Creating A Language - Part I - IPA

Creating A Language Part I

Introduction to Phonetics

Before we can take our language anywhere, we need to familiarize ourselves with the international phonetic alphabet. You know those funny letters in the dictionary that are supposed to tell you how to pronounce something but nobody can actually read? That's IPA (and linguists can read it).

It is imperative that you learn some IPA before beginning. Luckily, there are a lot of resources on the internet to help you out.

So I'll try not to reinvent the wheel here.

This is the IPA chart. Try not to get scared.



The large table has the "pulmonic" consonants; that is, they are made the normal way, by breathing out with our lungs through our mouth or nose.

The rows represent the way the sound is made in the mouth. For example, Plosives are sounds like t, p, and k, which have a sudden release of air. They are also called stops. Nasals and trills are fairly self explanatory. Fricatives are ones that have a continuous, but obstructed, airflow. Sounds like s, f, sh. So, the air is only flowing through a narrow opening which makes a hissing sound. The other most important category for our purposes is approximants--sounds like l and r. There is airflow, and it's unobstructed, but not so much so that it's a vowel.

The columns represent where in the mouth it's being made. The left side of the chart is the front of the mouth, and the right side is the back of the mouth, into the throat even.

So almost all sounds are a combination of where your tongue is and how much air is passing through.

The little nonsquare diagram on the right represents the vowels. The rows represent how much the mouth is open and the columns represent whether its made near the front or back of the mouth. Vowels come in pairs. The one on the right of the line is the one with rounded lips, and the one on the left of the line is the one with relaxed lips (o vs a for example).

The other letters outside of those two areas are sounds which are made by suction or other methods besides the "normal" way (such as clicks like in African languages).

Luckily for us, a lot of the letters correspond straight to what we are familiar with. Ones to watch out for are /j/ which is the english y sound (like German). /y/ is not an English sound. /r/ is a rolled r, not an English r. English r is represented by /ɹ /. There are other different ones too. J as in Judy and ch are not on the chart. They are "affricates," a combination of a stop and a fricative (J is d and the voiced sh... which is like the french J, ie Jean-Luc Picard. Ch is a combination of t and sh). They are written with the stop and fricative symbols touching. The vowels are also similar but different, so be sure to study them.

The reason I am attacking you with all this information is because the uninformed tend to be very narrow in their thought about what sounds a language can have. There are many, many sounds on those charts that don't occur in English, and we want them to be fair game for our made up language.

The best thing you can do now is familiarize yourself with the sounds. There are good videos on youtube for this if you want to go that route.

UCLA has a website that I used while in Phonetics class. You can explore the IPA there and click on the chart to hear the sound which corresponds to each letter, both syllable-initially and between vowels.

If you think you've got a good idea of how the IPA works, and have a better familiarity with the range of sounds in the world's language, then you are ready to move on to....!

Choosing Phonemes

Creating A Language - Introduction

Creating a Language

Introduction
I suspect that a lot of authors of science fiction and fantasy wish they could create a language. As a writer and a linguistics student, it's inevitable that I would try to make one. It's definitely not easy, and takes a lot of dedication if you really want to make it go places. But you don't have to make a whole usable language in order to make your fantasy or sci-fi world have a bit more credibility--there are a lot of benefits to creating even just a phonological system and lexicon.

Now, creating a language is a srs biznis. So I'm going to take these lessons srsly. If you're the type of person who is satisfied with scrambling your fingers across the keyboard to make up words and calling it good (like a certain author whose name starts in "Sal" and ends in "vatore"), you'll find these lessons tedious and unnecessary (though you would be wrong).

If you want a language with some believability, these tutorials are for you. But you will have to put some time into this, and even more time if you have no familiarity with the field of linguistics. But don't worry! I'll try to make it as simple and painless as possible. But necessarily, some parts of it might be complex and confusing.

If you have any questions, or don't understand part of it, please leave a comment, and I would love to help you out!

And now, without further ado...

Go on to the Next Lesson!

