Artistic language
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| Types of conlangs |
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A posteriori language |
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Artistic language |
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Sketchlang |
An artistic language or "artlang" is a constructed language whose primary purpose is to satisfy its maker's creative impulses and, possibly, evoke an emotional response in those who use it. There are no limitations on the form of an artlang; it may be simple or complex, naturalistic or engineered, a priori or a posteriori. The only limitation is that the creative purpose not be subordinated to any practical function (such as creating a language for international communication) or philosophical or experimental purpose (such as creating a maximally simple language, or proving that one can create a language with some specific characteristic).
Most artistic languages are of the naturalistic kind. This is, they try to emulate the way natural languages work or evolve over time, for this reason both terms are sometimes used interchangeably in the community. Note, however, that this is not necessarily an excluding requisite and many types of conlangs can be done in an "artistic" fashion.
Examples of artistic languages can be found in the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and his Elven languages, which were driven by his phonoaesthetic tastes rather than a practical function. Even his Black Speech and Dwarvish can be said to elicit a specific emotional response to them.