The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, the Words Behind World-Building
- Downloads：2446
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-22 14:55:46
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：David J. Peterson
- ISBN：0143126466
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
An insider’s tour through the construction of invented languages from the bestselling author and creator of languages for the HBO series Game of Thrones and the Syfy series Defiance
From master language creator David J。 Peterson comes a creative guide to language construction for sci-fi and fantasy fans， writers， game creators， and language lovers。 Peterson offers a captivating overview of language creation， covering its history from Tolkien’s creations and Klingon to today’s thriving global community of conlangers。 He provides the essential tools necessary for inventing and evolving new languages， using examples from a variety of languages including his own creations， punctuated with references to everything from Star Wars to Michael Jackson。 Along the way， behind-the-scenes stories lift the curtain on how he built languages like Dothraki for HBO’s Game of Thrones and Shiväisith for Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World， and an included phrasebook will start fans speaking Peterson’s constructed languages。 The Art of Language Invention is an inside look at a fascinating culture and an engaging entry into a flourishing art form—and it might be the most fun you’ll ever have with linguistics。
From master language creator David J。 Peterson comes a creative guide to language construction for sci-fi and fantasy fans， writers， game creators， and language lovers。 Peterson offers a captivating overview of language creation， covering its history from Tolkien’s creations and Klingon to today’s thriving global community of conlangers。 He provides the essential tools necessary for inventing and evolving new languages， using examples from a variety of languages including his own creations， punctuated with references to everything from Star Wars to Michael Jackson。 Along the way， behind-the-scenes stories lift the curtain on how he built languages like Dothraki for HBO’s Game of Thrones and Shiväisith for Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World， and an included phrasebook will start fans speaking Peterson’s constructed languages。 The Art of Language Invention is an inside look at a fascinating culture and an engaging entry into a flourishing art form—and it might be the most fun you’ll ever have with linguistics。
Reviews
Taylor Moss
，
A great book that gives a general dive into how language works and the factors that make it evolve。 At times， it gets a little too into the weeds about creating a language， but it is the main purpose of the book。
Samwell Raleigh
，
I think this book suffers from choice of identity: is it supposed to be for linguists interested in creating languages？ If so， then this book is too superficial and gives little information that a student wouldn't already know after a year or so。 Is it supposed to be for a lay-person interested in Game of Thrones and wants to create their own language？ Then this book is beyond complex and could never be understood。 The information is thorough， but it is told at lightning speed。 It's an informati I think this book suffers from choice of identity: is it supposed to be for linguists interested in creating languages？ If so， then this book is too superficial and gives little information that a student wouldn't already know after a year or so。 Is it supposed to be for a lay-person interested in Game of Thrones and wants to create their own language？ Then this book is beyond complex and could never be understood。 The information is thorough， but it is told at lightning speed。 It's an informative book， but really isn't more than a pared-down linguistics textbook with some lighthearted jokes thrown in （that I didn't find funny）。 It reads like a pop-ling book but covers content you'd expect to see in a Pinker novel。Maybe if you're really into auxiliary language creation with a moderate linguistic education， you might find this interesting。 Otherwise this book would be boring or too over your head。 Definitely not worth the year it took me to slog through this。Would've been 1 star， but it was redeemed by his very sweet acknowledgements at the end。 。。。more
Leonora Shiell
，
David J。 Peterson: Genre writers！ Consider hiring a conlanger to help you with your work！Me: Hahahahaha ABSOLUTELY NOT！ I will make ALL FOUR of the languages I need myself and I will make their grammar NEEDLESSLY COMPLEX！
Zephyr
，
Rating for the audiobook version， and coming to it as a writer/'aspiring author' and language enthusiast， whereas this book was clearly meant as more of a how-to manual for conlang enthusiasts who actively want to make their own conlangs。This book feels incomplete as either print or audiobook （if you must choose one， pick print）。 As an audiobook， you get to hear the pronunciations （great！） but you also get to hear the author read out tables aloud （nooooooo stop argh） and constantly tell you to l Rating for the audiobook version， and coming to it as a writer/'aspiring author' and language enthusiast， whereas this book was clearly meant as more of a how-to manual for conlang enthusiasts who actively want to make their own conlangs。This book feels incomplete as either print or audiobook （if you must choose one， pick print）。 As an audiobook， you get to hear the pronunciations （great！） but you also get to hear the author read out tables aloud （nooooooo stop argh） and constantly tell you to look at your PDF。 