Crafting Fictional Languages

Fictional Languages

One of the challenges I faced while writing Mythikas Island was to avoid modern technical words, slang, jargon, idioms, expletives, and exclamations. Set in 3500 BCE ancient Greece, I had to develop a list of things characters would say when angry, surprised, etc. such as infant, hag, shrew, nag, son of a whelp, and pig's swill. In retrospect, I could have studied Greek and developed a richer vocabulary.

Several Fantasy and Science Fiction authors chose to construct an entire language.

J. R. R. Tolkein created an Elvish language for The Lord of The Rings. 

James Doohan and Jon Povill came up with the idea of the Klingon language for the Star Trek franchise. The language was further developed by Marc Okrand.

George R. R. Martin created Dothraki and Valyrian for Game of Thrones.

You don't have to develop an original language. Just adding a few original expletives, exclamations, tech jargon, flora, fauna, and every day items enrich your story world.

Your aliens and paranormal characters may have words and phrases unique to their species, which means making more than one reference list.

Magic spells and incantations are another opportunity to use constructed language. You can craft your own spell book or rely on Latin. 

J. K. Rowling developed spells and incantations for Harry Potter.

Rather than start from scratch, you can draw from ancient languages such as Egyptian, 
Greek, Hebrew, Latin,  Old Norse or the many Native American languages.

Create a glossary and refer to it as you write. It may be easier to put in *English word* placeholders and get creative during revision rounds.

As discussed last week, readers skip over words they don't understand. Unknown words act as speed bumps, interrupting the flow. It is essential to ensure the words are understood through context and description. Your goal is to keep the reader immersed. While constructed language is fun, it should not be confusing or make the reader flip back and forth to a glossary to understand what is happening. That is not the kind of page turning to aim for.

Further Reading:

Worldbuilding: Communication

Fictional Film and TV Languages You Can Learn

Create A Language

Fantasy Language Generator

Fake Word Generator

Vulgar Fantasy Language Generator software

Language Creation Society

Magic Generator

Alchemical Texts

Check out Story Building Blocks Build A World Workbook available in ebook and print.