Over the years, the scope for language service companies has broadened in an unexpected way because of the outreach of entertainment and the ability of linguists to create and develop fictional languages. Considering a fictional language is often equally as standardized and complex as any official language, it reminds us that languages are nothing but an improvisation. Fictional languages are generally created by writers, professors of philology, linguistics, and lexicographers. Dating back to the 1800’s with the creation of Esperanto, language creation has become increasingly popular. Nowadays, many fictional languages can be learned and there are even global translation services working in these languages. The 3 most popular fictional languages are:
- Elvish
A language created by JRR Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien was a philologist, lexicographer and an author who spent decades developing Quenya, Sindarin, and a variety of languages for a fictional place of his creation called Middle Earth. According to Tolkien, the languages were a precursor to the story. He wanted to create a world that would fit a form of language that was appealing to his personal aesthetic. Nowadays, there are numerous video translation lessons that teach people how to learn the language. Although the instructor is not a professional translator, many fans have a deep understanding of the language. Additionally, there are online services offering professional translating services in Elvish, Dwarvish and Entish. They are loosely based on Finnish and Welsh, according to Tolkien.
- Klingon
Among the top well-known fictional languages, Klingon is the language of the warrior Klingon race from Star Trek. Originally created by Marc Okrand, the language is now the topic of a quarterly journal by an organization known as the Klingon Language Institute. This particular language actually undergoes professional translating and is used for conference interpreting services pretty frequently. There have been cases of marriage ceremonies conducted in Klingon, song translations and even an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet was produced in this language. In this case, professional translating is also necessary to transliterate into English since the language also has its own alphabet.
- Dothraki
This language originally appeared in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, a novel fantasy series that led to the popular HBO series, Game of Thrones. Dothraki was developed in full for the series by David J. Peterson, who also created the Valyrian languages for the show. The language is a mixture of Spanish and Arabic sounds. The popularity of the language and the show has become a pop culture phenomenon. Over 140 baby girls were names ‘Khaleesi’ in 2012, which is the Dothraki term for the wife of the ruler (‘Khal’).
About Language Connections:
Language Connections is one of the top language service companies in the US. Over the last 30 years, we’ve focused on providing the best business translation services, interpreting services, as well as interpreter training and customized language training programs. In addition to top-tier corporate language training, we offer certified corporate interpreters and professional business translation services in 200+ languages. Our network includes linguists with backgrounds in all major industries. They’re ready to meet your needs, whether they’re for technical translation services, legal translation, government translation services, international development translation services, education translation services, life sciences translation, or something else. Reach out to us today for a free quote on our cost-efficient and timely translation services, interpreters, or other linguistic services.
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