Maxime
Introduction of Myself
Hello, I am Maxime, a Languages student.
One of my main hobbies is listening to music, and through discovering new genres I ended up listening to music in different languages than my own, which made me curious and interested about learning new languages and learning about how they were formed. I have since then been attracted and fascinated by all types of languages, especially the way they are created and built. I am also definitely interested in the acquisition (and, later on, in the translation) of new languages, especially those of North Germanic roots (Old Norse, Norwegian, Icelandic), which is something that has kept me involved in further learning (often through music) about the different Scandinavian cultures.
Studying languages, an aspect which has interested me for a long time now has been to build my own language(s). I have a particular interest for constructed languages (conlangs), and how individuals such as myself can come up with an entirely written and spoken system of communication. Following and commited to this creative approach to language, this passion for constructed languages has kept me engaged in the creation of my own languages, which is something I regularly devote myself to.
For the presentation of my blog, I have decided to focus on what Constructed Language is, what it represents, and I will follow with a presention of a unique language I have created for this class throughout the semester, and how it compares to other invented languages. To create this language (Sy'mmerian), I am inspiring myself of what I know of North Germanic languages, mainly Icelandic and Old Norse, and try to make it slightly similar in its writing but distinct in its spoken form.
Constructed Language (Conlang)
Definition of conlang
: an invented language intended for human communication that has planned and cohesive phonological, grammatical, and syntactical systems (Merriam-Webster).
Table of Contents
I: Constructed Language (Conlang)
II: What it Represents
III: Pioneers
IV: Conlang Examples
V: An In-Depth Study of Sy'mmerian
i) Introduction to Sy'mmerian
ii) Vocabulary & Verbs
iii) Translation
"From now on I will consider a language to be a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. All natural languages in their spoken or written form are languages in this sense."
- Noam Chomsky
I. Constructed Language
(Conlang)
Constructed Language is an art in which people concentrate themselves on to create their own vocabulary, and although its use has been acclaimed by the public through popular media fanbases (Game of Thrones, Marvel, Avatar), its creation and original purposes reach much deeper.
Constructed Language is the skill of language creation, it is a mean of communication used for people within a restricted group of people with the knowledge of a shared language. This interest in language has originally served for fictional purposes, but its creative growth has encompassed that of reality, leading crowds of people in pursuing a professional career in this domain.
II. What it
Represents
Conlang is a very large group encompassing every type of individuals who are willing to commit to creating and crafting their own language(s), sharing it or not with others.
In the United States of America, it is a movement that is regrouped under a formal association called the Language Creation Association, which encourages its members to share and volunteer in the movement's growth through their frequent meetings.
IV. Conlang
Examples
There are many famous constructed languages that are very popular and known to many of us, per example Klingon from Star Trek, or Dothraki from Game of Thrones.
Despite their fictional existence, conlangs can also be inspired and used in every day life, such as Esperanto which has been inspired by both Romance and Germanic languages.
Per example, fictional languages such as Valyrian and Klingon are taught on Duolingo.
As such, one of the most famous conlangs comes from the Star Trek universe: Klingon. Its creator, Marc Okrand, much in the same process that David J. Peterson (of Game of Thrones) would follow years later, invented a complete intelligible language based on an already existing culture of a race of people. Klingon has now spread worldwide and is almost as famous as its source of origin in which it stars in.
There are many other famous conlangs, in part due to J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion books. He has created a few dozens of languages, making him the conlanger with the largest colelction of created languages. Including in that number fifteen languages solely for Elves, he has almost spent his whole life (around 63 years) creating and perfecting his languages, which he put of use in his stories. The most famous languages being Sindarin and Quenya, he went as far creating nearly one different alphabet for each language he came up with. He gave languages for everything he could give the ability of speech to, even trees (along with dwarves, men, hobbits, orcs).
Another example following in the lead of Tolkien is the Nadsat language, used in the famous book (then movie) A Clockwork Orange. Inspiring himself strongly of the Russian language, Anthony Burgess created a fictional language for his dystopian story. His most famous words are droogs for friends, horrorshow for good and even bog for god.
V. An In-Depth Study of
Sy'mmerian
This part will be divised in three sections, starting with i) Introduction, a summary of what the language is and where it comes from. Following that, is ii) Vocabulary and Verbs, a presentation of the words, letters, verbs, and sounds used. At the end, there is iii) Translation, in which I am presenting a translation of a poem from English to Sy'mmerian.
Introduction, What is Sy'mmerian?
For the creation of this language, I have inspired myself of the aesthetic and of the sounds of Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Danish, etc.), with a particular attention to Faroese, Icelandic, and Old Norse.
Sy'mmerian is a language which draws mostly from ideas of how the North Germanic languages cited above could have evolved differently under a diverse set of creative ideas.
