This is the official guide, which shows you around the language so
that you can approach the material and
create your own expressions. In addition to information on the ideals,
structure and background of Iconlang it comes with practice questions,
which you can think of as little puzzles to solve at your leisure. Also,
donโt worry too much about remembering all the icons โ the important
thing is the structure.
A few hints on how to proceed:
You can follow the guide with the online
converter. Glosses in typewriter font give you the
commands for the converter. You can also draw icons by hand. Experiment
and have fun!
In addition to reading this guide you can also have a look at the
material and try to figure out the grammar
rules by yourself as a puzzle.
Thank you for your interest! You can share your questions, thoughts
and experiments in the reddit forum if you like.
What is intuitive, what is difficult to understand? What do like or
dislike? I am always curious about feedback. ๐
Table of Contents
1. Ideals & Principles
Iconlang is a visual language exploring the power of symbolism by
using almost exclusively emoji with no fixed pronunciation. Its main
goals are artistic exploration and philosophical inquiry, but it can
also be used for short and engaging visual communication.
Iconlang strives to be:
Accessible: the language is made to be as concise
and intuitive as possible within the limits of available emoji
characters. At the same time, its goal is to be able to express anything
symbolically and to allow nuanced expression, so understanding and
writing more advanced texts requires practice. All symbols are based on
Unicode 12, which is available on most current systems, and the language
is designed to also work perfectly well in black and white without
color.
International: Iconlang is based on structures and
concepts that can be found in virtually all languages. This allows
various ways of expression without being overly complicated. As a
consequence, it probably works a bit differently than languages you are
used to, but fear not, there is a solution for (almost) any problem.
๐
Creative & Expandeable: With a fixed grammar and
many concise symbols as building blocks there are a lot of ways to
combine symbols in new and creative ways. There is a special joy in
finding just the right representation of a concept.
Philosophical & Beautiful: Expressing a concept
symbolically requires us to understand its meaning and make a decision
about its most important aspects. In this sense, writing and reading in
Iconlang is also a philosophical meditation about the nature of
ourselves and of the world.
Lighthearted & Fun: The world can be a dark and
difficult place. Iconlang sets a conscious counterpoint by focusing on
the jovial side of life, including a certain sense of humour.
Let us embark together on a journey to discover a new way of
language! ๐
The inspiration for Iconlang has come from a lot of places, most of
all natural and constructed languages and their writing systems, but
also mathematics, logic and programming languages. In particular, I
would like to credit the following sources of inspiration:
Chinese
characters with their rich and convoluted history for their beauty,
compositional complexity and stubborness to persist to this
day.
The Japanese
language for its manifold aspects combined in a unique and wonderful
way.
Leibnizโs dream of a universal philosophical language based on
symbols โ his famous characteristica
unversalis.
Tolkienโs Elvish
languages as the avant garde of constructed languages as a medium of
art and storytelling.
Toki Pona
for its playfulness, positivity and uncompromising simplicity.
AI Disclaimer: No part of the language has been
created using AI tools and all texts on this website are written
exclusively by me.
I would like to thank all test readers for their valuable feedback!
๐
Before we get going we need to settle the issue of copyright, which
requires some hairsplitting. If you are in a hurry, the bottom line is
that you may use and modify Iconlang freely, even commercially and
without the need for attribution, though I would appreciate it for
longer or especially prominent works. Please do not assert or imply to
have invented Iconlang or that your use is sanctioned or endorsed by me,
unless of course it is. Also, please do not use the Iconlang name logo
and symbol without permission.
Languages are meant to be used freely, which is why I dedicate the
grammar rules and vocabulary entries of Iconlang as outlined in this guide as well as in the two Anki decks (grammar, additional
ideograms) and in the vocabulary
list for the online converter to the public domain via the CC0 1.0
dedication. This dedication does not include the original prose and
arrangement of the above mentioned guide, Anki decks and vocabulary
list, all of which I instead publish under the CC-BY-NC 4.0
license. Other parts of this website, including but not limited to
images, fonts and other third-party materials, are excluded from these
dedications and licenses.
Among other things this means that you may share and adapt parts or
the whole of the mentioned texts under the condition that you indicate
changes and also give appropriate attribution if the source is not clear
from context. An example for attribution would be โFrom the Iconlang Language Guide
by Tiemo Schrรถder, licensed under CC-BY-NC 4.0โ
with links to the source of the text and the license. You may not use
these texts commercially.
Having said all this, I would be delighted to see people pick up
Iconlang, make it their own and use it for all sorts of purposes. Just
write me an e-mail if you want to
cooperate on a project or if something is unclear about the license. I
hope this is fair and with formalities out of the way, letโs do some
emoji grammar!
Physical objects and beings are represented by pictures called
pictograms. There is no fixed pronunciation, the
provided annotations simply convey the meaning in English.
