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| Author | Arika Okrent |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Spiegel & Grau |
Publication date | 19 May 2009 |
| Pages | 342 |
| ISBN | 978-0-385-52788-0 |
| 499.99 | |
In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers who Tried to Build a Perfect Language is a 2009 non-fiction book by linguist Arika Okrent about the history and culture of constructed languages, or conlangs, languages created by individuals. Okrent explores the motivations for creating a language, the challenges faced by such projects, and the outcomes of a number of high-profile conlangs. The book revolves around six conlangs: John Wilkins' unnamed 'philosophical language', Esperanto, Blissymbols, Loglan and its descendant Lojban, and the Klingon language designed for the Star Trek universe. Okrent describes her personal experiences learning and interacting with these languages and their speakers, and provides historical and linguistic analyses of their structures and features.
In the Land of Invented Languages was published by Spiegel & Grau, at the time an imprint of Random House, on 19 May 2009. The book received a generally positive reception from both literary critics and enthusiasts of constructed languages. It was praised for its humorous, intelligent, and informative style, as well as for its depth of research and accessibility to a wide audience. It was also noted for its perspective on the successes and failures of conlangs, and the paradoxes and dilemmas they pose for their creators and users.