Iconicity in invented languages

Abstract This chapter illustrates the role played by iconicity in radical language invention. In the field of “interlinguistics”—that is, the language science devoted to invented languages (used for communication, like Esperanto, as well as artistic expression, like Dothraki)—there is no systematic study devoted to the subject. It is important to pay attention to this topic because the process of language invention immediately faces the problem of iconicity, both at the level of images (e.g. onomatopoeia and sound symbolism) and diagrams (structurally, as in derivational patterns and compounds, or semantically, through metaphors). In fact, the language inventor has to take decisions concerning how much iconicity the language project should show before the invented language is put into usage. Examples from “a-priori,” philosophical languages and “a-posteriori” languages for communication and artistic expression are given, as well as of systems mixed between the two. Finally, the chapter provides some reflections on the art of language invention and iconicity that may be of interest for theoretical linguistics in general.