What is conlanging?
Conlanging is the art of creating languages. There are various different types of conlang:
- Auxiliary languages: languages made to make communication between speakers of different languages easy. The most famous example is probably Esperanto.
- Fictional languages: languages created to be represent a fictional culture. For example, Klingon from Star Trek is a fictional conlang.
- Alternative languages: languages based on the idea of what a language could have been if it had evolved differently. Brithenig plays with this kind of idea.
- Personal languages: languages that people make for personal use, or just to show off. They are languages made for the sake of making languages.
- Logical languages: languages made to remove all ambiguity through logic. Like Lojban and Lojlan.
- Philosophical languages: languages that experiment with funky ideas or have some kind of philosophy behind them. One example is Toki Pona.
- ...etc. There are many other ways to classify conlangs.
Why would you invent a language?
Usually you would create a language to fulfill one of the reasons listed above. You might want to make communication easier, add realism to a fictional universe or just experiment with a fun idea. However, above all, like with art, music, or games, it's a fun thing to do and make.
As well as this, by inventing a language, you can learn quite a bit about some of the basics of linguistics, since you kind of need to know the basics of linguistics to create a language, and making a naturalistic language can really help you study various languages on your journey to create your conlang to your liking.
In addition to this, it's also a lot easier to invent your own language than it is to learn a foreign language (but that doesnt mean you shouldn't learn foreign languages, as it can help you a lot with communication and teach you a lot about foreign cultures, as well as having positive effects on your brain).
How do you get into conlanging?
There are various great guides to help you get into creating a language, such as the video series Artifexian is creating on this very subject. However, there are also many good books as well. I'm even planning on creating a basic guide to creating a conlang, so check back later (not exactly sure when, just "later") to check it out. The conlangs subreddit is probably a good place to go as well.
Looking at conlangs other people have created may also help you get some inspiration for your own conlang. It may also help you grasp the basics of conlanging, like phonology. One language I recommend looking into is Toki Pona, a language that is really simple. As well as that, you should check out the conlang I've created, since you are already on my website.
It's probably also a good idea to learn the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) if you want to get into conlanging, as this really helps convey pronunciation and a lot of people use it. X-SAMPA is a more keyboard friendly alternative, however.