Though the process of creating a dramaturgical guide for our final project was both grueling and time consuming, it was probably one of the things I’m most proud of in my time here at BU. I learned so much about the world from my research, and I learned so much about myself as an artist through the creation of my imaginary production. However, I’m pretty positive my favorite part of the whole thing was compiling my concordance (as many of you whom I studied with in the library all night already know). I’ve always loved expanding my vocabulary and I’m a sucker for organization so the process was very serene for me. Now that the project is handed in, and I’m back to getting to spend some much needed time in front of the TV, I’ll be watching shows that are my “brain-candy.” A show I’m particularly excited to see back on the air is HBO’s Game of Thrones. While reading through the Arts Beat blog the other day, I found this incredible article about the language that a certain group of characters speak on the show.
The language is called Dothraki, and until I read this article, I would have thought that it was a random serious of sounds and articulators thrown together. In fact, the language was created by a man named David Peterson who studied linguistics at UCSD and has spent his life creating entirely new languages. He is a “conlanger”, a person who constructs new languages. With a rise in fantasy and science-fiction based entertainment, the need to create new languages for television and movies is weirdly very high. These conlangers don’t just combine sounds randomly; they have specific grammatical structures upon which their entire languages are based. Because of this, these languages are actually becoming speakable. Paul Frommer, who created the language that the Na’vi speak in Avatar met with a group of fans who are fluent in his own language:
- “Last October, a group of Na’vi speakers from half a dozen countries convened in Sonoma County, Calif., for a gathering known as “Teach the Teachers.” Mr. Frommer gave attendants tips on grammar and vocabulary and fielded any questions they had about the language. The rural, wooded setting felt “almost like being on Pandora,” he said. At a question-and-answer session in July that he participated in, at least a dozen attendants rattled off their questions in fluent Na’vi.”
I think it’s really interesting to note that companies like HBO and Twentieth Century Fox are taking an invested interest in the invented languages of their products. The authenticity is vital to the believability of their work and they’re willing to put in the effort to ensure that. I found this article really inspiring and exciting if only for the fact that I can add the word “conlanger” to my own personal concordance.