Examples:
โ๏ธ sun
๐ cat
๐ house
๐ง person, human
Questions:
๐โ๐ถโ๐โ๐
๐ moon
๐ถ dog
๐ wave
๐ banana
Background: Traditional pictoral writing systems like
Hieroglyphs,
Cuneiform, Maya script or Chinese
characters are all based on spoken languages and usually employ the
Rebus principle. An
example for this principle in English would be writing ๐๏ธ
eye for the first person โIโ. Iconlang deliberately avoids
this principle in favor of pure symbolism.
Every concept that is not a physical object or being is
represented by one or more ideograms, which illustrate
an idea with a related object or symbol by way of association,
abstraction or metaphor. Certain single icons are simple
ideograms with a predefined meaning.
Examples:
โค๏ธ love
๐ good
๐ time
๐ง water
Questions:
๐ตโ๐โโโ๐ฅ
๐ต music
๐ bad
โ place
๐ฅ fire
Design: Simple ideograms are very useful since they are
short and mostly rely on already established conventions. There is,
however, the problem of confusion with pictograms, which is why we limit
simple ideograms to the most fundamental or intuitive concepts.
If an ideogram or pictogram is used in a more literal sense, it
is followed by the ๐ literalsuffix.
Examples:
๐ง person
๐ง๐ head
๐ time
๐๐ clock
๐ง water
๐ง๐ drop
๐จ color
๐จ๐ palette
Questions:
๐ต๐โ๐๐โโ๐โ๐ฅ๐
๐ต music
๐ต๐ note
๐ bad
๐๐ thumbsdown
โ place
โ๐ anchor
๐ฅ fire
๐ฅ๐ flame
Inspiration: The ๐ symbol resembles a hand gesture
sometimes used to emphasize a point or to mean โexactlyโ. This suffix is
inspired by escape sequences in programming languages.
By contrast, the โญ * suffix indicates a more
abstract meaning. All ideograms created by this or another suffix are
called complex ideograms.
Examples:
๐๏ธ dove
๐๏ธโญ peace
๐ผ angel
๐ผโญ goodness
๐จ hammer
๐จโญ method
๐งฑ bricks
๐งฑโญ material
Questions:
โ๏ธโญโ๐ฟโญโ๐งโญโโ๏ธโญ
โ๏ธ sword(s)
โ๏ธโญ war, fight
๐ฟ devil
๐ฟโญ evil
๐ง mage
๐งโญ magic
โ๏ธ scales
โ๏ธโญ balance
Inspiration: The โญ symbol resembles an asterisk in an
academic text refering to a footnote, indicating that a certain word or
phrase has a special or more profound meaning.
The ใฐ๏ธ ~ suffix means as much โfor exampleโ and
indicates a category of physical object or beings.
Inspiration: The ใฐ๏ธ symbol resembles a squiggle
sometimes used in handwriting similar to dots โโฆโ to mean โand so forth,
etceteraโ when writing a list.
Note how ใฐ๏ธ ~ refers to physical objects while โญ
* is usually more abstract.
Examples:
๐จ hammer
๐จใฐ๏ธ tool
๐จโญ method
๐ house
๐ ใฐ๏ธ building
๐ โญ structure, order
๐ diamond
๐ใฐ๏ธ jewelry
๐โญ treasure
Questions:
๐โ๐ใฐ๏ธโ๐โญ
๐ฎโ๐ฎใฐ๏ธโ๐ฎโญ
โ๏ธโโ๏ธใฐ๏ธโโ๏ธโญ
๐ earth
๐ใฐ๏ธ planet
๐โญ world
๐ฎ gamepad
๐ฎใฐ๏ธ controller
๐ฎโญ game
โ๏ธ sword(s)
โ๏ธใฐ๏ธ weapon
โ๏ธโญ war, fight
Design: Using the same symbol with different suffixes
for related meanings is a very fruitful and economic design principle
since it provides many concepts at the cost of a single ideogram. We
will see more of this later.
We also call pictograms and ideograms words,
which can be combined into groups where the last word
provides the base meaning.
Examples:
โ๏ธ๐ sun time = day
โ๏ธโ cloud place = sky
๐ช๐จ family man = father
๐๐จ wave color = blue
Questions:
๐๐โ๐โโ๐ช๐ฉโโค๏ธ๐จ
๐๐ moon time = night
๐โ wave place = ocean
๐ช๐ฉ family woman = mother
โค๏ธ๐จ love color = red
Background: Combining words to create more complex or
nuanced expressions is a fundamental feature of language. The idea
behind the grammar of Iconlang is that the purpose of grammar is to
provide the glue for this process by clarifying the relations between
the constituent parts of an expression as necessary.
