How to Create a Language
The Conlang Guide

A complete, example-rich guide for students on developing their own full, working constructed language.

Jessie Peterson (Author)

9781108834070, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 October 2025

454 pages
25.4 x 17.8 x 2.5 cm, 1.085 kg

'As the title indicates, this book is about a lesser-studied application of linguistics: creating artificial languages ('conlangs') for novels, films, and TV series. It acts as a how-to guide and is recommended for college courses on language creation. Each chapter is followed by a set of detailed exercises taking readers through the process of constructing their own fictional language. In addition, however, the book acts as a comprehensive account of variation between natural languages ('natlangs') – the author presents the task of creating a fictional language as a series of choices between the various options presented by the vast array of human languages. As well as instructing the reader in language construction, then, it offers an overview of the structures of natural languages… Overall, … if you are looking for a book that explains aspects of language structure in a clear and fun way, this volume is worth exploring.' Susan Hunston, University of Birmingham, in British Association for Applied Linguistics News, Spring 2026

Designed specifically for class use, this text guides students through developing their own full, working constructed language. It introduces basic concepts and the decisions students need to make about their conlang's speakers and world, before walking them through the process of conlanging in incremental stages, from selecting a language's sounds to choices about its grammar. It includes hundreds of examples from natural and constructed languages, and over seventy end-of-chapter exercises that allow students to apply concepts to an in-progress conlang and guide them in developing their own conlang. Ideal for undergraduates, the text is also suitable for more advanced students through the inclusion of clearly highlighted sections containing advanced material and optional conlang challenges. Instructor resources include an interactive slideshow for selecting stress patterns, an exercise answer guide and a sample syllabus, and student resources include a 'select-a-feature' conlang adventure, a spreadsheet of conlang features, and supplementary documentation for the exercises.

Preface
Part I. Building Words: 1. Natlangs
2. Conlangs
3. Sound Inventories
4. Phonotactics
5. Phonological Shifts
6. Basic Vocabulary
Part II. Constructing Grammar: 7. Basic Grammar
8. Inflections and Grammaticalization
9. Nouns
10. Noun Phrases
11. Pronouns and Verb Agreement
12. Verbs
Part III. Expanding Features: 13. Word-Formation Strategies
14. Beyond Basic Clause Structure
15. Complex Modifying Forms
16. Orthography
17. Translation
Appendix
Glossary.

Subject Areas: Linguistics [CF]