Who owns a language?
I'm currently in the process of writing a 35,000+ word book about conlang communities and language ownership.
The book will cover the history and communities of Volapük, Loglan, Lojban, Esperanto, Toki Pona, Quenya, Sindarin, Klingon, Dovahzul, Dothraki, and High Valyrian, with both extensive research and original interviews with community members.
I'm currently unsure of the form it'll be released in; originally the book was intended as a simple refresh of my undergradute dissertation on the same topic, which only covered Esperanto, Klingon, and Na'vi, but I quickly fell into the trap of thinking I could just add a little more here and there. I'm currently toying with the idea of pitching it to publishers, but if I can't be bothered or there's no interest I will be releasing it on this website, as a downloadable PDF on itch.io, and as a self-published book.
If you're interested in hearing more about its progress and eventual release, you can follow me on social media (Bluesky | Tumblr) or sign up to my newsletter below!
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