Thorough worldbuilding is essential to any great story, especially when it comes to the fantasy and sci-fi genres. Readers need to understand the rules, customs, and norms of the fictional world, which requires quite a bit of thought and planning on the author’s part.
But some creators go above and beyond, even creating complete languages to enhance their fictional worlds.
In this post, we’ll take a look at 8 of the most developed fictional languages from books, movies, and television that you can actually learn to speak yourself.
8 Best Fictional Languages
Below are 8 fictional languages that were developed for film, television, and books.
1. Elvish from The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien did much more than pen the iconic Lord of the Rings books. Before he even began writing the series, he first developed entire languages, including the Elvish Quenya and Sindarin.
In fact, Tolkien was actually a philologist and lexicographer, having worked for the Oxford English Dictionary after serving in World War I.
The Elvish language family includes over 15 distinct languages and dialects, but Quenya and Sindarin are considered the most precise and linguistically sound, with entire university courses now dedicated to them. Quenya was largely inspired by the Finnish language, while Sindarin borrowed from Literary Welsh.
2. Dothraki from the Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin, the author of A Game of Thrones and the other A Song of Ice and Fire books, included few Dothraki words in the books.
The language was actually developed in much more depth for the HBO series. Producers of the show sought help from the Language Creation Society, which is how David J. Peterson ultimately got the job of turning those first words written by Martin into a complete lexicon.
Peterson drew inspiration from Martin’s description of the language, as well as from such languages as Estonian, Inuktitut, Turkish, Russian, and Swahili.
Since much of the Dothraki people’s lives depend on their horses, the creatures are also a central part of their language. (In fact, there are 14 ways to say “horse” in Dothraki!)
3. Na’vi from Avatar
For his 2009 blockbuster Avatar, director James Cameron teamed up with renowned linguist Dr. Paul Frommer to develop a complete language.
Cameron even came up with about 30 words himself. He wanted the language to be pronounceable by the actors, but not to sound like any other human language. From Cameron’s original concept, Dr. Frommer created a consistent sound system, morphology, and syntax.
Na’vi had a vocabulary of roughly 1,000 Avatar debuted in 2009, but Frommer has continued to expand the language, which now consists of over 2,600 words and is considered a relatively complete and learnable language.
4. Klingon from Star Trek
Klingon, the language of the Klingon warrior race in Star Trek, was first mentioned in the 1967 episode “The Trouble with Tribbles,” but it was not heard until the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.
In 1984, linguist Marc Okrand began developing the Klingon language and published several books about it. There’s even a Klingon Language Institute, which publishes a quarterly journal.
Much like James Cameron’s vision for Avatar’s Na’vi language, Okrand endeavored to make Klingon sound genuinely alien, but still pronounceable and learnable for actors.
The language continued to evolve as more and more fans caught on, and it’s now the world’s most widely spoken fictional language. Dedicated Trekkies use it to conduct marriage ceremonies, and you can even learn Klingon on Duolingo!
5. Lapine from Watership Down
For his highly successful 1972 novel Watership Down, author Richard Adams created the Lapine language for the rabbit protagonists of his story. (“Lapine” means “rabbit” in French.)
The language was intended to sound “fluffy,” and Adams says he constructed it from his subconsciousness as he went along writing the book.
The actual text only contains a handful of Lapine words, but fans and academics have studied and expanded on those few examples over the years.
Now, Lapine is a fully functional language, with a complete grammar system and vocabulary.
6. Alienese from Futurama
The “Alienese” spoken in Futurama is unique in that it relies on numbers. The language was originally intended as an inside joke for dedicated fans.
It began as a simple substitution alphabet, with 26 characters that directly corresponded to the English alphabet.
However, fans quickly caught on, so a second form was created, this time using math. Each of the symbols in this new system has a numerical value, which is how the messages are decoded. You can find the full alphabet here.
7. Trigedasleng from The 100
In the CW series The 100, Trigedasleng is the language of the Grounder people, who are survivors of the apocalypse.
It was created by David J. Peterson, who also created the Dothraki language for Game of Thrones. The language evolved from English, and while most Grounders speak Trigedasleng, they can also speak English to keep the upper hand on their enemies.
Some of the humans who escaped the apocalypse and returned to Earth have also made attempts to learn Trigedasleng.
8. Huttese from Star Wars
Huttese is the language of Jabba the Hutt and his species. It was created in 1983 for his first on-screen appearance in Return of the Jedi, with help from Larry Ward (the original voice of Jabba and Greedo), along with sound designer Ben Burtt.
Huttese is based on an Incan dialect called “Quechua,” and Hutts are not the only ones who can speak it. For eample, Watto, a Toydarian, speaks Huttese in The Phantom Menace, as does Greedo in A New Hope.
How Are Fictional Languages Made?
One of the key distinctions between natural languages and fictional languages is that fictional languages are usually created by a single person, whereas natural languages evolve from a particular culture or group of people.
Most fictional or “constructed” languages are created by linguists, as they have the knowledge and expertise to create fully developed, teachable languages. The words they invent must be coherent and consistent, and the fictional language must be supported by a genuine grammatical structure.
Many fictional languages borrow from or are inspired by existing natural languages, while others are designed to sound totally foreign and alien.
In many cases, a linguist (or “conlanger”) will develop a fictional language to the extent that it’s needed for a film or series, but dedicated fans keep the language alive and continue to expand its lexicon.
To learn more about linguistics and how words are made, check out our post on how words get added to the dictionary.
What’s your favorite fictional language from film or literature? Share it with us in the comments below!
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As a blog writer for TCK Publishing, Kaelyn loves crafting fun and helpful content for writers, readers, and creative minds alike. She has a degree in International Affairs with a minor in Italian Studies, but her true passion has always been writing. Working remotely allows her to do even more of the things she loves, like traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family.