I did not have access to the PDF because I got the audiobook from my library， but even if I had， having to look at the PDF constantly defeats the purpose of an audiobook for me。This should perhaps have ideally been a multimedia project， as text with audio hyperlinks。 As is， if you're going to read it， I highly recommend getting it as ebook and audiobook both， and reading along while you listen。 Or else plan on constantly looking at the PDF。 Anything else is incomplete。As for the content， I appreciate the author's nerdy enthusiasm。 I enjoyed the few sections about how he worked and compromised with the producers and actors when making the languages for game of thrones， and I really appreciate how much he loves his job and how much effort goes into his conlangs。 But， my favorite parts of the book by far turned out to be the comparative parts about natural languages。 I feel like all my curiosity about conlangs was sated at the start of the book， and now at the end I'm a bit put off the whole thing。 I'd rather learn about （or learn to participate in） the endless natural languages that people actually speak and write in， plus the handful that started as conlangs but have been adopted by real world speakers outside nerd spaces （e。g。 esperanto）。I think part of the problem is that this author， though great at making constructed languages， is not so great at writing an educational book to share his knowledge。 He just infodumps everything on you at once， lists vocabulary words， feeds you a few examples and tables and lists， then infodumps some more， repeat， which especially doesn't work in audio。 There has to be a better pedagogical way to go about this， even for this subject。 。。。more
Arcino Adriel
，
Get the physical copy version
Nat
，
It's unfair how much better linguists do at writing popular work than philosophers。 This covers a lot of what you would probably remember from an intro linguistics course， and does a really good job introducing stuff about phonetics and phonology and forces driving language change。 The best example in the book is using Eddie Vedder's way of singing "can't find a better" in "Better Man" as illustrating the centralization of front vowels （so it sounds like mush [not a technical term in linguistics It's unfair how much better linguists do at writing popular work than philosophers。 This covers a lot of what you would probably remember from an intro linguistics course， and does a really good job introducing stuff about phonetics and phonology and forces driving language change。 The best example in the book is using Eddie Vedder's way of singing "can't find a better" in "Better Man" as illustrating the centralization of front vowels （so it sounds like mush [not a technical term in linguistics]， or like Scott Weiland） （p。43）。 。。。more
Nicole Magolan
，
I thoroughly enjoyed the first ten or so percent of this book， focused on explaining the history and general practice of crafting languages。 However， once it got into the nuts and bolts of how to create a language， it kinda lost me。 I'm not actually trying to do that， so。 Still a good book though。 Fascinating to consider the tiny details within language。 I thoroughly enjoyed the first ten or so percent of this book， focused on explaining the history and general practice of crafting languages。 However， once it got into the nuts and bolts of how to create a language， it kinda lost me。 I'm not actually trying to do that， so。 Still a good book though。 Fascinating to consider the tiny details within language。 。。。more
Emma Gerts
，
This was an interesting read！ I'm someone who is not a conlanger （someone who creates constructed languages）， nor am I a linguist or even planning to become either of the above。 I am however a fan of sci fi and fantasy and as a writer someone who is interested in the way language works and the power of words to convey meaning。 While some of the intricate details of phonemes and such were lost on me， I found this to be a really fascinating look at the way human languages work， and how people who This was an interesting read！ I'm someone who is not a conlanger （someone who creates constructed languages）， nor am I a linguist or even planning to become either of the above。 I am however a fan of sci fi and fantasy and as a writer someone who is interested in the way language works and the power of words to convey meaning。 While some of the intricate details of phonemes and such were lost on me， I found this to be a really fascinating look at the way human languages work， and how people who are much cleverer than I are able to use those rules to make up a language of their own。 Truly fascinating stuff and I really enjoyed this！ 。。。more
Evie
，
（I’m still somewhat embarrassed by the fact that it took me， a linguistics student， months to notice that the title isn’t actually written in IPA。）I’m currently a linguistics undergrad as well as an aspiring fantasy/sci-fi author。 For obvious reasons， conlanging （creating your own language） is something I’ve always wanted to do。 I’m hoping to start soon， which is why I picked up this book。For anyone with a background in linguistics， The Art of Language Invention is likely to feel extremely basic （I’m still somewhat embarrassed by the fact that it took me， a linguistics student， months to notice that the title isn’t actually written in IPA。）I’m currently a linguistics undergrad as well as an aspiring fantasy/sci-fi author。 For obvious reasons， conlanging （creating your own language） is something I’ve always wanted to do。 I’m hoping to start soon， which is why I picked up this book。