Created, constructed, and fictional languages Research Papers (original) (raw)

В статье обсуждается устройство искусственных языков, созданных для коммуникации с внеземными цивилизациями или изображающих коммуникативную систему инопланетян в произведениях литературы и кино. Демонстрируется, что такие языки чаще всего обладают небольшим количеством особых черт, которые отличают их от естественных человеческих языков, а по большей части воспроизводят свойства привычных нам коммуникативных систем: в частности, они опираются на вокально-слуховой и визуальный каналы коммуникации, линейны, до некоторой степени иконичны, пользуются двумерным монохромным письмом. Этот вывод подтверждается анализом трех известных примеров: языка линкос, пластинок «Пионера» Карла Сагана и языка гептаподов из фильма «Прибытие» (реж. - Д. Вильнев, 2016). Из этого следует, что изобретение искусственных языков представляет особенный интерес в тех случаях, когда оно выходит за рамки явлений, существующих в человеческом языке, - именно в этом и состоит самая сложная задача языкового конструирования.

This paper explores, firstly, how fictional languages are constructed for films and television series, and what functions they serve in relation to these audiovisual texts. The structure of some fictional languages will be examined in relation to the plots and genres of the films in which they appear. Secondly, the paper examines specific instances of fictional-language dialogue in films - with a focus on the questions: When is a fictional language used instead of English? When is it translated back to the text's base language? How is this translation veiled, explained, or otherwise communicated?

- by Bram Overbeeke
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- Media Studies, Translation Studies, Film Studies, Translation theory

Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Beantwortung der Frage, ob die vom polnischen Autoren Andrzej Sapkowski konzipierte und vom polnischen Entwicklerstudio CD Projekt RED umgesetzte Darstellung der distinkten Aen Seidhe-und Aen Llinge-Elfenkulturen und ihrer Sprache Hen Llinge im fiktiven Der Hexer-Universum unter den theoretischen Ansätzen des sprachlichen Relativismus von Revere D. Perkins und darauf aufbauenden Autoren zum eine passende Repräsentation darstellt. Die hier besprochenen Form des sprachlichen Relativismus beschreibt die Annahme, dass die Lebensrealität von Gruppen Einfluss auf grammatische und lexikalische Phänomene der von ihnen gesprochenen Sprachen haben kann. Perkins und Weiterführende vertreten die Theorie, dass die Gesellschaftsform von Zivilisationen die Existenz von deiktischen Markern in der darin gesprochenen Mehrheitssprache beeinflusst, indem sich mit zunehmender Gemeinschaftsgröße das Verhältnis zwischen einem Individuum bekannten und fremden Bezugspersonen verschiebt. Die Arbeit kommt dabei zum Ergebnis, dass die Aen Elle als sprachgebende Gesellschaft der Form einer mittelalterlich-europäischen Kultur entspricht und die Hen Llinge nach den angewandten Relativismusthesen dieser Zivilisationsform entspricht. Die Untersuchung geschieht am Beispiel eines in Hen Llinge geführten Dialogs aus dem digitalen Spiel The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings sowie der Darstellung der Elfenkulturen in The Witcher 2 sowie The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Artificial languages -- languages which have been consciously designed -- have been created for more than 900 years, although the number of them has increased considerably in recent decades, and by the early 21st century the total figure probably was in the thousands. There have been several goals behind their creation; the traditional one (which applies to some of the best-known artificial languages, including Esperanto) is to make international communication easier. Some other well-known artificial languages, such as Klingon, have been designed in connection with works of fiction. Still others are simply personal projects.
A traditional way of classifying artificial languages involves the extent to which they make use of material from natural languages. Those artificial languages which are created mainly by taking material from one or more natural languages are called a posteriori languages (which again include well-known languages such as Esperanto), while those which do not use natural languages as sources are a priori languages (although many a posteriori languages have a limited amount of a priori material, and some a priori languages have a small number of a posteriori components). Between these two extremes are the mixed languages, which have large amounts of both a priori and a posteriori material.
Artificial languages can also be classified typologically (as natural languages are) and by how and how much they have been used. Many linguists seem to be biased against research on artificial languages, although some major linguists of the past have been interested in them.

