Sotos Ochando’s language movement

Abstract Usually relegated to a footnote in the historical accounts of planned languages, Sotos Ochando’s Lengua Universal was most likely the first to give rise to a planned language movement. Contrary to later language movements, Sotos Ochando’s had no competing planned language movements to challenge it. Sotos Ochando’s Lengua Universal was also unique in that it was a philosophical language, much like those created in the 17th-century. This article explains the reasons behind the emergence and collapse of this movement. It explores the perceptions of contemporaries regarding the possibility of philosophical language projects, as well as other extralinguistic factors that determined the fate of this movement.