Luke- So everyone in Windemere speaks English, which we call Tradespeak, right?
Fizzle- Fizzle speak differently, so other tongues exist.
Fritz- There are moments where it’s mentioned that people are speaking in other languages and a translator is around. Other times the reader and characters are left in the dark until the revelation. Seems to be the best way to go.
Sari- Anybody remember the author trying to make a language?
Adriana- I know this isn’t my series, but as the oldest voice in his head, I do remember one attempt.
Luke- What happened?
Adriana- He will never attempt to do so again. It was bad. So bad that there are no physical notes and the only thing he remembers is playing around with ‘the’.
Sari- So, does that mean we’re missing a piece of our world?
Nyx- I doubt it. Readers still need to know the English translation, so it’s more that we’re missing a quirk. Not a lot of fantasy books have detailed languages.
Fizzle- Why language of Windemere called Tradespeak?
Fritz- Because calling it English or American English wouldn’t make any sense. If you haven’t noticed, we don’t own an America or an England here. As for the term, it’s because the language spread through trading among the continents. It acts as a bond between the people of our world, so we can interact without misunderstandings.
Sari- Understandings still happen, old gnome.
Luke- Well maybe if somebody didn’t jump to conclusions, there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings.
Nyx- Are you still mad that I attacked you when we first met?
Sari- It isn’t like you should talk anyway, Callindor. Need I remind you about your little ‘language’ problem in the last book?
Luke- I had a perfectly good reason for that and it cleared up by the end.
Nyx- Your definition of cleared up is ridiculous. I think you made things worse.
5th Champion- Well, I . . . I still don’t get my name! Gods’ dammit! How long do I have to wait in the shadows? I’m leaving. *slams door behind him*
Fizzle- Fizzle not sure what going on.
Fritz- It’s called a confusing argument, which one could say is the downside to people speaking the same language. At least if someone uses a different tongue, you’re more inclined to pay attention to more than the words. Here you’re seeing people looking only at the words and jumping to conclusions. Also that Luke is about to get knocked through the wall into the Works in Progress section. It’s going to take us a day or two to find him in that mess.
Fizzle- Fizzle get search party ready.
Luke- Use your ears instead of your mouth, Nyx! That’s not what I was saying at all! *explosion*
Fritz- And there he goes. This was such a nice conversation too.
I wish to make a language
That gets carried down the lines
Fondly remembered
And uttered beyond the pages
Complicated and clean
With fans becoming fluent
Drawing my world
Into the realm of reality
Take the ‘G’ and make it ‘L’
Add thirty types of ‘P’
Commas mean repeating words
While periods denote a roar
I think I have the letters down
Though the only vowel is ‘M’
Maybe this was a bad idea
I should stop before I hurt myself
Despicable Me Minion Translator (Yahoo Image Search)
It isn’t easy writing fiction and delving into the concept of languages. Many of us grew up with the humor of ‘Pig Latin’, which was so ‘cool’ as a child. Now it’s barely uttered and probably on its way to a dead language like Sanskrit and Neanderthal. Though I hear that last one is making a comeback in bars during certain days of the week. Anyway, you can always attempt to make your own language and attempt to be recognized alongside Tolkien and Roddenberry. Here’s some advice from someone who hasn’t tried this:
DO put some form of translation in your story. Whether a guide or a bilingual character, you need people to understand your language to make it work beyond a minor plot event. Sure, the ‘language barrier’ obstacle can be fun to play out, but if you’re going for greatness then you need more.
DO NOT jam tons of Y, Q, K, and Z letters into a language. That’s been done and many people find it ridiculous. Once you go for 3 Y’s in a row, you’re probably on your way to an intervention.
DO take punctuation into account because that can make the difference in your language being understood. Commas, question marks, capitalization, and apostrophes can help clear up the use of a word by putting it in context. It can also help distinguish fantasy words from fantasy names.
DO NOT slip random Earth words into a story that occurs on a foreign planet or different dimension. Of course, this doesn’t count for the language you’re publishing in. For example, it would make no sense for an elf of Windemere to speak a few words in Russian among their true language. There is no Russia, so such words wouldn’t exist. An added problem is that doing this can throw off whatever language pattern and system you were creating.
DO study other languages to some extent. Learn about pluralization and gender-specific words within other language systems. If you want a solitary inspiration then pick one language and study it to copy the nuances. Only go for the nuances and not the whole language unless that’s your plan.
