I’ve made a Conlang (Constructed Language) that I intend on using in some stories I’m working on. After I got most of the groundwork laid out, a few questions came to mind.
What would be the best way of going about using the language in texts?
How would you properly introduce the reader to the language?
Would its use be something worth noting by other characters in the text itself?
Just some thoughts I had, and wondered if anyone had some tips on it.
The trick is essentially the same with using foreign languages in an English piece of literature, only with made-up languages you don’t have the luxury of whipping out Google translate.
While you don’t need to have a character state specifically what the person speaking the language is saying, their actions would need to make it obvious. You’d also need to watch how much of the language that you use.
A convenient tool that a lot of books/shows use to get around this is simply either having the writing in English when revolving around two characters who both can understand this language and using the actual made-up language only when involving some that speak the language and some that don’t.
I’m curious why you’ve chosen to use a Conlang. I for one could better offer suggestions on how to use the language if you would say more about why.
I’ve read stories where the only reason why the Conlang is there seems to be a line of reasoning, “Tolkien used Conlangs, therefore I want use a Conlang so I can be a cool author like Tolkien.” What I think the author of such stories often forget is that Tolkien was a philologist – he invented the languages of Middle Earth first, and then realized that, because languages don’t exist in a vacuum, he needed a system of societies where his languages were spoken.
I’ve also read stories where the Conlang is meant to be reflect a particular take on the Sapir-Whorf theory, e.g., my snow planet aliens have forty words for snow but no words for love. How much does our language determine our thinking?
There’s nothing wrong with using a Conlang simply for the fun of it either. But I think using a Conlang intentionally for good story reasons would make a stronger story.
Donald
The main idea for the constructed language is a few fold:
I wanted to be able to have different words for things we wouldn’t see in real life.
I’d also want to use other words for things that would at least appear familiar to us. Making the assumption that everything developed pretty much the same, evolutionarily and linguistically, is something I want to avoid.
I feel that the use of “unfamiliar” words (as my world’s peoples have a common tongue with several dialects) would better illustrate the differences between locales and cultures.
My only advice here would be to use it sparingly. I liberally sprinkled an early draft of my novel with such words; the result was pretty sad.
I like the idea of using the Conlang to emphasize what is alien and foreign – I see in my head scenes from the first part of the film Enemy Mine.
But if you take that approach, I would tell the story from the point of view of a member of the dominant/English-analogue culture. Let us learn about the alien by starting us in the familiar.
A harder thing to do, but with a very powerful emotional impact if you can pull it off, is to tell the story from the “foreign” culture’s point of view, and make the dominant/English-analogue culture the true alien/foreign culture. If you know Cherryh’s Chanur stories, that’s the sort of thing I have in mind – the humans become the true aliens there.
It sounds like a great project. Are you already drafting it? If so, how is the writing of it going?
I think you’ll find this article very helpful on this subject:
Well then.
While it is quite intriguing, I’m not sure if I should be taking this as an example or a warning. XD
I’m currently getting the bits and pieces ready. It’s going to be my NaNoWriMo project, though chances are I’ll be working on it post-November as well. You know, fine tuning and all that.
In regards to your ideas on what kind of impacts their uses could bring, I very much like the idea of telling of the world from another culture’s point of view. While I’m not entirely sure it’ll be a possible thing to do in this particular story, I think this concept is something I could capitalize on in some other things that’ll be set in the same universe. Thanks for the input!
I love conlangs, but using foreign languages in text is tricky, even when your audience knows them. The big challenge, really, is that you shouldn’t be adding enough that your readers have to learn the language to enjoy the story, but you want to use it enough that it doesn’t feel like it’s unnatural when you do use it. About the best example I’ve seen of this was the Guardians of the Flame series, and possibly Watership Down.
Watership Down, mentioned earlier, is an exceedingly good example of this trope. But, let us not forget the Newspeak of 1984, which was quite exceptional IMHO. While the words may be familiar, the structure and function is… mmmmmm… another matter entirely. It is certainly not English as we understand it today, but just similar enough to be more than a little unnerving.