Re: What defines a conlang?
| From: | Paul Bennett <paul-bennett@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, December 22, 2005, 21:58 |
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On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 15:07:05 -0500, Jörg Rhiemeier
<joerg_rhiemeier@...> wrote:
> I'd say that a conlang is a language deliberately designed by
> an individual or a (small) group; a natlang is a language that
> evolved from another language during centuries of usage by a
> community.
This overlooks the pidgin/creole situation, where a complete language can
emerge more or less fully formed in a matter of a couple of generations
over a reasonably small (depending on your domain) group of people,
without much if any planning.
Also, there are natlangs that consist of a very diverse set of dialects
that are deliberately engineered, codified and koinized. Koine being the
obvious example, but if my brain isn't playing tricks on me, I seem to
recall Bahasa Indonesia kinda fits the bill, too.
It's a hard set to define. I'm tempted to go with the "second-generation
L1 speakers" thing, but that I suspect locks out dying or dead languages
going through a resurgence.
Paul
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