Accent Expert Breaks Down 6 Fictional Languages From Film & TV | WIRED

[@plusRpm]

When you casually crack a pitch perfect yoda just to make a point.

[@stanbabyphotostheslither-p8815]

Yup

[@huynhanh1269]

we just going to ignore the spot on Yoda he pulled while talking about Star Trek...

[@christopheralex4768]

every time eric would be like "hear that sound?" i'd be like "uh huh definitely" while in reality i heard basically none of it and only followed like 5% of the conversation

[@brendonhavener]

am I supposed to reply with a copy&paste as well?

[@Nekotaku_TV]

It's easy.

[@Little_Lotta]

This dude has a better understanding of fictional languages than I have of English.

[@teamredshirt]

Hey, you nailed both punctuation and capitalization, two things that 90% of the YT audience is completely unaware of....

[@candidatezero4703]

@@teamredshirt Near-flawless execution, but an ellipsis typically contains only three periods, not four, and there really should be an em dash in place of the second comma, e.g. "you nailed both punctuation and capitalization-two things that..." Otherwise, amazing performance.

[@teamredshirt]

CandidateZero, The dash is one I struggle with, if only because is been a decade since high school. The ellipsis I’m blaming on my cracked screen, which causes an occasional double button press that autocorrect usually deals with for me. Until I started double tapping space to end a sentence, it often caused sentences to end with “..” which correction software doesn’t care about one bit.

[@Melds]

@@candidatezero4703 An ellipsis at the end of a sentence should still have a period after it, for four total. Or, if you use the ellipsis character (glyph), it would be "…."

[@jendorei]

@@Melds What? No. There is no such rule.

[@DavveyL]

"I can't comment 'cause I am not a heptapod" EXACTLY what a heptapod would say.

[@amiakeli2682]

Ladies and gentleman.. we got him..

[@melissashields6893]

lol you made me snort laugh

[@KikiT92]

sus indeed

[@matthewtaylor6829]

Um actually it should be pronounced Ì̴͍͈ ̷̢̍̔̈́̽̂͝ĉ̸̨̛̥̬̣͕̤̻̉͠á̵̠̱̇̓͆n̸͉̠̙͙̥͇̰͌͂̿͊̏̂͒'̶̣̝́̑͝t̴͎̟̣̮͐͋̒͘͝ ̶͎̮̜̥̩̬̠̳͋̂̄c̶̻͐͜ǫ̸̟̬̟̫̙̬̉̓̈́̾̈́͋m̶̛̟̳̖̳͌͐͗̋̈́͝m̵̧̛̛͔̼̬͉͗̈́͛͂̉̂ę̵̣͍͖̲͚̻̅͜n̴̖͕̠̊͛̉̎̊͘͠t̷͇̹̫̙͚͚̬̹̊͗̒͐̿ ̵̲̳̼̌̐͑̓b̷͕͍̟̄͒̈́̽́͛͝e̸̥͎̮̖͈͓͇̓̒̕͝c̴̯̣͐ā̴͚͝ư̶̫̰̺͉̻̮͉͋̃̆̆̋̆s̵̡̳̭̋ȩ̵̠̯̬̥̀̈́̈́̄͋̌ ̴͎͕̪̰͎̆̌́̉̈́̌̕̚Į̸͓̪̠̖͐͑̿̿̏̔͝'̸͎̎̓̃m̴̥̠͋̍͐̅͆͆̎͋ ̵̣͓̯̞̭̟̯̋͒̈ṇ̶̝͈̦͔̰̞̫͆̈́̊̑͋o̷͉̿͆̈́̀̾̄̓̒t̸̩̰͈̤̰̟̄ ̸̛͓̂͊͘a̶̛͎̜̭̰͈͌̽́̌ͅ ̵̲̼̒̾͒̕͘͘͝ḩ̶͕̘̦̼̝̳̄ͅe̷̛̛̥̻̱̳̔̎̄̌͆̄ͅp̵̡͈͇͈̟̉̀̚t̶̘͔̼̊͗͋̎̚ä̷̱́̽̑̏͒̎͑̓p̸̱̗̹̫̹̪̚ȱ̵̲͗͛d̵̰̲̞̪̟͚͇̓

