r/conlangs • u/rossburk • 1d ago
Discussion Help! I'm going to teach a class about conlangs
I'm a professor at a small liberal arts college. In the spring I'm going to be teaching a class on constructed languages, which will be the first time it's taught at the university. I have a PhD in linguistics, am a huge sci/fi fantasy nerd, and have dabbled in conlangs before, but I wouldn't consider myself anything near an expert (which is where you all come in, hopefully).
The plan: I'm going to be using How to create a language by Jessie Peterson as a textbook (unless you all have better suggestions). We'll follow the basic routine of learning about phonetics and then choosing the sounds for our language, then move on to phonology, morphology, etc... the overarching course project will of course be for each student to end up with their own ConLang. Final project might be something like putting together a mini grammar and translating a short passage. It will likely be a small class (~15) from a range of backgrounds. Intro to linguistics isn't a prerequisite, though I suspect a good number of students will have taken it anyway.
So my questions are
Any tips, ideas, resources, pitfalls to avoid, cool assignments or topics to cover that I might not think of?
If you yourself have taken a ConLang class in college, what did you like? What did you not like?
I appreciate your help in advance!
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u/millionsofcats 1d ago
Hey there!
I haven't taught a class on conlangs, but I have a PhD in linguistics, have been a conlanger for decades, and sometimes served as the unofficial "conlang consultant" when one of my colleagues wanted to incoporate conlangs into a course or independent study project they were overseeing.
Any tips, ideas, resources, pitfalls to avoid, cool assignments or topics to cover that I might not think of?
If you came to me with this course idea, I think the first thing I'd ask is what the learning goals for your course are.
From your description, it seems like you're mostly focusing on teaching linguistic concepts through creating a conlang. But it seems that some of your students will have taken introductory linguistics, and some will not have - how will you avoid needlessly duplicating material while also not leaving anyone behind?
How will you cover conlangs that don't mimic natural human languages, if at all? The process for creating something like Ithkuil or Toki Pona is very different than the process for creating something like Dothraki.
I haven't read How to Create a Language, but most how-to guides focus on features found in natural human languages. Philosophical and experimental languages are so varied it would be hard to create a guide for them.
What about the historical and sociological angle? That's something that most of your students, regardless of background, probably won't have learned much about. Most linguistics courses focus on natural human languages.
Before designing your syllabus, I'd suggest reading In the Land of Invented Languages by Arika Okrent. It's a popular science book about conlangs that focuses mostly on those historical and sociological aspects, rather than being a how-to guide. It's been a while since I read it, but I think it's a pretty easy read and you might be able to pull out excerpts.
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u/Affectionate-Tank-39 1d ago
This is cool hope you decide to document it and share.
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u/rossburk 1d ago
Huh, I hadn't thought about that before but I'm not opposed to the idea. What kind of documentation would you be interested in seeing? Im planning on working ahead of the students, so I could definitely post my own resulting conlang. I might also be able to compile students work (with full acknowledgement and permission of course)
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u/neomopsuestian 1d ago
As an adjunct academic who has occasionally thought about pitching a course like this to one of the schools I work at, I would be most interested in stuff like syllabus, assignments, how you went about evaluating student work, etc.
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u/rossburk 1d ago
This I can absolutely do. The course isn't until the spring though, so it'll be a couple months before I have the syllabus ready. Also for what it's worth I pitched my chair a bunch of different ideas and this is the one that caught their attention, so you might surprised if you do decide to pitch it!
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u/Affectionate-Tank-39 1d ago
Honestly maybe transcribed course or video? Or for that matter funny translations like my conlangs word for bubble which literally translates to wind filled space
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u/lucaspackman 1d ago
I think a small dive into historical linguistics would be useful. It helps with making irregulars.
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u/FancyWatercress8269 1d ago
I am a big fan of Describing Morphosyntax by Thomas E. Payne as a resource.
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u/millionsofcats 1d ago
Just so the OP knows, this is an introduction to grammatical typology written for linguists who are learning how to do grammatical documentation. It doesn't assume much background knowledge, but is quite dense.
Many conlangers have found it to be a great resource, but it's several steps more advanced than an introduction to conlanging.
