Can Complexity be Planned?

Abstract

The long accepted complexity invariance of human languages has become controversial within the last decade. In investigations of the problem, both creole and planned languages have often been neglected. After a presentation of the scope of the invariance problem and the proposition of the natural to planned language continuum, this article will discuss the contribution of planned languages. It will analyze the complexity of Esperanto at the phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic levels, using linguistic data bases. The role of the L2 speech community and development of the language will also be taken into account when discussing the endurance of the same level of simplicity of this planned international language. The author argues that complexity can be variable and to some extent planned and maintained.

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