For anyone with a background in linguistics， The Art of Language Invention is likely to feel extremely basic， painfully so at times。 Rather than focussing on conlangs， it is a textbook introduction to phonetics， phonology， morphology and historical linguistics。 There is also a section on writing systems which I found interesting， given that they are not covered in linguistics courses （at least not to my knowledge）。 This section includes some pointers on how to create fonts for conlangs， which is something I’m very excited to delve into once I start creating my conlang（s）！Though most of the book’s content was not new to me， I liked the small pointers here and there giving suggestions on how to implement a particular phenomenon in a conlang。 For instance， apparently OT is the best way to develop fixed stress systems （p。69-72）， contour tone systems and infixation must be evolved （p。74;101）， we must be careful not to accidentally borrow metaphors from our language into the conlang （p。181）， and ‘as a conlanger， the question should always be “What have I got？” rather than “What new thing can I create？”’ （p。203）。My main criticism of this book is how little it actually focussed on conlanging。 There was a short section on the history of conlanging， and throughout the book there are case studies where the author gives some insights into the process of conlanging itself; these were probably my favourite sections。 I would have preferred for the book to focus on such matters rather than on linguistics。 Obviously， though， that would have made it a lot less accessible， so I definitely understand why it was written in the way it was。Indeed， for those new to linguistics， this is a good introduction to some important areas with a focus on those relevant to conlanging。 It must be difficult to write a book like The Art of Language Invention， to give a concise yet accessible introduction to linguistics。 It’s interesting that the reviewers of this book seem to find it either painfully slow （linguists） or too technical （some non-linguists）。 It’s a difficult balance to strike， I suppose， and I think David J。 Peterson did rather well， all things considered。All in all， the book gives a helpful outline of the steps to take when conlanging and of the kinds of phenomena which are the most relevant （there is some interesting info on typology too）。 I will definitely be doing more reading into conlangs themselves and will start developing my own conlangs once I’ve graduated （I can’t wait！！） 。。。more
Duchess_Nimue
，
Well， this was fun！The book is divided into sections regarding sounds， words， evolution， and written word。 Every chapter has subchapters about particularities of what it's written about， and ends with a case study of the language that Peterson developed。 There are loads of examples for everything covered， often in natlang and conlang。 I'm not a linguist， so I wasn't familiar with a lot of terms discussed， but the book was relatively easy to read nevertheless。 It is definitely a beginners guide t Well， this was fun！The book is divided into sections regarding sounds， words， evolution， and written word。 Every chapter has subchapters about particularities of what it's written about， and ends with a case study of the language that Peterson developed。 There are loads of examples for everything covered， often in natlang and conlang。 I'm not a linguist， so I wasn't familiar with a lot of terms discussed， but the book was relatively easy to read nevertheless。 It is definitely a beginners guide to understanding creating the language。 As such， it does its purpose well。 And， it was funny！ Peterson infused the book with jokes to better convey what he was writing。 It was a pleasure to read。 。。。more
Ayn Bland
，
I like how he ended it all with （basically）， "But， for real， though: hire a nerd to make a language for your sci-fi/fantasy novel。" I like how he ended it all with （basically）， "But， for real， though: hire a nerd to make a language for your sci-fi/fantasy novel。" 。。。more
Raykoda1 。
，
Maybe in ten years when I finish my own conlang I can come back here and make a proper review。 Until then。
Noelle
，
First， I should preface this by saying that I am probably not the intended audience for this book。 While I have not been a prolific conlanger， I've probably dabbled in it for at least the time that Peterson has， even though I've only produced sketches。 I've been a lurker on the conlang listserv since the late 90s/early 2000s。 Not to mention， I have a minor in linguistics （admittedly， a far cry from Peterson's MA， but nonetheless。。。）。 So I am neither new to conlanging nor wholly unfamiliar with t First， I should preface this by saying that I am probably not the intended audience for this book。 While I have not been a prolific conlanger， I've probably dabbled in it for at least the time that Peterson has， even though I've only produced sketches。 I've been a lurker on the conlang listserv since the late 90s/early 2000s。 Not to mention， I have a minor in linguistics （admittedly， a far cry from Peterson's MA， but nonetheless。。。）。 So I am neither new to conlanging nor wholly unfamiliar with the basic linguistics concepts in this book。 Some of the less basic concepts， I did have to look up， and a couple are not even defined in the book's glossary （like aorist， mentioned one of the case studies but not listed in the glossary or mentioned in the verb section; I looked it up because I am a linguistics nerd， but woe betide the more casual reader who only picked it up because they saw Dothraki on the cover）。All this to say: I found it a decent overview， but fairly uneven: overly tedious in the areas which fascinate him， frustratingly bare in areas which do not。 