Thursday, April 11, 2013

Fictional Languages You Wish You Could Speak



Ever wish you could speak Sindarin with the elves of Middle Earth? Or perhaps converse in Klingon aboard the starship Enterprise? Or maybe for once you would actually like to know what Chewbacca is really saying to Han Solo?

Literature and movies are replete with fictional languages, but some authors take it a step further by actually developing full-fledged lexicons and grammar for their make-believe cultures. It’s all part of world building, but when life imitates art, fans start learning these fictional tongues and make them a part of the real word. For instance, the bible has been translated into Klingon (no joke), and some Lord of the Rings forums are conducted in Elvish.

So what make-believe language would you like to learn to speak? Perhaps you already know one? Maybe the Dothraki of A Game of Thrones or Huttese of Star Wars or even Quenya from the Simarillion


18 comments:

  1. To be honest -- I just wish I had one of the translating fish from Hitchhiker's Guide. Then I could understand them all! :)

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  2. Yes, I'd like to know them all. Lol

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  3. I totally want to learn Elvish too! It's so pretty :)

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  4. Klingon! And there is even a university online where I could learn.

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  5. Well, Klingon is so darn popular... I mean, my daughter was born with Klingon-forehead, and then there's Klingon Boggle...

    So I think I'll go with Klingon too. Heh. Not very original, but I think it will help me communicate with my daughter.

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  6. Tolkien's Elvish language is sure beautiful.

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  7. I love the Elvish language. I used to be able to write the script (English words, but spelled phonetically in Elvish) which looked beautiful.

    To learn to speak though? I'll go with the crowd and say Klingon. I suspect there are more speakers of Klingon than of some real languages.

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  8. Definitely Elvish. But not until I learn Latin first. It may be just as dead as Elvish, but it's also very beautiful. :)

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  9. yeah, my geeky self learnt some elvish, and I regularly wrote in the elvish script to a follow geek... does that make me a mega geek?

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  10. I never thought about being able to speak the language, but I wish I could live in a Hobbit house!

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  11. I have to second the motion above about just using the Babel Fish. It would make things a lot easier if communication was instant!

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  12. Definitely Sindarin--sounds beautiful!

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  13. Believe it or not, I had students a few years ago who spoke both Klingon and Elvish -- and could write both. At least, that's what they said. I had no idea if they were right!

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  14. Its fascinating to be not oneself.
    But, I believe we'd all rather chose to be who we are (in the same tones and verses) than anyone else.
    Atleast, that's what I'd prefer.

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  15. I'm surprised by all the Klingon fans...q'pla! But I would have to say that Sindarin and Quenya are my favorites...just can't get enough Tolkien:)

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  16. My Eldest Son can speak and write Elvish, as well as another elven language he and a friend have created.

    At one time I knew Anglo-Saxon, which is close enough to Klingon to suffice.

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  17. I wish I could speak Elvish... :) I also love Game of Thrones....

    Thanks Mark for stopping by.

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