Dialect coach Erik Singer analyzes some of the most famous “constructed languages” in movie and television history. Which real-life languages inspired “conlangs” like Klingon and Dothraki?

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Check out more from Erik here:

Languages Covered: Na’vi, Dothraki, Klingon, Sindarin, Parseltongue, Ewokese, Shyriiwook, Divine Language, Mork Speak, Groot Speak, Malkovich, Furbish, Heptapod.

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Accent Expert Breaks Down 6 Fictional Languages From Film & TV | WIRED

Created by: Joe Sabia

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47 COMMENTS

  1. So these languages actually have logic behind them? Here I was thinking they just make up some gibberish without even thinking about it. Guess I learned something new today.

    Edit: Halfway through the video now. This is blowing my mind.

  2. What's your favorite conlang and why?
    To me it is Valyrian followed by Sindarin. IMHO the latter sounds even nicer, but it's a bit too soft, thus lacking a bit of dynamic (e.g. harsher sounds for important or rude words) and it's a bit too nasal. I also like the sound of languages similar to Latin and Japanese (not piling up consonants). That's why I like the divine language too.

  3. Funfact: some animals use distinct words e.g. for predators, but to us they sound pretty much the same, since they use pitch and overtunes instead of a ton of syllables like most of us.
    Similarly, foreign languages often have different concepts. For instance, they might have 5 words for saying no depending on the context (for being polite), have here/there/yonder (the latter English lost) or some weird cases, or a gender for objects….

  4. Another good place you can find a tapped r-like sound is in Japanese. You have to tap your tongue on the roof of your mouth like an English "L", and it kind of gives it a "D" like sound. Hell, I used to mistake Japanese for Apple "Ringo" (りんご) like it was pronounced "Dingo" But I was a foolish language learner then. Now I understand so much about so many languages, such as their grammar and other things.

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