I won't pretend that Constructed Languages aren't a lot of work. To
really get into it, to do every element of it, you have to love it. And
if you have a world full of different cultures, different languages....
that's it's own project completely, and not one you're likely to want
to engage in if you actually want to, you know, write stories.
Especially if you're not going really need full languages in your stories. You probably won't.
What
you will need, though, is a certain degree of linguistic
verisimilitude, so that names of places, people and culturally unique
terms will seem like they come from the same language base.
Easiest
way to do that is to construct a phonology. A phonology describes what
sounds can be used in the language, and how syllables are constructed.
With that information, you know what words can exist in the language, and to a degree, that's all you need to know.
So,
how to you make a phonology, especially if you really don't know
anything about linguistics? Fortunately, the internet has some tools
you can use to make it easier. Right here
is a webpage that randomly generates a phonology: phonemic inventory,
syllable structure, allophony (the rules for breaking the rules,
essentially) and sample words.
Now, the catch with this is, it's all done in IPA: the International Phonetic Alphabet.
You'll probably want, for the sake of your writing, to figure out a way
to latinize the words, so your readers can wrap their heads around it.
Mind you, this will have nothing to do with how the language is
written, whether it's alphabetical or syllabic or pictographic. It's
simply figuring out how to write the words in simple text.
I
recommend taking the sounds of your phonology and coming up with a
consistent way to express each sound with a latin letter. It does not have to be a one-for-one. For example, your phonology might contain both a nasal alveolar (n) and a laminal nasal alveolar (n̻)--
the difference between the two are subtle, and you might choose, for
the sake of writing words out, to describe both with just an "n". Of
course, you could load up your latin approximation with diacritics (for
example: å,ä,á,â and à could all represent different sounds), but if you
do that, you should first understand what those diacritics mean and how
they are traditionally used.* However, if you are going to use
diacritics, I recommend you use them surgically and sparingly. Same
with apostrophes. Fantasy authors love throwing those in, but you
should only do it if it means something-- for example a glottal stop or
another sound that isn't easily latinized.
So,
with a phonology and a defined latinization of that phonology, you've
got the tools to make words and names in another language that feel like
they come from the same language, without having to overwhelm yourself
with making up an entire language from scratch.
--
*-
You might decide that å,ä,á,â and à represent various open-mouthed vowel
sounds, but if the sound you match it to doesn't correspond to how it's
typically used, you'll just created confusion. For example "Ä", the
A-with-umlaut, is used in in Finnish and Swedish as a "near-open front
unrounded vowel", or "æ" in the IPA, so if you use "ä" for, say, an open back rounded vowel ("ɒ"
in the IPA), your readers in the know will just think you don't know
what you're doing. Or, more likely, throwing in diacritics because you
look neat and foreign.
Showing posts with label languages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label languages. Show all posts
Monday, December 1, 2014
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Worldbuilding: Shortcuts for Language Building
When it comes to worldbuilding, especially fantasy worldbuilding, constructing a language is the sort of thing you sometimes feel you ought to do, especially since Tolkien set the standard by not only building several languages, but their historical evolution.
That's hardcore linguist stuff, and you shouldn't go there unless you've got love for it.
And let's face it, the bulk of the constructed language stuff only exists for small percentage of purists in your audience.
But, let's say you wanted to have that hint of the larger language-- just that hint of verisimilitude, so when you drop an "othered" word in your manuscript it doesn't feel like you threw a handful of Alpha-Bits on your desk to get your word.
So, the easiest way to accomplish this is not to worry too much about grammar and vocabulary. If you don't need to construct complete sentences on a regular basis in your manuscript, there's no need for it. But what you can do, without too much work, is figure out what the building blocks of the words are, and use that to create a sense that the language has a consistent framework.
One way is to familiarize yourself with the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is a simple, codified way to express about every sound the human mouth can make. You don't have to memorize or master it (I certainly haven't), but get a sense of it.
From there, you can figure out what phonemes and morphemes can exist in the language. You don't need to come up with an alphabet, or even if the language is alphabetic (like English and Romance languages), syllabic (like Japanese) or logographic (like Chinese). You just need to know what sounds are allowed.
Now, devise a consistent way to express these allowed sounds. In a way, this is creating the alphabet, but specifically you're creating the transliteration of your language, using the symbols you can readily type. (You could just use the IPA, but that might frustrate readers.) But it's important to make it consistent. English can be a maddening language in that sense: "straight", "wait', "weight" and "late" all rhyme, but express the same vowel sound four different ways. This can also minimize your own confusion when you go to make a new word.
