In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and The Ma...
Just about everyone has heard of Esperanto, which was nothing less than one man’s attempt to bring about world peace by means of linguistic s...
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Nov 20, 2011
James
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With this book, linguist Arika Okrent has created an easy, entertaining, yet comprehensive read about artificial languages. She covers seventeenth century philosophical languages, the attempts to create a notation that can convey all concepts in the same way that mathematical notation conveys formal concepts. She covers proposed artificial universal auxiliary languages, especially Esperanto. She also covers Loglan/Lojban, the twentieth century attempt to create a speakable language whose syn
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Feb 19, 2011
Julie
rated it:
The author looks at the history of invention surrounding well, invented languages.
And if you like languages at all, then it's fascinating. Although I could have wished for a little better organization. The author seems to jump about in time here and there, which can be confusing. And there is some repetition of information, as if she forgot she already told us that.
Oddly, I was at least a third if not halfway through the book before I realized the author was a woman. It More...
And if you like languages at all, then it's fascinating. Although I could have wished for a little better organization. The author seems to jump about in time here and there, which can be confusing. And there is some repetition of information, as if she forgot she already told us that.
Oddly, I was at least a third if not halfway through the book before I realized the author was a woman. It More...
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Feb 01, 2011
CarolineFromConcord
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This was a hoot! Even though some parts were penetrable only by a linguist like the author, I really enjoyed it. Okrent is a very good writer and knows how to choose and lead up to the funniest aspect of a constructed language -- or of the inventor. I learned a ton of random facts, and I thought I knew it all, having a decent knowledge of Esperanto. Turns out, there are more than 900 known invented languages. One that was invented to express a woman's perspective is Laadan and has words like thi
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Jan 25, 2011
TBML
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This book is a joy. Okrent offers 26 chapters of insights into some of the world's hundreds of invented languages. She is selective, of course, and organizes the material around a few key themes about language that resonate with any reader: transparency, perspective, accuracy, and invention. And Okrent has a feel not just for the languages but also for the people behind them. She peppers this subject with some of the heroes and villains behind invented languages; enter John Wilkins (who construc
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Oct 13, 2010
Ian
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Delightful, fascinating, funny. This could have been written for me.
I read this over a year ago and can't stop recommending it to anybody who will listen to me. While writing up my thoughts on something else tonight, I realized that Okrent's book has become the gold standard for a particular strain of my non-fiction reading.
So I thought it only fair that I state in public that I loved this book, and wish it had been twice as long. Even longer. If I could, I would have thi More...
I read this over a year ago and can't stop recommending it to anybody who will listen to me. While writing up my thoughts on something else tonight, I realized that Okrent's book has become the gold standard for a particular strain of my non-fiction reading.
So I thought it only fair that I state in public that I loved this book, and wish it had been twice as long. Even longer. If I could, I would have thi More...
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Oct 08, 2010
Sarah
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Mathematical notation, like the minus sign, was not invented until the sixteenth century. Equations were written in narrative form; Kepler, in desperation, made use of musical notation. My experience of most forms of math relies so heavily on looking at equations in very specific formats that I'm shocked by the limitations mathematicians worked within, but also wonder what things they were able to see more easily without relying so heavily on that particular kind of thinking.
It took More...
It took More...
Jul 31, 2010
Erik
rated it:
You’ve heard of Esperanto and Klingon, but did you know that there have been over five hundred invented languages that have seen some sort of publication or scholarly effort in the past several hundred years? I, too, thought that an astonishingly high number.
Okrent’s narrative takes us from the playful invented languages (like Klingon, which have no “real use” according to hard-core Esperantists), to the pictoral/symbolic used to assist young children with language production disord More...
Okrent’s narrative takes us from the playful invented languages (like Klingon, which have no “real use” according to hard-core Esperantists), to the pictoral/symbolic used to assist young children with language production disord More...