Most adjectives are derived from comparison with a noun using the
๐คฒ like suffix.
Examples:
โ๏ธ sun
โ๏ธ๐คฒ bright
๐ช arm
๐ช๐คฒ strong
๐ถ baby
๐ถ๐คฒ young
โจ๏ธ hotbath
โจ๏ธ๐คฒ hot
Questions:
๐ผ๐คฒโ๐ข๐คฒโ๐ต๐คฒโโ๏ธ๐คฒ
๐ผ tower
๐ผ๐คฒ tall
๐ข turtle
๐ข๐คฒ slow
๐ต oldwoman
๐ต๐คฒ old
โ๏ธ snowflake
โ๏ธ๐คฒ cold
Inspiration: The ๐คฒ symbol resembles a hand gesture
sometimes used when comparing something. A different meaning as a
praying gesture is reflected in ๐โญ/๐คฒโญ holy.
Some frequently used adjectives are simple ideograms for the sake
of brevity, including many emoticons like ๐ happy.
Adjectives are used in front of a noun, forming a group.
Examples:
๐ good
๐ bad
๐ big
๐ค small, little
Questions:
๐๐ถโ๐๐โ๐๐โ๐ค๐ญ
๐๐ถ
good dog
๐๐
bad cat
๐๐
big elephant
๐ค๐ญ
small mouse
Inspiration: The ๐ symbol originally means high brightness and looks quite imposing. It also reminds me of the Chinese character ๅคง big depicting a person with stretched out hands.
The โญ * suffix transforms an adjective into a noun
expressing a property.
Examples:
โ๏ธ๐คฒ bright
โ๏ธ๐คฒโญ brightness
๐ช๐คฒ strong
๐ช๐คฒโญ strength
๐ big
๐โญ size
๐ good
๐โญ goodness, value, virtue
Questions:
โจ๏ธ๐คฒโญโ๐ผ๐คฒโญ
๐คโญโ๐โญ
โจ๏ธ๐คฒโญ
hotness
๐ผ๐คฒโญ
tallness
๐คโญ
smallness
๐โญ
badness, vice
Design: The โญ suffix always indicates a noun expressed by an ideogram.
The โก๏ธ antiprefix precedes a word
to indicate the opposite meaning.
Inspiration & Design: The โก๏ธ symbol is sometimes used in mathematics to indicate a contradiction โ hence the opposite of the assertion is true. While this symbol doubles the amount of concepts derivable from a single ideogram, this comes at the cost of complexity, so we use it only sparingly. The meaning as "electricity" is expressed as โก๏ธโญ electricity.
Repeating the last non-suffix icon in an adjective indicates
intensity.
Examples:
โ๏ธ๐คฒ bright
โ๏ธโ๏ธ๐คฒ very bright, dazzling
โค๏ธ๐คฒ lovely
โค๏ธโค๏ธ๐คฒ absolutely lovely
๐ big
๐๐ enormous
๐ good
๐๐ fantastic
Questions:
๐ช๐ช๐คฒ
๐ข๐ข๐คฒ
๐ค๐ค
๐๐
(๐ข๐คฒ hated)
๐ช๐ช๐คฒ
very strong
๐ข๐ข๐คฒ
despised
๐ค๐ค
tiny
๐๐
awful
Inspiration: Adjective duplication is sometimes used colloquially to indicate intensity.
Association is expressed via groups. Group components can be
optionally separated with โป๏ธ ; in order to improve
readability and to clarify relations.
Examples:
๐๐ช๐ฉ
big family woman (ambiguous)
๐โป๏ธ๐ช๐ฉ
big mother
๐๐ชโป๏ธ๐ฉ
woman of a big family
๐๐ชโป๏ธ๐ช๐ฉ
mother of a big family
Questions:
๐ค๐
๐คโป๏ธ๐โ
๐ค๐โป๏ธโ
๐ค๐โป๏ธ๐โ
๐ค๐
small wave
๐คโป๏ธ๐โ
small ocean
๐ค๐โป๏ธโ
place with small waves
๐ค๐โป๏ธ๐โ
ocean with small waves
Inspiration & Hint: The โป๏ธ symbol is inspired by the ใป middle point symbol sometimes used to separate words in old Latin inscriptions as well as in modern Japanese texts. The โป๏ธ symbol should not be confused with the related โซ๏ธ symbol, which we will discuss later.
