Fictional languages are the subset of constructed languages (conlangs) that have been created as part of a fictional setting (e.g. for use in a book, movie, television show, or video game). Typically they are the creation of one individual, while natural languages evolve out of a particular culture or people group, and other conlangs may have group involvement. Fictional languages are also distinct from natural languages in that they have no native speakers. By contrast, the constructed language of Esperanto now has native speakers.

Fictional languages are intended to be the languages of a fictional world and are often designed with the intent of giving more depth, and an appearance of plausibility, to the fictional worlds with which they are associated. The goal of the author may be to have their characters communicate in a fashion which is both alien and dislocated. Within their fictional world, these languages do function as natural languages, helping to identify certain races or people groups and set them apart from others. Some of the latter are fully formed enough to be learned as a speakable language, and many subcultures exist of those who are 'fluent' in one or more of these fictional languages. Often after the creator of a fictional language has accomplished their task, the fandom of that fictional universe will pick up where the creator left off and continue to flesh out the language, making it more like a natural language and therefore more usable.

Purpose

Fictional languages are separated from artistic languages by both purpose and relative completion: a fictional language often has the least amount of grammar and vocabulary possible, and rarely extends beyond the absolutely necessary. At the same time, some others have developed languages in detail for their own sake, such as J. R. R. Tolkien's Quenya and Sindarin (two Elvish languages), Star Treks Klingon language and Avatars Na'vi language which exist as functioning, usable languages.)

  • Comics (The Adventures of Tintins Bordurian and Syldavian)
  • Toys (Furbys Furbish)
  • Musical albums (Magmas Kobaïan)
  • Children's TV shows (Pingus Penguinese)

While some languages are created purely from the desire of the creator, language creation can be a profession. In 1974, Victoria Fromkin was the first person hired to create a language (Land of the Losts Paku).

The problem of alien language has confronted generations of science fiction writers; some have created fictional languages for their characters to use, while others have circumvented the problem through translation devices or other fantastic technology. For example, the Star Trek universe makes use of a "universal translator", which explains why such different races, often meeting for the first time, are able to communicate with each other. Another more humorous example would be the Babel fish from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, an aurally-inserted fish that instantaneously translates alien speech to the speaker's native language.

While in many cases an alien language is but an element of a fictional reality, in a number of science fiction works the core of the plot involves linguistic and psychological problems of communication between various alien species.

Visual alien languages

thumb|Circular Gallifreyan from [[Doctor Who, an example of a visual language. The sentence translates to "Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit."]]

A further subgenre of alien languages are those that are visual, rather than auditory. Notable examples of this type are Sherman's Circular Gallifreyan from BBC's Doctor Who series and the heptapod's written language, which is distinct from their spoken language, from the 2016 film Arrival.

Internet-based fictional languages

Internet-based fictional languages are hosted along with their "conworlds" on the internet, and based at these sites, becoming known to the world through the visitors to these sites. Verdurian, the language of Mark Rosenfelder's Verduria on the planet of Almea, is an Internet-based fictional language.

See also

  • List of fictional languages
  • Constructed languages
  • Languages in Star Wars

References

;Citations

;General references

  • A Primer In SF XENOLINGUISTICS, by Justin B. Rye
  • Interstellar Communication, a collection of references
  • Are Elvish, Klingon, Dothraki and Na'vi real languages?
  • The Klingon Language Institute
  • Accent Expert Breaks Down 6 Fictional Languages From Film & TV