The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves to Sand Worms, the Words Behind World-Building

David J. Peterson

Sept 2015 · Sold by Penguin

About this eBook

An insider’s tour through the construction of invented languages from the bestselling author and creator of languages for Legendary's Dune, the HBO series Game of Thrones and the Syfy series Defiance

From master language creator David J. Peterson comes a creative guide to language construction for sci-fi and fantasy fans, writers, game creators, and language lovers. Peterson offers a captivating overview of language creation, covering its history from Tolkien’s creations and Klingon to today’s thriving global community of conlangers. He provides the essential tools necessary for inventing and evolving new languages, using examples from a variety of languages including his own creations, punctuated with references to everything from Star Wars to Janelle Monáe. Along the way, behind-the-scenes stories lift the curtain on how he built languages like Dothraki for HBO’s Game of Thrones and Shiväisith for Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World, and an included phrasebook will start fans speaking Peterson’s constructed languages. The Art of Language Invention is an inside look at a fascinating culture and an engaging entry into a flourishing art form—and it might be the most fun you’ll ever have with linguistics.

The Art of Language Invention includes a new chapter on phrases, specifically, word order, negation, question formation, pragmatic concerns, relativization, and subordination, providing a complete introduction to language creation and linguistics. Invented languages featured in the book now include Chakobsa from Legendary’s Dune, Trigedasleng (or Grounder) from The 100, Méníshè language from Motherland: Fort Salem and Ravkan from the Netflix series Shadow and Bone.  

Ratings and reviews

I believe that anyone with interest in languages could love this book, as did I. It has always seen an astonishing feat to create a conlang out of scratch - and although the effort still seems quite daunting, the book provides the needed encouragement and description of the basics of this process to at least give it a try. David J. Peterson manages really well to convey his position that language creation is an art. With the attention he gives to linguistics, I believe this book would appeal even to those who never gave conlanging a thought. At last, I need to commend the author for the style chosen for "The Art of Language Creation" - if we think this as a textbook, then we could only wish that more of those are written with the same lightheartedness and consideration to the reader, that doesn't sacrifice its instructional value in doing so. I give this book two thumbs up and I very much wish that we would see something more from David J. Peterson on that topic!

Essential.

About the author

David J. Peterson began creating languages in 2000, received his MA in Linguistics from the University of California, San Diego, in 2005, and cofounded the Language Creation Society in 2007. He has created languages for HBO’s Game of Thrones, Syfy’s Defiance and Dominion, the CW’s Star-Crossed, and Thor: The Dark World. He has also created languages for many other television shows, such as the CW's The 100, Netflix's The Witcher, and Showtime's Penny Dreadful, as well as films such as Marvel's Doctor Strange, Netflix's Bright, and Legendary's Dune.