Buka
asked
Katherine Addison:
How did you develop the language of Ethuveraz? Were you inspired by some real-world languages?
Katherine Addison
I recommend the Language Construction Kit to people who want to make their own language: http://www.zompist.com/kit.html I didn't follow it step by step, but it lays out the things you need to think about.
I was influenced by the languages I know best: (inevitably) English, French, Latin, and Ancient Greek. Mostly the latter two in the serious language construction part (French got a workout in the Doctrine of Labyrinths series) because Ethuverazhin is an inflected language. I stuck in things I particularly like: the consonant combination "cs" is the Greek letter xi. And I did things that were deliberate reversals: having -o be the most common feminine ending was because in Ancient Greek, 'o is the masculine article and therefore is part of EVERY masculine noun..
I deliberately made it a very rational language (which most (all?) real-world languages are not): it has very clear rules and it follows them 100% of the time. That's cheating on the author's part.
Other than that, I spent a lot of time trying to make sure that the words all *sound* like they belong in the same language, and that the words in Barizhin sound like they belong in a related language. I'm not a Tolkien-style linguist; there's no full grammar and dictionary sitting behind me on my bookcase or anything. Mostly, words in Ethuverazhin and Barizhin are what they are because I like the way they sound.
I was influenced by the languages I know best: (inevitably) English, French, Latin, and Ancient Greek. Mostly the latter two in the serious language construction part (French got a workout in the Doctrine of Labyrinths series) because Ethuverazhin is an inflected language. I stuck in things I particularly like: the consonant combination "cs" is the Greek letter xi. And I did things that were deliberate reversals: having -o be the most common feminine ending was because in Ancient Greek, 'o is the masculine article and therefore is part of EVERY masculine noun..
I deliberately made it a very rational language (which most (all?) real-world languages are not): it has very clear rules and it follows them 100% of the time. That's cheating on the author's part.
Other than that, I spent a lot of time trying to make sure that the words all *sound* like they belong in the same language, and that the words in Barizhin sound like they belong in a related language. I'm not a Tolkien-style linguist; there's no full grammar and dictionary sitting behind me on my bookcase or anything. Mostly, words in Ethuverazhin and Barizhin are what they are because I like the way they sound.
More Answered Questions
Paul Keelan
asked
Katherine Addison:
Are the imperial names longer for a reason? Did the audio book get any pronunciations wrong?
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