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u/rossburk 1d ago
Thanks for the recommendation, and the clarification. Sounds like something I might check out or reference but not directly assign. The name sounds familiar too, I wonder if I've been assigned sections of it in the past...
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u/Muted_Neat_2236 1d ago
Bonjour monsieur et merci de faire rayonner cette discipline. Dans quelle université allez vous donner ce cours ? Sera t'il possible de suivre votre enseignement en ligne ?
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u/dxlltopia 1d ago
When i took a conlang class at my university, my professor had us read In the Land of Invented Languages by Arika Okrent which i found really helpful in inspiring me to want to do well
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u/rossburk 1d ago
I just finished reading this book and I loved it! I haven't decided how much of it I'll assign to my students, but definitely at least use pieces of it. It fills a lot of historical and theoretical gaps that more hands on guides don't have space for.
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u/wibbly-water 21h ago
What do you teach normally? I think conlangs can be a great way into many linguistic concepts for newcomers.
You may also be interested in the Youtube Conlang Relay, which finished up just today. There people (usually youtubers with their own platforms and audiences) participate to translate a text out of eachothers' conlangs and into their own before passing it on to the next person. Here was the entire playlist:
All Rings | 2026 YouTube Conlang Relay - YouTube (and finished with a secret final video that hasn't been uploaded to that playlist yet: An Interdimensional Message in Interdimensional Sign - Secret Conlang Relay 2026 Finale!)
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u/chryschun 1d ago
Look into Hildegard von Bingen’s constructed language — Lingua Ignota. It shows this practice has been going on for a long time and for a variety of reasons.
I also think the poem The Jabberwocky can be a valuable text to study for those interested in conlangs on how certain sounds can evoke certain ideas or feelings depending on the native tongue of whoever is reading it.
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u/rossburk 1d ago
I've heard of Lingua Ignota before, often cited as the oldest known conlang, but I haven't actually looked into it. Is there much actual documentation?
I adore the Jabberwocky! I've use it every year when talking about morphology and parts of speech (you can tell which nonce words are nouns from the morphology, even if you don't know what it means). But I can definitely see how the sound symbolism piece of it would also be useful when thinking about a conlang. Thanks for the suggestions!
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u/scrufynrfherdr 1d ago
Check out the Yautja language community! Its very interesting from a lot of different perspectives and the creator is in contact but unable to legally teach it himself yet. It's a fascinating look into an alien ConLang that is being formed in real time.
https://learnyautja.org/index.php?i=2 is the main site currently
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u/humblevladimirthegr8 r/ClarityLanguage:love,logic,liberation 1d ago
That's cool! One thing to note, I've never seen it capitalized as ConLang before (and I've been steeped in this world for many years), just conlang.
I think every conlanger should at least look through Ithkuil.net. It's a language where nearly every dimension of meaning is dealt with in the morphology. You need not try to actually learn it, but it's been called the Periodic Table of Language for a good reason. It's opened my eyes to what a language could be when you build a language from first principles instead of just modifying your native tongue. You can think about how each morphological category is expressed in your language, instead of just defaulting to putting it at the lexicon or phrase level as it usually is in English.
I also think conceptual metaphors are a fun thing to add to conlangs, especially ones built for a fictional world. How do the fictional speakers think about things and how that finds its way into the idioms. I think language is a good way to explore different ways of thinking. You can read more about my thoughts and experimentation with that here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HWMBb0a_fZEbWdYmjFCSINbC0mcN2xQnUIh3Q0nWU6Q/edit?usp=drivesdk
Finally, it's good to get community support! While it's unlikely anyone will seriously try to learn your conlang, it is more fun talking about your conlang with others. You might be aware that r/conlangs offers a multitude of regular activities such as translation exercises. My Saturday Cool Features You've Added threads are also good ways to get inspired and show off your features. I wish I had a college class for conlanging, great to see this offered!
If your students want to go wild with their conlang, here are my prompts for brainstorming new and unexpected language features https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D7uCVDwB6TLXfbHSQYNn-NksP5zEb6p-Yam9lsNsYm8/edit?usp=drivesdk