Fictional Races Exercise

I wrote this several years ago and it has since enjoyed a lot of attention on DeviantArt. I'm crossposting it here as well.

It was based on a class handout about Germanic Tribes. I modified and expanded it to help people make a more thorough and rounded fictional race.

Feel free to repost your filled out version online, but remember to link back here so others can use it too!


Fictional Races Exercise


Inhabitants and Origin of Name Where did your race/civ come from? Are they related through past history to another race, that made them who they are today? Where did the names of the land and race originate?

Climate, Land Conditions, Land exploitation Describe the land your race lives on, weather patterns, and what from the land your race exploites: metals, wood, farming, gems, fur, etc

Arrangements of Towns/Cities Do individuals own their land or does the government? How much land does one family occupy? Do they have homes close together or far apart with a lot of land in their care? Are homes generally large or small? How many families live in a single building? What other buildings are in every town? Bakery, Butcher shop, Post Office, Fire House, etc. What are homes made out of? Are they built among the lay of the land or is the land renovated for building purposes?

Physical Characteristics What does the race look like? Eyes, Hair, skin, build, height, weight, whether they are physically strong or not, relations to weather condtions (are they built for cold weather or warm weather), differences between males, females, children, etc

Dress What is the garb of the race? Traditional, Everyday, Seasonal, Ceremonial, Differences between men, women, children, position of power, etc. What are the clothes made out of? Who makes them? A tailor, an elder, or family members? What jewelry do they wear, if any? How is hair worn? Is it different between age and gender?

Deities/Religion Explain the religious figures of the race, and the powers they are believed to have, as well as their relationship to the people. What beliefs does the race have about how to behave and treat others, objects, animals, etc? In times of war? In times of peace? How big of a role does it play in the daily life of the race?This is an important factor, don't overlook it. If there isn't a religion, explain what about the race makes them independent from religious faith

Religious Practices and Divination How does the race worship? What are their customs and rituals? Are there any sacred items, creatures, times of the year?

Habits in Times of Peace What is the behavior of the race when peaceful? Are they ever peaceful? Do they hold festivities, behave differently to others? Are roles different than in times of war?

Daily Life What do they do, from waking to sleeping? Eating, Bathing, Interacting, working...Describe basic rituals.

Food Describe what the food is like, typical ingredients, meats, spices, herbs, grains...What importance does it have in the culture? What alcohol and other beverages? Is there religious or historical factors in what they eat?

Sports and Pastimes What is done for fun? Is there organized entertainment? Clubs, teams, competitions? What significance to the culture?

Marriage Rituals What is the ceremony like, if there is one? Who comes to the ceremony? What is worn? What gifts are passed between families? Money, jewelry, animals, or other objects? What is the marriage age? Is marriage a choice? Are spouses chosen by another family member/the government? What is inherited in marriage? A name, object, positionm etc. What are the roles of the male and female? What are the benefits of having kids? How many kids are typically had? What are the religious or historical factors in a marriage ceremony?

Children and Succession Who takes care of the children? How are they raised as babies? What are they taught as small children that's important to society? Who inherits what in the family? How are children treated? When are they considered adults? How is inheritance determined?

Training of Youth How are the young prepared for adulthood? Who trains them? Are there difference branches of training? Do children inherit their occupation or do they choose? Is there a formal institution of education or do elders and parents train the children? How much is left for experience? What's the most critical lesson children learn?

Government and Gender Roles Who runs the race/civilization? Is it a matriarch, patriarch, dictatorship, is there a king or an elected official? What are the roles of men and women in the government and society? Almost every civilization on earth has a government of some sort. Even if it doesnt play into your story, explore this factor of the race

Councils If there's a problem who is it taken to? What other uses for council are there? How much power do they have? How are the members appointed? Who appoints them?

Administration of Justice How is crime dealt with? How are criminals caught, and what happens to them? What are the crimes most strongly punished, and what is the religious or historical basis behind it, to create such extreme punishment for committing this act? How much leniancy does the race have? Are they passive with criminals, or aggressive? Is there a lot of crime or little?

