14

I know there are plenty of esoteric programming languages that are designed to be incredibly difficult to work with, like Malbolge, Brainfuck, and PikaLang, though programs written in them can still be compiled and run by a computer.

There are lots of constructed linguistic languages, like Esperanto and Toki Pona, but for most of those they are designed to be easier to learn or have other functional benefits. Are there any linguistic languages where the goal is to be difficult to speak, write, and understand, while still being actual languages?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Oh that would be a very fun project! Make every sound just a different kind of vowel, skip all the consonants entirely. Make sure each word has vowels that are very similar. Every word should be very long as well.

Everything should have conjugations, and you should be able to stack them infinitely. There should be lots of prefixes and suffixes you can sprinkle liberally everywhere.

The grammar should have zero consistency. Everything is just a never ending list of exceptions. You would need to have a degree in cryotherapy to learn this language.

The classification of words and linguistic structures should be so bizarre, that existing systems wouldn’t be able to handle it. None of this fits in any box we already have. It should be so unique, that no other language would help with it.

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Are you describing English without saying it?

[-] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Which reminds me, the spelling vs. pronunciation would have to be inspired by English. You can’t find anything in the dictionary unless you know the etymological origin of the word. If you don’t know that, your guess of the first letter is guaranteed to be wrong, and you’ll end up opening the book at a completely wrong section. When you hear a new word, it’s easier to just ignore it and get on with your life.

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 minutes ago

Ha, I had this conversation with my Grade 4 teacher. She would always say "check the dictionary" (when I'd ask how to spell a word I'd only heard) and I would complain that it wasn't easy to figure out how some words started. Mnemonics, pneumonia, as examples.

this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2026
14 points (100.0% liked)

No Stupid Questions

4320 readers
176 users here now

There is no such thing as a Stupid Question!

Don't be embarrassed of your curiosity; everyone has questions that they may feel uncomfortable asking certain people, so this place gives you a nice area not to be judged about asking it. Everyone here is willing to help.


Reminder that the rules for lemmy.ca still apply!


Thanks for reading all of this, even if you didn't read all of this, and your eye started somewhere else, have a watermelon slice 🍉.


founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS