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This article is based on preliminary research on the ways in which three well-known constructed languages – Esperanto, Klingon and Toki Pona – are perceived by non-speakers. The main aim of this research was to estimate the degree to which the perceptions of non-speakers and the intentions of the creators of these languages match. To this end, two tests were conducted on a sample of students at the University of Malaya (Universiti Malaya) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both tests were based on association of ideas, but one test focused on reactions to the sounds of the three languages, whereas the other test focused on reactions to the scripts (Latin characters with diacritics for Esperanto, sitelen pona for Toki Pona, and pIqaD for Klingon). The written responses provided by the participants after listening to short passages and viewing carefully selected script samples suggest that the orthographic and phonological aspects of the languages evoke the intended reactions in those exposed to them.
Paolo Coluzzi (Thu,) studied this question.