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| Inscription: "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" quote from "Wolves of the Calla" by Stephen King |
A good fantasy series does not
need its own language. There is simply no reason for it to exist unless the
author has a penchant for linguistics because any time it would actually appear
in the book, it would have to be translated into an actual language, thus
mitigating its usefulness as a distinct language. There are a few conceivable
exceptions, like a short phrase or message that is presented in a native form,
that is left concealed until later events. However, this usage is no different
than a closed door or a locked chest in terms of plot devices.
Any fantasy author, by at least
throwing in a few words and phrases in a made-up language, can communicate to
the reader that multiple nations or multiple culture-groups exist in this
world, which helps to make it believable.
Language is deeply tied to
culture so when trying to create distinct cultures or subcultures within a
fantasy novel it (language) can be a very useful tool. Language and culture are
so inextricably linked that creating a language is essentially creating a
culture and doing this really helps to flesh out and define a culture and
particular characters from that culture.
Basically language is great for
an epic, a story in which we see different cultures. GRRM (George R. R. Martin)
does this well in A Song of Ice and Fire,
because he uses it sparingly.
It becomes less and less
practical to have one common language as the geographical and cultural scope of
the story increases. Having various languages that work will also show that the
author has put extensive thought into how their ethnic groups have developed—trade
languages, regional dialects and divergent forms can all hint at how
civilizations have progressed given their relationships to each other and to
any observable barriers.
If a distinct vocabulary has
been established, the reader might also be able to see distinct cultural values
given the right opportunities. Do family names come first or second for
individuals? Is poetry terse and succinct or long and flowery?
“
The area of Wheel of
Time was somewhere between the size of Europe and USA. Nevertheless, all
people spoke the same language with only few unique phrases per country. In Song of Ice and Fire the Seven Kingdoms
are the size of South America, but there is only one common language.
”
In Stephen King's Dark
Tower Series. They all speak English, but in Roland's world if you want a quick snack, you don't have a
sandwich, but rather a popkin, and
when your grandfather was a kid, he didn't walk five miles (uphill both ways)
to get to school, he walked three wheels to get there. Frankly, ‘ka-tet’ sounds a lot better than ‘group of destiny-linked brothers-in-arms.’ However, when you are creating a new
race or species, I don't think it's farfetched to come up with a new language.
Hope you learned a thing or two
from all the suggestions. By the way, these were all clipped from comments from
a post I published a few years back. I thought turning it into an article would
make the whole thing an easier read. You can get the full gist here: Should You Create Language for a
Broad Fantasy World? Knock yourself out!
Keep your pens bleeding!
Akpan
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