This will also prevent you from making typical "fantasy language" errors-- namely, throwing in accent marks or apostrophes or excessive use of the letters "æ"or "y" to make it seems like a Fantasy Language word. I'm not saying you can't use accent marks or apostrophes or the letters "æ"or "y", but if you create a clear set of transliteration rules, then they won't come off as random. They'll be a consistent feature of the words of that language.
And that will make it feel more real, without having to invent the whole thing.
That's hardcore linguist stuff, and you shouldn't go there unless you've got love for it.
And let's face it, the bulk of the constructed language stuff only exists for small percentage of purists in your audience.
But, let's say you wanted to have that hint of the larger language-- just that hint of verisimilitude, so when you drop an "othered" word in your manuscript it doesn't feel like you threw a handful of Alpha-Bits on your desk to get your word.
So, the easiest way to accomplish this is not to worry too much about grammar and vocabulary. If you don't need to construct complete sentences on a regular basis in your manuscript, there's no need for it. But what you can do, without too much work, is figure out what the building blocks of the words are, and use that to create a sense that the language has a consistent framework.
One way is to familiarize yourself with the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is a simple, codified way to express about every sound the human mouth can make. You don't have to memorize or master it (I certainly haven't), but get a sense of it.
From there, you can figure out what phonemes and morphemes can exist in the language. You don't need to come up with an alphabet, or even if the language is alphabetic (like English and Romance languages), syllabic (like Japanese) or logographic (like Chinese). You just need to know what sounds are allowed.
Now, devise a consistent way to express these allowed sounds. In a way, this is creating the alphabet, but specifically you're creating the transliteration of your language, using the symbols you can readily type. (You could just use the IPA, but that might frustrate readers.) But it's important to make it consistent. English can be a maddening language in that sense: "straight", "wait', "weight" and "late" all rhyme, but express the same vowel sound four different ways. This can also minimize your own confusion when you go to make a new word.
This will also prevent you from making typical "fantasy language" errors-- namely, throwing in accent marks or apostrophes or excessive use of the letters "æ"or "y" to make it seems like a Fantasy Language word. I'm not saying you can't use accent marks or apostrophes or the letters "æ"or "y", but if you create a clear set of transliteration rules, then they won't come off as random. They'll be a consistent feature of the words of that language.
And that will make it feel more real, without having to invent the whole thing.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Worldbuilding: Constructed languages and how we think
I'm not much one of one for doing the Constructed Languages work. That may seem funny, given how much of a worldbuilding purist and completist I otherwise am, but while I can draw maps of finer and finer detail all day long, and craft cuisine for cultures that define them in numerous detail-- language construction lingers outside of my patience grasp.
I do have a lot of respect for the people who can do that, because it is an undertaking, and hopefully doing it brings about good results for your worldbuilding. I kind of wish I did have the patience and temperament for it, because I think I could use it to good effect.*
But I came across an article which should be intriguing for the nascent language-builder. The underlying gist of it is the nature of a language influences the way native speakers think. The most dramatic example used involves an Australian aboriginal language in which fixed, cardinal directions are key to the language. Things are not "to the left" or "behind you", but always "to the northeast" or "in your southwest hand". Even standard greetings are based on this. So it becomes almost impossible to speak at all unless you know where north is.
I imagine if that was your native tongue, you rarely get lost looking for that one store on the other side of town you never go to.
There's some other intriguing ideas over there, which are quite usable, even if, like me, you don't have the patience for the full-language build. General concepts that can inform a culture. For example, in Russian all the words in a sentence have to match the gender of the subject. What if, say, you had a culture with a very rigid social structure? Could the language reflect that? Could a language demand that the sentence agrees with the caste or rank of the subject? Or the caste and rank of who you are talking to?
I'm almost tempted-- almost, mind you-- to do some more detailed conlang work. But I'm sure I'll get over that.
----
*- Currently I have a sense of the historical evolution of languages-- how they branch off over time-- but that's in name only (i.e. Ancient Kieran branches into Old High Kieran, Old Vernacular Kieran and Old Trade. Old Trade then evolves into Middle Trade, which then branches into Waish Trade, Druth Trade and Acserian Trade, each of which absorbed elements from the old languages of their area) but actual words, structure, syntax? Yeah, not doing that. Not yet.