DO NOT refuse to learn your own fictional language. Even if your fans deciphered your language and improved it, you might want to learn a few phrases. You are the progenitor of this new tongue and people will be disappointed if you can’t even say hello or ask to use the bathroom in it.
DO remember that you still have to use an Earth keyboard, so you can’t go entirely off a fictional alphabet. Somebody is going to have to type your story into a computer or note things in a review. Unless you know how to program language software, you’re going to need to work off the ABC’s.
DO NOT have every character understand every language in the world. Just as in reality, not everyone is fluent in every language. Have somebody be confused on what’s being said so that the reader doesn’t feel like they’re nothing more than an outsider sitting in the corner of a big party.
DO take some time to create names that incorporate your new language. Even if they’re nothing more than titles, it brings more cultural credence to the overall language.
DO NOT use your fictional language as an excuse to mess up the spelling of real words. If a character has a typo in his dialogue, it better be clear that he or she was trying to speak another language. If that isn’t clear then you need to fess up to the oops.
Do you write educational books? Any age. College material, high school, middle grades, elementary, kindergarten, preschool. Doesn’t matter.
Or have you been thinking about writing educational books?
Have you had any troubles or concerns with writing or publishing educational content for Kindle?
If so, I would like to hear from you. Not just me. Maybe even Kindle will talk with you.
Kindle Educational Team
A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from the Kindle Educational Team.
Wow!
Personal service. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a self-service website. Amazon is huge. The number of authors is huge. Personal service is a real treat. As you might expect, the Kindle Educational team’s role doesn’t ordinarily consist of contacting authors.
Kindle has plenty of fiction. They are looking for ways to make more quality educational content available to Kindle customers.
Evidently, they asked CreateSpace to identify some authors who…
…among many superb friends who populate my virtual WURLD, Author John W. Powell is a shining light… he’s popping a terrific wee short story on here as a taster for yeez as to the man’s writing talent… enjoy, then have a look at his new novel, MY GRL…
JOHN W. POWELL
…some of yeez may know that John W. Howell of Fiction Favorites has published his first novel titled My GRL… what yeez may not know, John also dabbles a bit in short story writing… sez he, “It’s a way to take a break from writing a novel and relax…” seems to this ol ‘Jurassic this might be like a busman’s holiday, but whatever works… John has prepared a story for yeez and here it is… oh, and at the end he has put some words about where yeez can find his book…
One of the most common plot devices in fantasy is the ‘indecipherable language that has been lost to the ages’. If not lost then hidden by something such as appearing under certain moon phases or need to be chucked into a fireplace. These items and events really bring home the idea that there is a long history and a wide world in the book. Just think about what we ponder when we hear about the dead languages of our world. The wonder that is evoked when we consider that there are entire cultures that are locked away from us because nobody can clearly read their remaining tomes.
It works differently in fantasy though. A dead or lost language appearing always means something is about to happen. Even a language that the main character can’t read is a sign that a quest will occur. Imagine having to go on an adventure to get a Chinese food menu translated every time you want to order. You’d end up sticking to pizza and hamburgers due to the amount of dragons you need to slay to get your orange chicken with white rice combo. Sounds ridiculous? Well, it is rather strange that fantasy uses the mechanic that a ‘strange language’ means ‘time to leave home’.
Sure there’s always something attached to the language like a magic ring or an ancient scroll. Yet, the person who finds it never knows how to read it or have easy access to a translator. For quests that begin this way, the first stage is usually searching for the one person left who can read the language. And there is ALWAYS one person left who will help. If there’s more than one then the others are evil. Ever notice how the bad guys always know these dead or lost languages even if there’s the ‘lone sage’ that the heroes have to search out? This is making me think the use of a dead language as a quest catalyst might be a bit too overdone and under thought.
One benefit to using such a device is that you don’t always need to create an entire language. If it’s lost or dead then you only need just enough for the phrase. This can be very helpful to an author who isn’t skilled or interested in creating a new language. That can be an undertaking in itself and requires a lot of area focus that not every fantasy author possesses. So, the creation of a simple word or phrase with a strange description (unfamiliar lettering, awakened by an element, etc.) is all you would need if it’s nothing more than a catalyst.
