Abstract
In Vyrozumění (Memorandum) Václav Havel introduces Ptydepe, an artificial language. In this play, Ptydepe is conceived as a much more "precise" language than natural languages - its grammar is "maximally rational" and its words tend to be long and numerous because they are maximally (redundantly) differentiated from one another.
Ptydepe lacks not only homonyms, but also words that are minimally differentiated. Use of this language leads to increasingly long texts and becomes thus unusable.
Finally, it is replaced by Chorukor, another artificial language built on similarity, which leads to extreme ambiguity. This study examines functions of Ptydepe in the play from several angles: direct observation of the Ptydepe texts, the metalinguistic description of the language, the discourse features of the characters' first language (L1), and a comparison between Ptydepe and socialist political speeches.
The quantitative analysis of Ptydepe empirically demonstrates the degree to which Ptydepe departs from a natural language. Both qualitative and quantitative data show the mechanism by which language can be manipulated to the point of sheer automation.
Ptydepe exposes the extreme essence of the socialist language, which in turn reveals features of a more subtle manipulative language found elsewhere, including in a democratic political system.