Our made-up stories sometimes come with made-up languages — think of Na’vi spoken in Avatar or the Elvish tongues in Lord of the Rings.

When crafting such tongues, linguists often begin with an inventory of sounds and then develop the rules that dictate how those sounds interact.

✍️ Maria Temming, Science News
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/conlang-fictional-languages-linguistics

#linguistics #sciencemastodon

How to invent a realistic language for fictional speakers

Linguists can mix, match or even break the rules of real-world languages to create interesting imaginary ones.

Science News
Linguistic anthropologist Christine Schreyer’s experiences creating such fictional languages led her to develop tools for keeping endangered languages alive — learn more from our 2021 interview with Schreyer.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2021/what-invented-languages-can-teach-us
To learn Klingon or Esperanto: What invented languages can teach us

NuqneH! Saluton! A linguistic anthropologist (and creator of the Kryptonian language, among others) studies the people who invent new tongues.

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