Arms, Military Conduct Describe weaponry and how the military is run, formal or otherwise. What strategies are typical for this race to perform in war? Who controls the troops? How are they chosen? Any reactions to death by war? How does religion play into warlike behavior? Who fights? Men, Women? How old are the troops?

Habits in Times of War How does the society react to war? Do the people tighten or fall apart? How do roles change? What is the defense system? How is victory celebrated?

Funeral Rituals What is done with the dead? Who comes to funerals? How is the dead prepared? What is the garb? What are religious beliefs tied to death? What is the age range of death? Is the family compensated by the government, gifts from guests, etc?


Additional Topics
Language
Currency
Slavery
Elderly
Relationship with Nature
Power in the World
...

Still Alive for Robot C

Hello Everyone.

I recently coded Still Alive from Portal into C and thought I'd share it. This was made for Lego Mindstorms NXT. If you use this program, please remember to reference me if you share it anywhere! Also, don't use it for your homework if you should be coding a song yourself, haha!

I have saved it at both a c file and a txt file.

StillAlive.c | StillAlive.txt

Enjoy!

Fabric, Steiff, Germany!

Happy Tuesday!

Well I went to JoAnne fabrics last Saturday and bought some fabric and other bits and bobs to make a jacket. It was originally intended for Alain but the color doesn't match him at all but Rene rather. So it'll probably go to him instead.

I'm feeling pretty unimpressed with Rene lately so it must be new-faceup time. Well it has been for a while, I just haven't wanted to wipe it because I worked hard on it and it's not bad. But I think I want to go for a different look... and maybe widen his eyes a little more again. Although they aren't as droopy as they used to be...

I kind of think he was a lot more adorbs with his first faceup now. He was cute. He needs his own eyes. I'm wanting to get him some light grey eyes. Ones that track. And more freckles. There's this boy Supia Roda I think? That is SO CUTE. So I sort of want to replicate the look of him. It's kind of funny because I swear his wig is the same as the one Rene has (by Thereif).

I was looking at Steiff animals on ebay. Cats particularly. I want to learn how to make stuffed animals.

Alain's FACE

So I redid Alain's face woot woot! I like it a lot... it was my second try at redoing it lately... The first time was a disaster because I was using a really bad brush (why waste my time and resources? I don't know...). And since my confidence went back up, I also opened my faceup shop back up.

So lately I've been having a lot of fun thinking about what I'm going to do with his character... things have suddenly be leaning back toward speampunkish (makes me want to watch fma..) so I can dig out all the super cute mail and packages that I made for him in Hawaii. I think he is lovely as a blonde too, by the way.

I've been thinking about his clothes right? I want to make him a peaked cap. Search for it on google search... the smattering of images is pretty funny. Half of it is WW2 German military hats and swastikas and the other half is of little children in bonnets and such. Well, I was amused anyway.... *amused by weird things* Well anyway I've been trying to figure out what colors I'd want to be.. because it'll have it's main color, a black brim, and then some other color of piping... I'm sure it'll end up being.. brown or blue (I am not very creative, haha).

As for his actual clothes, some kind of overcoat (perhaps that matches the hat) and then otherwise I sort of thought his clothes might be mori-girl inspired.. but.. mori.. boy? (does that exist?). I kind of like the mori girl look... when it's done with some sense of style. I'm not too into the Japanese tendency to put the most ridiculously illsuited pieces together... I like there to be at least some sense of feng shui and proper accessories.. not just whatever you found in your local babushka's closet (ahem, I'll stop being politically incorrect now). But I like the loose sort of draping layers on top, so well, I'll see what I can come up with. And scaaaarf...

So I thought it would be a mix sort of, of starched/prim looking military type hat and coat and more ragamuffin type clothes underneath those. Okay it sounds weird, but it looks awesome in my brain. I drew a cute picture of him in my planner that I would post right now but I don't have a scanner or good enough lighting to take a photo so it will have to wait!

Now off to bed I must go!