The language construction kit
by Mark Rosenfelder · first published 2010
7mentions
6recommended by
7HN commenters
2011–2018first – last mentioned
86% recommend14% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Covers the whole process of building a language, from sound systems and grammar to syntax and vocabulary, showing how much design goes into one; useful for conlang hobbyists and anyone curious about how languages work.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Create plausible and realistic languages for role-playing games, fantasy and science fiction, movies or video games, or international communication.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
For those interested in constructed languages, I recommend checking out Mark Rosenfelder's website http://zompist.com/. His Language Construction Kit in particular is a great resource: http://zompist.com/kit.html
on “How the Languages in Game of Thrones, Defiance, and Thor Were Created” ↗A fun and fascinating resource for anyone interested in artificial languages is Mark Rosenfelder's Language Construction Kit [1]. And if you want to get extremely into it, I highly recommend Paine's Describing Morphosyntax for a detailed tour of diverse grammatical systems from across the world [2]. [1] http://www.zompist.com/kit.html…
on “A Man Who Invents Languages for a Living” ↗…various conlangs, but instead the author mostly focused on their creators, and then especially their idiosyncrasies and quirks. For those who want to know more about conlangs, I would recommend "The Language Construction Kit" by Mark Rosenfelder.
on “Linguistics and Programming Languages” ↗If you want to create a complete language (or just understand what would go into such a process), I cannot recommend this book highly enough: http://www.amazon.com/Language-Construction-Kit-Mark-Rosenfe... See also his website: http://zompist.com/kit.html
on “How to create a (fictional) language in one day” ↗I've found Mark Rosenfelder's books "the language construction kit" and "the advanced LCK" fascinating to see how much thought needs to go into a language. I felt I learnt more about existing languages from those books than actual language books. He deals with everything…
on “Inventing a Language, from the Guy Who Made Dothraki (2015)” ↗The Language Construction Kit is great from everything I've read. Yes her book is more on the history & pro/cons of various conlangs mixed with examples...etc. It's not supposed to teach you Klingon, Lojban, Esperanto, and several…
on “Linguistics and Programming Languages” ↗Do you know the title of the book? I looked around briefly on his site, but didn't see it. Is the idea similar to Zompist's Language Construction Kit?
on “How the Languages in Game of Thrones, Defiance, and Thor Were Created” ↗