Plurality can be expressed in various ways:
the plural suffix โฟ s
the concrete number as a prefix
an adjective expressing an amount
repeating the last non-suffix icon in a group of one or more
words
Examples:
๐ง๐ป
wizard
๐ง๐ปโฟ
wizards
5๐ง๐ป
five wizards
#5๐ง๐ป
the fifth wizard
5.๐ง๐ป
the fifth wizard
โพ๏ธ๐ง๐ป
all wizards
๐ง๐ป๐ง๐ป
wizards
Questions:
โ๏ธ๐โฟ
9โ๏ธ๐
โพ๏ธโ๏ธ๐
โ๏ธ๐๐
(โ๏ธ๐ sun time = day)
โ๏ธ๐โฟ
days
9โ๏ธ๐
nine days
โพ๏ธโ๏ธ๐
all days
โ๏ธ๐๐
days
Inspiration & Hints: Some Austronesian languages as well as Japanese use word repetition to indicate the plural, which I find intuitive and compelling for small groups. For large or complicated groups the โฟ symbol is clearer, which symbolizes duplication or repetition. The infinity symbol โพ๏ธ is used as "every, all", its meaning as "infinity" is reflected in โพ๏ธโญ infinity, universality.
There are six simple pronouns, which serve as
both nouns and prefixes.
๐ i, my
๐ you, your
๐ this
๐ that
โ some(thing)
โ what, which
Examples:
๐๐
my house
๐๐
your car
๐๐ถ
this dog
๐๐ณ
that tree
๐๐๐
those cats
โ๐ญ
what/which mouse
โ๐ง๐ป
a/some wizard
Questions:
๐๐โ๐๐ถโ๐๐๐
๐๐ญ๐ญโโ๐๐โโ๐ง๐ป๐ง๐ป
๐๐
my cat
๐๐ถ
your dog
๐๐๐
my cats
๐๐ญ๐ญ
these mice
โ๐๐
what elephants
โ๐ง๐ป๐ง
some wizards
Inspiration: Pointing at something or someone is one of the most fundamental hand gestures. The presented directions of the pointing hand are intuitive to me, but ultimately a matter of convention. The question mark โ needs no introduction, its natural counterpart is the exclamation mark โ, which also reminds me of encounters in video games.
Most simple pronouns have a plural.
๐๐ we, our
๐๐
you (all), your (Pl.)
๐๐ this (all)
๐๐ that (all)
โโ a lot
Examples:
๐๐๐
our house
๐๐๐
your car (Pl.)
โโ๐ญ
a lot of mice
Questions:
๐๐ถโ๐๐๐ถโ๐๐ถ๐ถ
๐๐๐ถ๐ถโโโ๐ถ
๐๐ถ
my dog
๐๐๐ถ
our dog
๐๐ถ๐ถ
my dogs
๐๐๐ถ๐ถ
our dogs
โโ๐ถ
a lot of dogs
Riddle: I am wondering whether there is also an intuitive meaning for the duplication of the โ pronoun. Let me know if you have a good idea!
Combining a basic pronoun with any other word creates a
complex pronoun.
Examples:
๐๐ง that person = they (Sg.)
๐๐ฅ that group = they (Pl.)
๐๐จ that man = he
โ๐ง what person = who
โ๐ง some person = someone
โโ what place = where
Questions:
๐๐ฉโโ๐โโ๐โโโ
๐๐ฉ that woman = she
โ๐ what time = when
โ๐ some time = sometime
โโ some place = somewhere
Design: Rather than defining a limited number of pronouns, Iconlang provides a flexible system that allows anyone to create their own pronouns as desired. In effect, pronouns are treated like any other noun.
Names may use any writing system and are usally followed by a
noun acting as a classifier. Names may also optionally use quotation
marks.
Examples:
Roma๐๏ธ
Rome (City)
ๆฑไบฌ๐๏ธ
Tokyo (City)
ฮฃฯฮบฯฮฌฯฮทฯ๐ง
Sokrates (Person)
โ๐คโค๏ธ๐จ๐งขโ๐ง
Little Red Riding Hood (Girl)
Questions:
Kleopatra๐๐ฉ
Nintendo๐ฅ
โโค๏ธ๐จ๐งขโ๐ง๐จ
โก๏ธโญ๐ญ
Kleopatra๐๐ฉ
Kleopatra (Queen)
Nintendo๐ฅ
Nintendo (Group)
โโค๏ธ๐จ๐งขโ๐ง๐จ
Mario (Plumber)
โก๏ธโญ๐ญ
Pikachu (Pokemon)
Background & Design: One of the fascinating consequences of using a symbolic script like Chinese characters is that by necessity all names have a meaning, whereas in languages using a phonetic script the original meaning of names is sometimes obscure. As a matter of practicality, in Iconlang all kinds of names are accomodated, including endonyms and exonyms.
Inspiration & Background: The ๐ฌ symbol depicts a clapperboard as used for the filming of movies while shouting "action". It is also a distinctive visual marker for the sentence structure. Most languages do not consistently distinguish between transitive and intransitive verbs, which is why by default Iconlang makes no such distinction.
