Bibliograph

In the land of invented languages, Esperanto rock stars, Klingon poets, Loglan lovers, and the mad dreamers who tried to build a perfect language, Arika Okrent

Type

Label

In the land of invented languages, Esperanto rock stars, Klingon poets, Loglan lovers, and the mad dreamers who tried to build a perfect language, Arika Okrent

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-329) and index

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

In the land of invented languages

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

321034148

Responsibility statement

Arika Okrent

Sub title

Esperanto rock stars, Klingon poets, Loglan lovers, and the mad dreamers who tried to build a perfect language

Summary

Okrent tells the fascinating and highly entertaining history of man's enduring quest to build a better language. Peopled with charming eccentrics and exasperating megalomaniacs, the land of invented languages is a place where you can recite the Lord's Prayer in John Wilkins's Philosophical Language, say your wedding vows in Loglan, and read "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" in Lojban--not to mention Babm, Blissymbolics, and the nearly nine hundred other invented languages featured in this language-lover's book

Table Of Contents

Nine hundred languages, nine hundred years : Scaring the mundanes ; A history of failure -- John Wilkins and the language of truth : The six-hundred page rewrite ; A calculus of thought ; A hierarchy of the universe ; The word for "shit" ; Knowing what you mean to say -- Ludwik Zamenhof and the language of peace : A linguistic handshake ; Un nuov glot ; Trouble in Volapükland ; A nudist, a gay ornithologist, a railroad enthusiast, and a punk cannabis smoker walk into a bar ; Crank pride -- Charles Bliss and the language of symbols : Word magic ; Hit by a personality tornado ; Those queer and mysterious Chinese characters ; The spacemen speak ; The catastrophic results of her ignorance -- James Cooke Brown and the language of logic : The Whorfian hypothesis ; A formula for success ; Suitable apologies ; Meaning quicksand ; To menstruate joyfully -- The Klingons, the Conlangers, and the art of language : Flaws or features? ; The go-to linguist ; What are they doing? ; The secret vice -- Appendix A. The list of languages ; Appendix B. Language samples

Classification

Creator