My goal with this language is to show how accessible it is to come up with a unique, precise vocabulary of words which will grow on to a language of its own. Under the creation of Sy'mmerian, even though I read a lot about Northern languages, no single words or concepts were directly borrowed and brought to the lexicon. What I did borrow was the idea/concept of how those Scandinavian words were shaped and how they sounded, which served as a base model for my own words.
Going further with this language, I plan to create and shape a fictional culture of its own, which will in turn evolve gradually as my language does. Sharing with the video linked below the idea that language is more than just a tool, I want to show through my own made-up vocabulary what I can express, which other languages may restrict me to do so. I also want to show that by creating a language you also create a culture through your own ideas, and creating/learning a language are valuable skills to acquire.
Sy'mmerian Alphabet
a, e, i, o, ü, y
d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t
Vocabulary & Verbs
Verbs & Pronouns
Concerning verbs and pronouns, Sy'mmerian works a little bit differently than the established system for French or English. For the verb to be (mah'at), here is the table :
Mah'at (to be)
- Fe'j/Fee'j mah (I am)
- Se'j/See'j mahr (you are)
- Ere's mah'at (he/she/it is)
- Naa'n mah'an (we are)
- Vaa'd mah'atne (you are)
- Ere's mah'en (they are)
For the pronoun I, there are two options which suit different situations. The first one, Fe'j, is used in the singular form sentence, whereas Fee'j is used in the plural form sentence. For example : "I love the dragon" would translate to "Ar Fe'j er Dragnyr", and "I love the dragons" into "Ar Fee'j eren Dragnyren". The same process can be applied to the second singular form "Se'j/See'j".
Singular & Plural
As briefly explored before, there are various differences between the two forms. A word like Dragnyr (dragon), in its singular form will remain intact, but in the plural form, the suffix -en is added to the end of the word, giving us Dragnyren.
How to make a sentence
Another element I have introduced in the sentences shown above is the sentence structure, which is V-S-O, in opposition to English, where it is S-V-O.
In example:
Myht Fe'j Egast'eem.
In the previous sentence, which translate to "I was a child", the verb initiates the sentence, and the closing element is the object. In this case, the object "eem", standing for "one", will always stand at the end of the word for which it applies.
An important concept to grasp is the capitalisaton of common words. Such words as angel, kingdom, sea appear respectfully as Tena, Faarsy and Aüra.
An exception to all other words is the word for "all", which is the only uncommon word that is capitalised (Seg).
Pronunciation
Concerning the pronunciation of the words, here's a guide on the sounds and exceptions:
- T = pronounced as hard G, except if the T preceeds an apostrophe. In example, since the word for child "Egast" will always be followed by an apostrophe, its last letter will always be pronounced as the T sound in english vocabulary (eɪ - k - ɑst). The word for reason, Natari, is thefore pronounced as nægæri.
- G = pronounced as a hard C, as seen in the case studied above (IPA: k)
- J: if placed before a vowel, it will be pronounced as a Y, per example: Maja would be pronounced as mæjæ, or even Ja'ar as jæ'eɪr. However, if no vowel is in front of it, it sounds like dʒ. The word for in, anj, is pronounced as ændʒ.
- A: pronounced as æ most of the time, there is an exception. In words like ja'ar, er'a, and dov'a, where the letter A is preceeded by an apostrophe, it changes its sound to the "ey" in "hey". An example is the pronunciation of the word er'a: eɪr-eɪ.
- Ü: pronounced as aʊ, it is the least frequently used letter in the Sy'mmerian alphabet. It is used in solely three words, one of them being the word of Sea (Aüla: æ-aʊ-læ).
- Another case is when two vowels follow themselves, except if an apostrophe is placed between them or if the letter R preceeds them directly. If two vowels follow themselves, it will cause the R sound to appear. Note: the words Faarsy (kingdom: fæ-ær-si) and eem (one: i-im) are exceptions to this case. For example, in the word Aamne (spider: æ-ræm-neɪ), there is the addition of a new sound, which is the letter R. As such, the process doesn't apply to the word na'antal (whom: næ-æn-gæl), since the apostrophe doesn't permit the rule to apply.
"Translation is the other side of a tapestry" Cervantes
Translation
When translating from English to Sy'mmerian, as will be the case below, it is necessary to remember the sentence order being V-S-O, and not S-V-O as in English.
Taking into account that the culture of Sy'mmerian is fictional, thefore different than that of English, its cultural and religious references are much shorter, as they are not aware of the beliefs and figures of our religions. Explaining briefly the word choice for the poem translated after this part, the words for seraphs and angels do not have their equivalent, because the Sy'mmerian culture have no beliefs in such beings. The word for both these words is Tena (teɪ-næ), which represents the mythical beliefs regarding in an individual whose life continues after death in a paradisiacal haven.
