Conglanging: The Not-So-Secret Vice

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On March 20-22
at Brown University, the Language Creation Society hosted the
3rd
Language Creation Conference
,
a tribal gathering of self-described language geeks, (a label I proudly wear
along with my newly acquired LCS pin, with its symbolic Tower of Babel).

Conlanging
(from con
structed language) is obsessional, hermetic, prolix, and
involves Deep Chops, combined with the spirit of play. It’s geeky, even cosmically
geeky, as Jeff Burke (aka White Thunder),
creator of the Central Mountain Languages, puts it.

 

Linguistic Diversity

Linguistic
diversity is falling in parallel with biodiversity, “faster than ever before in
human history”, according to Tove
Skutnabb-Kangas
of the University of Roskilde. Europe is the poorest
continent in linguistic diversity, while “Indigenous peoples, minorities and
linguistic minorities are the stewards of the world's linguistic diversity.”
Nigeria alone has 410 languages; Papua New Guinea (850 languages) and Indonesia
(670) between them hold 25% of the world’s languages.

 

Figure 3: “Fight Linguistic Extinction–Invent a Language!” (David Peterson's Kamakawi script)

 

Linguistic diversity and
biodiversity are correlated; when one is high, the other generally is as well.
But languages are disappearing faster even than butterflies–except in the
conlang community, where linguistic creation and experimentation is bubbling up
out of a primordial soup of natlang (nat
ural language)
parts, with plenty of mutations, variations, and hybridizations, as well as new
orthographies (written systems that may or may not represent the sounds of a
language). Emergent forms of languages–visual, both 2-dimensional and
3-dimensional, gestural, sculptural, languages with no spoken form, and lots of
alien languages, are all part of the mix.

 

The Shakespeare of Conlanging

J. R. R. Tolkien
is, of course, the Shakespeare of conlanging. His essay, “A Secret Vice,”
details his own experiences and speculations about language creation, which
possessed him from an early age. Many, if not most, conlangers began some form
of the activity in childhood. Tolkien calls conlanging “a new art, or a new
game” and indeed, the activity is perfectly suspended between these impulses.
And secrecy plays itself out in various aspects, beginning perhaps with the
delight of children in having secret languages and societies to bond their
group. Later come secret scripts for maintaining the privacy of journal
writing.

Stealth-langs

Deena Larsen’s
Rose language/code serves such purposes. In her own words: “It is based on
English, but has 75 characters. Each letter has variations that connote
emotion. When I write, I unconsciously use these forms. Then when I
reread, I find out what I was feeling. Then I can get to my "inner
thoughts."

 

Figure 4: Deena Larson's Rose

 

A wry take on
the secrecy–or privacy–of conlangs from “Leah” on the
alt.language.artificial list: “As for a lang having interest to someone other
than the creator, that can vary with time. When I finished my first conlang, I
offered to teach it to people I know, and they refused, UNTIL I started keeping
my personal journal exclusively in my conlang. THEN, the interest started. Of
course, they want to spy on my most private thoughts. Therefore, my conlang
became my stealth lang.”

Stealth language
is also Tolkien’s term. For him, a stealth language can “satisfy either the
need for limiting one’s intelligibility within circles whose bounds you can
more or less control or estimate, or the fun found in this limitation. They
serve the needs of a secret and persecuted society, or the queer instinct for
pretending you belong to one.” (Think pidgins, creoles, slave languages).
Tolkien began the Silmarillion, the first parts of his “mythology for England”
and the mythical basis for The Lord of the Rings, during WWI, in hospital,
recovering from the injuries and horrors of trench warfare in the Battle of
Somme.

Bradford White’s
conlang story is a strange parallel. His adventures in conlanging began as a
child, inventing a language to pass secret notes in school. This impulse
resurfaced in Marine bootcamp, with exposure to the special military jargon; he
and his buddies made up more, for their own uses. His conlang Friivoliik came
about while recovering from war injuries recently at Camp Lejeune, including
snapped tendons in his foot and a nasty case of flesh-eating staph infection
advancing up his leg. “While bed ridden, I tried to write down the things that
had happened to me, and exactly how they made me feel. Some of the things that
I had been through, and some of the things I had seen were difficult to deal
with, and I was searching for a way to more accurately express myself.” His
language includes a special “emotive case” which expresses different relations
to emotions experienced, relating to their intensity. As he explained to me,
sometimes it is not strong enough to say merely “I felt
this;” he has a means of expressing the
quality of an emotion that utterly possesses one, the difference between saying
“war gives me depression” and “war gives me to
depression.”

