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A review by surfmadpig
In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build a Perfect Language by Arika Okrent
5.0
"There are trends, or eras, in language invention that reflect the preoccupations of the surrounding culture, and so, in a way, the history of the invented languages is a story about the way we think about language." (p. 20)
This is a fascinating book. Informative and entertaining. Despite the density of information, the writing style pretty good, and it's quite an easy read, especially if language in general interests you even a little bit.
Arika Okrent goes beyond telling the story of the most prominent artificial languages. She gives important historical context, and provides plausible explanations for the reasons, purposes and inspiration for their creation.
She also provides lots of interesting insight into the mechanics of artificial and native languages.
Highly recommended.
"Ambiguity, or fuzziness of meaning, is not a flaw of natural language but a feature that gives it flexibility and that, for whatever reason, suits our minds and the way we think. Likewise, the fact that languages depend on arbitrary convention or cultural habit is not a flaw but a feature that allows us to rein in the fuzziness by establishing agreed-upon meanings at different levels of precision. Language needs its "flaws" in order to do the enormous range of things we use it for." (p.197-198)
This is a fascinating book. Informative and entertaining. Despite the density of information, the writing style pretty good, and it's quite an easy read, especially if language in general interests you even a little bit.
Arika Okrent goes beyond telling the story of the most prominent artificial languages. She gives important historical context, and provides plausible explanations for the reasons, purposes and inspiration for their creation.
She also provides lots of interesting insight into the mechanics of artificial and native languages.
Highly recommended.
"Ambiguity, or fuzziness of meaning, is not a flaw of natural language but a feature that gives it flexibility and that, for whatever reason, suits our minds and the way we think. Likewise, the fact that languages depend on arbitrary convention or cultural habit is not a flaw but a feature that allows us to rein in the fuzziness by establishing agreed-upon meanings at different levels of precision. Language needs its "flaws" in order to do the enormous range of things we use it for." (p.197-198)