Verb modals are prefixes that change the meaning
of a verb. Some verb modal icons have a related different meaning when
used in another context not in front of a verb. In particular, all
emotions expressed with simple ideograms like โค๏ธ love can
be used as verb modals.
Examples:
๐
want
๐ช
can
โฉ
cause, let
โจ
become, get
๐ฆ๐ฌ
to fly
๐๐ฆ๐ฌ
want to fly
๐ช๐ฆ๐ฌ
can fly
โฉ๐ฆ๐ฌ
cause to fly/let fly
โจ๐ฆ๐ฌ
get flying
Questions:
๐๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌ
๐ช๐ถ๐ฌ
โฉ๐๐ฌ
โจโค๏ธ๐ฌ
๐๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌ
want to eat
๐ช๐ถ๐ฌ
can go
โฉ๐๐ฌ
cause to be happy
โจโค๏ธ๐ฌ
get to love
Design & Inspiration: Verb modals are really helpful for deriving complex interactions from simple verbs. The ๐ symbol stands for the yearning of the heart, not to be confused with โค๏ธ love, the ๐ช symbol for the capabilities of the body and the โฉ symbol for an effect in the future. Lastly, the โจ symbol reminds me of a magical transformation like in a Disney movie.
Verb modals can be combined.
Examples:
๐๐ช๐ฆ๐ฌ
want to be able to fly
โฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฌ
cause (someone) to be able to fly
โจ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฌ
acquire the ability to fly
โจ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ
become wanting to fly
Questions:
๐๐ช๐ถ๐ฌ
โฉ๐ช๐ถ๐ฌ
๐ชโฉ๐ถ๐ฌ
โจ๐ชโฉ๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌ
๐๐ช๐ถ๐ฌ
want to be able to go
โฉ๐ช๐ถ๐ฌ
enable (someone) to go
๐ชโฉ๐ถ๐ฌ
be able to let (someone) go
โจ๐ชโฉ๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌ
become able to feed (someone)
Pep Talk: Congratulations for making it this far! This is probably the most complicated part of Iconlang, so if you understand this, you will likely also understand the rest ๐
The passive is expressed via the ๐คฒ
like suffix and expresses that the subject is directly or
indirectly affected by some action.
Examples:
โค๏ธ๐ฌ๐คฒ
to be loved
๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌ๐คฒ
to be eaten
๐ฌ๐ฌ๐คฒ
to be told
๐๐ฌ๐คฒ
to be enjoyed
Questions:
๐ข๐ฌ๐คฒโ๐น๐ฌ๐คฒ
๐ญ๐ฌ๐คฒโ๐ฅ๐ฌ๐คฒ
๐ข๐ฌ๐คฒ
to be hated
๐น๐ฌ๐คฒ
to be drunk
๐ญ๐ฌ๐คฒ
to be thought (of)
๐ฅ๐ฌ๐คฒ
to be deplored
Background & Inspiration: While most languages have a passive verb form that in some sense expresses being affected, what exactly counts as being affected can be quite different, which is why the definition of the passive in Iconlang is intentionally a bit vague. The adjective suffix ๐คฒ is used since the state of being affected by some action can be seen as a property of the subject.
The โญ * suffix transforms a verb into a noun
expressing an action.
Examples:
๐ฌ๐ฌ to speak
๐ฌ๐ฌโญ speaking
๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌ to eat
๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌโญ eating
๐ชโค๏ธ๐ฌ be able to love
๐ชโค๏ธ๐ฌโญ being able to love
โฉ๐ถ๐ฌ let go
โฉ๐ถ๐ฌโญ letting go
Questions:
๐ญ๐ฌโญโ๐น๐ฌโญ
๐ช๐๐ฌโญโโจ๐ฅ๐ฌโญ
๐ญ๐ฌโญ
thinking
๐น๐ฌโญ
drinking
๐ช๐๐ฌโญ
being able to enjoy
โจ๐ฅ๐ฌโญ
becoming sad, getting to regret
Hint: Some actions like โค๏ธ love or ๐ถ going can alternatively be expressed as simple ideograms.
The basic sentence structure is Subject-Object-Predicate (SOP)
with spaces โซ๏ธ ',' between words and a full stop โช๏ธ
'.' at the end. Adjectives also serve as adverbs.
Examples:
๐โซ๏ธ๐ญ๐ฌโช๏ธ
I think.
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
You are happy.
๐โซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธ๐ญ๐ฌโช๏ธ
I think of you.
๐โซ๏ธ๐ญโซ๏ธ๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌโช๏ธ
The cat eats the mouse.
๐ถโซ๏ธ๐๐คฒโซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
The dog runs fast.
Questions:
๐โซ๏ธ๐ฌ๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฌ๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐ญโซ๏ธ๐งโซ๏ธ๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธ๐ข๐คฒโซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธ๐ฌ๐ฌโช๏ธ
I speak.