I do have a lot of respect for the people who can do that, because it is an undertaking, and hopefully doing it brings about good results for your worldbuilding. I kind of wish I did have the patience and temperament for it, because I think I could use it to good effect.*
But I came across an article which should be intriguing for the nascent language-builder. The underlying gist of it is the nature of a language influences the way native speakers think. The most dramatic example used involves an Australian aboriginal language in which fixed, cardinal directions are key to the language. Things are not "to the left" or "behind you", but always "to the northeast" or "in your southwest hand". Even standard greetings are based on this. So it becomes almost impossible to speak at all unless you know where north is.
I imagine if that was your native tongue, you rarely get lost looking for that one store on the other side of town you never go to.
There's some other intriguing ideas over there, which are quite usable, even if, like me, you don't have the patience for the full-language build. General concepts that can inform a culture. For example, in Russian all the words in a sentence have to match the gender of the subject. What if, say, you had a culture with a very rigid social structure? Could the language reflect that? Could a language demand that the sentence agrees with the caste or rank of the subject? Or the caste and rank of who you are talking to?
I'm almost tempted-- almost, mind you-- to do some more detailed conlang work. But I'm sure I'll get over that.
----
*- Currently I have a sense of the historical evolution of languages-- how they branch off over time-- but that's in name only (i.e. Ancient Kieran branches into Old High Kieran, Old Vernacular Kieran and Old Trade. Old Trade then evolves into Middle Trade, which then branches into Waish Trade, Druth Trade and Acserian Trade, each of which absorbed elements from the old languages of their area) but actual words, structure, syntax? Yeah, not doing that. Not yet.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Worldbuilding and Language: Idioms and Slang
As I've said before, I'm not too keen on doing the nuts and bolts of a constructed language as part of my worldbuilding. Well, more correctly, I think it's a great thing to do, I just don't have the skill or patience to do it.
However, playing with idioms and slang? That's always fun. And, I think, an important thing to do. It seems like it was the underlying structure behind Douglas Hulick's Among Thieves, even to the point of bringing up the details of his Thieves Cant in the foreword. (I especially like how he admits that he combined historically accurate slang with stuff he just plain made up. I approve.)
I made up plenty of slang for Thorn of Dentonhill and the other books set in Maradaine. I even made a point of tweaking it a bit so that slang from the gangs in the Aventil neighborhood would be different from the slang of street kids over in Seleth and Keller Cove (in Holver Alley Crew). Some of the things came from wanting a slang word for something, and wanting to avoid our own word. Street kids and gang members would have a term for constabulary officers, and I didn't want "cop". I tried to think of what they might call them. Since patrol officers are all armed with handsticks (and might use them a little too freely on some street kids), the term "sticks" made perfect sense to me.
That, I think, is the key to doing this sort of thing: does it feel like a term or phrase that evolved naturally? Can someone reading it parse it a figure out the term from context? If so, then you've got a winner.
Idioms are a bit different. I wanted Druthal to have idioms that didn't necessarily apply in English, or meant something that the idiom in our language was too modern or culturally specific. Sometimes I look to idioms in other languages (though usually Spanish, for obvious reasons) and translate them literally into English. Case in point, one of my favorites in Spanish is one common response to ¿Cómo te va? ("How's it going?", or more literally, "How to you does it go?"), which is Va a la patada. Idiomatically, you're saying, "It's going badly", but literally you're saying, "It goes of the kick." In other words, "Life is kicking my ass." Thus, "the kick" could become slang for any kind of ill fortune.
---
A brief political aside, for those interested: I'm all for donating to Planned Parenthood, and if I had something I could offer as an incentive to get others to do it as well, I'd do it. But I don't. (At least, I don't think I do. Open to suggestions.) Thus, I'll just point you toward some writers who are. Buy John Scalzi's eBooks this week, and his profits go to Planned Parenthood. Also, Amanda Downum is offering signed copies of her highly-anticipated (by me, anyway) Kingdoms of Dust to the first 15 qualifying PP donators. Have at either one, if you are so inclined.
However, playing with idioms and slang? That's always fun. And, I think, an important thing to do. It seems like it was the underlying structure behind Douglas Hulick's Among Thieves, even to the point of bringing up the details of his Thieves Cant in the foreword. (I especially like how he admits that he combined historically accurate slang with stuff he just plain made up. I approve.)
I made up plenty of slang for Thorn of Dentonhill and the other books set in Maradaine. I even made a point of tweaking it a bit so that slang from the gangs in the Aventil neighborhood would be different from the slang of street kids over in Seleth and Keller Cove (in Holver Alley Crew). Some of the things came from wanting a slang word for something, and wanting to avoid our own word. Street kids and gang members would have a term for constabulary officers, and I didn't want "cop". I tried to think of what they might call them. Since patrol officers are all armed with handsticks (and might use them a little too freely on some street kids), the term "sticks" made perfect sense to me.
