<p>I’m going to try to avoid any kind of argument about politics, religion or what does or does not count as a “conlang,” and just give this as a historical case that I think is relevant to the spirit of the question.</p>

<p>Biblical Hebrew was a natural language, and Rabbinic Hebrew a scholarly one, but modern Hebrew needed a vast number of neologisms, greatly exceeding the number of ancient words in the Bible.  Since most of the early revivalists were native speakers of Central and Eastern European languages, those also influenced its development.  So Eliezer Ben-Yehuda’s dictionary of modern Hebrew words, many of which he himself invented or extended the definitions of, bears some similarities to creating the vocabulary of a conlang.</p>

<p>He and his wife were famously the first parents in modern times to raise their child to know only Hebrew and nothing else.  Their son Ittamar Ben-Avi, born in 1882, would later recall that he was sent to his room whenever any guests came over who did not speak Hebrew, so he would not hear another language, and that his father became enraged when he caught his mother singing lullabies to him in her native Russian.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-22T01:18:32.163Z
2018-06-22T01:18:32.163Z
Davislor
<p>Kim Henrickson is one example of a native speaker of Esperanto, however, I'm certain that there are hundreds of others.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-08T19:04:02.110Z
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Esperanto_speakers, the noted lists includes Daniel Bovet, Petr Ginz, Kim J Henriksen, Ino Kolbe, Carlo Minnaja, George Soros, & Paul Soros.
jastako
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-06T21:34:49.727Z
2020-10-06T21:34:49.727Z
Burke Tinsley
<p>Yes. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto" rel="noreferrer">According to Wikipedia,</a> Esperanto has 350 native speakers (data 1996). <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/darmond-speers-dad-spoke_n_363477.html?guccounter=1" rel="noreferrer">There is also a story about a linguist only speaking to his son in Klingon,</a> but even though the child picked it up somewhat, later in life the child stopped speaking Klingon. Currently, he doesn't.</p>

<p>Also, see <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/casualiama/comments/2wopi7/was_on_front_page_we_are_native_speakers_of/" rel="noreferrer">Esperanto native speaker AMA on reddit</a> and <a href="https://stelachiamnurkritikas.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/native-esperanto-speaker-the-jubilee-child-part-1/" rel="noreferrer">a blog I enjoyed about speaking Esperanto natively</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-02T07:30:33.107Z
To be fair, most native Esperanto speakers learn another native language at the same time. Though I met one who only started his non-Esperanto language only with 3 years.
Paŭlo Ebermann
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-02T17:17:54.867Z
Yeah, that's true. But on the other hand, the average person is multilingual.
Duncan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-05T21:43:41.940Z
@DuncanWhyte Definitively not! Most people learn a portion of at least one other language, like English, that is fair. It is rare to have kids growing up multilingual.
creativecreatorormaybenot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-06T05:48:48.417Z
@creativecreatorormaybenot have you got any supporting evidence? That statement is extremely Anglo-centric.
Duncan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-06T10:03:38.647Z
(no space) Angloc. fits - foreigners are forced into bilinguality. ["A handbook on bilingualism & second language learning"](https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Language-Development-Disorders-Bilingualism/dp/1598570587/ref=dp_ob_title_bk?dpID=61WFfSyjQBL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail): half of young children are multilingual. [Page two](https://www.britac.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Multilingual Britain Report.pdf): multilingual children in England (15%), [similar: US and Canada](http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/Bilingualism-in-Young-Children--Separating-Fact-fr.aspx).
creativecreatorormaybenot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-06T10:31:00.073Z
Again, your sources are based on US, Canada and Britain. The first source, "half of young children are multilingual" is exactly my statement: multilingualism is more normal.
Duncan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-09T03:27:12.107Z
In collaboration of Duncan, Papua New Guinea is more representative of the historical Norm, where language communities were small, and not just trade but exogamy guaranteed multilingualism.
Nick Nicholas
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-01T17:02:07.860Z
2018-06-01T17:02:07.860Z
Duncan
<p>It seems that people generally use constructed languages in very limited circumstances, or within small communities that speak the language.  Thus it seems to me unlikely that one of these languages would every be someone's first or only language.</p>

<p><strong>Are there any documented cases of a child learning a conlang as their first language?</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-01T19:01:20.017Z
Related: https://conlang.stackexchange.com/questions/622/teaching-children-constructed-languages
bb94
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-01T23:46:10.837Z
Considering the size of local conlang speech communities, to try to make your child speak only the conlang and not be bilingual with the local natlang(s) would be close to child abuse. It's probably not possible either - children pick up the language of those around them naturally!
curiousdannii
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-26T02:26:24.250Z
Today I happened upon a mention of second-generation Esperanto natives: the two children of Eliza Kehlet. (https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_Kehlet)
Anton Sherwood
<history><conlang-learning><language-acquisition>
Is there anyone that has a conlang as their first/only language?
# Is there anyone that has a conlang as their first/only language?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-06-01)

It seems that people generally use constructed languages in very limited circumstances, or within small communities that speak the language. Thus it seems to me unlikely that one of these languages would every be someone's first or only language.

