I’ve learned a lot about lambda calculus, so I decided to put it into its own conlang. The name of it is Lambda, and even though it has only five words, it can describe everything.

Phonology

Unsurprisingly, the phonology of Lambda is quite small. It only has the vowels /a/, /e/, and /o/. The only consonants are /l/, /x/, and /d/.

The Five Words

The five words in Lambda are la, xa, da, e, and o.

• La defines a function. A function can be a noun (such as λf.λx.f(fx)), a verb (such as λn.λf.λx.f(nfx)), or even an adjective (such as λx.λy.x).
• Xa is the argument of the function. To name another argument, simply add another xa (for example, xaxa for the second argument).
• Da separates a function’s action from its argument. It is required when constructing a function.
• E denotes a function being applied. λx.λy.xy is read “la xa da la xaxa da xa e xaxa.”
• O separates the arguments of a function.

Loanwords

Of course, not everything can be expressed as a function. To denote loanwards, re-use “la” for L, and either add or subtract a number to or from it using functions to get every other letter. L is the number 12. Repeat for every letter in the loanword, connecting them with the word o.

Conclusion

And that’s pretty much it! This language is a language with one of the smallest numbers of words in it.