Elvish, Klingon and Na\'vi: Constructed languages gain foothold in film
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Elvish, Klingon and Na'vi: Constructed languages gain foothold in film
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The release of the movie Avatar, written and directed by James Cameron, has generated increased interest in the field of constructed language, also known as conlang. Cameron asked American linguistics professor Paul Frommer to develop a language spoken by the extraterrestrial people in the film known as the Na'vi.
Klingon language alphabet, from Klingon Language Institute
Image: Brian Ammon.
Author J. R. R. Tolkien developed Elvish languages for his literary series The Lord of the Rings. The Elvish language was featured in scenes of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson.
The Klingon language (tlhIngan Hol) was developed by linguist Marc Okrand, initially for use in the 1984 film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Okrand drew inspiration from Klingon lines spoken by actor James Doohan in the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture; Doohan portrayed character Montgomery Scott in the Star Trek series. A dictionary for Klingon developed by Okrand, The Klingon Dictionary sold over 300,000 copies.
You know your alien language has taken off when a German guy translates rap songs into it.
—National Public Radio on Klenginem
Klingon became quite popular and has developed a usage among Star Trek fans. The Klingon Terran Research Ensemble in the Netherlands created an opera in Klingon. The play Hamlet by William Shakespeare was translated into Klingon. A German Trekkie who goes by the moniker Klenginem posted videos to YouTube where he raps songs he translated into Klingon by musician Eminem. Klenginem has been cited recently in pieces on constructed language in The New York Times, ABC News Nightline, and National Public Radio. "You know your alien language has taken off when a German guy translates rap songs into it," said National Public Radio of Klenginem.
Linguistics professor Frommer received his PhD degree from the University of Southern California (USC), and subsequently shifted his focus into the business arena. He returned to USC to teach at the Marshall School of Business. Cameron tasked Frommer with creating an entire language for the Na'vi people.
In an interview with Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times, Frommer voiced hope that the language would continue to be used separate from the movie, as Klingon has. "I'm still working and I hope that the language will have a life of its own," said Frommer. The Na'vi language created by Frommer contains over 1,000 words, as well as a structural system and rules format for usage. Frommer told Vanity Fair that the language was fairly developed, commenting, "It's got a perfectly consistent sound system, and grammar, orthography, syntax".
I hope that the language will have a life of its own.
—Linguistics professor Paul Frommer
Frommer explained the direction given to him before creating the language, "Cameron wanted something melodious and musical, something that would sound strange and alien but smooth and appealing." The Avatar writer-director provided Frommer with approximately three dozen words of the Na'vi language he used in his scriptment for the film. "That was the starting point. Probably the most exotic thing I added were ejectives, which are these sorts of popping sounds that are found in different languages from around the world. It's found in Native American languages and in parts of Africa and in Central Asia, the Caucasus," explained Frommer. Cameron and Frommer worked together for four years developing the language.
The linguistics professor relied on inspiration provided by Cameron, and avoided drawing upon influences from Elvish, Klingon, and the international auxiliary language Esperanto. Sample words in the Na'vi language include "Uniltìrantokx" (oo-neel-tih-RAHN-tokx), meaning "Avatar", and "tireaioang" (tee-REH-ah-ee-o-ahng), which means "spirit animal". Maclean's reported that fans of Avatar were anxious for more instructive material from professor Frommer about the language in order to learn how to speak it with others that appreciated the film. "The response has been quite remarkable and totally unexpected. I never thought there'd be this level of interest. But I really don't think of Na'vi as a competitor to Klingon. If it does develop a following, that would be quite wonderful," said Frommer of the response to the language from Avatar fans.
We wanted to 'out-Klingon' Klingon.
—Avatar writer-director James Cameron
The Na'vi language is itself a minor plot point in the film Avatar. The character Jake Sully portrayed by Sam Worthington endeavors to learn the language while living on Pandora. A botanist portrayed by actress Sigourney Weaver instructs a scientist played by actor Joel David Moore on how to become conversational in the language.
Zoe Saldaña, the actress behind warrior princess Neytiri in Avatar, picked up the Na'vi language faster than her fellow cast members. "Zoe owned the language and everyone had to match her, even her accent," said Cameron. Saldaña remarked that the most difficult part about acting in the film was speaking in English with the accent of the Na'vi people. Cameron touted the rich nature of the Na'vi language in publicity for his film. "We wanted to 'out-Klingon' Klingon. The best sci-fi movies immerse the audience in that world until it doesn't seem alien to them," said Cameron to USA Today.
