Conorfone

A Conorfone is a hypothetical speech sound, or phone, proposed for use within constructed languages (conlangs). The term itself does not refer to any specific sound. Instead, it signifies a placeholder or generic label for a sound that the conlanger may want to include in their language's phonology but has not yet defined precisely.

The concept of a Conorfone is useful during the initial stages of conlang design. It allows the conlanger to plan the structure of their language's sound system without being constrained by the need to immediately specify every detail. Later in the development process, the Conorfone would typically be replaced with a specific, real-world sound (a phone that is used in at least one natural language) or a novel, but articulatory plausible, sound.

The decision to use a Conorfone often arises when the conlanger wants to maintain symmetry or completeness in their phonological inventory. For example, if a language has a series of voiced and unvoiced stops, and a gap exists for a particular place of articulation, the conlanger might temporarily fill this gap with a Conorfone until a suitable sound can be determined.

In some cases, a Conorfone may remain undefined if the conlanger decides that the resulting language is aesthetically pleasing or functionally complete without fully specifying that particular sound. Its continued presence can then represent a conscious choice to leave an element of ambiguity or potential future development in the language's design. The term also implicitly highlights that the construction of a language is often an iterative and evolving process.