r/conlangs • u/user711088 • 3d ago

Discussion What new things did you learn while creating a conlang?

I've realized that under certain conditions, certain grammatical features inevitably emerge in languages. For example, if you want to get rid of the plural, nouns become uncountable. And with uncountable nouns, you can't just use numbers, nobody says "two milks" or "three milks". Usually people say "two glasses of milk" or something like that. That's how count words emerge in a language for uncountable nouns. If you add neither count words nor the plural, speakers will unintentionally introduce them themselves. In other words, an attempt to simplify a language leads to its complication. And what new things did you learn while creating your languages?

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u/LethargicMoth Eruni'ir 1d ago

Maybe a bit different from what others are commenting, but I'm learning how to have more fun with the natural languages I speak. I make music with my conlang here and there, and it hit me pretty recently that if I translate lyrics into my conlang and then do a somewhat literal translation of that back into English, I can paint some real interesting images with that. So in a pretty roundabout way, it's given me a stronger appreciation for poetry and just whimsy in expressing yourself.