In regards to paradisiacal haven, there is no concept of heaven or hell, so the word for heaven is Haan (hæ-ræn). Described as an utopian place of refuge existing in folklore tales, Haan is the closest concept to the word heaven.
Some words, most often proper nouns, do not have Sy'mmerian equivalent, so they are translated according to the closest word in their vocabulary. In example, the proper noun Annabel doesn't exist, but the word Aamna (spider) and the suffix -be put together create the closest form to Annabel.
Annabel Lee
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
A'amnabe Lee
Mahyn Ere's rane y'l rane Gaant'eem la'j
Anj'eem Faarsy pas er'a Aüla
Daj'eem Aana aryn de'em na'antal nahat Se'j dov'a
Pas ere Eln'ie A'amnabe Lee
Y'l daj Aana aryn Ere's mar'sera ged Taal
Ja'ar nol arah y'l mahat ared pas fyg
Myht Fe'j Egast'eem y'l Er'e mahyn Egast'eem
Anj daj Faarsy pas era Aüla
Erem ared N'aan mar'eem Ara'a mahyn daj tare ja'ar
Fe'j y'l faggan A'amnabe Lee
Mar'eem Ara'a daj eren ayaen Tena'ie Haan
Angari Er'e y'l fyg
Y'l mahyn daj er Natari daj, an'ega la'j,
Anj daj Faarsy pas era Aüla
ay'd'eem fyn jna'ie Loh'eem, galaan
faggan alomnie A'amnabe Lee
sy daj Er'e ylnaar Man'angar fanjy
y'l egsaal Er'e mert ga fyg
na tyyme Er'e dahan anj'eem Agg'a
Anj daj Faarsy pas era Aüla
Erie Tena'en, ged an'ga sy Ny'agal anj Haan
manjy agdil Er'e y'l fyg
Sa| mahyn daj er Nagari (sam lyggan Myona'en qajna,
Anj daj Faarsy pas era Aüla)
Daj er ay'd fanjy jna'ie er Loh pas Nagga,
Galaan y'l agali faggan A'amnabe Lee
Erem nae Arah mahyn er'es pas far ja'ar era Arah
Da'ie mah'en sqan aiml'a ja'ar naa'n
Da'ie rane agila sa'ila ja'ar naa'n
Y'l nadre erie Tenaie anj Haan kela
Nad erie Harasie det'a era gara Aüla
Men aqaer gaqiali faggan aad mer ere aad
Da'ie era alomnie A'amnabe Lee
Ag er'e Mine jagna magena, leman mar'sera fyg
Golmie
Da'ie era alomnie A'amnabe Lee
Y'l erie Gesie jagna ten'at, erem saa Fe'j erie ru Fan'jie
Da'ie era alomnie A'amnabe Lee
Y'l sy, Seg ere Nagalm, Fe'j lie ne'j pas era jan
Da'ie faggan Sian, faggan Sian, faggan Mus'je y'l faggan braab'ja,
Anj er'es Agg'a de'em pas era Aüla
Anj er'es Agg'a pas era sraam Aüla.
Sources
One of the most difficult words to translate..., by Krystian Aparta
TED-Ed, "One of the mot difficult words to translate..." Youtube, commentary by Krystian Aparta, 6 September 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNV7CsKI5m8
In this insightful video about translation, the narrator delves deep into the use, meaning and the different ways of accurately translating pronouns from a language to another. There are numerous different scenarios requiring different personal (or not) pronouns in many languages, per example French and Spanish. It was interesting to learn about how pronouns are being used in different contexts and how to differentiate their meaning according to the context in which it is used. The concept of translating the formal singular pronoun "you" from a language (A) to another one (B), is much more complex than just rewriting it literally. You need to be aware of its specialities and to know how and when to include it. If language A has a formal singular pronoun for "you" according to some laws established in its language, it may be not be the same case in B, so the formality expressed in the first language cannot therefore be seen in the second one. Even though I was aware of th existence of the formal "you" in French, I didn't think there were many more different possibilities to express such formality as Spanish (or any other qualified language) has.
Language Creation: The Basics, by Edgar Grunewald
Artifexian, "Language Creation: The Basics." Youtube, commentary by Edgar Grunewald, 13 April 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFWc0sBO62c&t
In this explanation of language creation, Edgar Grunewald defines the fundamental steps of the creative process going on in the creation of one's vocabulary, and how you can create your own following his own research he made on the subject. Creating a series of sounds relating to your language, according to him, is one of the key factors in making a language, as it helps shape what your lexicon will look like. Choosing the right sound and designing an alphabet is also part of the process involving your creativity, and as an additional tool, he refers to the International Phonetic Alphabet table. An aspect I have found useful in this video is the part in which Grunewald examines translation, and how it applies when you translate from your invented language to another, or vice versa.
