The Socialization of Planned Languages and the Paradigm Reconstruction of Language Planning

Liu Haitao

Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning ›› 2026, Vol. 11 ›› Issue (2) : 39-52.

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Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning ›› 2026, Vol. 11 ›› Issue (2) : 39-52. DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20260203

The Socialization of Planned Languages and the Paradigm Reconstruction of Language Planning

  • Liu Haitao
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Abstract

To meet the demand for transnational communication tools during the first period of globalization (approximately 1870–1914), more than 300 planned languages were created. Among them, Volapük and Esperanto, which emerged in 1880 and 1887 respectively, are particularly well-known. The former enjoyed a brief period of popularity before quickly disappearing, while the latter grew into a “living language” with sustained social vitality. Analyzing the reasons for their success and failure, the founders and users of Volapük did not plan and use the language according to the laws of language evolution, leading to its stagnation due to centralized power monopoly. Esperanto, on the other hand, achieved a leap from a written project to a social reality by relinquishing individual rights, establishing the stability of underlying protocols, and text-driven learning. Comparing their socialization processes reveals that the vitality of a language is rooted in the social emergence of real-world use, rather than the mechanical perfection of grammatical design. The evolutionary paradigm of Esperanto foreshadows the technological logic of the contemporary large language model’s transformation from “rule-driven” to “data-driven”. Essentially, language planning is a social project, and its success hinges on whether it can achieve a paradigm shift from engineering design to ecological cultivation, and from administrative control to democratic governance. Exploring the historical experience of the rise and fall of planned languages can provide theoretical reference and historical lessons for language planning in the data-based intelligence era and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Key words

language planning / planned languages / social emergence / life-state / the first globalization

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Liu Haitao. The Socialization of Planned Languages and the Paradigm Reconstruction of Language Planning[J]. Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning. 2026, 11(2): 39-52 https://doi.org/10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20260203

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