- by Alan Libert
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- Languages, Languages and Linguistics, Artificial Language, Linguistics

Words for berries in natural languages are of several types: semantically transparent compounds, e.g. English blueberry, somewhat semantically opaque compounds, e.g. English cranberry and raspberry, where it is not clear what the semantic contribution of the first component is (if there is any), and non-compounds, e.g. French fraise 'strawberry'. In addition, the set of fruits which are labelled as berries can differ in different languages. Given this variation, it would be interesting to look at such words in artificial (or constructed) languages, i.e. languages which have been consciously created. The most successful artificial language is Esperanto, but there have been more than a thousand others. This paper will look at terms for berries in various types of artificial languages: a posteriori artificial languages (e.g. Esperanto), which use one or more natural languages as sources, a priori languages (e.g. Ro), which do not do this, and mixed languages (e.g. Volapük), which occupy a middle ground between the first two types. A posteriori languages can be further classified according to which languages they are based on. Questions to be investigated include whether terms for berries are compounds, and if so, whether they are fully transparent, which sources these terms are taken from (in the case of a posteriori languages drawing on more than one languages), the ways in which they are similar in form (in the case of some a priori languages), and which fruits are treated as berries. From this work one might uncover general trends in the development of the vocabularies of artificial languages.

- by Alan Libert
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- Languages, Languages and Linguistics, Artificial Language, Linguistics

Critics have referred to David Peterson’s Dothraki and High Valyrian in the Game of Thrones television show as “the most convincing fictional tongues since Elvish” by the virtue of their vivid linguistic detail. These two languages play an important role in the Game of Thrones series and have permeated mainstream contemporary culture as a result of the show’s massive following. Indeed, these fictional languages permit the audience entry into the imaginary universe of the television series. There are multiple layers of access to the languages inside and outside of the series, and these layers of accessibility allow the audience to experience the languages as emblems of and encounters with the fictional peoples they serve to characterize.

Whilst linguistics are still being made use of to promote global harmony and international communication, suffice to say that similar efforts are becoming concentrated further towards use within the media. So to what extent does Tolkien's work, and those which followed, deviate from the earlier constructed languages? How do other artlangs compare to Elvish? And to what extent have artlangs affected people having become commonplace in modern-day media? These are questions which will be addressed in this paper, with the intention of illustrating not only how Tolkien influenced the current artlang era, but the extent of the impact that artlangs had, and continue to effect our current view of linguistics.

- by Matt Coombes
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- Aesthetics, Languages and Linguistics, Phonology, Phonetics

A constructed language project in process. Consists of influences from Romance languages as well as from Hindi and Kannada.

This undergraduate honors thesis explores several fictional languages on multiple linguistic levels including phonology, grammar, and lexicon in an attempt to uncover mechanisms underlying the creation and perception of languages. It... more

The thrust of the present paper is to explore the different hues that lead to the theory of fictional worlds. The starting point of fictionality is the same as the beginning concern of the literary theory. Aristotle‟s Poetics has, at its basis, an inquiry into the relationship between reality and representation. The foundational concept of the narrative theory is “mimesis.” Its concern and indication were and still a matter of controversy. The term has been interpreted by different interpretations. Each one of those interpretations has a different concept within it. Some researchers go with the meaning that the term “mimesis” means representation of the actual life. Some others go with the meaning that the term “mimesis” means making. This controversy leads to different hues of literary criticism. Among these hues are the theory of One-World Frame and the theory of Possible Worlds/Fictional Worlds.

