#building languages

[luna-helps-writing]

Tips for building a Fantasy World:

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[crowandmoonwriting]

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday from @raevenlywrites! Today I wanna talk about the quirks of language that affect the way people think and reflect their values. Cultures that say "turn northeast" instead of "turn left". Language to differentiate between maternal and paternal relatives by using completely different words. Seven different words for snow. One word for yellow and orange. Gendered language, tenses and generatives, reflexives-- all the things that show the interplay of language and culture.

Language building! One of my favourite things! When it comes to creating languages, the first thing I do is consider sound and accent. Do I want the language to be hard and utilitarian, or silky and mellifluous? I have a few favourite languages in our world that constantly inspire me--Italian most of all, but also Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Arabic, and Chinese. How do the words feel on the tongue? What are people's accents like in various languages, compared to their accent in their own? Also, as a trans person, I'm quite concerned with pronouns. What do pronouns say about gender in a particular culture's language? 

But one of the things that's most important to me in a language addresses one of my weaknesses as a writer. Naming. What are the naming conventions for a language? Are there particular sounds only used in male names, or female names, or unisex names? How do people name their children? What do certain prefixes and suffixes mean when attached to names? 

When it comes to actually creating words, I tend to go with what I believe a word should sound like in a certain culture. For example, in one of my cultures, the word for green is 'vir'. This is inspired partly by the Romantic languages I've studied. In French, it's 'vert,' in Italian and Spanish 'verde'. But I wanted an almost Scandinavian sound to the word itself, to reflect the culture, and went with 'vir' (pronounced veer).