Language and Mythology

Tolkien’s
Silmarillion is the mythology of his Elvish languages, Quenya and Sindarin.
For Tolkien, language and mythology are deeply intertwingled. “I must fling
out the view that for perfect construction of an art-language, it is found
necessary to construct at least in outline a mythology concomitant. Not solely
because some pieces of verse will inevitably be part of the (more or less)
completed structure, but because the making of language and mythology are
related functions; to give your language an individual flavour, it must have
woven into it the threads of an individual mythology….The converse indeed is
true, your language construction will breed
a mythology.”

In contemporary
conlanging, this principle is in force in a significant number of conlangs:
they come hand in hand with the imagined worlds in which they communicate.
Sally Caves, a professor of English at the University of Rochester (as Sarah
Higley), whose creation of Teonaht, a language and a world, began at age nine,
expresses this principle eloquently: “Those unbitten by this bug will
undoubtedly want to know why we do it: why invent something so intricate, so
involved, that only a few people, maybe even no one, could ever share in its
entirety? To begin such a thing is whimsical at best, but to persist in it is
surely madness. However, I'm not alone in my pursuit. The discovery of Conlang, a listserv devoted to glossopoeia or the
artful construction of languages, introduced me to a world of compatriots who
share my love of language–not just the natural languages, but the
experiments one could make with syntax, morphology, typology, lexicology,
historicity, and myth. . . . glossopoeia is like building a strange, new,
mythical city. You start with the foundations and move up, stone by stone. Or
sometimes you start with the roof and work down. Sometimes your paths are
crooked, others straight; sometimes you erect cathedrals, canals, and bridges.
Sometimes you tear everything down and start over. Gradually it takes on a
character and populace of its own, and all its own rules, and you come to know
its streets and houses and people as unique. You have relexified your world.
” (emphasis mine) Sally (as Sarah
Higley) is the author of Hildegard of
Bingen’s Unknown Language
. Conlanging, as well as music, was part of Hildegard’s
productive frenzy.

 

Ideal Languages, Differently Dreamed

If Tolkien is
the Shakespeare of conlanging, surely Paul Varkuza is its Rimbaud. A
synaesthete with plenty of attitude, Varkuza claims to have named himself after
his language, Varkuzan, “because
he himself and his work is only an extension of the greater idea(s) that
Varkuzan represents.” To him, conlanging is a laboratory akin to a psychoactive
substance where new versions of reality (not just descriptions) can be created.
An intimate connection with one’s conlang indeed. Varkuza has utopian
intentions of “complete objectivity” yet combines metaphorical as well as
mathematical and technical means to accomplish his ends.

Andrii Zvorygin
states, “a formal language that unites all the ideas of humanity (math,
science, religion, society) is my goal.” He is also “in the process of founding
a religion with a universal conlang as a grand unifier.” Sound like Hesse’s
Glass Bead Game?

Sai Emrys,
founder of the Language Creation Society, posts a many-year, much revised “Design of an Ideal
Language
.” In his own words, “I make no presumption that my particular
desires are in any way objectively best; only that one can objectively take a
look at some particular set of desires, make tradeoffs where needed, and then
go about fulfilling them optimally in a systematic way. There are therefore an
infinite possible set of perfect languages, for each of an infinite set of
desiderata.”

Umberto Eco
calls it, “The
Search for the Perfect Language
.” But of what does linguistic perfection
consist? The answer is as old as the mythology of the Tower of Babel which
considered linguistic diversity a bug, not a feature. One “perfect” language?
Or many, each with their own perfections? And on something like this point,
(and many others too subtle or too noisy to detail) the Great Schism occurred
(circa 1999) on the conlanging list, with truce attained by splitting into two
lists, conlangs and auxlangs (auxiliary languages, like Esperanto) and only
occasional border raids by proselytizing Esperantists and the like. (You can
tell which list has my loyalty.)

 

Linguistic chops

Deep linguistic
chops–really knowing the rules–are Sylvia Sotomayor’s launching pad
for breaking them with her conlang, K?len.
“Learning about universals made me wonder what a language would be like that
violated them. So K?len became my laboratory for exploring the line
between a human and a non-human language. There are a few inherent difficulties
to this task. For one thing, since we haven't found any intelligent aliens,
there are no non-human languages to look at for comparison. So, my strategy was
to take a universal and violate it.” K?len replaces verbs with a closed
class of “relationals” that perform the syntactic function of verbs. Sotomayor
has created, out of an early fascination with all things Celtic, several
beautiful K?len scripts.

