<p>You're describing a couple different and not totally related things with different terminology used for each: </p>

<ul>
<li>Classical Latin is an example of a literary language, a language used not really in speech but used to communicate through writing.</li>
<li>Modern Standard Arabic, one of those artificial languages based off of a natural one but not really being a spoken language. It's very frequently affected by diglossia, and not really used in natural settings. It's usually referred to as simply a standardized lanuage, and also qualifies as a literary language.</li>
<li>Hebrew as spoken in daily life in Israel would qualify as the first type you described, a modernized version of an old language that was resurrected after death. It would be referred to as a revived language.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T00:43:22.437Z
Modern Hebrew isn't frozen though, and will naturally change over time as all spoken languages do.
curiousdannii
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T04:26:38.247Z
@curiousdannii You're not wrong. I don't think there's any real term for a language that undergoes nearly no change, and Modern Hebrew is basically the only good example of a revived ancient language that is actually spoken by people. Liturgical Latin could be an example of a language frozen in time
snorepion
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T09:31:53.257Z
Icelandic is also fairly controlled (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_purism_in_Icelandic), with the intention of preserving it in a supposedly better state. (I'm not going to attempt any puns using "frozen" here).
Oliver Mason
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T14:34:27.390Z
Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that. (I guess their attitude towards linguistic change is rather _chilly_).
snorepion
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T21:05:22.270Z
I gueess "literary language" is in fact the best word, for a dead language that was never even alive to begin with (or rather, was never really spoken by the masses, only used as a written langauge for literary or liturgical reasons).... or, we could just call it a conlang? :P I stylized conlang based off a natlang? :P
Stephanus Tavilrond
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T21:18:34.723Z
I mean, if you think about it, given how the real descendant of spoken Old Latin was in fact Vulgar Latin, and how Classical Latin was never really spoken by anyone as a native langauge (being a literary language) - with some stretch, you could actually claim, that Classical Latin was in fact a CONLANG!
Stephanus Tavilrond
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-01T02:24:30.543Z
@StephanusTavilrond Classical Latin may have been a conlang. It is unlikely  that it evolved just by ordinary people talking. The problem is that we do not know exactly how it did evolve: did the literati deliberately create the rules and deliberately select features from a variety of dialects to make a new, regular, language (which I would count as a conlang) or did it evolve naturally amongst a group of literati from a range of linguistic backgrounds and a penchant for regularity (which I would call a natural language)? We do not know and there is no clear boundary.
David Robinson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-29T19:35:57.367Z
2018-11-29T19:35:57.367Z
snorepion
<p>And by "stillborn", I mean a dead language that never really lived to begin with: a modernized version of an archaic language frozen in time, or an all-out archaic language (with archaic grammar and vocabulary), but with modernized pronunciations (and all the vowel shifts and consonant shifts applied). Like Classical Latin, which was probably never spoken in daily life (in contrast with Vulgar Latin).</p>

<p>Or just simply a language that is based off an actual natural language, but highly stylized and artificial, having had diglossia with its parent-language since the start, never having been an actual spoken language at any point in history.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-13T12:51:43.783Z
There is the term "Plansprachenprojekt" (used by Detlef Blanke in his book "internationale Plansprachen") for conlangs never leaving the design board.
Sir Cornflakes
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-20T04:22:56.940Z
@SirCornflakes Those Germans have a word for everything!
No Name
<history><terminology>
How do you call a "stillborn language"?
# How do you call a "stillborn language"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-29)

And by "stillborn", I mean a dead language that never really lived to begin with: a modernized version of an archaic language frozen in time, or an all-out archaic language (with archaic grammar and vocabulary), but with modernized pronunciations (and all the vowel shifts and consonant shifts applied). Like Classical Latin, which was probably never spoken in daily life (in contrast with Vulgar Latin).

Or just simply a language that is based off an actual natural language, but highly stylized and artificial, having had diglossia with its parent-language since the start, never having been an actual spoken language at any point in history.

**Tags:** history, terminology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There is the term "Plansprachenprojekt" (used by Detlef Blanke in his book "internationale Plansprachen") for conlangs never leaving the design board.  
> **username_2**: @SirCornflakes Those Germans have a word for everything!  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-11-29. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

You're describing a couple different and not totally related things with different terminology used for each:

* Classical Latin is an example of a literary language, a language used not really in speech but used to communicate through writing.
* Modern Standard Arabic, one of those artificial languages based off of a natural one but not really being a spoken language. It's very frequently affected by diglossia, and not really used in natural settings. It's usually referred to as simply a standardized lanuage, and also qualifies as a literary language.
* Hebrew as spoken in daily life in Israel would qualify as the first type you described, a modernized version of an old language that was resurrected after death. It would be referred to as a revived language.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Modern Hebrew isn't frozen though, and will naturally change over time as all spoken languages do.  
> **username_3**: @username_4 You're not wrong. I don't think there's any real term for a language that undergoes nearly no change, and Modern Hebrew is basically the only good example of a revived ancient language that is actually spoken by people. Liturgical Latin could be an example of a language frozen in time  
> **username_5**: Icelandic is also fairly controlled (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_purism_in_Icelandic), with the intention of preserving it in a supposedly better state. (I'm not going to attempt any puns using "frozen" here).  
> **username_3**: Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that. (I guess their attitude towards linguistic change is rather _chilly_).  
> **username_0**: I gueess "literary language" is in fact the best word, for a dead language that was never even alive to begin with (or rather, was never really spoken by the masses, only used as a written langauge for literary or liturgical reasons).... or, we could just call it a conlang? :P I stylized conlang based off a natlang? :P  
> **username_0**: I mean, if you think about it, given how the real descendant of spoken Old Latin was in fact Vulgar Latin, and how Classical Latin was never really spoken by anyone as a native langauge (being a literary language) - with some stretch, you could actually claim, that Classical Latin was in fact a CONLANG!  
> **username_6**: @StephanusTavilrond Classical Latin may have been a conlang. It is unlikely  that it evolved just by ordinary people talking. The problem is that we do not know exactly how it did evolve: did the literati deliberately create the rules and deliberately select features from a variety of dialects to make a new, regular, language (which I would count as a conlang) or did it evolve naturally amongst a group of literati from a range of linguistic backgrounds and a penchant for regularity (which I would call a natural language)? We do not know and there is no clear boundary.  

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