of being less complicated, hence easier to grasp.

But this is certainly not the whole appeal of conlangs. Many languages are inherently beautiful (I am thinking of the consonent mutations that take place in conjugating the Greek verb, or the concision of Klingon). With conlangs, one can deliberately manipulate the aesthetic quality of language, and therefore, of thought. This is my new motto for life: If you want to think beautiful thoughts, do it in a beautiful language.

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