Still, it is strange how many dead and lost languages there are in fantasy. Every author has their own reasons for it. Some do it to give an air of mystery to their world while others do it to create a sense of a lengthy history. Again there are those that doing it solely as a plot device and think nothing else about it once the translation is done. Poor language is lost, found, translated, and lost again in the span of a few chapters.
One of the most common ‘complaints’ one hears about fantasy and science-fiction is that everyone speaks in the same language. From aliens to orcs, they usually seem to know the human tongue. I’ve heard people say that this draws them out of the story because it makes no sense. Yet, I’ve also heard some of these people complain about having to read subtitles or not understanding what a character says because they speak in a different language. So, this makes me think that the complaint is more about needing something to gripe about.
Now, Tolkien set an amazing standard with fantasy books due to the detail of his languages. He was also a highly skilled linguist and loved philology (study of languages), so what he did could be considered a special case. Not every fantasy/sci-fi author has this hobby or natural talent, so you won’t get a new form of Elvish with every series. In fact, it really isn’t necessary to create new, detailed languages. Tolkien did it because of his interests, but that was his choice and not a mandatory action.
I’ve read a few books with fictional languages and I’ve seen them done in two ways. One is the use of a translator figure and the reader is in the same ‘what did he say?’ boat as the main characters. I find this to be a smoother transition because it doesn’t put the burden of translation on me. The other is the use of a translation guide in the front or back of the book. This can help a reader learn the language for extra submersion into the world, but it has a really high risk. You need the reader to be willing to go that extra mile and the language shouldn’t be harder to learn than real world languages. I read a book in college where I had to go back to the translation pages every few paragraphs because I couldn’t read a word. Kind of like: rphg at the end of a word = a ‘ph’ sound & rphg at the start of a word = a ‘hard R’ sound. That’s how you knock a casual reader out of a story.
So, what do people think of the use of fictional languages? Has it been done too much or is it simply something that needs a more delicate touch than people realize?
(Add-on: Thinking about it, this is much easier to do in verbal media like movies and television. Hearing a fantasy language can be more accepted than trying to read one.)
So, I’m reaching a point in my newest book that I probably should have thought about a bit more before it was looming. The gnomes have recently made a flying city and I need to figure out a way to get people to it. It has to be unique and odd because gnomes are involved, but there are so many choices.
You see, part of the fear is that going too high tech will change Windemere. Final Fantasy has given a precedence for airships alongside magic. I’ve already made note that magic and technology have been combined. Yet, I’m not sure how far I can go with this. I’m not thinking real world planes here. This is what I have so far:
Mechanical Monster
Was thinking of a large, mechanical bird, but I might be thinking too big a scale. They do have to move products out of the city, so this could be a delivery vehicle. Still, this is one of those things that I fear would go too far. Why use any other transportation if this exists? Then again, why use this if magical flight is available in several basic forms and teleportation items are possible?
Crafted Creature
I’ve noted that the gnomes are into engineering, chemistry, and physics. I never showed that they’re into biology and the like beyond the Weapon Dragons existing. So, I don’t know if giving them a fleet of designed beasts would work. It’s also a bit weird to have a high tech, flying city and they’re using animals as transport. By the way, the technology used to hover the city has not been miniaturized and I’m not sure if I’m ever going to allow that. Unstable magics and chemicals. Anyway, a flying beast is always an option even if I go for mechanical and biological combined.
Darkvawn Dragons
For those that read the books, you might remember a minor character named DragonEye. He was a dragon who loved gnomes and was curious about their technology. It’s feasible that others are like him, so they might be acting as transport for the gnomes. This is to get front row seats to their inventions. Unfortunately, DragonEye did come off as unique, so this might take away from him.
Golem-Powered Helicopter
This I just came up with, so it isn’t perfected. A helicopter for people and small goods transport that has a few magically enhancements on the bottom to help with a steady liftoff. The rotors are powered by a pair of golems who ride bicycles on the inside. They are in perfect synch because of how they were designed and there are two sets of spares in case something happens. The gnome pilot directs the ship and does the important job of talking to any passengers. Now, this does bring up the issue of being possibly too high tech for Windemere. Yet, the addition of golems might be its saving grace. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can do many tricks with a helicopter like loops. Yes, I want to make one of the heroes throw up while another cheers for another.
So, what do people think? Any ideas on mechanical transport in a fantasy setting?