Popular Culture Association National Conference, April 2015

- by J Caroline Toy
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- Folklore, Fan Studies, Fan Cultures, Created, constructed, and fictional languages
- by Alan Libert
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- Syntax, Esperantic Studies, Artificial Language, International Planned Languages

A preview of the first chapter from my forthcoming book "The Elvish Writing Systems of J.R.R. Tolkien", covering Tolkien's history in writing systems, the origins of Sindarin and Quenya, the Tengwar, Cirth and Sarati, a history of Arda... more

- by Matt Coombes
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- Languages and Linguistics, J. R. R. Tolkien, Neuroaesthetics, Artificial Language

Although hundreds of artificial languages designed for international use have been created in the last few centuries (the best known of which is Esperanto), Korea has largely remained outside of this sphere of activity: most such languages were created in Europe or North America, and few of them make use of words from Korean. This is in spite of the fact that there is a reasonably active Esperanto movement in Korea. In this paper I shall examine the situation of artificial auxiliary languages in Korea and focus on the only major Korean artificial language, Unish, which was designed by some members of Sejong University, Seoul. Some properties of Unish will be examined in order to determine whether they can be attributed to the Korean linguistic context. I shall also look at the extent to which Korean vocabulary and grammar have been used in the construction of artificial auxiliary languages created in other countries.

- by Alan Libert
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- Korean Studies, South Korea, Korean linguistics, Esperantic Studies
- by Eleonor Botoman
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- Multilingualism, Hybridity, Migration, Science Fiction
- by Alan Libert
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- Artificial Language, Altaic Linguistics, International Planned Languages, Esperanto

Entry in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences

- by Alan Libert
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- Esperantic Studies, Artificial Language, International Planned Languages, Esperanto

Translation of Saint-Exupéry's "Le Petit Prince" into Kumanish (a constructed language, autonym : kumaniẽ, French : koumanien)

Arab World English Journal (AWEJ).Vol.6 No.1.March... more

Handout for talk given at the Sydney Language Festival October 8, 2016. Vela is an artificial language designed by an Australian, Ben Prist, who considers it "the easiest language possible", and how appears rather defensive about it, as... more

Eurasto is a (very obscure) artificial auxiliary language created by a Major G. Tacchi of Southsea, England; it is based on English. Artificial languages are languages which have been deliberately created, unlike natural languages such as Turkish and English; artificial auxiliary
langauges are artificial languages meant to be used as means of communication among people who do not speak the same natural languages. Most major artificial auxiliary languages, e.g. Esperanto, aim have simple morphology so as to make them easier to learn; they will thus have very few different forms of verbs. However, Eurasto has 13 moods, more than many or most natural languages, the simple, negative, endeavor, intensive, feeble, commence, continue, end, perhaps, potential, bias, volative, and imperative. This paper will look at these moods in an
effort to determine whether they are all in fact moods (or whether some of them should rather be labelled as aspects), and when they occur. To answer the second question the very limited amount of textual material in Eurasto can be examined to see to what extent verb forms with
these moods occur (it might not be surprising if some of them do not occur at all outside of sentences used to exemplify them), and in what contexts they occur. This will be done to a limited extent in the present paper. Comparisons will be made with other artificial languages
which also have complex verbal morphology.

- by Alan Libert
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- Languages, Languages and Linguistics, Linguistics, Esperanto

A priori artificial languages are attempts to build languages from scratch, unlike artificial languages such as Esperanto, which are largely or entirely built from items in natural languages (the latter type of languages are known as a posteriori languages). Artificial languages are
languages which have been consciously created, as opposed to natural languages such as Turkish and English. Although artificial languages have been created for various purposes (e.g. in connection with a work of fiction), this paper will be limited to those created as auxiliary
languages, that is, languages designed to aid international communication. It will also be limited to languages created in the 19th or 20th centuries (although there are much older a priori languages). The vocabularies of a priori languages are often or usually built on the principle that words with similar meanings should have similar forms. By looking at the word ‘woman’ in such languages, one might learn something about what their designers felt about the concept of
‘woman’, and its relations to other concepts, such as ‘man’. The languages examined in this paper will include aUI, Babm, Lingualumina, Ro, Sona, and Suma.

