1. Artificial Cryptolanguages

• Deliberately constructed for secure or private communication
• Based on mathematical principles and algorithms
• Can be systematically encrypted and decrypted with the right key or method
• Examples include specially designed coded languages or advanced encryption protocols

2. Natural Cryptolanguages

• Emerge from natural cognitive or social processes without deliberate design
• May not follow strict mathematical rules but exhibit patterns or structures
• Interpretation often requires specialized knowledge or analytical approaches
• Examples include the language of the unconscious, certain forms of body language, or implicit social communication codes

Natural Occurrence of Cryptolanguage

Cryptolanguage as a Phenomenon of Encoding

In natural contexts, a cryptolanguage arises when a speech community or individual uses deliberate encoding or obfuscation within a language system to restrict comprehension to a selected group. This may happen through: Code-switching between languages.

• Use of argots, slangs, or jargons.
• Manipulation of phonology, morphology, or syntax (e.g., pig Latin, Verlan in French).
• Semantic inversion or metaphorical shifts (e.g., underworld languages, thieves' cant).

These phenomena occur organically, often as emergent social strategies to:

• Maintain group identity.
• Protect knowledge.
• Control social hierarchies.
• Secure ritual or sacred communication.

Characteristics of Naturally Occurring Cryptolanguages

• Contextual Dependency: Meaning is often rooted in social and cultural background.
• Evolutionary Plasticity: Terms mutate or shift as the group's context changes.
• Partial Opacity: Outsiders may infer some patterns, but complete understanding requires initiation or learning.
• Embeddedness in Natural Language: Cryptolanguage does not operate outside of natural languages; it modifies them.

Toward the Definition of an Artificial Cryptolanguage

Artificial Cryptolanguage: Conceptualization

An artificial cryptolanguage is a deliberately constructed language system designed to control, restrict, or transform communicative meaning through systematic encoding, following formally defined rules. Unlike natural cryptolanguages, which emerge socially, artificial cryptolanguages are planned and engineered.

Definition (Proposed)

A cryptolanguage is a structured semiotic system, natural or artificial, designed to encode or obscure semantic, phonological, or syntactic information through systematic transformation rules, with the purpose of restricting interpretation to intended recipients.

Fundamental Properties of Artificial Cryptolanguage

Property	Description
Rule-Based Encoding	Defines precise rules for transformation of linguistic units (phonemes, morphemes, words, syntax, etc.).
Opacity Gradient	Allows tuning the level of decipherability (from transparent to opaque).
Modularity	Supports layers of encoding (phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, symbolic).
Reversibility	Encodings may or may not be designed to allow decoding (reversible vs. irreversible cryptolanguages).
Systematic Transformation	May include permutations, substitutions, inversions, rotations, or algorithmic operations (e.g., modular arithmetic, substitution ciphers).
Formal Specification	Must be expressible in an explicit formal system, e.g., set theory, graph theory, algebraic structures, computational models.
Security Scope	Defines who can or cannot access the meaning (users vs. outsiders; human vs. machine decipherability).

First Formal Attempt for Definition in Logical Terms

Let:

• L be a natural language (set of strings over an alphabet Σ).
• T be a transformation function T : L → L', where L' is a cryptolanguage derived from L.
• K be a key or rule set required for decoding or generating L'.

Then:

• A cryptolanguage is the image of a transformation function T applied to L, where the inverse T⁻¹ exists only for agents possessing K.
• If T⁻¹ does not exist (irreversible cryptolanguage), L' remains opaque.

Example of Formal Encoding Rule

Given:

• Alphabet Σ = {A, B, C, …, Z}.
• Encoding rule: shift consonants by +3 positions cyclically (C → F, D → G, etc.).
• Vowels inverted (A ↔ U, E ↔ O, I ↔ I).

A word like DOG:

• D → G, O → E, G → J.
• Result: GEJ.

Here, the transformation function T is explicitly defined.