Conlangs: Purpose and Challenge

Conlangs, or constructed languages, have become a common feature in many fantasy or science fiction stories. Most of the time these play larger roles in movies and TV, but they appear often enough in books too. One of the fathers of the modern fantasy genre, J.R.R. Tolkien is known for his elaborate work on the linguistic portion of Middle Earth. In spite of all that, conlangs are not as easy to put together realistically as one might hope. Many authors actually fall back on the trope of the "common tongue" where most of their world shares a trade language. While there may be some merit to that idea, I think worlds feel more real when there is linguistic variety. The question is whether a specific story needs a new language or not. That's why I want to explore the decision making process about whether to include a conlang in your writing or not.

Let's start with a brief overview of what's needed to make a conlang. I'm not going to outline the whole process of crafting a conlang here. Entire books have been devoted to that subject, but I can point out some of their pieces. Like any real language, conlangs require extensive vocabulary, grammar structures, and a people to use them. Vocabulary can be difficult to craft, as most adults have a vocabulary of 20 000 words or more. That's a daunting prospect. Grammar structures are also a challenge. If you make them too regular they seem unrealistic; too irregular and you can't keep track of your own rules. The last piece, the people, is probably the easiest. Language doesn't occur in isolation, but builds on and creates a cultural context. Some people would argue that a script, or writing form is required for a conlang. In some cases that may be part of it, but language is primarily a spoken medium; writing only attempts to codify speech into a form that is easily preserved. If you want to look into conlang creation further, I recommend The Art of Language Invention by David J. Peterson. He does a good job of walking you step-by-step through the process without being entirely overwhelming.

Since creating a conlang can be daunting, we should really consider the purpose of creating one in the first place. Essentially, when you are crafting the background world for your story, you should ask yourself, why do I need a new language? My own answer to that question is often, "I love creating them!" Unfortunately, that is not a good enough reason to craft a new language for your world. You need to delve into the story you are trying to tell and ask further questions. Is a language barrier an important part of your characters' growth? Is your world large or isolated enough to need different languages? At the most basic level you have to ask whether adding a new language will strengthen your plot or not. For example: if you are telling a story of extensive travel around a complex world with varied cultures, languages would play a pivotal role in your characters' experience. On the flip side, if your story occurs in a single city or localized region, the language is likely consistent enough that you may not need to include a new language.

Carrying the purpose question a bit further, think of the arcs your characters will experience. This will be different for discovery writers and outliners (more on this in a future blog), but it merits thought anyway. Knowing the growth your characters will experience can be an important factor for including a linguistic barrier. If it's crucial for your character's development, then get crafting! If that's not part of the growth of your characters, then you can save some time and effort by not delving into the weeds of language creation.

One last thing to consider before including a conlang in your story or world is the question of ability. Not everyone can craft a language to the level of consistency required for realism. If you've determined that your story needs a conlang to challenge your characters, then you need to put in the work to do it right. If the appearance of your language in the story makes your readers do a double take or pushes them out of their immersion in the narrative, then you might want to find an alternative way of presenting it. Even if you need a linguistic barrier for a character, you don't always have to have the language created to do it. An outline of the challenging aspects can be enough to describe your characters' conflict. If you still feel like you need the language, then strive for reality.

Once you've determined you need a conlang or not, you need to start building it. But how far should you go? Do you need all 20 000+ words, a complex grammar structure, a writing method, and whole history for the language's culture? The answer to that relies on your answer to the purpose question and the prominence you want for it in your story. If it is a primary or core conflict within the story, I think your conlang should be carefully crafted in lots of detail. In its crucial role, the readers will be seeing a lot of it and it needs to be consistent and obvious that it's not a few words just tossed around. On tho other hand, if it is a secondary challenge or a temporary conflict for a character, maybe you don't need the full language. In this second case, a brief outline of what the language is like can keep you in check and you can create just enough words to make it believable for the brief moments it appears in your text. Like I mentioned earlier, consistency for the reality of your world is important. That plays out in how much of your story depends on the depth of the language.

I will be the first to admit that I love creating conlangs. I have a notebook with at least fourteen different systems at various levels of creation. Some are fully functional grammar structures that only lack some vocabulary to be fully viable. Others are a scribbled series of vague notes on what the language looks like. In spite of my fascination for them, I rarely include them in my stories. Their purpose needs to be clear. If there's no need for them, I'd rather avoid the distraction of including them. Conlangs can be useful. They just need to be done well. Think about it before including them.