Home › Multilingual Archive Index › A priori (languages)

A priori (languages)

This is the article about constructed languages. For other uses of the term "a priori", see a priori.

An a priori language is any constructed language whose vocabulary is not based on existing languages, unlike a posteriori constructed languages. Examples of a priori languages include Ro, Solresol, Mirad, Klingon, and those of fictional Middle-earth. By contrast, a posteriori languages are ones whose vocabulary is based on existing languages, either as a variation of one language (e.g., Latino sine flexione) or as a mixture of various languages (e.g., Interlingua).

Some a priori languages are designed to be international auxiliary languages that remove what could be considered an unfair learning advantage for native speakers of a source language that would otherwise exist for a posteriori languages. Some a priori languages try to categorize their vocabulary, either to express an underlying philosophy or to make it easier to recognize new vocabulary. These are also known as philosophical or taxonomic languages.

Reference

• Alan Libert, A Priori Artificial Languages (Languages of the World 24. Munich: Lincom Europa, 2000). ISBN 3895866679.