 

Figure 8: Kelen regular script

 

Certainly one of
the most complete–and sophisticated–aesthetic realizations of an
orthography (Tapissary itself is coded to English) and conculture is found in
Steven Travis’ work of the past 30-plus years. A pictographic language, Tapissary, inspired by American Sign
Language, has about 8,000 characters. “I enjoyed the beautiful movements of
Sign Language and experimented with stylizing motion into script,” Travis
reports. Venticello is a miniature ceramic village, constructed in his
backyard over many years. There are also illustrated journals, ceramics, and
sculptures. Tapissary 101
(YouTube) is a timeline of the language’s development. Hieroglyphic
Collages
were shown at the Conference exhibition, and they are stunning.
Pictures of Venticello are inserted into the glyphs; the glyphs become windows
onto the world. These were shown at the Amos Eno Gallery in NYC in May, 2008.

 

Figure 9: Sylvia Sotomayor in Kelen ceremonial vestments

Conlanger Games

While conlangers
have not yet erected a Rosetta stone, perhaps because a stone would hardly
contain this Cambrian explosion of linguistic diversity. Imagine a wall with
hundreds, yes, hundreds of symbolic systems side by side, each with their
version of the Babel text,
the Biblical passage about the erection–and fall–of the Tower of
Babel and the confusion of languages henceforth among the human races. This is
the text most often translated by which conlangs can be compared. While
auxlangers dream of the one perfect language that will unify the planet and end
all communicative confusion and misunderstanding, conlangers tend to be
pro-Babel, taking freedom of speech to new levels. Noetic license, indeed.
Another group activity among conlangers are the relays–like the
children’s game of telephone, only translating an original text through several
conlangers’ languages. More games: at the conference, Jim Henry’s Glossotechnia, a
conlang creation card game, was played. I’m not even going to try to describe
it, but here are the conlangers in the heat of play.

 

Alien Languages

Conlangs such as
Jeff Burke’s Central Mountain Languages exist in alternate histories of Planet
Earth. Once you move off-planet, say, to the second planet of Alpha Centauri
A, entirely new possibilities open up. Denis Moscowitz’ Rikchik language, for
instance. “The rikchik body consists of a large (~2 ft. diameter) sphere,
which contains almost all the rikchik's organs, supported by 49 long (~6 ft.)
tentacles. In the front of the sphere is a single eye with a circular eyelid.
The 7 tentacles immediately below the eye are shorter and lighter, and are used
for talking…” thus, Rikchik is a signed language, with no sonic component, and
written Rikchik is a speechless orthography. Rikchik is also unusual as a
cooperative venture by Denis with his brother Marc. Pair/group conlanging is
very much a rarity. For more information, contact the Rikchik Language
Institute.

 

Figure 14: Rikchik morphemes, based on tentacular formations

 

My own work in
the Glide language is similarly
extraterrestrial, transdimensional, visual–with no spoken component–and
produces dynamic as well as static forms of writing, in two
and three dimensions (LiveGlide). Its myth of origin lies 4000 years in the
future when the language was given to the Glides by the hallucinogenic blue
water lilies they tended. Glide began as a gestural language, later written
down to become the basis of a game played in mazes made of Glide glyphs. The
story is told in the novel, The
Maze Game
. Some of the theory around Glide is on my Xenolinguistics website, a sketchbook for
current Ph.D. work on linguistic phenomena in the psychedelic sphere.

 

Conlang: The Movie

It had to
happen, and out of Iceland: Baldvin Kári Sveinbjörnsson is the writer/producer
of a short film, Conlang
,
created as part of his MFA work in film at Columbia. Sveinbjörnsson uses the
Uscaniv language created by Kári Emil Helgason as a language of love in this in
turn delightful, campy, touching and hilarious (at least to conlangers) story
of young love in the time of role playing games. The movie is directed by Marta
Masferrer, also at Columbia.

 

The Exhibit

A highlight of
the conference was the poster exhibit. Part of the exhibit was material from
Donald Boozer’s 2008 exhibit, "Esperanto, Elvish, and Beyond: The World of
Constructed Languages" at the Cleveland Public Library. The exhibit includes a history of
conlanging, and many samples of conlanging in science fiction and from the
conlang community. Boozer created A Conlanger's Bookshelf: Books, Movies,
Television, Games & Web Resources for the Beginning to Advanced Conlanger
as a companion to the exhibit.

Some of David J.
Peterson’s
extensive conlang work–books, games, many languages,
orthographies, and scripts–were shown. An early work in Megdevi combines
drawings and language in a fairytale format.

Jim Rosenberg,
an artist of hypertextual, interactive, electronic poetry, attended the meeting
and suggested that the time had come for a conlang literature. Such an
anthology is now under discussion on the list.

 

Fiat Lingua!

I find myself
developing my own meta-myth about conlangers as language-bringers. In the
spirit of play, in the rigor of serious linguistic exploration, in the
willingness to live in one’s own highest myth for extended periods of time, for
explicitly not
putting
aside childish things, I think we are one of the points where the incursion of
novelty in the run-up to 2012 reveals itself–in this case in a geyser of
glyphs, a flow of new sounds, and newly ordered ways of making meaning.

 

A version of
this article with more pictures can be found at Diana Slattery’s Xenolinguistics blog. Many
conlangers maintain extensive websites for further reference.

 

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The Ayahuasca Experience
Ayahuasca is both a medicine and a visionary aid. You can employ ayahuasca for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual repair, and you can engage with the power of ayahuasca for deeper insight and realization. If you consider attainment of knowledge in the broadest perspective, you can say that at all times, ayahuasca heals.

 

Trippy Talk: Meet Ayahuasca with Sitaramaya Sita and PlantTeachers
Sitaramaya Sita is a spiritual herbalist, pusangera, and plant wisdom practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition.

 

The Therapeutic Value of Ayahuasca
My best description of the impact of ayahuasca is that it’s a rocket boost to psychospiritual growth and unfolding, my professional specialty during my thirty-five years of private practice.

 

Microdosing Ayahuasca: Common Dosage Explained
What is ayahuasca made of and what is considered a microdose? Explore insights with an experienced Peruvian brewmaster and learn more about this practice.

 

Ayahuasca Makes Neuron Babies in Your Brain
Researchers from Beckley/Sant Pau Research Program have shared the latest findings in their study on the effects of ayahuasca on neurogenesis.

 

The Fatimiya Sufi Order and Ayahuasca
In this interview, the founder of the Fatimiya Sufi Order,  N. Wahid Azal, discusses the history and uses of plant medicines in Islamic and pre-Islamic mystery schools.

 

Consideration Ayahuasca for Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Research indicates that ayahuasca mimics mechanisms of currently accepted treatments for PTSD. In order to understand the implications of ayahuasca treatment, we need to understand how PTSD develops.

 

Brainwaves on Ayahuasca: A Waking Dream State
In a study researchers shared discoveries showing ingredients found in Ayahuasca impact the brainwaves causing a “waking dream” state.

 

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a pro cannabis Peruvian Shaman.

 

Ayahuasca Retreat 101: Everything You Need to Know to Brave the Brew
Ayahuasca has been known to be a powerful medicinal substance for millennia. However, until recently, it was only found in the jungle. Word of its deeply healing and cleansing properties has begun to spread across the world as many modern, Western individuals are seeking spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. More ayahuasca retreat centers are emerging in the Amazon and worldwide to meet the demand.

 

Ayahuasca Helps with Grief
A new study published in psychopharmacology found that ayahuasca helped those suffering from the loss of a loved one up to a year after treatment.

 

Ayahuasca Benefits: Clinical Improvements for Six Months
Ayahuasca benefits can last six months according to studies. Read here to learn about the clinical improvements from drinking the brew.

 

Ayahuasca Culture: Indigenous, Western, And The Future
Ayahuasca has been use for generations in the Amazon. With the rise of retreats and the brew leaving the rainforest how is ayahuasca culture changing?

 

Ayahuasca Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
The Amazonian brew, Ayahuasca has a long history and wide use. Read our guide to learn all about the tea from its beginnings up to modern-day interest.

 

Ayahuasca and the Godhead: An Interview with Wahid Azal of the Fatimiya Sufi Order
Wahid Azal, a Sufi mystic of The Fatimiya Sufi Order and an Islamic scholar, talks about entheogens, Sufism, mythology, and metaphysics.

 

Ayahuasca and the Feminine: Women’s Roles, Healing, Retreats, and More
Ayahuasca is lovingly called “grandmother” or “mother” by many. Just how feminine is the brew? Read to learn all about women and ayahuasca.

What Is the Standard of Care for Ketamine Treatments?
Ketamine therapy is on the rise in light of its powerful results for treatment-resistant depression. But, what is the current standard of care for ketamine? Read to find out.

What Is Dissociation and How Does Ketamine Create It?
Dissociation can take on multiple forms. So, what is dissociation like and how does ketamine create it? Read to find out.

Having Sex on Ketamine: Getting Physical on a Dissociative
Curious about what it could feel like to have sex on a dissociate? Find out all the answers in our guide to sex on ketamine.

Special K: The Party Drug
Special K refers to Ketamine when used recreationally. Learn the trends as well as safety information around this substance.

