Láadan
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Láadan (Template:IPA) is a gynocentric constructed language created by Suzette Haden Elgin in 1982 to test the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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-centered language's limitations on women, who are forced to respond "I know I said that, but I meant this".Template:Huh
Motivation, development and publication history
Elgin was a writer of both fiction and nonfiction book series.<ref name="Strazheva-2015">Template:Cite journal</ref> Láadan and the ideas underpinning its creation were described in several series:
It was included as a language portrayed diegetically within the speculative fiction novel trilogy Native Tongue (1984), The Judas Rose (1987), and Earthsong (1993). The role of the language in the plot of the overall story is as a transformative project, whose development changes the social roles of an extended family of linguist characters.
After the publication of the second novel, A First Dictionary & Grammar of Láadan (1988) was published in the hopes that a community of speakers could form, and the validity of the project from the novels might be tested in real life. The grammar book was advertised in literary and feminist magazines, and feedback led to a second edition and posthumously a third edition.
Before conceiving of Láadan, Elgin had published a self-help book The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense (1980) which was developed into a series of books focusing on the workplace, romantic relationships, and so on. It postulated that at least in English, phrasing often allowed for an ambiguous hostility which could be used as a sort of verbal abuse especially in competitive environments, and discussed which defenses might be effective and which not; see Template:Section link. To allow for the means to express nuanced emotion and other distinctions, features combine to create and modify meanings.
Phonology
Tones
Láadan is a tonal language. It utilises two distinct tones:
- Template:LangTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA or Template:IPA, a short, medium or low tone, represented by a single unmarked vowel
- Template:LangTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, a short, high tone, represented by a single marked vowel
The 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 Template:Lang or Template:Lang, but not *maa. These combinations can be described as:
- Template:LangTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, a long, low-rising tone, represented by a double vowel, the second of which is marked
- Template:LangTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, 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. By this analysis, the word "Láadan" would thus be considered to have two syllables, Template:IPA and /dan/.
Elgin preferred an analysis of the language as having no long vowels and a single tone, the high tone (distinguished from "neutral, baseline pitch"), but she acknowledged that linguists using other formalisms would be justified in saying that there are two tones, high and low (or unmarked or mid).
Vowels
Láadan has five vowels:
- aTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, an open back unrounded vowel (as English calm),
- eTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, an open-mid front unrounded vowel (as English bell),
- iTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, a near-close near-front unrounded vowel (as English bit),
- oTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, a close-mid back rounded vowel (as English home),
- uTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, a close back rounded vowel (as English boon).
Consonants
Láadan lacks the consonants Template:IPA. It uses b, d, sh (Template:IPA), m, n, l, r, w, y (Template:IPA), h with the same phonetic value as English. Three digraphs require further explanation:
- thTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, a voiceless dental fricative (always as in English think, never as then),
- zhTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, a voiced postalveolar fricative (as English pleasure),
- lhTemplate:Spaced ndashTemplate:IPA, a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative (as Welsh Template:Lang).
Grammar
Most Láadan sentences contain three particles:
- The speech-act particleTemplate:Spaced ndashthis occurs at the beginning of the sentence and marks it as either a statement (Template:Lang), a question (Template:Lang), et cetera; in connected speech or writing, this particle is often omitted. They are:
- Template:Lang
- Indicates a declarative sentence (usually optional)
- Template:Lang
- Indicates a question
- Template:Lang
- Indicates a command; very rare, except to small children
- Template:Lang
- Indicates a request; this is the usual imperative/"command" form
- Template:Lang
- Indicates a promise
- Template:Lang
- Indicates a warning
- The grammatical tense particleTemplate:Spaced ndashthis occurs second in the sentence and marks it as either present tense (Template:Lang), past tense (Template:Lang), future tense (Template:Lang) or hypothetical (Template:Lang); without the tense particle, the sentence is assumed to have the same tense as the previous sentence.
- The evidence particleTemplate:Spaced ndashthis occurs at the end of statements and indicates the trustworthiness of the statement. Lojban was developed around the same time as Láadan and was influenced to use evidentials.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They are:
- Template:Lang
- Known to speaker because perceived by speaker, externally or internally
- Template:Lang
- Known to speaker because self-evident
- Template:Lang
- Perceived by speaker in a dream
- Template:Lang
- Assumed true by speaker because speaker trusts source
- Template:Lang
- Assumed false by speaker because speaker distrusts source; if evil intent by the source is also assumed, the form is Template:Lang
- Template:Lang
- Imagined or invented by speaker, hypothetical
- Template:Lang
- Used to indicate that the speaker states a total lack of knowledge as to the validity of the matter
Láadan is a verb–subject–object (VSO) language. Verbs and adjectives are interchangeable. There are no articles, and the object is marked by the Template:Lang or Template:Lang suffix. The plural number is shown only by the Template:Lang prefix to the verb. The particle Template:Lang following a verb makes it negative. Separate clauses are joined by the particle Template:Lang.
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Morphology
Láadan has an agglutinative morphology, and uses a number of affixes to indicate various feelings and moods that many natural languages can only indicate by tone of voice, body language or circumlocution.
| Affix | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Lang | disgust or dislike | Template:Lang: "pleasantly bewildered"; Template:Lang: "unpleasantly bewildered" |
| Template:Lang | to try to | Template:Lang: "I tried to come" |
| Template:Lang | to try in vain to | Template:Lang: "I tried in vain to come" |
| Template:Lang | progressive aspect | Template:Lang: "I was trying in vain to come" |
| Template:Lang | natural possessor | Template:Lang: "her mother's milk" |
| Template:Lang | customary or legal possessor | Template:Lang: "my husband" |
| Template:Lang | possessor by chance | Template:Lang: "your money (gambling winnings)" |
| Template:Lang | possessor by unknown provenance | Template:Lang: "the cats' food" |
| Template:Lang | denotes male (otherwise female or gender neutral) | Template:Lang: "mother/parent"; Template:Lang: "father" |
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, Template:Lang begins a statement, but Template:Lang begins a statement that is part of a narrative; Template:Lang begins a request made in pain; Template:Lang 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. The vowel a is used to designate someone who is loved (Template:Lang is prefixed to describe someone who is despised). The suffix Template:Lang is used to mark a plural pronoun for numbers up to four, and Template:Lang for numbers beyond that. Therefore, Template:Lang means "we, several beloved", and Template:Lang means "they, many despised".
Reception
Anthony Burgess mentioned Láadan in a 1985 review of A Feminist Dictionary in The Observer, calling it "ingenious" and stating he was "highly sympathetic" of its aims, but asserting that "it's not going to work" because "[n]ot enough women care sufficiently".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
References
Further reading
- Elgin, Suzette Haden, & Diane Martin. A First Dictionary and Grammar of Láadan. Madison: Society for the Furtherance and Study of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1988.
- Jones, Mari C. and Ishtla Singh, Exploring Language Change: Routledge, 2005; pp. 169–182.
External links
Template:Incubator Template:Sisterlinks
- Template:Official website
- Elgin's Láadan introduction
- Elgin’s critique of others’ analysis of Láadan:
- Láadan lessons (moderately paced lessons in Láadan by A.M.J. "Amberwind" Barnhart; archived from prior URL)
- Some Láadan (PDF) (The text says that "wo-" is a plural marker. This is an error; the plural marker is "me-", while "wo-" is a relativizer.)
- Láadan Working Group
- How to count in Láadan
- Template:YouTube: a critical video review of the basics of Láadan as an artlang
- Essays and guides about Láadan, a group blog