Context → Nvshu

The Secret Language of Ancient Chinese Women

“Nvshu”（'Nüshu'/'women's script') is China’s secret female-only language. Its script was derived from Chinese characters and used exclusively among women before going extinct in the early 21st century. “Nvshu” works were a way for women to lament by communicating sorrows, commiserating over Chinese patriarchy, and establishing connections with an empathetic community. I have previously studied and written this Chinese female language.

Development Timeline

As a rare gendered language in the world, since women were not allowed to learn Chinese characters in ancient China, they invented “Nvshu” in order to make their voices heard and their desire to communicate. But it is on the verge of extinction cause the "literacy campaign in China" led to women entering the school to learn Chinese characters. The question of how to transform it into a tool to communicate women's voices today is at the heart of the legacy.

Context → Láadan Language

A Feminist Language of a Feminist Science Fiction Novel

1984, the linguist Suzette Haden Elgin published her feminist science fiction novel "native tongue", which included a new systematic female language-- “Láadan” created by her from scratch. She creates many words that are adapted to women's emotional and expressive needs. But as Ruth MENZIES mentions in literature, “Láadan” has an acritical and radical spirit, but like its illusory background, it is detached from society and therefore hardly used.

Láadan Language Glossary Collation

This is part of collection of Ladanese words with English and Chinese translations.
Láadan Lnaguage Website: https://laadanlanguage.com/

Bibliography:

A. C. Noletto, I., & A. T. Lopes, S. (2019). Language and control –glossopoesis in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Fourand Elgin's native tongue. Revista Darandina, 1–16.

Barati, A. (2023, January 26). Elgin's native tongue: A “Me too” universe? figshare.

Frank, F., Hall, K. and Bucholtz, M. (1997). Gender Articulated: Language and the Socially Constructed Self. Language, 73(4), p.864.

Liu, M. (2010, May 4). Écriture féminine, Láadan and Nüshu a reassessment of the postmodern feminist visions of a female language. eScholarship, University of California.

MENZIES, R. (2012). Creating a ' truer' language within a work of fiction: The example of Suzette Haden Elgin's native tongue. E-Rea, (9.2).

国外性别语言研究的发展历程、主要内容及理论嬗变. (n.d.). https://pdf.hanspub.org/ML20220500000_88188505.pdf