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
You listen.
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฌ๐ฌโช๏ธ
We talk.
๐ญโซ๏ธ๐งโซ๏ธ๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌโช๏ธ
The mouse eats the cheese.
๐โซ๏ธ๐ข๐คฒโซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
The elephant runs slowly.
Background & Design: While Subject-Object is the most common word order among languages, placing the verb last is a bit more uncommon with prominent examples being Latin and Japanese. The advantage of this is that it clearly indicates the end of a sentence, which is especially important for nested sentences. You may have noted that the example sentences omit language features such as determinacy ("the, a"), noun genders or verb conjugations. These features are not universal and therefore optional in Iconlang.
More complex sentence roles are expressed using suffixes called
relations. The direct object relation ๐
ob is used if and only if the sentence contains no
corresponding subject somewhere in front of the direct object in
question. There is no fixed word order for relations and by default all
relations can be used with every verb.
Examples:
๐ ob
(Direct Object)
๐ for, to
(Purpose)
๐จ by
(Method)
โฉ because
(Reason)
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธ๐ญ๐ฌโช๏ธ
It is you I think about.
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐ถ๐โซ๏ธ๐ณ๐ฌโช๏ธ
I cook for my dog.
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐๐จโซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโช๏ธ
We go by car.
๐๐ฉโซ๏ธ๐ง๏ธโฉโซ๏ธ๐ฅ๐ฌโช๏ธ
She is said because of the rain.
Questions:
๐๐ถ๐โซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธโค๏ธ๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฒ๐จโซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐๐จโซ๏ธโ๏ธโฉโซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐๐ถ๐โซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธโค๏ธ๐ฌโช๏ธ
It is my dog who I love.
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโช๏ธ
I am coming to help you.
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฒ๐จโซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโช๏ธ
You (all) go by bike.
๐๐จโซ๏ธโ๏ธโฉโซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
He is happy because of the sun.
Background & Inspiration: Relations fill a role similar to noun cases and prepositions in many languages. The ๐ symbol depicts a magnifying class, which symbolizes the focus or object of an action, the ๐ symbol depicts a present for someone, and the ๐จ symbol shows a hammer as the iconic tool by which something is done. Lastly, the โฉ symbol, which usually means "fast forward", indicates that a cause has an effect in the future.
Replacing or prefixing a word with the โ symbol formulates a
question for the omitted information. An additional question mark at the
end of the sentence is optional.
Examples:
๐โซ๏ธโโซ๏ธ๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌโช๏ธ
What is the cat eating?
โ๐งโซ๏ธ๐งโซ๏ธ๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌโช๏ธ
Who is eating the cheese?
๐โซ๏ธโ๐ฌโช๏ธ
What are you doing?
โโฉโซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธ๐ฅ๐ฌโช๏ธ
Why are you sad?
Questions:
๐โซ๏ธโโซ๏ธ๐ณ๐ฌโช๏ธ
โ๐ง๐โซ๏ธ๐ถโซ๏ธโค๏ธ๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐๐โซ๏ธโ๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐๐โซ๏ธโ๐จโซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธโโซ๏ธ๐ณ๐ฌโช๏ธ
What are you cooking?
โ๐ง๐โซ๏ธ๐ถโซ๏ธโค๏ธ๐ฌโช๏ธ
Who does the dog love?
๐๐โซ๏ธโ๐ฌโช๏ธ
What are we doing?
๐๐โซ๏ธโ๐จโซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโช๏ธ
How do you (all) go?
Background & Design: Some languages like English put the question word at the beginning of the sentence, which is optional in Iconlang. Grouping pronouns and relations together allows us to express all kinds of pronouns and conjunctions.
Other kinds of sentences can be expressed using sentence
moods at the end of a sentence. By default, the imperative
applies to the second person โyouโ, but it can also be used with any
other subject, meaning โshallโ or โlet usโ.
Examples:
โ
(Question)
โ
(Imperative)
โโ
(Exclamation)
โโ
(Tag Question)
โโ
(Rhetorical Question)
๐โซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ถโซ๏ธโค๏ธ๐ฌโโช๏ธ
Do you love dogs?
๐๐ฌโโช๏ธ
Listen!
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโโช๏ธ
Letโs go!
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโโโช๏ธ
The cat is loose!
๐โซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโโโช๏ธ
You are coming, right?
๐โซ๏ธ๐โญ๐ฌโโโช๏ธ
Do I know?
Questions:
๐๐ตโซ๏ธ๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ข๐ฌโโช๏ธ
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฌ๐ฌโโช๏ธ
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌโโช๏ธ
๐ถโซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโโโช๏ธ
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโโโช๏ธ
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฌ๐ฌโโโช๏ธ
๐๐ตโซ๏ธ๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ข๐ฌโโช๏ธ
Does the old woman hate cats?
