Láadan

language
name=Láadan
creator=Suzette Haden Elgin
date=1982
setting=experiment in feminist linguistics, and featured in Elgin's novel "Native Tongue"
fam2=artistic and philosophical language
fam3=fictional language
posteriori=a priori language, with influences from Navajo and English
iso3=ldn

Láadan is a constructed language created by Suzette Haden Elgin in 1982 to test the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, specifically to determine if development of a language aimed at expressing the views of women would shape a culture; a subsidiary hypothesis was that Western natural languages may be better suited for expressing the views of men than women. The language was included in her science fiction "Native Tongue" series. Láadan contains a number of words that are used to make unambiguous statements that include how one feels about what one is saying. According to Elgin, this is designed to counter "male-centred" language's limitations on women, who are forced to respond "I know I said that, but I meant this".

Phonology

Tones

Unusually for constructed languages, Láadan is a tonal language. It utilises two distinct tones:
* "lo"ndash IPA|/lō/ or IPA|/lò/, a short, medium or low tone, represented by a single unmarked vowel
* "ló"ndash IPA|/ló/, a short, high tone, represented by a single marked vowelThe word "Láadan" has three syllables: "lá-" with the short vowel /a/ plus high tone; "-a" with the short vowel /a/ and no tone; and "-dan."

Láadan doesn't allow any double [i.e., long] phonemes. Whenever two identical short vowels would occur side by side in a single morpheme, one of them has to be marked for high tone. When adding an affix would result in two identical vowels side by side, an epenthetic /h/ is inserted to prevent the forbidden sequence. The language will allow either "máa" or "maá," but not "maa". These combinations can be described as:
* "loó"ndash IPA|/lǒː/, a long, low-rising tone, represented by a double vowel, the second of which is marked
* "lóo"ndash IPA|/lôː/, a long, high-falling tone, represented by a double vowel, the first of which is marked(Some people analyze these tone sequences as tonemic as well, for a total of four tones.)

Elgin prefers an analysis of the language as having no long vowels and a single tone, the high tone (distinguished from "neutral, baseline pitch"), but she acknowledges that linguists using other formalisms would be justified in saying that there are two tones, high and low (or unmarked or mid). [ [http://ozarque.livejournal.com/253528.html?thread=4544600#t4544600 Elgin's blog] ]

Vowels

Láadan has five vowels:
* "a"ndash IPA|/ɑ/, an open back unrounded vowel (as English "calm"),
* "e"ndash IPA|/ɛ/, an open-mid front unrounded vowel (as English "bell"),
* "i"ndash IPA|/ɪ/, a near-close near-front unrounded vowel (as English "bit"),
* "o"ndash IPA|/o/, a close-mid back rounded vowel (as English "home"),
* "u"ndash IPA|/u/, a close back rounded vowel (as English "boon").

Consonants

The "speech act" particle, at the beginning of a sentence, can also carry several suffixes, which expand on the overall state of the sentence. For example, "bíi" begins a statement, but "bíide" begins a statement that is part of a narrative; "bóoth" begins a request made in pain; "báada" begins a question that is meant in jest.

Pronouns

Pronouns in Láadan are built up from a number of constituent parts. The consonant "l" marks the first person, "n" the second person and "b" the third person. Usually, these are followed by the vowel "e". However, the vowel "a" is used to designate someone who is loved ("lhe-" is prefixed to describe someone who is despised). The suffix "-zh" is used to mark a plural pronoun for numbers up to four, and "-n" for numbers beyond that. Therefore, "lazh" means "we, several beloved", and "lheben" means "they, many despised".

References

Further reading

Jones, Mari C. and Ishtla Singh, "Exploring Language Change": Routledge, 2005; pp. 169-182.

External links

* [http://www.langmaker.com/db/Láadan Láadan Conlang Profile]
* [http://www.sfwa.org/members/elgin/Laadan.html Elgin's Láadan introduction]
* [http://internet.cybermesa.com/~amberwind/ Láadan lessons]
* [http://www.sfwa.org/members/elgin/LanguageImperative/laadansampler.html A Láadan Sampler]
* [http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/306a_web/Laadan.pdf Some Láadan (PDF)] (The text says that "wo-" is a plural marker. This is an error; the plural marker is "me-". "Wo-" is a relativizer.)
* [http://www.sfwa.org/members/elgin/LaadanLessons/Laadan01.html Lesson One of Láadan Made Easier]
* [http://wiki.feministsf.net/index.php?title=L%C3%A1adan_Working_Group Láadan Working Group]