Conlang is a word used to describe constructed languages — languages made by linguists and hobbyists.

…to most linguaphiles, conlangs are simply art. Their palette holds not paints but the buzz of the letter “z,” the hiss of an “s,” the trill of an Italian “r.”…

…In this realm of art, Toki Pona is white canvas with scattered brushstrokes of primary colors.

Kisa created Toki Pona as an exercise in minimalism, looking for the core vocabulary that is necessary to communicate.

With only 120 words, a Toki Pona speaker must combine words to express more complicated ideas. For example, the Toki Pona phrase for “friend” is jan pona (the “j” sounds like a “y”), literally “good person.”

Kisa, who is studying speech language therapy, tried to focus Toki Pona’s vocabulary on basic, positive concepts.

“It has sort of a Zen or Taoist nature to it,” Kisa said

Read full article: LA Times

via gerry canavan’s blog