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฌ๐ฌโโช๏ธ
Speak to me!
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฌโโช๏ธ
Letโs eat!
๐ถโซ๏ธ๐๐ฌโโโช๏ธ
The dog is barking!
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโโโช๏ธ
We are going, right?
๐๐โซ๏ธ๐ฌ๐ฌโโโช๏ธ
Do cats talk?
Background & Inspiration: Languages express sentence moods in a variety of ways, with for example intonation, verb conjugations or adverbs. Iconlang's use of punctuation is inspired by the end-of-sentence particles found in Chinese and Japanese. More nuanced expressions are possible using adverbs and verb modals.
Identity and existence such as โto be, to exist, there is/areโ is
expressed by omitting the verb. Verb modals and sentence moods work as
usual, with the exception that the imperative โ requires an explicit
subject. In case of ambiguity, there is also the auxiliary verb ๐ถโญ๐ฌ
tobe, toexist as an alternative, not be confused with ๐ถ๐ฌ
todo.
Examples:
๐โซ๏ธ๐งโช๏ธ
I am a human.
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐โช๏ธ
This is my banana.
๐โซ๏ธโโช๏ธ
What are you?
๐๐จโซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธ๐โช๏ธ
He wants to be a cat.
๐โซ๏ธ๐คดโโช๏ธ
The cat shall be king!
๐ญโโโช๏ธ
There is a mouse!
Questions:
๐โซ๏ธ๐ง๐ปโโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธ๐คดโโช๏ธ
๐ง๏ธโช๏ธ
๐คดโโช๏ธ
๐ญโซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธโจโโโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐จโซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธโฉโโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธ๐ง๐ปโโช๏ธ
Are you a wizard?
๐โซ๏ธ๐คดโโช๏ธ
Be a king!
๐ง๏ธโช๏ธ
There is rain./Itโs raining.
๐คดโโช๏ธ
There shall be a king.
๐ญโซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธโจโโโช๏ธ
The mouse is becoming an elephant!
๐โซ๏ธ๐๐จโซ๏ธ๐โซ๏ธโฉโโช๏ธ
Let him be a cat!
Background & Design: Some languages such as Russian or Japanese have an easy way of expressing identities by simply omitting the verb. This is very useful for a language that wants to communicate a lot in few symbols. The expression ๐ถโญ๐ฌ derives from the placeholder ๐ถ thing.
Indicating time and place uses the ๐ at relation in
combination with arrows and nouns such as ๐ time, โ
place and โบ๏ธ inside.
Inspiration: The ๐ symbol stands for a pin in a map sometimes used to indicate a location and the ๐ symbol depicts a clock as a classic symbol for time. The โ symbol is a relatively new invention depicting an anchor fixing something at a certain location. As a convention, left is associated with the past and right with the future.
The meaning of all words can be modified with prefixes.
Examples:
โ not
โ and, also
๐ด only
โซ most
๐ฆโ๐ข
Lion and turtle
๐ฆโซ๏ธโ๐ขโช๏ธ
A lion is not a turtle.
๐ฆโซ๏ธ๐ด๐๐โช๏ธ
A lion is only a big cat.
๐โซ๏ธ๐ฆโซ๏ธโ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
I donโt have a lion
โ๐โซ๏ธ๐ฆโซ๏ธโ๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
You also do not have a lion.
๐โซ๏ธ๐ขโซ๏ธ๐ด๐๐ฌโช๏ธ
I only want a turtle.
Questions:
โ๐งโซ๏ธโพ๏ธ๐ใฐ๏ธ๐คดโโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธโซ๐ช๐คฒ๐ใฐ๏ธโโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธโ๐โโ๐ขโช๏ธ
๐โซ๏ธ๐ดโซโค๏ธ๐คฒ๐ใฐ๏ธโช๏ธ
(โพ๏ธ all, everyโ๐ใฐ๏ธ animalโ๐ช๐คฒ
strongโโค๏ธ๐คฒ lovely)
โ๐งโซ๏ธโพ๏ธ๐ใฐ๏ธ๐คดโโช๏ธ
Who is the king of all the animals?
๐โซ๏ธโซ๐ช๐คฒ๐ใฐ๏ธโโช๏ธ
Is it the strongest animal?
๐โซ๏ธโ๐โโ๐ขโช๏ธ
Itโs not the cat and not the turtle.
๐โซ๏ธ๐ดโซโค๏ธ๐คฒ๐ใฐ๏ธโช๏ธ
Itโs only the most lovely animal.
