Glossopoeia
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The creation of constructed languages for artistic purposes; language so created. uncountable
"Glossopoeia, which is neither an imitative language nor a creation of names, takes us back to the borderline of the moment when the word has not yet been born, when articulation is no longer a shout but not yet discourse, when repetition is almost impossible, and along with it, language in general: the separation of concept and sound, of signified and signifier, of the pneumatical and the grammatical, the freedom of translation and tradition, the movement of interpretation, the difference between the soul and the body, the master and the slave, God and man, the author and the actor."
Example
More examples"Glossopoeia, which is neither an imitative language nor a creation of names, takes us back to the borderline of the moment when the word has not yet been born, when articulation is no longer a shout but not yet discourse, when repetition is almost impossible, and along with it, language in general: the separation of concept and sound, of signified and signifier, of the pneumatical and the grammatical, the freedom of translation and tradition, the movement of interpretation, the difference between the soul and the body, the master and the slave, God and man, the author and the actor."
Etymology
From glosso- (“language”) + -poeia (“making”); coined by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Related phrases
More for "glossopoeia"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.