Linguistics Jobs: Interview with a Language Creator
These interviews are always titled “Interview with a...”, but when it comes to language creation, David J. Peterson has been the person over the last decade bringing other worlds to life with his conlang skills. He’s behind the Dothraki, and Valyrian languages from Game of Thrones, Shiväisith from Thor: The Dark World and Trigedasleng from The 100. As well as being a very talented language creator and font maker, David is also an enthusiastic and supportive person who is always the first to point out the great work being done by other language creators. Check out his website for some of his favorites.
David is on Twitter (@Dedalvs), and here on Tumblr (@dedalvs). He also has a great book on constructing language called The Art of Language Invention (my review here), and supporting videos that go into more detail on YouTube.
What did you study at university?
I began at UC Berkeley as an English major, then added Linguistics as a second fun major. I finished both, and then went on to graduate school in Linguistics at UC San Diego, where I received my Master's degree.
I work on a variety of different projects in film and television and sometimes theater. What I do varies, depending on what stage of a project I'm at, and what I'm working on that day. The longer the project lasts, the more time I'll be spending translating into my new conlang than creating the language. Actual language creation is done during the first stage; thereafter it's just translation, recording, and general consulting or voice coaching, depending on the project. Sometimes I also create writing systems, which entails designing the system, and then, if necessary, building a font for it, and then after that doing translation as well as trouble-shooting. I've also written a few books, so sometimes part of my day is spent working on a new book project.
How does your linguistics training help you in your job?
In creating a language, nothing you learn about language is wasted, be it actual linguistic education, language study, or work on a conlang, big or small. Every single day of my life is spent engaging with language in one capacity or another. Most useful in my day-to-day life is coursework I did in phonetics, phonology, morphology, historical linguistics, field work, cognitive science, and pidgin and creole studies.
Do you have any advice you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?
Yes: TAKE MORE LANGUAGE COURSES! However many you're taking right now is not enough. There will never be another time in your life that it will be so easy or inexpensive to take courses in a second language, and the variety afforded you at a university is so much greater than you'll find in your regular day-to-day life.
Any other thoughts or comments?
Education in linguistics is not the same thing as conlanging ability. Just because you have a B.A. or M.A. or Ph.D. or equivalent in linguistics doesn't mean you can create even a mediocre conlang (and note that "functional" is not the same thing as "good". Functionality is a very low bar to clear). Similarly, you don't need any formal education in linguistics to create a language—you can start right now! Linguistics can definitely help, though. The best conlanger is one who has a solid understanding of theoretical and practical linguistics, who has studied many languages from many different language families, and who has spent a good amount of time creating languages. This person will know when linguistic theory can improve their work, and when it needs to be set aside because the linguists haven't figured out the theory is garbage yet—or because the linguists must pay lip service to the theory for political reasons. Conlangers are beholden to no one, which means they're ultimately responsible for all choices—and all mistakes. A conlanger who comes to conlanging from academic linguistics will need to unlearn some things to really get going, but they'll already have a pretty good handle on the multifariousness of language, and that's key.
David J. Peterson on Tumblr
The Language Creation Society
My review of The Art of Language Invention
Interview with a Translator and Business Owner
Interview with a Conductor
Interview with an Accent Coach
Interview with two Communications Professionals
Interview with a university course coordinator
Check out the Linguist Jobs tag for even more interviews
(image credit: Wikipedia)