For the former， the explanation of noun cases is a particularly grating example; there's only so many times I can read the following before my eyes start to bleed: "The X case is used when the action of the sentence is Y。 This case often gets used for other things， but this is its basic sense。 Below is an example from conlang I created。"For the latter， the entire verb section is barely more than a sketch; because he finds them uninteresting and hard， no one else might be interested。 As I do find verbs to be fascinating （and， conversely， find noun case to be less interesting）， this was frustrating。 We're all allowed to have our own artistic and academic interests， of course， but as this is supposed to be an overview， it fell a bit flat。He also says very little about syntax， except a bare explanation of word order and head-final vs head initial， even though syntactic rules and syntactic transformations are usually very important for understanding a language （must be his addiction to noun cases）。Also disappointing was the over-reliance on his own conlangs for examples， rather than natlangs or even other conlangs。 While there are examples in a limited set of natlangs， the fact that he uses his own languages so frequently does a bit of a disservice， both to other conlangers （who have their own styles） and to the purported audience， aspiring new conlangers， as well as to the craft of conlanging that he is trying to encourage to flourish。 Peterson， for all that he's worked on different languages in very disparate projects， has a pretty distinctive style， one that's different than mine or the other well known conlangers he mentions。 By not exposing his readers to these other styles， or to more diverse examples of natural languages， he's implying， even without intending to （and， from what I can tell， I don't think he means to）， that his style is the default or exemplary。 。。。more
Paul
，
I enjoyed the book overall。 David J。 Peterson has excellent credential to be writing a book on conlanging。 Each of the sections he includes are packed with information and supported by examples he draws from his own conlangs。 The book's biggest weakness and the only reason I don't give it five stars， is a lack of information on syntax。 What good is it to know how to derive words organically and sound them out if we can't string together in sentences？ I enjoyed the book overall。 David J。 Peterson has excellent credential to be writing a book on conlanging。 Each of the sections he includes are packed with information and supported by examples he draws from his own conlangs。 The book's biggest weakness and the only reason I don't give it five stars， is a lack of information on syntax。 What good is it to know how to derive words organically and sound them out if we can't string together in sentences？ 。。。more
Madeleine
，
Not what I expected， a much more technical look at language （I was hoping for more anecdotes about how he created his languages or a look at the history of conlanging）。 But if you’re really into linguistics or want an instructional guide for making a conlang， this is the book！
Maggie
，
This book is NOT for everyone - it's basically a linguistics textbook， written with the angle of how to use， bend， and break the rules of language in order to create new languages。 I'm not a conlanger， just a layperson who is fascinated with linguistics， and I found it really intriguing and well written， with a welcome dose of humor throughout。 I listened to the audiobook （which came with a substantial PDF supplement）， and I think this is a great way to get through a lot of dense material， but i This book is NOT for everyone - it's basically a linguistics textbook， written with the angle of how to use， bend， and break the rules of language in order to create new languages。 I'm not a conlanger， just a layperson who is fascinated with linguistics， and I found it really intriguing and well written， with a welcome dose of humor throughout。 I listened to the audiobook （which came with a substantial PDF supplement）， and I think this is a great way to get through a lot of dense material， but if you want to use the book as a reference you'd definitely want to invest in a paper copy。 。。。more
Littlebookterror
，
I loved every single page
Jo
，
An interesting look at linguistics from the other side， so to speak。 Definitely useful if you want to try creating a language but don't know where to start。The only real downside is Peterson's tendency to get sidetracked by 'humerous' tangents。 An interesting look at linguistics from the other side， so to speak。 Definitely useful if you want to try creating a language but don't know where to start。The only real downside is Peterson's tendency to get sidetracked by 'humerous' tangents。 。。。more
C
，
2020 Popsugar Reading Challenge25。 A book with only words on the cover， no images or graphicsAs someone with absolutely no formal training in linguistics but a deep fascination with conlangs， this book was perfect for me。 The writing is very approachable and easy to read， but it provides a lot of detail on how language works。
Caitlin
，