Inspiration: The โ symbol is used for "not" since it is visually striking and because the alternative โ conflicts with โ๏ธ, meaning "or". The โ symbol as addition is self-explanatory, identifying "and" with "also" is taken from Latin "et". The ๐ด symbol depicts a palm tree, which usually grow with some distance from one another and remind me of a tropical island, the origin of the word "isolation". Lastly, โซ most is an intensification of the prefix and relation ๐ผ more.
Sentences can be connected by replacing the full stop โช๏ธ
'.' with a space โซ๏ธ ','. The connection
between sentences can be optionally indicated using the same relation
suffixes as used for sentence roles. Not all sentences need a subject
and there is no fixed sentence ordering. By default, the subject and
direct object remain identical between connected sentences. The time
frame also remains constant between any consecutive sentences.
Inspiration & Design: One of the inspirations for Iconlang was the realization that sentence structure is fractal with the same semantic relations occurring at multiple levels within and between sentences. We can therefore use the same connectives at all levels, which I am really happy about ๐
A sentence followed by a noun as the base word expresses a
relative clause. In a relative clause all spaces โซ๏ธ ','
become โป๏ธ ';' in order to delimit the clause. The base word
may have any function in the relative clause depending on context. The
verb of the relative clause may be omitted.
Examples:
๐โป๏ธโค๏ธ๐ฌ๐ง
the person I love
๐๐โป๏ธโค๏ธ๐ฌ๐ง
the person who loves me
๐โป๏ธ๐๐ฌ๐ ๐
the roof on which the cat runs
๐โป๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ฒ
the bike by which I go
๐คด๐โป๏ธโ๏ธ
a letter for the king
โค๏ธโฉโป๏ธ๐ฅ
sadness because of love
Questions:
๐โป๏ธ๐๐โป๏ธ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฝ๏ธโญ
๐โป๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโ
๐งโค๏ธ๐โบ๏ธ๐โป๏ธ๐ญ
๐ซ๐จโป๏ธโค๏ธ
(๐ซ chocolate)
๐โป๏ธ๐๐โป๏ธ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฝ๏ธโญ
the food I cook for the cat
๐โป๏ธ๐ถ๐ฌโ
the place where/to which you are going
๐งโค๏ธ๐โบ๏ธ๐โป๏ธ๐ญ
the thought inside the heart
๐ซ๐จโป๏ธโค๏ธ
love through chocolate
Inspiration & Hint: This style of using relative clauses like attributes is inspired by Japanese. It has the advantage that it is simple and that it does not require relative pronouns, but also the disadvantage that the function of the base noun in the relative clause is not always clear. Complex relative clauses are best expressed as separate sentences.
The core of the language consists of about 100 grammar
symbols. Ideally these should not be changed, but there may be
minimal adjustments in the future. (Anki Decks)
The next layer consists of about 400 additional
ideograms and their grammatical variations. These should also
be treated conservatively, but there will probably be some expansion and
slight changes in the future. The meaning of existing ideograms should
not be changed, but feel free to add new ideograms in order to fill in
missing concepts or to express a certain style. (Anki Decks)
The third layer consists of thousands of
pictograms and composite words. This
layer is constantly evolving and meant as a suggestion for a standard
vocabulary โ have fun coining new words and expressions! ๐ (Vocabulary)
You can open all the files with a text editor or a web browser to
have a look at the contents. Anki decks are flashcard collections to be
used with Anki or equivalent.
Also check out the the online
converter.
This concludes the language guide โ well done if worked your way
through it! You should now know enough to tackle the material and write your own texts in Iconlang. Everything
else is best learned from practice, but you are also welcome to have a
look at the list of grammar symbols and
the conventions below.
If you like this project and want to help, the best way is to spread
the word online and offline. Feedback and your own creations are also
always welcome. I hope you have as much fun using Iconlang as I had
developing it and I am looking forward to your contributions! ๐
Dates are yyyy-mm-dd๐ ,
e.g.ย 2022-10-13๐ , 10-13๐ , or
13๐ , using ๐ calendar. (cf.ย ISO 8601)
The time is hh:mm:ss๐,
e.g.ย 12:14:00๐, 12:14๐, or
12๐, using ๐ time.
The day of the week is 1/7โ๏ธ๐ to
7/7โ๏ธ๐, using โ๏ธ๐ day and starting on
Monday.
Months are 1/12๐โ to 12/12๐โ, using
๐โ month and starting with January.
Physical measurements use SI
Units, like m for meter or kg for
kilogram. Imperial units are also admissable.
Country names are written using two letter Country Codes (ISO
3166-1). Germany, for instance, is DE๐๐ณ๏ธ using ๐๐ณ๏ธ
country, the German language is DE๐ฌ using ๐ฌ
speech and a German person is DE๐ง using ๐ง
person. Colored country flags are avoided in the standard
vocabulary since they do not work in black and white.
