Questions tagged [language]
For questions about the written or spoken language of a world.
444
questions
14
votes
12
answers
6k
views
How would computers develop in a society where a Cherokee-like language is the dominant lingua franca?
I am writing a book set in a parallel universe where English is not the dominant language and the dominant language is a complex polysynthetic language that makes use of a complex system of word ...
- 4,464
19
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How Would Linguists Plan to Overcome the Language Barrier in a First Contact
A spaceship is headed for Earth. We detected it with a few months' warning. Messages have been sent to and received from the ship by radio, but we haven't deciphered anything they've said, and don't ...
- 307
8
votes
6
answers
1k
views
Biological human-alien language barrier
Something I've been pondering- spacefaring humanity makes contact with alien species who, while being intelligent enough to learn to understand human languages, their throats or vocal cords (assuming ...
- 2,939
25
votes
8
answers
5k
views
How can explorers determine whether strings of alien text is meaningful or just nonsense?
A group of xenoarchaeologists is studying the remains of a bygone civilization with the aim of understanding its culture. So far, isolated artifacts have been found, such as metal plates with symbols ...
- 823
5
votes
3
answers
284
views
How would Universal Translators affect the development of language?
In my sci-fi setting there's a Universal Translator similar to does seen on Star Trek and Farscape (basically working with nanoprobes) thus, once inyected on the bloodstream people who speak different ...
- 603
6
votes
2
answers
485
views
My character grows large upper and lower canines, how might their speech be effected?
I've read this answer and it was insightful, but I'm describing a character who undergoes a one off transformation rather than being from a whole new species. She grows fangs (both upper and lower ...
- 2,462
3
votes
7
answers
907
views
How could real-time sentence translation work if using a "common middle ground" language?
Previously I'd developed a concept for a translation process that uses a common language, but is perceived (using technology or some other sort of device/substance that can alter mental processing) to ...
- 889
2
votes
10
answers
1k
views
Must a sapient species rely entirely on language to advance? [closed]
Humans, unlike other intelligent species, have a unique reliance on our language. Is this required? Could a species, with language, realistically advance to human-level technology without having a ...
- 15.6k
17
votes
12
answers
5k
views
How many unique sounds would a verbally-communicating species need to develop a language?
A species with limited capacity for making different vowel/consonant sounds, pitches, vocalizations, and so on, has a limited capacity for the creation of different words in a compositional language. ...
- 889
0
votes
6
answers
279
views
Could a substance (drug, chemical, etc.) instantly teach a language?
A more specific off-shoot from something I previously asked, about instant interspecies translation. If I wanted some sort of substance to be able to affect or "rewire" the user's brain to ...
- 889
13
votes
13
answers
4k
views
Numeral systems based on different colors rather than different symbols?
I want to portray a culture with a significantly different method of perceiving their own mathematical concepts, yet not so as to say something like just "they used a kind of number very often, ...
- 465
1
vote
1
answer
142
views
How would a "universal language field" work? [duplicate]
Looking to work with the topic of interspecies translation, covering a very wide variety of alien types and biologies, with a "universal translator"—but rather than a universal translation ...
- 889
7
votes
6
answers
976
views
Orthographic change over time
This is related to a previous question of mine: Rate of linguistic change among geographically separated descendants of a common language
If you had 4 groups of humans with the same language and ...
- 946
2
votes
4
answers
241
views
Rate of linguistic change among geographically separated descendants of a common language
I'm developing a story set on an exoplanet where a relatively small terraforming expedition is forced to settle on the planet due to some catastrophe 20,000 years before the story's events.
They ...
- 946
5
votes
4
answers
435
views
Is it plausible for constructed languages to be used to affect thought and control or mold people towards desired outcomes?
In 1984, newspeak is used to control thought, and to make certain ideas impossible to express, or even to think.
I'm imagining a future totalitarian state which develops custom languages which it ...
- 443
15
votes
14
answers
4k
views
What replaces Mr/Mrs/Ms as a title courtesy/respect in a world that cares less about gender?
I'm trying to create a mildly utopian setting. When my characters need to address someone formally and I realised that the default English "Mr" or "Ms" I was using is full of ...
- 5,305
3
votes
2
answers
190
views
Need Help with a Fictional Modern Baltic Country’s Name?
I want the name of the country to mean “eastern border/land”, but I’m not a professional in the Latvian/Eastern Baltic languages.
