Artificial Language
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Introduction & Key Concepts
Study MaterialArtificial Language
Artificial Language is a logical reasoning topic in which unfamiliar or invented words are used to represent familiar English words or phrases. The words in the artificial language may look meaningless at first, but they follow a consistent pattern.
In these questions, you are usually given a few English words or phrases along with their translations in an artificial language. Your task is to identify the pattern and then determine how another English word or phrase would be represented in the artificial language.
The main challenge is not vocabulary. It is the ability to break words into smaller parts, identify common components, determine their meanings, and preserve the correct order.
What is Artificial Language?
An artificial language is a constructed set of words or symbols whose meanings are not known initially. The question provides enough translated examples for you to decode the system.
Basic Pattern:
English Word or Phrase → Artificial Language Translation
You are given some known translations and then asked to reverse the process:
Known Translations → Decode the Pattern → Find the New Translation
How Artificial Language Questions Work
A typical question provides two or three translated examples. Some parts of the artificial words are common, while other parts change. By comparing the examples, you can determine which part represents which English word.
For example, suppose:
- migenlasan means cupboard
- lasanpoen means boardwalk
The English word board appears in both cupboard and boardwalk. Similarly, lasan appears in both artificial words.
Therefore, lasan can be identified as the artificial-language component for board.
Key Idea: When a part of an English word or phrase is common across two translations, look for the corresponding common part in the artificial-language translations.
Core Concept: Break Words into Smaller Parts
The most important technique in Artificial Language questions is to break both the English expressions and the artificial words into smaller meaningful components.
Suppose:
- apatose means first base
- epatose means second base
The English word base is common to both expressions. The artificial-language portion patose is also common.
Therefore, patose represents base, while the remaining portions represent the words that distinguish first and second.
Identify Common English Components
Start by comparing the English meanings. Look for words that appear in more than one translation.
| English Expressions | Common English Component | What to Look for |
|---|---|---|
| first base second base |
base | Common artificial-language component |
| happy birthday birthday party |
birthday | Common artificial-language component |
| poisonous spider poisonous snake |
poisonous | Common artificial-language component |
This comparison gives you the first clue about the meaning of the artificial-language components.
Identify Common Artificial-Language Components
After identifying the common English word, compare the corresponding artificial-language expressions and find the common component.
Example:
jalkamofti = happy birthday
moftihoze = birthday party
The English word birthday is common to both meanings, and mofti is common to both artificial words.
Therefore, mofti = birthday.
The remaining part of jalkamofti, namely jalka, represents happy.
Use Difference Analysis
Common components tell you what remains the same. The components that change help you identify the changing English words.
For example:
- jalkamofti = happy birthday
- moftihoze = birthday party
Since mofti = birthday:
- jalka = happy
- hoze = party
Remember: Common part = common meaning. Different part = different meaning, provided the examples support that interpretation.
Understand Word Order
Artificial Language questions may preserve the same order as the English phrase. However, you should determine the order from the given examples rather than assuming it automatically.
For example, if:
lartabuk = ballpark
and the question requires a phrase corresponding to baseball, you must determine which artificial component represents base and which represents ball, and then check whether the artificial language follows the same order as the English phrase.
Exam Tip: Never assume that artificial-language words always follow English word order. Confirm the order from the examples provided in the question.
Position of Components Matters
Even when you correctly identify the meaning of an artificial-language component, the answer can still be wrong if the components are placed in the wrong order.
Therefore, check both:
- Translation: Does each component represent the correct English word?
- Order: Are the components arranged in the correct sequence?
Use Multiple Examples Together
Do not try to decode the entire artificial language from a single example. Use all the available translations together.
A component that appears in one word may have several possible interpretations. A second or third example helps confirm its actual meaning.
Reliable Method:
Example 1 gives a clue → Example 2 confirms it → Example 3 eliminates alternatives → New word can be constructed.
Identify Nouns and Descriptive Words
Some Artificial Language questions use phrases containing a noun and a descriptive word. In such questions, determine how the artificial language places the components.
For example:
- agnoscrenia = poisonous spider
- delanocreania = poisonous snake
- agnosdeery = brown spider
The common English word spider occurs in the first and third examples. The common artificial-language component agnos therefore represents spider.
The examples can then be used to determine the components representing poisonous, snake, and brown.
