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Q&A How to implement a fictional language in my novel?

Here is how I dealt with Lissien, the language in my dragon book. Pick a few root words and use them a lot. This gives readers an idea of what you mean, through repetition and similarity. Thus th...

posted 4y ago by Paul Chernoch‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T13:11:54Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48930
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Paul Chernoch‭ · 2019-12-08T13:11:54Z (over 4 years ago)
Here is how I dealt with Lissien, the language in my dragon book.

1. Pick a few root words and use them a lot. This gives readers an idea of what you mean, through repetition and similarity. Thus the dragons are Lissai, their language Lissien, an adolescent dragon is a glissond, an adult female an olissair, a clan leader is a hlissak, the king is hlissosak, leaders of other animal species are called hlisskans, the unit of distance is a lisstal (one dragon wingspan), etc. 

2. Most of the foreign words I used were for titles, alien flora and fauna, measurements of distance and time, and coinage (unicoins, carved from unicorn horns). 

3. I tried to use names that are suggestive. So instead of Maple trees, I call them Spin-nut trees (because that is what Maple seeds are). I called oil "liosh", tar "osh" and tar pit became oshpit. A sea serpent I called a lebyatan, suggesting Leviathan, the Biblical sea serpent. Triceratops I called "dryzerdops". Tigers I called "taggers".

4. Try to reserve the alien words for important plot points or to increase versimilitude. I created a dragon sport, a board game, and a legal system.

5. Names are tricky. I tried to capture appearance or character. A hot-tempered Red Dragon was Anspark. A sweet-talking political leader I named Tongaroi (from Tongue and a word meaning Royal). A dragon leader prone to fury I called Lofty K'fuur. A maroon colored dragon I named K'Maron. A rouge colored one I named Rougelek.

Good luck!

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-11-13T16:27:40Z (over 4 years ago)
Original score: 1