This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Ithkuil is an experimental constructed language created by John Quijada.[1] It is designed to express more profound levels of human cognition briefly yet overtly and clearly, particularly about human categorization. It is a cross between an a priori philosophical and a logical language. It tries to minimize the vagueness and semantic ambiguity in natural human languages.[2] Ithkuil is notable for its grammatical complexity and extensive phoneme inventory, the latter being simplified in an upcoming redesign. The name "Ithkuil" is an anglicized form of Iţkuîl, which in the original form roughly meant "hypothetical representation of a language."[2] Quijada states he did not create Ithkuil to be auxiliary or used in everyday conversations. Instead, he wanted the language for more elaborate and profound fields where more insightful thoughts are expected, such as philosophy, arts, science, and politics.[3]
Meaningful phrases or sentences can usually be expressed in Ithkuil with fewer linguistic units than natural languages.[2] For example, the two-word Ithkuil sentence "Tram-mļöi hhâsmařpţuktôx" can be translated into English as "On the contrary, I think it may turn out that this rugged mountain range trails off at some point."[2] Quijada deems his creation as too complex to have developed naturally, seeing it as an exercise in exploring how languages could function. Nevertheless, it was featured in the Language Creation Conference's 6th Conlang Relay.
Four versions of the language have been publicized: the initial version in 2004, a simplified version called Ilaksh in 2007, a third version in 2011, and the current version (as of February 2023), called New Ithkuil.[4][5][6][7] In 2004[8]—and again in 2009[9] with Ilaksh—Ithkuil was featured in the Russian-language popular science and IT magazine Computerra. In 2008, David J. Peterson awarded it the Smiley Award.[10] In 2013, Bartłomiej Kamiński codified the language to parse complicated sentences quickly.[11] Julien Tavernier and anonymous others have since followed suit.[12] Since July 2015, Quijada has released several Ithkuil songs in a prog-rock style as part of the album Kaduatán, which translates to "Wayfarers."[13] Recently, online communities have developed in English, Russian, Mandarin, and Japanese.
^Foer, Joshua (December 16, 2012). "Utopian for Beginners: An amateur linguist loses control of the language he invented.". The New Yorker. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
^ abcdQuijada, John (2004–2019). "A Grammar of the Ithkuil Language - Introduction". ithkuil.net. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
^Quijada, John (2004–2019). "Ithkuil FAQs". ithkuil.net. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
^Quijada, John (June 26, 2019). "Newest Update" (PDF). Ithkuil.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-03.
^Quijada, John (October 3, 2020). "Morphophonology Version 0.15" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
^Quijada, John (March 4, 2021). "Morphophonology Version 0.15.8.1" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
^Quijada, John (2023). "A GRAMMAR OF NEW ITHKUIL". Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
^Козловский, Станислав (29 July 2004). "Скорость мысли". Компьютерра (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
^Mikhail Gertelman (2009). "Ithkuil and its philosophical design" (PDF). Computerra (in Russian). Vol. 17, no. 781. p. 12.
^Peterson, David J. (August 3, 2018). "The 2008 Smiley Award Winner: Ithkuil". The Smiley Award. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
^ebvalaim (January 14, 2016). "Making fun with Ithkuil easier". ebvalaim.log. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
^"Transcription of Ithkuil". laethiel.fr. n.d. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
^"John Quijada". YouTube. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
Ithkuil is an experimental constructed language created by John Quijada. It is designed to express more profound levels of human cognition briefly yet...
version of John Quijada's constructed language Ithkuil has 81 noun cases, and its descendant Ilaksh and Ithkuil after the 2011 revision both have 96 noun cases...
"FAQs: Is Ithkuil an attempt to create a working version of Robert Heinlein’s Speedtalk language? Is conciseness the primary purpose of Ithkuil?" John Quijada...
Unilingua) by Noubar Agopoff (1966) Láadan by Suzette Haden Elgin (1982) Ithkuil by John Quijada (2011) Quenya and Sindarin by J. R. R. Tolkien for The...
Johnson in trying to arrive at succinct, yet accurate, definitions of words. Ithkuil Peter Matthews, Norris McWhirter (1994). The Guinness Book of Records 1994...
ergative case is also a feature of some constructed languages such as Na'vi, Ithkuil and Black Speech. Look up ergative case or ergative in Wiktionary, the...
problem”) song at 00:27: “.i .ia nadme'a fa la .itku'ile .'enai” (“I think Ithkuil would be easier than this”). Morcillo, José Juan. "Biblismos". La Tribuna...
clause, though it does involve agglutination of roots when forming calques. Ithkuil, on the other hand, contains both agglutination in its addition of affixes...
reversing from right to left, or vice versa." The constructed language Ithkuil uses a boustrophedon script. The Atlantean language created by Marc Okrand...
Controlled natural language International auxiliary language Artistic language Ithkuil Lojban "Glossopoeia & Glossopoeic Languages". www.carolandray.plus.com...
constructed language Ithkuil has such a tense (RTI (Relative Timeline Indicator), degree 5, suffix -lt). DESIGN FOR THE NEW REVISION OF ITHKUIL (Version 0.19...
received criticism. Case grammar FrameNet Simplified Technical English Ithkuil Comparison between Lojban and Loglan "The number of Lojbanists who can...
considered to convey a "male centered" worldview. John Quijada's language Ithkuil was designed to explore the limits of the number of cognitive categories...
morpheme and a sememe, so that a single word can express a complex idea. Ithkuil 1978–2023 John Quijada Complex language designed to express deeper meanings...
authors, mostly in science fiction. There exist some languages, like Loglan, Ithkuil and Toki Pona for instance, which have been constructed for the purpose...
Regarded as being an extension of the Latin script Ithkuil 2004 John Quijada Script for the constructed Ithkuil language Jurchen Jurc ca. 1119 Wanyan Xiyin Largely...
aesthetic purposes such as worldbuilding, engineered languages such as Ithkuil are designed for philosophical or experimental purposes, and auxiliary...
stage in the organic development of a universal logographic language. Ithkuil is a constructed language created by John Quijada, designed to express...
Tuszynski, designed to adhere to a set of principles for quality control. Ithkuil, by John Quijada, designed for maximum morpho-phonological conciseness...
Global Information