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Jun 27, 2010
Jerzy
rated it:
Great story and pretty well told too... The takeaway lesson seems to be that (1) many people have invented a language with the intent of "improving on" natural languages, but they have generally failed to catch on; (2) the few invented languages that do survive at all (even if with only 10-20 semi-fluent speakers) are the ones that appeal to an existing community or somehow manage to create one for themselves.
There are lots of cool linguistic tidbits throughout the book, and inter More...
There are lots of cool linguistic tidbits throughout the book, and inter More...
Jan 01, 2010
Eric
rated it:
Okrent, a degree-holding linguist, gives us an overview of the long history of constructed languages, giving a fair treatment to some notable failures (including a few conditional successes). She takes a hands-on approach to the languages that still exist in the wild, so in the process of researching the subject, she attends some Esperanto functions, gets a first-level certification in Klingon, and almost forgets how English works thanks to the magic of Lojban.
As someone who's spent More...
As someone who's spent More...
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Nov 08, 2009
Emily
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In the Land of Invented Languages by Arika Okrent is a book ostensibly about invented languages (like Esperanto) that is filled with love for the beauty and inventiveness of natural languages.
Okrent gives us the tour we'd expect of funny invented languages like Esperanto and Klingon (she even attends a Klingon convention). She has sport with many of the creations.
Okrent gives us the tour we'd expect of funny invented languages like Esperanto and Klingon (she even attends a Klingon convention). She has sport with many of the creations.
For the childish mind the temptations of Volapük are great. If you think the word pük is funny, then you will love how itMore...
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Oct 06, 2009
Michael
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Okrent begins with her semi-inculcation into Klingon in New Jersey. I sigh, scratch my head, and flip to the back to revisit her credentials. Then she jumps back a few centuries to some cat named John Wilkins in Black Plague-era London where she attempts something of a deconstruction of his invented “Philosophical Language” – contorted diagrams and all – with the aim of tracking down his reinvention of the word “shit.” Things aren’t necessarily looking up. No way I’m getting through this one.
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Jun 10, 2009
David
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Initially this book was fairly amusing, but somewhere around the half-way mark its charms began to fade, and by the end it was just plain exhausting. This was certainly not the fault of the author, who was an engaged and enthusiastic tour guide throughout. But ultimately the cumulative craziness of the various language inventors takes its toll.
Okrent's tour of the "land of invented languages" covers a lot of ground, making five major stops, each of which considers a partic More...
Okrent's tour of the "land of invented languages" covers a lot of ground, making five major stops, each of which considers a partic More...
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Jun 28, 2009
Joseph
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In the Land of Invented Languages by Arika Okrent is about artificially constructed languages. Okrent's style in this book closely resembles that of a travelogue. For several of the languages Okrent gives a little historical background mixed with a description of her personal experiences with the language in question. At times the material can be a little dry, it is linguistics after all. But don't let that discourage you because Okrent can be uproariously funny too.
I found the topic a
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Jan 09, 2010
Ellen
rated it:
I acknowledge that I am pretty much the ideal reader for this book. (And the conlanging community being what it is -- tiny -- I've corresponded, albeit briefly, with at least two of the people mentioned in the book.)
That said, this is a fascinating book, and I recommend it highly to anyone interested in constructed languages or just in language. Okrent has a light, entertaining writing style and a firm grasp of the subject -- she has a PhD in linguistics and proudly recounts receivin More...
That said, this is a fascinating book, and I recommend it highly to anyone interested in constructed languages or just in language. Okrent has a light, entertaining writing style and a firm grasp of the subject -- she has a PhD in linguistics and proudly recounts receivin More...
Sep 02, 2011
Jenn
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In the Land of Invented Languages was an impulse purchase that came about while I was browsing the heavily discounted “Philosophy and Linguistics” section at the Borders where I’ve worked for six years. I’ve never come across a more readable book written by a linguist in all my time earning an undergraduate and master’s degree in the subject.
And where was this book when I was working on my undergraduate thesis paper on Tolkien’s invented language and the difference between truly nat More...
And where was this book when I was working on my undergraduate thesis paper on Tolkien’s invented language and the difference between truly nat More...
