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Inventors of Fantastic and Alien Tongues

Known among hobbyists and linguists as “conlangs,” constructed languages have a long history including Klingon, Na’vi and Dothraki languages —created by UCSC/UC Berkeley alum Marc Okrand, Paul Frommer and UCSD linguistics alum David Peterson, respectively.

All three can’t emphasize enough how important considerations of culture, environment and even biology are to their language creations. The four-fingered Na’vi, for instance, have an octal system for counting, not a decimal one. The Klingon surliness and warrior ethos is reflected in their language, and the nomadic horse culture of the Dothraki is in theirs.

What do people who move from place to place call “home”? Could, or should, Klingon have a word for “aspirin”? (Okrand decided that it would be okay for Klingon to have a word for “aspirin.” It means “coward’s medicine.”)

Read the full story “Language Crafters”

(via wildcat2030)

05/09/13 at 6:03pm
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