Lagogny
From Langmaker
| Conlang | Lagogny |
| Author | Michael Robson |
| Year Began | c. 2000 |
| Language Type | personal language |
| Lexicon Size | approx. 850 |
| Etymologies | No |
| Grammar | No |
| Sample Texts | No |
| Primer | No |
Lagogny is a personal language created by Michael Robson. For an extended example, see the translation of the Lagogny Babel Text.
Lagogny was begun in the early years of the new milennium as a personal game, similar to Tolkien's Nevbosh. However, the language began to mature in later years, developing a grammar and cultural outlook. It became the basis for a conworld, Natara, which gave rise to other, less complete languages such as Rakhalan, Errevin, and Kalkli. Lagogny is used for writing personal notes, poetry, and, at one point, roleplaying. I have attempted to use the Lagogny language in performance-related projects, but nothing notable has come of this.
Uniqueness
Lagogny is like thousands of private languages in that it is shaped entirely by one person's personality and interests. It may be worth pointing out that that Lagogny has developed from a childhood game into a mature language. When looking through the messy notebooks Lagogny was recorded in, one can see a clear progression from the tattered opening pages, full of juvenile doodles, to the latest entries in clear, neat columns. Unfortunately, the language is constantly changing and there is no primer or description of standard, up-to-date Lagogny outside my own head.
Design principles
Lagogny is designed with an eye towards a specific cultural outlook. Grammar and a distinctive phonology are not considered important, as the Nataran languages are primarily exercises in language/culture relationships, and also the phenomena of language change. Lagogny is meant to give the impression of a language from an alternate Earth, and sounds like a blend of Greek and Gaelic. It is worth noting that I tried to keep Romance borrowings to a minimum.
Language sources
Lagogny was originally based on Russian, in much the same way that Paolini's Ancient Language is based on Old Norse. However, original vocabulary soon found its way into the lexicon, together with word stock from various Indo-European languages:
Examples
Original vocabulary: likatamen 'necklace'; sevali 'against'; venan 'public'; olan 'child'; puras 'read'.
Derivative words: kovar 'speak' (Russian gavarit); kyarh 'ancient' (Anglo-Saxon gear); malakan 'weak' (Ancient Greek malakos); kevera 'why' (Latin quare).
Interest of others
Minimal. I have tried to teach basic words to close friends, but I am the only Lagogny-speaker so far. I am content to let it remain a personal language. I have, however, used Lagogny in the soundtrack to my film The Landing and my work-in-progress play Escape Route to create the effect of a 'dream language' - something that sounds like a foreign language but actually can't be understood.
Sample translations
Langmaker.com Motto
Et Rishon Onlan ngoran - corikso es laksic!
The definite article et indicates that the following noun is not the subject. The first phrase is SOV for emphasis on the object; the second phrase is SVO for emphasis on the verb.
"Share the Secret Vice - create a language"