WORDbuilding, by Edgar Grunewald
Artifexian. "WORDbuilding." Youtube, commentary by Edgar Grunewald, 23 October 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TocHnrdaNG8
In his commentary video, Edgar Grunewald explains the linguist's process of creating his vocabulary: word-building. Although he says there are no correct ways to invent languages, there's a certain logic behind developing words from linguistic roots within the boundaries of the language. His own process, as he shares, isn't to translate every single English words into his own vocabulary, but to go along as he needs words. This process is then more coherent and probably more efficient and intelligible than if one were to translate the dictionnary. By taking a general idea for a word, may it be influenced by the sound of the word he wants to translate/create, he chooses a root and build upon it. The fact that Grunewald is able/has thought of building words according to their link in nature and the sounds they imitate. This is a genuinely informative video on how the roots of an idea can grow upon the construction of a whole vocabulary.
Conlang Critic: Sindarin, by Mitch
Conlang Critic, "Conlang Critic: Sindarin (featuring Artifexian)." Youtube, commentary by Mitch, 30 November 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY7EEBUgg6Y
In this video, it is explained that Tolkien did not in fact create languages to enrich his stories, but the other way around. He created the Lord of the Rings universe so he could put all the languages he created to use. In order to create his Elf language called Sindarin, Tolkien inspired himself from the Celtic and Welsh languages. In the video, there is a short study of the Celtic language in order to grasp a deeper knowledge of how Sindarin was created and how it should be spoken and written. For the phonology, Tolkien inspired himself from Welsh, as the sounds in Welsh attracted him to imitate them. It is very impressive to learn how Tolkien combined languages together to create a fictional one, and it supports the work I have tried to do with Scandinavian and Germanic languages for my own language.
Speaking in Tongues, by Josephine Livingstone
Livingstone, Josephine. "Speaking in Tongues." The New Republic, 8 October 2015, https://newrepublic.com/article/122961/fantastical-rise-invented-languages.
This article written by Josephine Livingstone is a broad but confined informative article about what conlang is, and what people seeking professional opportunities can expect do be doing. This is both interesting for someone to learn about the subject of construted language, but it is also helpful to those who are wondering what it is about. In her article, Livingstone argues that what a linguist is doing by creating a language for a society isn't science, but rather "an act of cultural interpretation." That is a direct reference to the idea or concept that language is closely defined by the culture and social environment of what we are surrounded by.
Ver
The Art of Language Invention, by David J. Peterson
Peterson, David J. The Art of Language Invention. Penguin, 2015.
As he introduces himself, David J. Peterson explains what one can expect by reading such a book on language invention. There are many subjects exaplined in depth in this guide to conlang, and the first one is the four different types of conlang. What Peterson wrote down here starts as a strong introduction guide for beginners in conlang which then develops into a well-built and well-thought of guide which explores every single details that goes in the making of language. In his book, Peterson explores subject such the roots of words, the norms of gender and the shape of words in phonology. As the creation of one's language develops, it is important to keep in mind the goal of what the language is and what it will be used for. As a whole, the book is a huge piece of information that encompasses any type of informations one could ask for concerning conlang and the process of creating one.
Advanced Language Construction, by Mark Rosenfelder
Rosenfelder, Mark. Advanced Language Construction. Yonagu Books, 2012.
Advanced Language Construction is a book both for a study of what constructed language stands for, but it also serves as a general approach to linguistics. This book covers a lot of the structures of languages and how they are built, this is a great tool to examine the basis of what a language stands on, and how languages develop. It is also a tool to learn about phonology, phonotactics and how to put the stress in the words. It is also helpful with the building of your words and your sounds, which is the basis of language creation.
Literary mysteries: Did Tolkien really create entire languages for his books? by Tracy Mumford
Mumford, Tracy. "Literary mysteries: Did Tolkien really create entire languages for his books?" Minnesota Public Radio, 31 March 2015, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/03/31/books-bcst-question-tolkien-languages.
This article is very useful in order to understand and grasp the importance of Tolkien's linguistic work towards fictional languages. Tolkien approached the subject of conlang and stretched its boundaries to show how accessible and straightforward it is for one to spend time creating languages. Yet, even if he showed us he had an ease with the creation of languages, which must have been effortless since he spoke around 35 languages and probably created around the same amount of fictional ones, there is a lot of knowledge to learn and apply to the language invention process. In order to show how superior his linguistic skills were, he even once declared he would have preferred to write his books in his Elvish languages rather than in English. Regardless of how Tolkien shared his work, he has amassed a colossal collection of languages that are yet to be fully studied.