About the Working Group:

When God destroys the Tower of Babel, He not only destroys access to the original Adamic language but “did there confound the language of all the earth” (Genesis 11:9). With an increased focus on an individual’s ability to think and communicate, early modern philosophers struggled with the confines of the confused post-Babel language landscape and, in hopes of righting the Biblical curse, desired to invent language schemes that they thought were more perfect than their contemporaneous languages had to offer. The subsequent crisis of representation becomes most obvious in the early modern period through the proliferation of new language schemes.

This working group’s aim is to examine this rise of invented languages in the early modern period through varying interdisciplinary approaches. How is our understanding of these invented languages informed through linguistic analysis, philosophical argumentation, theological meditation, and literary critique? The six sessions of this group are structured by type of invented language, further organized by purpose of invention, ranging from divine communication (John Dee and St. Hildegard), systems of secret and swift communication (Timothy Bright and Thomas Shelton), to the ongoing pursuit of a universal language (Thomas Urquhart, John Wilkins, and Gottfried Leibniz). By examining the general structure of each invented language scheme (grammar, lexicon, pronunciation, etc.) we will consider how these invented languages reflect contemporary philosophies of communication and represent early modern conceptions of the world. Finally, the intention of this working group is also to develop useful and clear academic language to discuss the various invented language schemes, as the current niche field of artificial/invented languages is variable in its terminology.

Both the working group and concluding one-day symposium will consider the following questions: what constitutes an invented language in the early modern context? What motivations might one have for developing an invented language? What can these invented language schemes tell us about language and communication (particularly of philosophical/religious ideas) in early modern Europe? What contexts gave rise to invented languages in this period? How might these invented languages have influenced culture and literature of later periods? And, ultimately, what academic language do we need to invent to discuss early modern invented languages?

Meeting Schedule:

Meetings will be hosted monthly (specific dates to be announced shortly). Meeting topics and required readings are listed below:

Session 1: Philosophies and Contexts of Invented Languages
Friday, September 11, 2–4pm, Pratt 304

• Van Hal, Toon, “Early Modern Views on Language and Languages (ca. 1450–
  1800)”. (Download)
• Eco, Umberto, “Introduction” and “from Adam to Confusio Linguarum” in The Search for the Perfect Language, translated by James Fentress. pp. 1-24.(Download)
• Knowlson, James, “Introduction” from Universal language schemes in England and France, 1600-1800. (Download)
  • Additional Excerpts from Universal language schemes in England and France, 1600-1800 by James Knowlson. (Download)

Session 2: Divine Communication
Wednesday, October 14, 5–7pm, Pratt 304

Primary Sources:

• Higley, Sarah L. “Manuscripts, Edition, and Translation of the Lingua Ignota” in Hildegard of Bingen’s Unknown Language: An Edition, Translation, and Discussion.  (Download)
• Higley, Sarah L. “Hildegard’s Lingua Alphabetized” in Hildegard of Bingen’s Unknown Language: An Edition, Translation, and Discussion.  (Download)
  • Additionally, please skim the “B” manuscript (download) as well as peruse this blogpost on the “R” manuscript of Hildegaard of Bingen’s language (blogpost)
• Peterson, Joseph H. Selections from “John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery”. (Download)
  • (In particular, please skim the sections on Invocation and Explanation of Desires (pp. 49-53), and The Secret Book’s Delivery and Explanation (pp. 213-33).)

Secondary Sources

• Higley, Sarah L. “An Unknown Language by a Visionary Woman” in Hildegard of Bingen’s Unknown Language: An Edition, Translation, and Discussion, 2007, pp. 13-33.  (Download)
• Szönyi, György E. “PARACELSUS, SCRYING, AND THE LINGUA ADAMICA: Contexts for John Dee’s Angel Magic.” in John Dee: Interdisciplinary Studies in English Renaissance Thought, edited by Stephen Clucas, Springer Netherlands, 2006, pp. 207–29. (Download)

Session 3: Short and Swift Communication

Primary Sources:

• Bright, Timothy, Characterie. (Download)
• Shelton, Thomas, 1601-1650?. Tachy-Graphy the most Exact and Compendious Method of Short and Swift Writing that Hath Ever Yet been Published by any. Composed by Thomas Shelton Author and Professour of the Said Art. Approved by both the Universities. 1660. (Download)

Secondary Sources:

• Loveman, Kate, “Shorthand and Secrecy” in The Strange History of Samuel Pepys’s Diary, pp. 32 – 47. (Download)
• Fleming, James Dougal. ““Indifferently Affected”: The Characterie Terms” in Timothie Bright and the Origins of Early Modern Shorthand, Routledge, 2024, pp. 77-100. (Download)

Session 4: Concealed Communication

Primary Sources:

• Wilkins, John, Mercury. (Download)

Secondary Sources:

• Fleming, James Dougal. “Mercurial Messages: What Is Information?” The Mirror of Information in Early Modern England, Springer International Publishing AG, 2016, pp. 31–74. (Download)
• Subbiondo, Joseph L. “Preliminary Reflections on a Philosophical Language: A Study of John Wilkins’ Mercury: Or the Secret and Swift Messenger.” Language & History [ABINGDON], vol. 63, no. 2, May 2020, pp. 105–19. (Download)

Session 5: Universal and Philosophical Languages

Primary Sources:

• Wilkins, John, an Essay Towards a Real Character (Download)
• Leibniz, Gottfried Characteristic Universalis (Download)

Secondary Sources:

• McCay, Kelly Minot. “Effable Characters: The Problem of Language and Its Media in Seventeenth-Century Linguistic Thought.” Language & History [ABINGDON], vol. 67, no. 2, May 2024, pp. 153–83. (Download)
• Rutherford, Donald. “Philosophy and Language in Leibniz.” The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 224–69. (Download)

Session 6: Invented Languages in Travel Narratives

Primary Sources:

• More, Thomas Utopia (Download)
• Psalmanazar, George. A Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, 1704. (Download)

Secondary Sources:

• Romm, James. “More’s Strategy of Naming in the Utopia.” The Sixteenth Century Journal [Kirksville, Mo], vol. 22, no. 2, July 1991, pp. 173–83.(Download)
• Keevak, Michael. The Pretended Asian : George Psalmanazar’s Eighteenth-Century Formosan Hoax. Wayne State University Press, 2004. (Download)

Interested in Joining?

We are actively recruiting new members from all disciplines!

Please contact Josiah Lamb (josiah.lamb@mail.utoronto.ca) and Timothy Lorch (tim.lorch@mail.utoronto.ca) to express your interest or learn more about upcoming meeting dates.

Additionally, please follow our Instagram for updates.

Symposium

Details about the concluding one-day Symposium in May are forthcoming.