Fonoran

Communicate by constructing meaning, not memorizing it.

Fonoran is an experimental language built from a small set of shared semantic roots. Instead of memorizing thousands of words, speakers combine concepts to create new meaning.

Our research asks a simple question:

Can two people with no shared native language learn enough of this system to communicate after only a short period of study?

A tiered language

Fonoran grows in three rings. Each ring adds reach while keeping the same compositional approach of combining shared roots.

  • Campfire core

    50 roots

    The experiment: how far can two strangers communicate with only fifty?

  • Everyday

    100 roots

    Ordinary conversation while keeping the same root-combination strategy.

  • Broad fluency

    150 roots, hard cap

    The ceiling. Everything past 150 primitive roots is built by compounding, never by adding new roots.

Imagine two strangers stranded together with no common language. Could this root realistically come up during their first week of interaction?

Ordered by human experience

Roots are grouped the way a person experiences the world, not by linguistic category. Bodily and spatial concepts come before social and emotional ones; abstraction is admitted last.

Experience Examples
Survival & body person, eat, drink, sleep, pain, sick, hot, cold, see, hear, hand, eye, mouth
Space & motion up, down, inside, outside, near, far, water, fire, earth, sky, tree, animal
Social friend, family, help, share, give, take, work, leader, group
Emotion love, fear, happy, sad, angry, calm, trust, hope, lonely, proud
Time before, after, now, yesterday, tomorrow, always, never
Thinking know, think, remember, forget, understand, learn, question
Abstract equal, cause, change, value, system (only when repeatedly proven necessary)

Learn Fonoran

Practice vocabulary and grammar. You do not need Fonora Script to start.

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Reference

Dictionary

Browse roots, compounds, and alternate understandable forms.

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Understand

Grammar

See how Fonoran grammar works: one word order and a small set of particles.

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Translator

Map English phrases to Fonoran roots and see how meaning is constructed.

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Writing system

Fonora Script

The phonetic script Fonoran is written in: nine symbols that describe speech.

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Type any language on the left to see Fonoran script and pronunciation.

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Grammar

How Fonoran grammar works, shown on live sentences compiled by the translator.

Full Language Rules

Compiling live examples…