Invented Languages -- This way lies madness?

[Teresa Edgerton]

So I've absolutely loved Tolkien since I was a teenager, and made up my mind all the way back then to become a writer of epic fantasy -- but somehow waited until what one might IMAGINE were years of greater discretion to attempt the invented language thing.

It was alternately fun and interesting, and deeply frustrating. The whole business of highly inflected languages and conjugated verbs is, I am now convinced, clear evidence of demonic forces at work in human affairs. (Well, OK, maybe not that bad, but they make for a lot of work when inventing a language that isn't mere word substitution for one's native tongue.)

I'm committed to continuing the process for the next two books, but whether or not I would ever try such a thing again remains to be seen.

Has anyone else here experimented with invented languages? Did you enjoy the process? Did it drive you crazy? Would you do it again?

 

[polymorphikos]

Shluvetz! Èv èra miadre vâl!

In other words, yes, I used to be quite into constructed languages, and I have a considerable lexicon of the language eloin sitting in the back of a battered exercise book. I also blame it on Tolkien, although he only gave stamina to something I'd already been doing beforehand poorly (I love false alphabets and codes, and often make notes in IPA to deceive casual observers). These days, however, I've kind of drifted away from it, although I do still use the word "doi" (dwaa) now and then.

 

[Michael]

I attempted the same thing about 18 years ago, but I've done a lot of moving about since then and lost all of my notes. The work was so tedious that I thought I'd wait before starting it all over again.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Ah, so I'm not the only one here crazy enough to try this. There are at least three of us.

I've already told you what I think about verb tenses -- but what part(s) of language construction did you find the most difficult/frustrating?

 

[polymorphikos]

Trying to form sentence structure once the grammar was laid down, and trying to express complex concepts. The best part was inventing words without English equivalent.


Orthography was also a bit of a pain. I kept running-out of readily-accessible accents.

 

[Esioul]

I've never tried this, generally because I don't write things where I feel I need it, and also because the idea scares me a bit.

 

[polymorphikos]

I've never tried this, generally because I don't write things where I feel I need it, and also because the idea scares me a bit.

??

 

[Esioul]

What?

 

[Stargazer1976]

I'm actually working on something that is similar to what you are asking about but not truly a different language. I don't think I would ever be capable of that.

 

[Circus Cranium]

Wow, either you guys are super ambitious, or I'm super lazy. I have enough trouble weaving my plot lines together, and coming up with unusual names and attributes for my characters.

Huh, I wonder if anyone has every written a book solely in Klingon?

 

[Michael]

I'd say that I was super ambituous when I tried it. Tolkien did not write much that wasn't related to Middle Earth (if anything?), so maybe it took him a long time to do it.

Lately, I have focused on developing magical systems, complex plots, and struggling to make my characters believable. That stuff is hard enough without trying to create a new language.

But I have tried to work in a "language context" for The Defiler's Rule, developing bits and pieces to incoporate into the work and trying to maintain some kind of consistency with it.

Incidentally, my memory of those years is kind of hazy (EDIT: back in my early twenties). Too many parties and such. I can't remember which part was the most difficult. I seem to recall problems developing an extensive vocabulary . . .

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I don't know about ambitious -- in my case it was more a combination of desperation and curiosity. After all these years of naming people and places the well was beginning to run dry on that one, and I thought that perhaps starting the process at the language level might provide some new inspirations. Also, it was one aspect of world building I had never tried -- or, up until that point, even thought of trying -- so that was what motivated the curiosity part.

And it did open up some new inspirations, in all aspects of world building really, not just the naming part. If I had only confined my efforts to developing a vocabulary it would have been a purely rewarding experience, because I enjoyed that part in spite of minor difficulties and hitches, but once I got into the whole grammar question, the REAL difficulty began.

It's possible that being somewhat dyslexic made it all much worse.

 

[Michael]

I must confess that I had not started completely from scratch. I used my French lessons as a starting point.

 

[littlemissattitude]

Hah! I have enough trouble with English. Why in the world would I try to invent a language?

 

[Brian G Turner]

I have no capacity for the technicalities of language, so rather than invent my own, I usually take an existing one and corrupt it along clear linguistic rules for the naming of things.

Actual new language excerpts I very rarely touch, and requires a compelling reason to include it - I'm always aware that, as a writer, where I dabble in topics I do not properly understand, there will always be critics to rip myself apart for that if not careful.

I'm under the impression that Tolkien was a linguist by training, so the complex construction of languages would have been a relatively familiar topic. I guess that is one of the particular strengths of his own writing.

 

[Michael]

I agree, Brian. In fact, I believe its mentioned in the foreword of at at least one edition that he began the story as "an exercise in linguistics." Without his training, I'd expect that this kind of project requires extensive research at the very least.

 

[Neil040]

I agree, Brian. In fact, I believe its mentioned in the foreword of at at least one edition that he began the story as "an exercise in linguistics." Without his training, I'd expect that this kind of project requires extensive research at the very least.

That is more than a little true re Tolkien.. did you know his background? I took a particular interest in him because I fell in love with his work as a teenager and a few years later discovered that he grew up in the same area of south Birmingham that I did.. the same mill and river I played in was the one that inspired him also.. but also that he went to the same grammar school too! Too cool for words I thought!!

Anyway, at that school he apparently was a freaky genius of linguistics.. he actually debated in latin.. became one of the few people alive who could SPEAK Anglo Saxon.. and became an expert linguist in ancient Nordic! Gawd knows how you do all this by the time you are 18 but there you go.. lol

So... the languages of his books.. he tried to develop them from his knowledge of all those ancient languages.. the way he did this was BACKWARDS! He actually tried to imagine the origin of the classic northern languages and retro-engineer to end up with the elven and dwarven tongues.. no-one else has ever done anything remotely like that as far as I know.. which explains to some extent how his languages are fully phonetically and grammaticaly correct...

So have a go...

 

[Aedan]

Like Tolkien, I am basing my languages on other sweet-sounding languages (or at least languages that read sweetly (as in welsh, finnish, etc.)).

It does take a long time, but the most difficult part of it is creating the grammatic rules. Words, for me, are simple. Grammatics, on the other hand, are not my forte.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes, the words were much the easiest for me, too. Particularly because I based a lot of them on Welsh or Irish -- I do love the look and the sound of those languages.

 

[Aedan]

Interesting... I hadn't thought of Irish. Did you base them off of Gaelic-Irish, or just Irish?