<p>For auxiliary languages it's usually publication date of the first grammar/dictionary released to the public or the first work dedicated to the language, whichever comes first.</p>

<p>For Esperanto this was <em>Unua Libro</em>, which was published in 1887 - more than a year after Zamenhof began working on the language. Wikipedia also lists the year of creation of Occidental as 1922, the year de Wahl published the first edition of the <em>Kosmoglotta</em> magazine, despite there being evidence that the language was used much before then, both in private conversation (letters etc.) and even a publication written entirely in Occidental.</p>

<p>The "date of creation" for other types of conlangs seems to be less well-defined, although I'd expect that fictional languages would be associated with the publication of the first book/movie/game that uses them (perhaps with the exception of Tolkien's languages). Wikipedia also uses the day Lojban began being developed as its creation date.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-04T07:15:16.000Z
2018-04-04T07:15:16.000Z
as4s4hetic
<p>Some constructed languages list a date, or at least year, of creation. Is there any official or unofficial standard to determine that date for any given conlang? The way I see it, there are several possibilities, at least the ones I thought up:</p>

<ul>
<li>The date that work began on the language</li>
<li>The date of the first evidence of work on the language, if the prior date is not known</li>
<li>The date of the first usage of the language (this could be broken down into public <em>or</em> private usage)</li>
<li>The date of the first publication that mentions the language</li>
<li>The publication date of the first dictionary and/or grammar</li>
</ul>

<conlang-creation><history>
How does one determine the date a constructed language was invented?
# How does one determine the date a constructed language was invented?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-04)

Some constructed languages list a date, or at least year, of creation. Is there any official or unofficial standard to determine that date for any given conlang? The way I see it, there are several possibilities, at least the ones I thought up:

* The date that work began on the language
* The date of the first evidence of work on the language, if the prior date is not known
* The date of the first usage of the language (this could be broken down into public *or* private usage)
* The date of the first publication that mentions the language
* The publication date of the first dictionary and/or grammar

**Tags:** conlang-creation, history

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-04-04. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

For auxiliary languages it's usually publication date of the first grammar/dictionary released to the public or the first work dedicated to the language, whichever comes first.

For Esperanto this was *Unua Libro*, which was published in 1887 - more than a year after Zamenhof began working on the language. Wikipedia also lists the year of creation of Occidental as 1922, the year de Wahl published the first edition of the *Kosmoglotta* magazine, despite there being evidence that the language was used much before then, both in private conversation (letters etc.) and even a publication written entirely in Occidental.

The "date of creation" for other types of conlangs seems to be less well-defined, although I'd expect that fictional languages would be associated with the publication of the first book/movie/game that uses them (perhaps with the exception of Tolkien's languages). Wikipedia also uses the day Lojban began being developed as its creation date.


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