[@tzshchsjsjxijyo]

@@matthewtaylor6829 did you mean “i diemn jodpoe93ld xjeofd i hsmrx jsoekd s jhepetod”

[@yp2kk]

Imagine meeting this guy and you sneeze and hes just like "ooh thats one of my favourite sounds the atycillal sutrux"

[@pinkajou656]

It’s amazing

[@particularlytrue]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@CatchThesePaws]

@@augustguerra2550 eyy memento mori

[@snorf525]

clearly it's an alveo-nasal plosive

[@the_fifth_letter]

I love your pfp... It Looks really good

[@sophiapiper4978]

every time eric would be like "hear that sound?" i'd be like "uh huh definitely" while in reality i heard basically none of it and only followed like 5% of the conversation

[@wegigprasasti1425]

Me when dating 😅

[@guythedude6293]

Me and my brother are language nerds so I was able to hear them pretty well. Once you study the sound system of two or three languages it's easier to pick up on those kinds of things.

[@celinavivian1162]

It goes sooo fast but I’ve watched all of these videos in a row and it’s getting a bit easier. I know I’ll forget all of it by tomorrow

[@arturama8581]

Listening takes practice and being multi-lingual helps a lot.

[@bongwaterfrank]

"I can't comment, I'm not a heptapod" hmm. sounds like something a heptapod would say

[@oopie2006]

Matthew Calder what the... I read that RIGHT as he said it!! *Twilight Zone music*

[@MarNieves]

I could listen to this guy speaking for 12 hours straight and I wouldn't complain at all

[@minhcatelyn4882]

@@svenlimaLima lol! profound!!!

[@MsButtercup3000]

I want him to read me a bedtime story 😂

[@elizabethc.z]

I agree and wanted to help you reach 1K likes :)

[@Graham-gt4gr]

Big Bodda BOOM! Orange haired girl in fifth element!

[@SpiritOnAdventure]

"american has a really weird 'r' sound" It feels so cathartic to hear someone address it

[@SpiritOnAdventure]

Also I'm so goddamned thrilled that my obscure language got a mention in this video (minangkabau) I kept replaying that part

[@steelbear2063]

Yeah as a Russuan I feel like r basically doesn't exist in English

[@joshuamaze4210]

@Stevie P eA

[@-ana_banana-2098]

@@joshuamaze4210 games

[@nigdyezemska2827]

Whenever I speak in English, I inevitably "trip" over the r sound at some point. It's really difficult to locate it, almost feels like a vowel at times. Though the French r is even worse.

[@giraffewithtattoos2770]

I could listen to this guy all day. Please give him his own show

[@magnum_cx8805]

I would watch way too much of that

[@jessestefan6177]

I third this

[@Hats502]

I agree he’s awesome, very knowledgeable

[@itsmyroadbiatch1884]

I think that is a dwarvish alphabet, not Sindarin at 13:12

[@oksanaulula]

@@itsmyroadbiatch1884 why?

[@roseanne4710]

The way he got all excited everytime he was about to tell a fun fact made my day

[@Wingardium.LeviOsa]

Just about to say that 🤣🤣🤣

[@Monieverytime]

especially 12:42

[@zagman9572]

we just going to ignore the spot on Yoda he pulled while talking about Star Trek...

[@cuoredolce29]

Nick Zagas THANK YOU!!!! I was stuck like, did he really just put that out there perfectly like that and NOBODY said anything???!!!

[@Sileithel]

@@cuoredolce29 It's too perfect! Maybe it was a voice over??

[@dehdarkz1191]

Ikr? Dude is true to his career lol

[@ncescher1]

Thats his profession...

[@HotShotR92J]

Best part

[@Mica_T]

Nothing makes me more happy that hearing someone call it "Sindarin" instead of elvish

[@sopihagrace7964]

The Ewoks also say some phrases in Tagalog. I remember watching Star Wars as a kid with my family. It surprised the heck out of us Filipinos. (In a good way.)

