The Beginner level of this book is designed to allow students with no prior knowledge of conlanging or linguistics to readily create their own language that isn't a relex of English. It introduces you to the fundamentals of constructing languages, and aims to keep technical terminology to a bare minimum.
What's in this level?
Each section is designed to cover the basic principles of a different aspect of languages, both natural and constructed. The sections are:
- Sounds: This section describes the role of sounds within language. If you only speak English, you may be surprised to learn what sounds are common in other languages!
- Words: Words are formed in many different ways around the world; this section will begin to explore those different methods.
- Grammar: This section shows how word order or words themselves are changed to show meaning. After all, a collection of words is not a language!
- Context: People don't always say what they mean. This section helps you think about how your language is used.
- Writing: Almost all languages have a visual representation, known as writing. Many conlangers invent elaborate writing systems before they even begin work on the language itself.
- Learning Your Conlang: Describes basic techniques to gain fluency in your conlang.