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

Ketamine vs. Esketamine: 3 Important Differences Explained
Ketamine and esketamine are used to treat depression. But what’s the difference between them? Read to learn which one is right for you: ketamine vs. esketamine.

Guide to Ketamine Treatments: Understanding the New Approach
Ketamine is becoming more popular as more people are seeing its benefits. Is ketamine a fit? Read our guide for all you need to know about ketamine treatments.

Ketamine Treatment for Eating Disorders
Ketamine is becoming a promising treatment for various mental health conditions. Read to learn how individuals can use ketamine treatment for eating disorders.

Ketamine Resources, Studies, and Trusted Information
Curious to learn more about ketamine? This guide includes comprehensive ketamine resources containing books, studies and more.

Ketamine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to ketamine has everything you need to know about this “dissociative anesthetic” and how it is being studied for depression treatment.

Ketamine for Depression: A Mental Health Breakthrough
While antidepressants work for some, many others find no relief. Read to learn about the therapeutic uses of ketamine for depression.

Ketamine for Addiction: Treatments Offering Hope
New treatments are offering hope to individuals suffering from addiction diseases. Read to learn how ketamine for addiction is providing breakthrough results.

Microdosing Ketamine & Common Dosages Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing ketamine.

How to Ease a Ketamine Comedown
Knowing what to expect when you come down from ketamine can help integrate the experience to gain as much value as possible.

How to Store Ketamine: Best Practices
Learn the best ways how to store ketamine, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long ketamine lasts when stored.

How To Buy Ketamine: Is There Legal Ketamine Online?
Learn exactly where it’s legal to buy ketamine, and if it’s possible to purchase legal ketamine on the internet.

How Long Does Ketamine Stay in Your System?
How long does ketamine stay in your system? Are there lasting effects on your body? Read to discover the answers!

How Ketamine is Made: Everything You Need to Know
Ever wonder how to make Ketamine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how Ketamine is made.

Colorado on Ketamine: First Responders Waiver Programs
Fallout continues after Elijah McClain. Despite opposing recommendations from some city council, Colorado State Health panel recommends the continued use of ketamine by medics for those demonstrating “excited delirium” or “extreme agitation”.

Types of Ketamine: Learn the Differences & Uses for Each
Learn about the different types of ketamine and what they are used for—and what type might be right for you. Read now to find out!

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

MDMA & Ecstasy Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to MDMA has everything you want to know about Ecstasy from how it was developed in 1912 to why it’s being studied today.

How To Get the Most out of Taking MDMA as a Couple
Taking MDMA as a couple can lead to exciting experiences. Read here to learn how to get the most of of this love drug in your relationship.

Common MDMA Dosage & Microdosing Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing MDMA.

Having Sex on MDMA: What You Need to Know
MDMA is known as the love drug… Read our guide to learn all about sex on MDMA and why it is beginning to makes its way into couple’s therapy.

How MDMA is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make MDMA? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how MDMA is made.

Hippie Flipping: When Shrooms and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Explore the mechanics of hippie flipping and how to safely experiment.

How Cocaine is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make cocaine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how cocaine is made.

A Christmas Sweater with Santa and Cocaine
This week, Walmart came under fire for a “Let it Snow” Christmas sweater depicting Santa with lines of cocaine. Columbia is not merry about it.

Ultimate Cocaine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
This guide covers what you need to know about Cocaine, including common effects and uses, legality, safety precautions and top trends today.

NEWS: An FDA-Approved Cocaine Nasal Spray
The FDA approved a cocaine nasal spray called Numbrino, which has raised suspicions that the pharmaceutical company, Lannett Company Inc., paid off the FDA..

The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Bioavailability
What is bioavailability and how can it affect the overall efficacy of a psychedelic substance? Read to learn more.

Cannabis Research Explains Sociability Behaviors
New research by Dr. Giovanni Marsicano shows social behavioral changes occur as a result of less energy available to the neurons. Read here to learn more.

The Cannabis Shaman
If recreational and medical use of marijuana is becoming accepted, can the spiritual use as well? Experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Hamilton Souther, founder of the 420 Cannabis Shamanism movement…

Cannabis Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to Cannabis has everything you want to know about this popular substances that has psychedelic properties.

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a procannabis Peruvian Shaman.

CBD-Rich Cannabis Versus Single-Molecule CBD
A ground-breaking study has documented the superior therapeutic properties of whole plant Cannabis extract as compared to synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), challenging the medical-industrial complex’s notion that “crude” botanical preparations are less effective than single-molecule compounds.

Cannabis Has Always Been a Medicine
Modern science has already confirmed the efficacy of cannabis for most uses described in the ancient medical texts, but prohibitionists still claim that medical cannabis is “just a ruse.”

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