As an example, would it be Austgale or Austrumgale (gale meaning “...
4
votes
7
answers
345
views
How to make my hyperfast-immersion language-learners still be fooled by code-words & cyphers
In a story I'm writing, I have a group of beings who can learn any language by just listening to voice-recordings* of someone speaking that language over-and-over again** (almost like a highly ...
- 464
1
vote
3
answers
275
views
What do you call fishing on a planet where there are no fish? [closed]
When Plato gave Socrates the definition of man as “featherless bipeds,” Diogenes found and plucked a chicken and brought the poor creature into Plato's Academy, placed it on the ground and announced, “...
- 2,323
-2
votes
2
answers
139
views
How would a sapient species with two tongues organize their language? [closed]
I created a species of catlike aliens called Raachtunami (singular Raachtun) or Tutoans. They have extremely perceptive ears, a syrinx, and two tongues. This allows them to use several human phonetics ...
- 903
0
votes
1
answer
168
views
What are some of the most culturally universal names? [closed]
This is mostly a shower-thought type query rather than an active problem I'm looking to solve, but here it goes.
Say I have a character that gets an opportunity to choose his own name, and he wants to ...
- 17
4
votes
1
answer
229
views
How to name an Ancient Egyptian Prince?
I have created a character and only still need his name. I've spent the past 3-4 hours googling stuff about Ancient Egyptian royal naming conventions, and it's a lot! @_@
The character is a young man (...
user99624
0
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Why is English the only language spoken?
Long: So in a previous question (HERE), I asked the plausibility of a disease killing off everyone who could speak a language other than English. This time, I’m asking if there’s a point in history, ...
17
votes
17
answers
5k
views
How would a language-based disease work?
I was trying to find an explanation as to why all the characters speak English, and this popped into my head. Could a disease (bacterial or viral or whatever) affect only people who don’t speak ...
13
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Could a pure sign language society be as advanced as a speaking society?
I remember reading about how a lot of the early paleolithic societies and proto-human species like Neanderthals and Homo Erectus used sign languages before spoken languages. It made me wonder how a ...
- 3,316
15
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Can a lone alien entity develop an internal language?
I'm imagining a hypothetical lone organism on a planet. Something like Avatar, the movie's Eywa. I am envisioning it as a massive organism covering the entire surface of the planet but biologically ...
- 153
4
votes
2
answers
488
views
Could intelligent parasaurolophuses form a primarily sound-based language?
I was thinking about how parasaurolophuses could make sounds using their cranial crests. Then I thought that if they were intelligent enough, maybe they could create a spoken (honked? bellowed?) ...
- 193
1
vote
8
answers
2k
views
Why would a language lack gendered given names? [closed]
Most real life human languages only have gendered given names (they can only be female or male).
In my world, there is a species of Euarchontoglires from the Homo genus named merfolk (their scientific ...
- 5,132
11
votes
10
answers
2k
views
Universal Phonetic Alphabet
In the story I am developing, there is an intergalactic community with a plethora of different sentient species, each with its own languages that vary depending own its vocal anatomy.
There are ...
- 1,221
4
votes
8
answers
711
views
What do you call a biologically assisted robot? [closed]
A droid is short for android, often a mostly humanoid robot.
A cyborg is a biological being which is improved by robotic elements as part of their body. The word being derived from cybernetics which ...
- 44.6k
4
votes
2
answers
218
views
What Would Be the Most Practical Way for a Pre-industrial Civilization to Communicate With a Sentient Race of Bees?
I am currently writing a story about the very unique relationship between a sentient race of bees and humanity. Humans, through bartering and trade, have grown to have a close relationship with these ...
- 1,503
6
votes
8
answers
1k
views
What words to describe the three monomolecular structures
So there's technically 3 things a monomolecular structure can be:
an edge a single atom thick which consists out of many molecules in a row to create the edge, often described for weapons with the ...
- 44.6k
4
votes
3
answers
572
views
How do you come up with various meaningful names from different languages for a multicultural fantasy world?
I want to introduce cultural diversity to my fantasy world, taking inspiration from various cultures in the real world. To make my multicultural fantasy world believable, I need to come up with ...
- 257
2
votes
4
answers
262
views
Equivalents word for Human centric words in a world with multiple sapient species [closed]
In world with humans, elves, warewolves, cat people, dwarves, sirens, merfolk and other humanoid sapient species (Non-monstrous and peaceful)
What terms would be used to convey meaning of Human-...