Jan 30, 2010
Parag
rated it:
Picked this up from new section of local library for snowy-day reading. Got through it quickly - uneven writing style (academic, conversational, quirky at times) and approach, but fascinating subject matter. Focuses on the variety of languages that have been invented by individuals, from utopians striving for world understanding and peace (Esperanto and its many challengers) to languages created for artistic purposes (Quenya and Sindarin by Tolkien and of course, Klingon). Interesting, amusin
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Jan 30, 2010
Rebecca
rated it:
If you have ever had a conversation about whether Tolkien's Elvin languages are "real languages," or if you have ever wondered what the heck is up with people who can supposedly speak Klingon, or if you just like languages, you will get enormous pleasure out of this book. Written in a witty, conversational, smart style, this book is written to appeal to a certain type of word-nerd, whether they have any formal linguistics training or not. I lament the fact that this book wasn't yet p
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Nov 23, 2011
Rebecca
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Loved this book--although I found myself wishing that, for aesthetic purposes only, it was written by Sarah Vowell. (Insert here Laaden-style "evidence morpheme" -- see p. 246 -- indicating "that is a joke.") I love languages &, though I am not a linguist, Arika Okrent made me feel, briefly, as if I were. Not for nothing does she have that double degree in linguistics and cognitive neuroscience -- from the University of Chicago, no less. Also, she's a great writer. I'm upping
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Jul 02, 2010
Res
rated it:
Nonfiction: A brief and breezy overview of the history of artificial languages.
I enjoyed this; it's very much like a series of magazine articles in the sort of magazine that only exists in my dreams. It was full of those interesting tidbits that make you annoy the people in the room by interrupting them to say, "Wow, did you know that ..." (the table-form thesaurus seems to have been accidentally created by people who were trying to make a language? As native speakers use E More...
I enjoyed this; it's very much like a series of magazine articles in the sort of magazine that only exists in my dreams. It was full of those interesting tidbits that make you annoy the people in the room by interrupting them to say, "Wow, did you know that ..." (the table-form thesaurus seems to have been accidentally created by people who were trying to make a language? As native speakers use E More...
Mar 11, 2010
Ivan
rated it:
I bought this book on a wild impulse, after having heard it mentioned on The World in Words podcast. The only artificial language I had learned before was Toki Pona, and for its creator, Sonja Elen Kisa, the language was just a fun project. With that in mind, I expected to read a collection of assorted stories about geeks like Tolkien, inventing languages for their amusement. Instead, I found a wittily written, endearing linguistic research on a much more complex subject than I had anticipated.
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Jun 25, 2009
Snail in Danger (Sid)
rated it:
This has lots of interesting little tidbits. I'm not sure how well it hangs together as a book, but it was an interesting read.
Some things I thought were interesting:
* A Canadian school for children who are unable to speak uses a symbolic language to teach them to communicate. The local newspaper's example sentence? "The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins." (page 175)
* Esperanto was given serious communication as an official language by th More...
Some things I thought were interesting:
* A Canadian school for children who are unable to speak uses a symbolic language to teach them to communicate. The local newspaper's example sentence? "The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins." (page 175)
* Esperanto was given serious communication as an official language by th More...
Jan 04, 2011
Chrisiant
rated it:
Full of nifty and interesting info on invented languages. I never would have guessed there were so many! Some of the ideas behind them are really noble, and some are nutty, and some are nutty, but end up having noble purposes accidentally. The Land of Invented Languages is peopled with eccentrics, the very clever, the very pompous, and some pretty mainstream folks who are compelled by the notion of ending war through common language, a purely mathematical form of communication, or learning to
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Nov 15, 2011
John
rated it:
I love love love this book! I've been fascinated with language since... well, since as far back as I can remember having language. I don't have the requisite gifts to hack it as a linguist, but my fascination and delight in language is no less for that.
And delight is was makes this book so enjoyable. The author's intelligence and expertise are obvious - her conclusions about language and culture are spot-on. But it's her sense of humor and the joy she takes in the material that make More...
