Conlangs With Non Human Phonology

[Karutoshika]

Have anyone ever tried to create a language with non human phonology?
I mean with sounds that cannot be produced by humans.

I once tried to make insect language just for fun, but after collecting insect sounds and trying to put them together I soon realised that human can not adequately process sounds that he can not make himself. Or at least it's extremely difficult when listening to such "speech".

What about you? Any attempts or finished conlangs?

[sirred]

I don't think it's very common, probably for the reason you mentioned. We as humans don't recognize them as speech sounds. At some point it just becomes analyzing bird calls or something. I recall Mother from Have Spacesuit Will Travel spoke in musical notes but it was never developed beyond a handful of 'words'.

[Jipí]

Simon Whitechapel used to have a page that not only featured dizzying scripts where literal moving around was part of the shape of each sign, he also had a script for a language of intelligent ants that encoded scents they'd emit for communication.

[Qwynegold]

There was someone who was constructing a language where the specie has a hole between the oral and nasal cavity, which made new speech sounds possible. And some have been working on species with several sets of vocal cords.

[Bob Johnson]

I've seen starts and sketches and so forth but no full language. It's likely too daunting.

zompist's ilii language has a telepathic component.

[The White Crayon]

I'm considering developing a lang for some silly aliens of mine that use electrogenesis+reception to communicate, but considering my track record with this sort of thing, it'll probably end up in the "incomplete grammar and <100 words" pile.

[cromulant]

I've thought about the concept of developing a language that'd be played on the guitar, but it's beyond my musical ability to actually make it, let alone "speak" it.

[Jipí]

Alas, yeah. I thought about a conlang that would use relative pitch and rhythm and stuff and would preferably be playable on a guitar (since that's the only instrument I've learnt to play), too, once. Just that I've never come up with anything.

[The White Crayon]

Obviously, the first thing to do with a guitar-language, if it existed in a functional form, would be to translate Through the Fire and the Flames into English.

[SHiNKiROU]

I've experimented with write-only languages, including a maze orthography and a circuit orthography, but they are in sketch phases.
I also attempted a language in flash signals, but in the end, almost all phonologies can be re-designed into a human phonology

[Karutoshika]

I've seen starts and sketches and so forth but no full language. It's likely too daunting.

I think it's fascinating idea to make such lang

I've thought about the concept of developing a language that'd be played on the guitar, but it's beyond my musical ability to actually make it, let alone "speak" it.

Wow, that's an interesting idea. And it can actually be done! Also it's possible to make a computer programm to produce sounds for that instead of actual guitar! You should totally go for it! If you need help with it please contact me ^_^ I'd be interested to give you my thoughts or provide some help.

I've experimented with write-only languages, including a maze orthography and a circuit orthography, but they are in sketch phases.
I also attempted a language in flash signals, but in the end, almost all phonologies can be re-designed into a human phonology

Can you show it please?
I'd be interested to see how you done it.

[Jipí]

Wow, that's an interesting idea. And it can actually be done! Also it's possible to make a computer programm to produce sounds for that instead of actual guitar!

That's no fun

[sirred]

Solresol could probably be played on guitar.

[LinguistCat]

Obviously, the first thing to do with a guitar-language, if it existed in a functional form, would be to translate Through the Fire and the Flames into English.

LIKE

To add something actually relevant, my Tarn need to have a way of speaking underwater which may or may not be different from their speech on land. I'll probably have them primarily use clicks and whistles like dolphins here.

[Mornche Geddick]

My kuzeidi have similar anatomy to humans and their phonologies overlap with ours, but not completely. The lips are used less often in articulation. Labiodentals (such as /f/) are comparatively rare. Bilabials (/m/ and /β/) are extremely rare. Rounded vowels are pronounced with a curled tongue. On the other hand they have better control over the movement of the glottis and so nearly all their languages have ejectives and quite a few have implosives as well. Some kuzi languages make phonemic distinctions based on the degree of glottal movement; having ejective, half-ejective and non-ejective /k/. Others have consonants where the glottis gives a brief pulse up and then down again, or vice-versa, giving ejective-implosives or implosive-ejectives.

None of these are in the IPA, TTBOMKAB.

[Torco]

fart languages and things like that have been suggested in media repeatedly, but never actually developped

[Ser]

Solresol can also be written using colour.

I remember somebody suggesting a language where sounds would have to be produced using places of articulation in both your mouth and your "listener's" (or receiver's) mouth. Basically French kissing made a language.

Warmaster once developed a language that used both spoken and sign language "phonology" at the same time.

fart languages and things like that have been suggested in media repeatedly, but never actually developped

I love your posts man. xD That was totally unexpected...

[Torco]

xD I try yo be awesome every day, compadre

[sirred]

I remember Kurt Vonnegut had a species who communicated by tapdancing and farts. Is that what you were refering to, Torco? Oh yeah, and there's those shreaking squid aliens from Galaxy Quest, but I'm sure that was just random noise.

[Herr Dunkel]

Even though not "nonhuman", I've had an attempt of a fully nareal conlang. It worked and was understandable, but I (literally) scarred my nostrils. I therefore stopped.

[blank stare II]

I once tried one which involved a whistle. Not a usual whistle, involving the lips. Curl your tongue for an r, but put the tip very close against the alveolar ridge, then put the front teeth together and put no more force into it than any other consonant. Like the way the perverted old guy from Family guy forms s sounds. It isn't any harder to form in casual speech than a trilled r or a click or anything else, but I believe it's unattested in natlangs.

[finlay]

nope
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shona_lang ... _sibilants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Tsvangirai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistled_s ... _sibilants

[Nortaneous]

^ One of my conlangs (Enzielu) has whistled versions of /s ʃ ts tʃ/, written <sv zv cv tzv> and formed diachronically from rounded coronals. (There's also w > v, but that's not as common since /w/ mostly appears word-finally in the protolang, and in that environment it drops and backs + rounds the preceding vowel.) As far as I know, that's their only conlang appearance.

I think I might also be the only conlanger on the ZBB with an active clicklang, unless Terpish still has them and Eddy's still working on it.

yes i know i've got <s z> the wrong way round, no i'm not changing it

edit: Maybe it's time for another one of these?
edit2: Would also have to cover consonants with mixed voice*, glottalized sonorants, ejectives, the bidental fricative, and... wait, the point is that you take a survey of every phoneme inventory + notable allophones, isn't it? Yeah, I guess that would work also.

* Attested in some Khoisan langs and, the other way around, allophonically in Tanacross.

[blank stare II]

Wow this changes everything. I got rid of the whistle(s) because I thought it was bogus; they might be finding their way back in!

[----]

I think I might also be the only conlanger on the ZBB with an active clicklang, unless Terpish still has them and Eddy's still working on it.

I had them in my current project but threw them out because they were annoying.