[@RafaelaMartinelli]

there are several "elvish dialects" and only Tolkienheads know it! XD

[@ImYourOverlord]

@@RafaelaMartinelli Well, yeah. Quenya is a strong contender here ;)

[@zoltanszaszi2264]

There are three Elvish languages in LoTR/Silmarilion lore right? (At least three) Calling any of them just Elviah would be like saying, "Oh do you speak Indo-European?"

[@prefersilence1742]

Same, im learning it and everyones like: So hows youR ELVISH going

[@saygerholcomb8050]

does this man just know every language?

[@BlkSDX]

Well... That's his job as a linguist

[@OoogaBoog]

@@BlkSDX A lot of people really suck at their job. This guy is just good at it.

[@flee4342]

Or he researched for 4 weeks before doing this video.

[@dwalters98]

@@flee4342 He likely does speak most of the languages that aren't a minority language though. Enough that a casual conversation would never be an issue anyways.

[@Evelina_412]

​@@dwalters98 What do you consider a minority language? Cause there are hundreds of widespread languages that millions of people can speak. He can be educated on languages without actually being able to speak them, definitely not in a "casual conversation" type of way. I'd place my bets that he knows up to ten.

[@konnerdent4835]

Can we trust this guy? He speaks parseltounge.

[@Mr.Heller]

He doesn't "speak" Parseltounge, he "understands" Parseltounge, like Dumbledore.

[@izaiahramos9675]

Mr.Heller r/whooosh

[@dagatsby8918]

Konner Dent gotta be able to understand the snakes to stop them

[@alvinlepik5265]

@@Mr.Heller wait wait wait..did Dumbledore understand the language? It's been so long since I read the books..

[@kazudolly]

@@alvinlepik5265 yeh, he can understand it but not speak it lol

[@Septecimia]

I'm personally offended that Simlish wasn't included in this

[@Trekkie_Gal]

I was thinking that too, but the title of the video does specify film and TV. That being said, I'd love to hear his take on it. Maybe he can do another video on video game languages.

[@christianedwinwalter4531]

Jabu jimi hish jabu

[@zazzy6758]

Septecimia simlish isn't a real conlang, it's more like that Star Wars language with the little bear things because it's a haphazard arrangement of a number of different languages

[@PapagenoDispo]

oh feebee lay!

[@anoja31]

Lol yea!

[@K.Adler1120]

0:55 Parseltongue (Harry Potter) 2:20 Klingon (Star Trek) 6:40 High Valyrian (Game of Thrones) 8:11 Dothraki (Game of Thrones) 11:36 Na'vi (Avatar) 12:58 Sindarin (J.R.R. Tolkien's works) 15:17 honorable mentions

[@juliaj7939]

I came here for Tolkien

[@destbar]

Who else came here for Tolkien?

[@patrickhildebrandt9328]

@@destbar Me

[@konohashinobi71037]

I came here for Tolkien too!

[@evepolvay401]

Did u know Klingon is on Duolingo but they refuse to put Latin on

[@JeremiahWatkins-zv8bn]

E P my best guess to why that is is that Latin is so widely argued on the pronunciation that Duolingo didn’t want bad reviews for the speaking part of learning your language. Klingon on the other hand is short, and pronunciation is considerably easy

[@evepolvay401]

@@JeremiahWatkins-zv8bn Huh that's a good point. I never thought of it like that. There are two latin teachers at my school and even they pronounce words differently.

[@JeremiahWatkins-zv8bn]

E P yes, since Latin wasn’t preserved well over the centuries, the pronunciation is widely varied, and hotly debated amongst experts. I think it’s a really interesting topic to dive into. My native language is French and even inside our own language, there is so much variation. Sometimes to the point you can barely understand one another. I guess this is the same with English, but I don’t feel it’s as extreme.

[@galiusargentum9048]

I don't know what's the issue with the Latin. I mean, yeah, there are two types of pronunciation, a classical and an ecclesiastical pronunciation. Just choose the classic one and it's done. Latin is a very beautiful language, the father of most occidental language, except english and german, dutch and some others.

