Much has been written about J.R.R. Tolkien’s invention and use of languages in The Lord of the Rings and his other works.  Believably, his Elves challenge, sing, and chant in two distinct languages, Quenya and Sindarin; his Dwarves carve, shout and curse in Khazad; his horse riders of Rohan chat in Rohirric and scratch their heads when the Hobbits understand some of the Rohirric words. Treebeard the Ent recites sonorous verses, and even the orcs spout invective in varying, not always mutually intelligible, dialects of Orkish, a pastiche tongue. All of these languages, or their hinted-at existence, lend The Lord of the Rings a flavor of realism, oft mimicked yet rarely matched, helping to breathe life into the folk and creatures of Middle-earth.

Tolkien was a philologist by nature and by training, to all intents and purposes, a word scientist. Another notable writer and sometime Tolkien friend, C.S. Lewis said of him: “He had been inside language.” Indeed, his legendarium of Middle-earth was created to give voice to his invented languages, which became almost as real to him and many fans as any tongue ever spoken.

In truth, Tolkien’s languages are a blend of his imagination, linguistic talent and inclination, and real languages, both extinct and extant. Gothic, not spoken natively for over a thousand years, its close cousin, Old English, and two languages still spoken and certainly exotic to most English speakers, Welsh and Finnish, all became components, major and minor, in the creation of Middle-earth’s tongues.

Writers who want to represent a few words or phrases from an alien language often create them on the spot, and that is enough for their purely illustrative purposes. Hoping to more fully realize an exotic culture, other writers devote almost as much time to the background of their stories, including languages, as they do to their stories. I have done both.

Any writers interested in creating their own languages, with some consistency and realism, should consider the following questions:

a) Choose an actual language you love and/or speak already or even want to learn, extant or extinct.

b) What are its vowel sounds? American English has 15 distinct vowel sounds; some are combinations of several vowel sounds called diphthongs. Do you want such a complex sound system? Even though it also has diphthongs, Spanish has five basic vowel sounds, but some languages get by with four or even fewer basic vowel sounds.

c) What are its consonants? Does it have rules against certain combinations of consonants and vowels?

d) What are its building blocks? Some languages, like Arabic and Hebrew, have basic combinations of consonants called roots or stems in which vowels are inserted, showing verb tense, point-of-view, etc.

e) What are some of the distinctive exceptions to its rules?

f) What do you want your characters to say or hear in the language you are creating? This can be a deciding factor in how far you want to go in creating your language!

If the idea of creating your own language appeals to you—shall I say sounds fun—come back for Inventing Languages Part 2. We’ll create the rudiments of an imaginary language!