**Are there any documented cases of a child learning a conlang as their first language?**

**Tags:** history, conlang-learning, language-acquisition
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Related: https://conlang.stackexchange.com/questions/622/teaching-children-constructed-languages  
> **username_2**: Considering the size of local conlang speech communities, to try to make your child speak only the conlang and not be bilingual with the local natlang(s) would be close to child abuse. It's probably not possible either - children pick up the language of those around them naturally!  
> **username_3**: Today I happened upon a mention of second-generation Esperanto natives: the two children of Eliza Kehlet. (https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_Kehlet)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2018-06-01. Score: 19 | Accepted answer

Yes. [According to Wikipedia,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto) Esperanto has 350 native speakers (data 1996). [There is also a story about a linguist only speaking to his son in Klingon,](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/darmond-speers-dad-spoke_n_363477.html?guccounter=1) but even though the child picked it up somewhat, later in life the child stopped speaking Klingon. Currently, he doesn't.

Also, see [Esperanto native speaker AMA on reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/casualiama/comments/2wopi7/was_on_front_page_we_are_native_speakers_of/) and [a blog I enjoyed about speaking Esperanto natively](https://stelachiamnurkritikas.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/native-esperanto-speaker-the-jubilee-child-part-1/).

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: To be fair, most native Esperanto speakers learn another native language at the same time. Though I met one who only started his non-Esperanto language only with 3 years.  
> **username_7**: Yeah, that's true. But on the other hand, the average person is multilingual.  
> **username_9**: @DuncanWhyte Definitively not! Most people learn a portion of at least one other language, like English, that is fair. It is rare to have kids growing up multilingual.  
> **username_7**: @creativecreatorormaybenot have you got any supporting evidence? That statement is extremely Anglo-centric.  
> **username_9**: (no space) Angloc. fits - foreigners are forced into bilinguality. ["A handbook on bilingualism & second language learning"](https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Language-Development-Disorders-Bilingualism/dp/1598570587/ref=dp_ob_title_bk?dpID=61WFfSyjQBL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail): half of young children are multilingual. [Page two](https://www.britac.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Multilingual Britain Report.pdf): multilingual children in England (15%), [similar: US and Canada](http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/Bilingualism-in-Young-Children--Separating-Fact-fr.aspx).  
> **username_7**: Again, your sources are based on US, Canada and Britain. The first source, "half of young children are multilingual" is exactly my statement: multilingualism is more normal.  
> **username_10**: In collaboration of Duncan, Papua New Guinea is more representative of the historical Norm, where language communities were small, and not just trade but exogamy guaranteed multilingualism.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-06-22. Score: 7

I’m going to try to avoid any kind of argument about politics, religion or what does or does not count as a “conlang,” and just give this as a historical case that I think is relevant to the spirit of the question.

Biblical Hebrew was a natural language, and Rabbinic Hebrew a scholarly one, but modern Hebrew needed a vast number of neologisms, greatly exceeding the number of ancient words in the Bible. Since most of the early revivalists were native speakers of Central and Eastern European languages, those also influenced its development. So Eliezer Ben-Yehuda’s dictionary of modern Hebrew words, many of which he himself invented or extended the definitions of, bears some similarities to creating the vocabulary of a conlang.

He and his wife were famously the first parents in modern times to raise their child to know only Hebrew and nothing else. Their son Ittamar Ben-Avi, born in 1882, would later recall that he was sent to his room whenever any guests came over who did not speak Hebrew, so he would not hear another language, and that his father became enraged when he caught his mother singing lullabies to him in her native Russian.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2020-10-06. Score: 0

Kim Henrickson is one example of a native speaker of Esperanto, however, I'm certain that there are hundreds of others.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Esperanto_speakers, the noted lists includes Daniel Bovet, Petr Ginz, Kim J Henriksen, Ino Kolbe, Carlo Minnaja, George Soros, & Paul Soros.  

---