"Scientists find key human language gene" — Wikinews, November 12, 2009
"Parlez-vous français? Qapla'! More Grade 11 boys proficient in Klingon than French: local survey" — Wikinews, July 6, 2006
"Google translates Gmail to 12 languages, asks for volunteers to target 144 more" — Wikinews, April 23, 2005
Na'vi language
Constructed language
Appendix:Na'vi
Richard Metzger. "Geek Speak: Learn Na'vi, the alien language of 'Avatar'" — Brand X, December 22, 2009
Kevin Williamson. "Alien dialect has merit" — Toronto Sun, December 21, 2009
Colby Cosh. ""We're going to out-Klingon Klingon!"" — Maclean's, December 21, 2009
Guy Dixon. "Hoping to out-Klingon Klingon" — The Globe and Mail, December 18, 2009
"The Language of 'Avatar'" — ABC News Nightline, December 17, 2009
Karin Zeitvogel. "Na'Vi: brand new language brought by "Avatar"" — Agence France-Presse, December 17, 2009
"Do You Speak Na'vi? Giving Voice To 'Avatar' Aliens" — National Public Radio, December 15, 2009
Scott Bowles. "James Cameron pushes every boundary for his 'Avatar' vision" — USA Today, December 13, 2009
Chris Ayres. "Na'vi talk down Klingon as the last word in alien-speak" — The Times, December 12, 2009
Peter Bowles. "The language of Avatar revealed" — BBC News, December 11, 2009
Ben Zimmer. "On Language: Skxawng!" — The New York Times, December 4, 2009
Julian Sancton. "Brushing up on Na'vi, the Language of Avatar" — Vanity Fair, December 1, 2009
Geoff Boucher. "USC professor creates an entire alien language for 'Avatar'" — Los Angeles Times, November 20, 2009
Klenginem. "Klenginem – SuvwI'pu' qan tu'lu'be" — YouTube, October 15, 2009
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First television channel in Esperanto launches online
Filed under: Archived,Brazil,Constructed languages,Economy and business,Esperanto,Internet,Science and technology — admin @ 5:00 am
Sunday, November 6, 2005 A new online television channel, Internacia Televido, has been launched following just over two years of fundraising and preparation. It is the first channel ever to be broadcast entirely through the international auxiliary language Esperanto, and was launched at midnight Brazilian time on Saturday night. The name means 'International Television'. The channel aims to create an international television network combining professional content with the collaboration of ordinary users from around the world. Programmes will range from news shows and documentaries to culture, educational programming and children's entertainment.
The project, supported by the World Esperanto Association amongst others, was announced in October 2003 in São Paulo by Brazilian entrepreneur Flavio Rebelo, whose media business CIDCON also runs the Esperanto language web portal Ĝangalo (www.ghangalo.com, 'Jungle') and publishes music. The original intention was to establish a 24-hour streamed online channel, with four hours of original programming per day (repeated six times daily) and a daily news bulletin. A subsequent international fundraising campaign to raise the required sum of €35,000 to establish the channel involved Rebelo speaking at several Esperanto events throughout Europe during the early months of 2004 through the support of an anonymous Asian donor.
The project failed to garner sufficient funds to meet its original deadline, but in August this year Rebelo confirmed that a scaled-down version of the project would go ahead upon the sum of €23,000 being reached. The channel currently features 90 minutes of programming daily, with one weekly news bulletin, and three waged employees instead of the intended ten. It is intended that the channel will be funded past its initial six-month period through on-air advertising revenue and further private donations, and expanded as revenue permits.
Experimental television broadcasts in Esperanto were not first made until the advent of Internet technology. A previous online Esperanto TV project (www.esperanto.tv), under the auspices of the Italian Transnational Radical Party, failed to realise a finished product. Since the 1920s, radio broadcasts have been made regularly in Esperanto by broadcasters such as RAI, China Radio International and Radio Polonia.
Internacia Televido website
"ITV – The International Television" — Vinilkosmo, September 2005
"Internacia Televido naskiĝis – regulaj elsendoj ekestas de nun" — Ĝangalo, November 04, 2005
Kalle Kniivilä. "Esperanta televido ŝrumpas antaŭ sia naskiĝo" — Libera Folio, August 09, 2005
"Télévision sans frontières ni barrières de langues" — AgoraVox, October 05, 2005
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Google translates Gmail to 12 languages, asks for volunteers to target 144 more
Filed under: Archived,Constructed languages,Esperanto,Language,Science and technology — admin @ 5:00 am
Google has translated its email service, Gmail, into 12 languages, and it has put up a form that allows the public to volunteer to translate the Gmail interface into 144 more languages. Available for its first year with an English interface only, Gmail now appears in 13 languages:
Chinese (2 variants, "Simplified" and "Traditional")
English (2 variants, US and UK)
While most of the languages listed in the volunteering form are old, three are relatively new: Borkborkbork, Klingon, and Esperanto. Additionally, the form lists Pig Latin, which is a method of rearranging words to obscure a language, rather than a language in itself.
Google has also recently introduced a feature known as "My Search History," which allows users to record their searches. Use of the search history requires that the user have and log in to a Google or Gmail account.
Languages into which the Gmail interface may be translated:
Abkhazian
Bhutani
Borkborkbork
ElmerFudd
Inupiak
Norwegian (Nynorsk)
Pashto, Pushto
Sangho
ScotsGaelic
Volapuk
"Which languages does Gmail support?" — Gmail Help Center, April 12, 2005
"Translate Gmail into your language" — Gmail Help Center,
Avni Shah. "From lost to found" — Google Blog, April 20, 2005
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