Break Compound Words Carefully
Many questions use English compound words such as:
- cupboard
- boardwalk
- ballpark
- baseball
- birthday
The English words should be mentally divided into meaningful components wherever the examples support such a division.
The same principle applies to artificial-language words. Look for repeated components and compare them with repeated English meanings.
Do Not Assume Every Letter Represents a Word
An artificial-language component may consist of several letters. Do not assume that every individual letter or small sequence has a separate meaning.
The meaningful unit may be:
- A single letter
- A short group of letters
- A longer group of letters
- A complete repeated component
Always use the examples to determine the meaningful unit.
Eliminate Incorrect Translations
Once you identify one or more components, use them to eliminate answer choices that contain incorrect translations.
For example, if migen has already been identified as the component representing cup, an option containing migen cannot represent a phrase that does not contain cup, unless the question provides evidence for another usage.
Elimination Rule: Once a component's meaning is reliably established, use it as a filter to remove options that contain the wrong meaning.
Eliminate Incorrect Word Order
An option can contain the correct components but still be incorrect because they appear in the wrong order.
Therefore, after identifying the required components, compare their sequence with the pattern established by the given translations.
| Check | Question to Ask |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Do the components represent the required words? |
| Order | Are the components arranged correctly? |
| Completeness | Are all required components present? |
| Consistency | Does the option follow the same pattern as the examples? |
Reverse the Translation Process
The question may provide translations in one direction but ask you to work in the opposite direction.
Given: Artificial Language → English
Required: English → Artificial Language
This reversal is the central task in most Artificial Language questions.
Use the Smallest Reliable Pattern
Do not try to discover a complicated grammar system if a simple pattern already explains the examples.
If the available examples establish that:
- lasan = board
- poen = walk
then use these established components directly. There is no need to create additional rules that are not supported by the question.
Minimum-Assumption Principle: Use the simplest translation pattern that explains all the given examples. Do not invent additional rules without evidence.
Compare Similar and Different Examples
The most useful clues often come from examples that differ by only one component.
For instance:
- Example A: X + Y = English A + English B
- Example B: X + Z = English A + English C
The common component X is likely to represent the common English element.
The remaining components can then be mapped to the changing English elements.
Use the Process of Elimination
Artificial Language questions are often designed so that several answer choices contain one correct component but differ in another. This makes elimination particularly useful.
- Identify the required English components.
- Find their artificial-language equivalents.
- Check whether each option contains the correct components.
- Check the order of the components.
- Eliminate options containing unrelated components.
- Choose the option that satisfies the complete pattern.
Common Question Types
| Question Type | What You Need to Do |
|---|---|
| Find meaning of a component | Compare repeated components across translations |
| Translate a new English word | Build the artificial word from known components |
| Find meaning of an artificial word | Break it into known components |
| Choose the correct translation | Check components and order |
| Identify an incorrect translation | Find the component that violates the established pattern |
| Complete a translation | Combine the required components correctly |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Matching only one word: Do not choose an option just because one component is correct.
- Ignoring word order: Correct components in the wrong sequence can produce an incorrect answer.
- Assuming meanings too early: Confirm a component using more than one example whenever possible.
- Reading the whole artificial word as one unit: Break it into meaningful repeated components.
- Using outside vocabulary: The artificial words are invented, so their meanings must be derived from the question.
- Ignoring changing components: Differences between examples often reveal the missing translations.
- Creating unnecessary rules: Use only the pattern supported by the given examples.
- Skipping elimination: Incorrect options can often be removed quickly once a few components are known.
Quick Reference: Artificial Language Decoding
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Read all given translations. |
| 2 | Break English phrases into meaningful parts. |
| 3 | Break artificial words into repeated components. |
| 4 | Find common English meanings. |
| 5 | Find common artificial-language components. |
| 6 | Map components to meanings. |
| 7 | Check word order. |
| 8 | Use elimination. |
| 9 | Construct the required translation. |
| 10 | Verify the complete pattern. |
Artificial Language = Break → Compare → Decode → Arrange → Eliminate → Verify
LearnFrenzy Golden Rule: In Artificial Language questions, do not try to understand the invented words directly. Break the given words into smaller components, compare common English and artificial-language parts, identify their meanings, check the order, eliminate incorrect options, and then construct the required translation.