- 698
3
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How Much is Too Much Land for One Province?
The Aurean Dominate is a sort of federated elective monarchy that rules all of the Planet Aurea (an approximately Earth-sized world but one where all the land is in the southern hemisphere and the ...
- 5,912
6
votes
13
answers
2k
views
Would a culture inhabiting the abandoned homeland of another people adopt parts of the previous inhabitants' language? [closed]
The Vareyn once lived in a fertile land at the head of a great desert, subsisting off of a great river and its bounty - until they were forced to leave after a catastrophic volcanic eruption.
Many ...
- 1,329
1
vote
2
answers
165
views
How to create a custom gematria system for a world? [closed]
I just recently asked What are the origins of the various forms of Gematria? and What are the rules for constructing a gematria system? Now I am wondering how to create a custom gematria system for a ...
- 211
-4
votes
2
answers
124
views
How many languages would it take to unite the Mammal Kingdom?
The mammilia class is tired of just being a class. They want to be a kingdom. However the problem is: they can't communicate very well. The humans didn't want to give up their powerful syntax, but the ...
- 910
5
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Why would a language created by humans lack both the /s/ and the /z/ consonants? [closed]
In my story, there are a strange species from the Homo genus: hematophagous humans often called vampires (their scientific name is Homo haematophagus) (so, they are still humans, just not Homo sapiens)...
- 5,132
0
votes
1
answer
116
views
What would a language spoken by a tortoise-like sapient species sound like? [closed]
In my world, there is a species of massive bipedal (with a hunchbacked gait because of their shell) turtles with human-level intelligence (I do not mean humans with profound intellectual disability ...
- 5,132
8
votes
3
answers
357
views
Why would a language have three rhotic phonemes?
In my world, there is a mammalian species from the Homo genus called "ogres" (their scientific name is Homo obesus) (they are still humans, just not Homo sapiens) (Homo obesus means "...
- 5,132
4
votes
4
answers
454
views
How does a whistle language written with latin script work?
so for context
this kind of alien possess no vocal cord to make sound like human had
instead, they communicate by making sounds akin to whistle,chirp,and
clicks.
this kind has no native writing ...
- 1,782
21
votes
10
answers
4k
views
The deaf prisoner got her secret message and the pirates never knew. How was that possible?
I have a Category 3 problem in my world
This is an escape from pirates problem. The story requires a secret message to get past pirates and I don’t know how to design the captivity for it.
Setting: ...
- 8,159
10
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Why would a language created by humans lack the /j/ semivowel and even the /i/ vowel?
What I mean is the /j/ sound (as in English "yellow" and French hyène) (hyène means hyena) is the most common semivowel around the world. This phoneme is highly conserved in Indo-European ...
- 5,132
5
votes
5
answers
436
views
Why would a language lack a T-V distinction, but with a pronoun system that is the opposite of English?
In English, you is used both in the second-person singular and in the second-person plural (thou is now only used in some old proverbs and old expressions).
At the opposite, French (my native language)...
- 5,132
4
votes
3
answers
395
views
Can culture A adopt culture B's language entirely but keep their identity intact?
In my world, a group of nomads (culture a) conquered settled peoples (culture b) and adopted their language as an administrative language, think Aramaic or Koine Greek.
I've also been playing with the ...
- 123
10
votes
7
answers
332
views
Root words for a portable communication device in alternate reality: 19th Century
I am looking for a small list of Latin, Greek, or French words which would be most concise and descriptive of the qualities and functions of a pager-like device. The technical description of the ...
- 8,159
12
votes
9
answers
2k
views
Language for people who see in the future
People of the forest, people who become trees when they die.
The trees are interconnected, a giant web spanning almost the entire continent.
The tree-web is a computer, it reads the impulses it ...
- 373
4
votes
2
answers
229
views
When building a language & alphabet (especially between species) what range of phonemes (mainly consonants) should be included?
Most languages on earth do not have every phoneme. When creating a new language, how do I decide which ones to choose? How should I manage the relationship between different languages? I have a race ...
- 605
-3
votes
1
answer
84
views
Could language coexist with complex natural signals? [closed]
The species in question would have a humanoid level of intelligence and inventiveness
Their abilities of language would be less developed than humans, but would still work well enough for a society
...
- 15.6k