A charming and in-depth look at the aspects one might consider when inventing a language。 Peterson is a charming and fun writer who kept me entertained throughout even the dullest technicalities。 Being a layman， I found the experience enjoyable and educational。 As a source for preparing one to create their own conlang？ I don't see it being particularly useful。 The author's familiarity with a diversity of languages， history of inventing languages， and linguistics certainly gives them "draw the re A charming and in-depth look at the aspects one might consider when inventing a language。 Peterson is a charming and fun writer who kept me entertained throughout even the dullest technicalities。 Being a layman， I found the experience enjoyable and educational。 As a source for preparing one to create their own conlang？ I don't see it being particularly useful。 The author's familiarity with a diversity of languages， history of inventing languages， and linguistics certainly gives them "draw the rest of the fucking owl" feeling。 It's more of an entry-level linguistic textbook then a guide for language invention。 。。。more
Danae
，
I couldn't imagine a more comprehensive introduction to the world of conlangs。 Incidentally， I learned more about English grammar in this book than I ever remembered from high school。 BRB， creating a language！ I couldn't imagine a more comprehensive introduction to the world of conlangs。 Incidentally， I learned more about English grammar in this book than I ever remembered from high school。 BRB， creating a language！ 。。。more
Dorkthropology
，
Since I already had some basics in linguistics， it had way more intro to linguistic concepts than things I would've found more useful， like showing examples of how he developed language histories。 Since I already had some basics in linguistics， it had way more intro to linguistic concepts than things I would've found more useful， like showing examples of how he developed language histories。 。。。more
Tessa
，
If you wanted to create your own conlang （constructed language） what would you need to know about languages？ This book sets out to teach you that。 It was much closer to a textbook than I expected （lots of dense material and flipping back and forth between pages to reference definitions） but written in a conversational style， and the structure and examples stay focused on language construction。 If you like linguistics， but don't know much about it， strong recommend！ You will learn a lot of very f If you wanted to create your own conlang （constructed language） what would you need to know about languages？ This book sets out to teach you that。 It was much closer to a textbook than I expected （lots of dense material and flipping back and forth between pages to reference definitions） but written in a conversational style， and the structure and examples stay focused on language construction。 If you like linguistics， but don't know much about it， strong recommend！ You will learn a lot of very fun facts！ 。。。more
rory
，
This book is linguistic gold。 For its stated purpose， it's executed almost perfectly， and I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in constructed languages OR just natural languages。I wouldn't say you absolutely need any linguistics background to get something out of this book， but if you are totally new to the subject， it might go a little too fast。 A "Linguistics 101" style course （or a knowledgeable friend you can pester？） would be a perfect companion to go through in parallel。Here's an ex This book is linguistic gold。 For its stated purpose， it's executed almost perfectly， and I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in constructed languages OR just natural languages。I wouldn't say you absolutely need any linguistics background to get something out of this book， but if you are totally new to the subject， it might go a little too fast。 A "Linguistics 101" style course （or a knowledgeable friend you can pester？） would be a perfect companion to go through in parallel。Here's an example excerpt from the book that I would consider to be of roughly average technical difficulty （relative to everything in the book）:"In order to avoid having to pair every single consonant in one's inventory with every single other consonant， one generally uses classes of sounds （e。g。 oral stops can be followed by approximants）。 How to decide which clusters will work and which won't， though？ Let me introduce the sonority hierarchy。 The sonority hierarchy defines classes of sounds based on how likely they are to serve as the nucleus of a syllable。"If you at least feel intrigued enough to want to learn what this means， then you might enjoy the book！ 。。。more
Dan Nguyen
，
A lot of great informationThis book breaks down languages in an amazing way。 It breaks down the different sounds humans can make， tells you the history of some languages， compares the sentence structures of different languages， and many more。
Noelle Brighton
，
Did a quick read of this and it is amazing。 I will go back and study it further as there is so much information。 Excellent。
Alice Lemon
，
I'm not a linguist and perhaps not really qualified to comment on its accuracy， but I found this book a really useful guide to understanding the basics one needs to know to conlang effectively。 My goal here is to come up with a bunch of passable languages for use in naming in a worldbuilding project I have， and I really suck at phonology。 I'm not a linguist and perhaps not really qualified to comment on its accuracy， but I found this book a really useful guide to understanding the basics one needs to know to conlang effectively。 My goal here is to come up with a bunch of passable languages for use in naming in a worldbuilding project I have， and I really suck at phonology。 。。。more
Kristen M。
，
I knew literally nothing about con-langs going into this， but it was a cool read！ Loved the sections specifically about grammar。
Esther
，
First started reading this book on the 3rd of May 2019， but abandoned it due to a lack of time（？） at some point。 Now started again on the 11th of May 2020。
Jimmy
，