Lagrangian Administrative Notation (LAN) was developed as a universal method of conducting official written communications on the highly diverse, multi-lingual lagrange station and later, the cycler stations. It was intended to bridge between, not replace, native languages, and be relatively easy to learn while still allowing for precise communication. Ideally, it would also be equally easy to learn for all individuals regardless of their native language (extant-language agnostic, or ELA).
Structure
LAN is assembled of simple radicals, chosen because they are easy to visually and tactically differentiate even at a distance or small resolutions. Radicals are arranged in a 2x2 grid known as a cell, with their combination and order within this cell communicating unique concepts. Each quadrant of the cell can be made up of it’s own cell, a concept called recursion. There are three officially recognized levels of recursion in LAN, creating up to an 8x8 grid of radicals.
In the highest level of recursion, which could be thought of as “sentence-level”, each quadrant represents a component of a phrase such as subject, verb, object, or flexible modifier. These phrases can either be read top-to-bottom or left-to-right depending on whether the reader’s native language uses SVO or SOV word order. In the second level of recursion, which could be thought of as “word-level”, each quadrant has a rough symbolism that determines how the radical in it in interpreted. The two topmost are known as the concrete half, while the bottommost are the abstract half; the leftmost are the primary half, while the rightmost are the secondary half. The lowest level of recursion, which could be thought of as “concept-level”, the second-level words in each quadrant combine to create a compound concept.
Implementation
LAN was a highly regulated form of communication, with strict guidelines dictating its correct use. Basic LAN was taught universally, and children were usually able to grasp simple concepts communicated in LAN through their understanding of the radical categories and rules dictating cell construction. During their apprenticeship, residents received further training on the specialized subset of LAN relevant to their chosen profession. Dedicated notaries with deep, extensive knowledge of LAN helped write, review, or interpret critical communications such as contracts. Finally, there was the Guidance Council for Lagrangian Administrative Notation (GC-LAN), the regulatory body responsible for controlling the use of LAN by defining and publishing relevant standards.
Some of these regulations dictated that LAN must be uniformly displayed (e.g., typed rather than handwritten). Combined with its rigid structure and simple symbols, LAN could be easily interpreted and translated by AR devices. This made it a useful tool for signage and other public-facing communications, which were required to be ELA, though it is difficult to automate translation into LAN because of the highly specific syntax required to generate cells.
Though LAN was officially a written form of communication, after decades of use on the stations a pidgin form of spoken LAN began to emerge as a way for individuals who did not share a language to verbally communicate concepts.