The Speech

[toefetish]

^ Oh, no. Videogames are full of them.

[Fallen-Petals]

I disagree CC I dont mind haveing fantasies...................< Not gonna finish that you dont wanna know where it's going

Any who The speech: TIS A LANGUAGE OF BARDS!!!!

[kiaga89]

I wonder what Alison based the speech on..

I mean..you have LOTR where Tolkien created whole languages based on old english, etc.

Would be interesting to see how she came about creating it

[Gemini]

I wonder what Alison based the speech on..

I mean..you have LOTR where Tolkien created whole languages based on old english, etc.

Would be interesting to see how she came about creating it

Alison actually answered this years ago in the old Q&A thread. I see if I can find it.

I think she based it on Latin(?), I'm not sure though.

ETA:

I made the Speech up as I went along as well.

I've based the grammatical structure - such as it exist! - on Latin.

Is the Speech based on any written language? (eg. Latin, Russian etc) or is it from your own head? . . .and. . . is it a complete language? or is it just bits and pieces you've made up to fit the story?

Hi Tari - I based the grammar, such as it is, on Latin, as Owleye remembers, but the words are not Latinate. It's basically made up as I go along - I have a couple of irregular verb forms, and two small dictionaries, English into the Speech and the Speech into English, so I don't get lost, and so it has some coherency as a language. But I think basically it only exists, such as it is, in the present tense. I am no Tolkien, who was a proper linguist.

I based the structure of the Speech roughly around Latin, which I learned for a few years... Though it also has noun declensions... I've tried to make many of the names etymologically consistent, so the thing hangs together - at least at a glance! - so it at least seems that language has evolved like a real language, though the Speech is a bit different. I have a couple of notebook "dictionaries", English into the Speech and vice versa.

I haven't made an alphabet, though I talk about them in the books. I thought about it. But when I really needed one (for the Treesong runes) I asked someone else to design them, because my abilities really don't run that way! There are various other languages in the books - Pilanel and Suderain pop up, for instance - but they exist only as stray words and names.

It's very important to me that the world sounds right. I guess made-up languages always seemed to me to be basic to fantasy. Now, that's definitely the influence of Tolkien!

[Sirkana]

Thanks Gemini.

Ah, how I loved the Q&A thread when I lurked...but even then it had been closed for some time. I read all 50 pages of it...

[Bree]

Interesting post Gemini, and Alison.

[Ashe]

Hmm... that is interesting. I think I fancy myself as something of a linguist, but my main talent in that area is cracking codes and such. And I speak Al Bhed, a code language in which the letters are swapped.

*Gasp!* 666 posts!

[Sirkana]

And I speak Al Bhed, a code language in which the letters are swapped.

Wow! That sounds really cool...

[Ashe]

It's actually unbelievably geeky, considering the language features in the video-game 'Final fantasy X'.

(I went through a computer nerd phase when I was 12)

[kiaga89]

The speech reminds me of elvish, everytime I see it...it's just as brillant, in my eyes at least, even if Alison didn't write a complete language. (btw, thanks Gemini for finding that!)

[Ashe]

I like the way the grammar is different to English, It just provides a twist- most other people would just make up words to replace the English ones, and not even consider the word order.

Like Maerad of Pellinor is Maerad Pellinor Na.

[Sirkana]

Yes, from a linguistic POV that's great.

[Ashe]

I wonder how the Speech started inhabiting the Dhillarearen... maybe some people lived near an Elidhu and the magic became part of them?

[Calypso]

That's possible, but then why can't non-elidhu or people who don't have elidhu ancestors understand the elidhu language?

[Ashe]

Because that is derived from the Treesong that, so the tale of the Split Song tells us, is contained within the Elidhu, and the Speech is merely a lesser magic that radiates from the Song. That would explain why the Treesong also affects the Speech, as well as the Elidhu and their power. One would have to have the Song (Pardon the clich&#233;!) in their blood to be able to understand the Elidhu.