Review of The Sad Part Was by Prabda Yoon

- by Erik Noonan
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- Fiction Writing, Translation Studies, Thai Studies, Religion and Thai Culture

Eighty-one years after Pinocchio (1940), Walt Disney and Pixar are back with a new animated film set entirely in Italy, Luca (2021). It is a coming-of-age story based on a deep friendship between two sea monster boys and a human girl from Portorosso, an imaginary sea coastal town in the Cinque Terre (Liguria), in the nostalgic mid-1950s. This study intends to investigate the construction of Italianness in the film on the visual and acoustic levels. First, this article will briefly examine the visual representation of Italian people, objects and traditions that contribute to the overall construction of fictional Italianness in the film. Then, the fictional language used to characterise the inhabitants of Portorosso to distinguish them from the sea monsters will be examined in more detail; this will be done by analysing code-switching instances, where Italianisms will be included in four different categories. Unlike Pinocchio, Luca's producers have created an artificial code that is of particular interest to researchers in the field of Sociolinguistics and Audiovisual Studies. This study will mainly focus on the construction of identity and Kozloff 's functions of film dialogues. In the final sections of the article, which will analyse code-switching, Brown and Levinson's impoliteness theory will also be addressed.

The present text is a grammar of the Tanua ideolanguage, developed in 2020 by Rafael Alejandro Arévalo González, Leidy Viviana Martínez Chavarro and Kevin Zahir Obando Arenas, using as a basis the language and community developed in 2019... more

This is the handout for a one-day (six-hour) workshop intended to introduce aspects of language and linguistics in an informal, playful way. Topics discussed include sounds (phonology), writing systems, grammar (syntax and morphology), language change (historical linguistics), and relations between language and thought (psycholinguistics). To explore these and other aspects of language, participants are asked to "construct" a fictional language.
Because this workshop is given in English in Japan, it is assumed that most attendees speak those two languages (or are somewhat familiar with both at least), and for that reason, most examples are from English and Japanese.

- by Lajos Brons
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- Languages and Linguistics, Phonology, Linguistics, Writing systems
- by Lea Schäfer
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- Yiddish, Created, constructed, and fictional languages

The teaching of second languages in school classrooms is often
conducted through the use of ‘direct’ and ‘immersion’ methods,
while grammar is reserved for the first language. However, pupils
spontaneously raise important questions for general and theoretical
linguistics which could be better addressed through an
interlinguistic comparison of first and second language grammars
in the pupils’ repertoires. This paper explains the method used in
a pilot experiment in fieldwork. The experiment was conducted in the fourth class of a Montessori primary school, where pupils
constructed from scratch a posteriori language to be used for
secret communication among themselves―but not to be used with
the rest of the school. During the process of the construction of
this language, all aspects were discussed in the class: phonetics
and writing systems, morphology and syntax, semantics and
pragmatics. The main educational result was the increase in
pupils’ metalinguistic awareness, as well as the confidence that
they gained in their own language proficiency.

A preview of the second chapter from my forthcoming book "The Elvish Writing Systems of J.R.R. Tolkien", covering Tolkien's history in writing systems, the origins of Sindarin and Quenya, the Tengwar, Cirth and Sarati, a history of Arda... more

Constructed wetlands can be used for bioremediation of landfill leachate (LL) making it safe to discharge into the environment. Wetland plants (reed and willow), contribute to pollutant removal, particularly of organic and nitrogen loads. Root exudates stimulate microbial activity and elevate oxygen levels in the rhizosphere which promotes nitrification. This study investigated the effects of reed and willow on bioremediation of LL in comparison with an unplanted control by measuring redox potential levels in the rhizosphere of microcosm systems in a greenhouse. Redox potential in the reed rhizosphere was consistently the highest, with the willow rhizosphere consistently the lowest. Redox potential fluctuated in the willow rhizosphere during daylight hours, with large decreases in the morning. Levels of NH4+ decreased dramatically in the first day of the experiment and remained at similar low levels in all tanks. Removal of ammonia took place in the control tank with peaks in NO2- and NO3-, but levels of NO3- remained high. Removal of ammonia was also observed in the reed tank with a peak in NO2-, but there was no peak in NO3-, as well as in the willow tank, but there were no peaks in NO2- or NO3-. Final levels of total-nitrogen, nitrate and chemical oxygen demand where considerably lower in the reed and willow tank than the unplanted control.

- by Antonio Albuquerque and +1
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- Environmental Engineering, Landscape Ecology, Environmental Science, Architecture