That, I think, is the key to doing this sort of thing: does it feel like a term or phrase that evolved naturally? Can someone reading it parse it a figure out the term from context? If so, then you've got a winner.
Idioms are a bit different. I wanted Druthal to have idioms that didn't necessarily apply in English, or meant something that the idiom in our language was too modern or culturally specific. Sometimes I look to idioms in other languages (though usually Spanish, for obvious reasons) and translate them literally into English. Case in point, one of my favorites in Spanish is one common response to ¿Cómo te va? ("How's it going?", or more literally, "How to you does it go?"), which is Va a la patada. Idiomatically, you're saying, "It's going badly", but literally you're saying, "It goes of the kick." In other words, "Life is kicking my ass." Thus, "the kick" could become slang for any kind of ill fortune.
---
A brief political aside, for those interested: I'm all for donating to Planned Parenthood, and if I had something I could offer as an incentive to get others to do it as well, I'd do it. But I don't. (At least, I don't think I do. Open to suggestions.) Thus, I'll just point you toward some writers who are. Buy John Scalzi's eBooks this week, and his profits go to Planned Parenthood. Also, Amanda Downum is offering signed copies of her highly-anticipated (by me, anyway) Kingdoms of Dust to the first 15 qualifying PP donators. Have at either one, if you are so inclined.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Worldbuilding: Constructed languages
I have to be honest, this is an area of Worldbuilding that I don't have the patience for. I mean that on a personal level; I don't have the patience to do it. I think it's really cool when done well. But that's not going to be me, unfortunately.
I say unfortunately, because on some level, I wish I did have that kind of patience. I think, when it is done correctly, it adds an incredible amount of flavor and character to one's world. I have some sense of linguistics and the rules one should follow to make a new language. My main character in Crown of Druthal (now trunked) was a linguist. And, after all, I am married to a polyglot. But even though I can totally get lost in mapmaking or history writing, trying to crack the spine of a new language can't keep my attention.
I do try and at least work out the broad brushstrokes of a culture's language, though. If they use alphabetic characters or pictographs. How sentences are structured. Words that represent unique or key cultural ideas.
(And I remain a big believer that one should never make up words when a perfectly good word already exists.)
I do like coming up with cultural quirks that are expressed through language and grammar. I came up with all sorts of craziness for the Poasian language. Verb conjugation diesn't just have first, second and third person, singular and plural. Second person is split into three different categories, dependent upon the relative social rank of the speaker and the person being spoken to. Third person is also split the same way, with an additional split depending on if the person is present or not. (Which creates a marvelous way for a high-ranked Poasian to dress down an underling-- instead of speaking to him using second-person-inferior, they could use third-person-inferior-absent. In essence saying, "I think so little of you I will pretend you aren't even in the room." just by using a different conjugation of the verb.)
But the actual nuts and bolts of vocabulary? Can't do it. I have tons of respect for those who can do it.
Anyone out there know any good constructed languages work? I'd love to check it out.
I say unfortunately, because on some level, I wish I did have that kind of patience. I think, when it is done correctly, it adds an incredible amount of flavor and character to one's world. I have some sense of linguistics and the rules one should follow to make a new language. My main character in Crown of Druthal (now trunked) was a linguist. And, after all, I am married to a polyglot. But even though I can totally get lost in mapmaking or history writing, trying to crack the spine of a new language can't keep my attention.
I do try and at least work out the broad brushstrokes of a culture's language, though. If they use alphabetic characters or pictographs. How sentences are structured. Words that represent unique or key cultural ideas.
(And I remain a big believer that one should never make up words when a perfectly good word already exists.)
I do like coming up with cultural quirks that are expressed through language and grammar. I came up with all sorts of craziness for the Poasian language. Verb conjugation diesn't just have first, second and third person, singular and plural. Second person is split into three different categories, dependent upon the relative social rank of the speaker and the person being spoken to. Third person is also split the same way, with an additional split depending on if the person is present or not. (Which creates a marvelous way for a high-ranked Poasian to dress down an underling-- instead of speaking to him using second-person-inferior, they could use third-person-inferior-absent. In essence saying, "I think so little of you I will pretend you aren't even in the room." just by using a different conjugation of the verb.)
But the actual nuts and bolts of vocabulary? Can't do it. I have tons of respect for those who can do it.
Anyone out there know any good constructed languages work? I'd love to check it out.
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