And delight is was makes this book so enjoyable. The author's intelligence and expertise are obvious - her conclusions about language and culture are spot-on. But it's her sense of humor and the joy she takes in the material that make More...
Aug 04, 2011
Her writing style is completely accessible while at the same time allowing for an understanding of linguistics even if you're mostly a novice in that realm. The characters she encounters in her historical undertaking are never less than interesting, and the conclusions she draws about their quixotic attempt at bringing the world together or making it smarter through a universal language or logic are sound. I thought the book had an interesting hook when I looked at its premise, but I was very
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Dec 03, 2009
Recommended by Language Hat at TheMillions.com.
"I’ve never had much interest in artificial languages, but this completely won me over. Arika Okrent writes well and tells a great story, but she also has a PhD in linguistics, which makes all the difference; any good journalist could spin a lively tale out of some of this material (people who spend their lives creating and trying to publicize languages tend to be pretty colorful), but it takes a linguist to see what’s going on with More...
"I’ve never had much interest in artificial languages, but this completely won me over. Arika Okrent writes well and tells a great story, but she also has a PhD in linguistics, which makes all the difference; any good journalist could spin a lively tale out of some of this material (people who spend their lives creating and trying to publicize languages tend to be pretty colorful), but it takes a linguist to see what’s going on with More...
Aug 03, 2009
Andie
rated it:
A quirky tale of invented languages throughout the ages. Despite my love of languages and most things linguistics related, I realized when I heard about this book that I knew literally nothing about invented languages. Okrent not only researches and presents a small chunk from the 900 of so languages that have been invented, but provides a healthy amount of biographical information about their inventors, provides copious samples, critiques each, and even attempts to learn them- resulting in su
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Sep 23, 2010
Mary-Elizabeth
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The stories of dreamers, egoists, philosophers, and oddballs all come together as Erika Okrent outlines hundreds of years worth of attempts to create a better language. Filled with biographical tidbits and language excerpts sure to excite grammarians and linguists, there are also bigger questions being asked. How important is logic to language? Do we need to know the relationship of everything to other things in order to have a better language? What is the relationship between language and thoug
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Oct 16, 2009
Luke
rated it:
I liked this book very much but it' probably not for everyone. Hence the 3-Stars.
The book is very interesting and entertaining for those interested in language and fringe/eccentric people: the author goes into enough depth for the language nerds and is personable and playful enough to make the book very fun. But, for those with more "mainstream" interests will probably find the book at times dense.
I do like how Okrent discovered and laid out three epochs she More...
The book is very interesting and entertaining for those interested in language and fringe/eccentric people: the author goes into enough depth for the language nerds and is personable and playful enough to make the book very fun. But, for those with more "mainstream" interests will probably find the book at times dense.
I do like how Okrent discovered and laid out three epochs she More...
May 29, 2009
Turi
rated it:
I don't know why I'm drawn to the language books like I am - I even have a goodreads "bookshelf" for them. But, somehow, I am, and this was a really good example of one.
Okrent has written a fascinating, accessible yet deep, and even at times funny book about the languages that have been "invented", and the character-ful people who have invented them. For the most part idealists, sometimes cranks, it makes for some great storytelling. I guess that's what makes t More...
Okrent has written a fascinating, accessible yet deep, and even at times funny book about the languages that have been "invented", and the character-ful people who have invented them. For the most part idealists, sometimes cranks, it makes for some great storytelling. I guess that's what makes t More...
Sep 25, 2011
Jimmy
rated it:
This book was the perfect balance of everything: humor, information, history, thought-provocation, etc. And the exact book I needed to get me out of the rut of non-reading I've been in the last 2 months.
It's a look into the amusing world of invented languages, ones invented by a single person as opposed to a language arising organically through a community of users who create it on the fly, evolving it to their needs. And there have not been a shortage of them: an estimated 900 in the More...
It's a look into the amusing world of invented languages, ones invented by a single person as opposed to a language arising organically through a community of users who create it on the fly, evolving it to their needs. And there have not been a shortage of them: an estimated 900 in the More...
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