[@laurastoria7880]

Tu trouves qu’en France on peut avoir du mal à se comprendre ? À part au Québec je trouve qu’on n’a vraiment pas d’accents si différents que ça

[@LifeLoveBeauty32]

I seriously want to see a 30 minute video oh this guy doing his version of all the accents

[@pandatobi5897]

HAHA my ocd is having a field day this comment has 666 likes

[@ahmadreiza2827]

He literally teach you how to spell it right everytime he correcting

[@hotpotts]

Easy, just take a hammer to your left temple

[@michaelt.5672]

That Yoda impression was unexpected and brilliant.

[@jasonalen7459]

I love how they show Yoda shaking his head "no" after he said it

[@anneclarence1704]

where was it again? (can you give me the time)

[@noahp.8301]

Anne 2:39

[@anneclarence1704]

sorry it's not there...?

[@dreamchasingcat]

Anne try 3:02

[@gray4449]

in case anyone was curious, High Valyrian and Klingon are both on Duolingo. ((Im silently hoping they add Sindarin but i kinda doubt it))

[@siggilinde5623]

Kinda strange when you think about it 🤔

[@fierysunset3261]

They also have Navajo??! What. That's kind of upsetting for me ngl

[@rageagainstthemicrowave1313]

@@fierysunset3261 navajo is a real language tho what are you upset abt lol

[@evelynvongizycki1017]

Haha I didn’t know! I have a lifetime membership to do a lingo for the pandemic.

[@kjeezy2990]

@@devanbrowne8706 because it’s a language only for us.

[@MsCunningLinguistic]

Erik Singer: "... a very enthusiastic uvulur affricate" Me: *blushes*

[@veritypursuit9752]

😂😂

[@bazingaburg8264]

It sounds a bit forward but feels so right ^^ Out in a minute, honeeey

[@Words-of-encouragement.-.]

I love your screen name😂😂

[@MsCunningLinguistic]

Marquise West thanks boo 😘😉

[@mareksicinski3726]

*uvular

[@silvermoonshineX3]

Does anyone realize that they find people who speak too many languages hot or is it just this guy being hot with all his knowledge of languages?

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

Just a guy who's passionate about and knows a ton about a topic. Idk that so attractive to me

[@roaklarson9699]

I don't think so, otherwise I'd be get a lot more action, then what I am rn

[@katy4639]

Yes. Yes he is.

[@lieselbrehmer]

*coughs* lookin’ at you, Viggo

[@steelbear2063]

Looks before books. He's hot, which is obviously the first thing people notice. And THEN he's interesting. Maybe. Still better be hot and dull than ugly and dull

[@DrRiq]

Would love to see a breakdown of the Minion language

[@chongyunsimp2088]

Yes me too! I think minion language uses a lot of malay words. I recognized one or two malay words like "terimah kasih" but i don't speak malay so I wouldn't know.

[@DrRiq]

@@chongyunsimp2088 haha yeah, it definitely sounds like a mix of Austronesian + Greek + others

[@newtonthenewt1400]

@@DrRiq It also sounded slightly Latin to me

[@DrRiq]

@@newtonthenewt1400 yep, agree

[@ShirubaGin]

Most of it is gibberish

[@icarusancalion3523]

I speak Tibetan, and I watched The Return of the Jedi with a native Tibetan speaker -- and she was floored, because they actually borrowed individual Tibetan words and phrases for the Ewoks (and used them correctly!). She started listening very carefully, but it was just here and there.

[@kimchiravioli]

I didn't know I was hot for linguistics

[@MsCunningLinguistic]

*tl*

[@guul66]

lingustics is wicked

[@bazingaburg8264]

Try out books like "Learning russian for travel purposes in 4 weeks" and alike without any listening comprehension whatsoever, i dare you :D Not wanting to unlearn learned mistakes, we wouldn't just settle for a gutfeeling of how the pronunciation has to sound like. I am so glad i came upon this chanel ^^

[@johndesohn7973]

@@bazingaburg8264 ты странный сударь

[@jdw0909]

me neither!!!

[@Lambpika]

i could honestly listen to him break down languages forever.

[@isabellesacks3055]

Impressive that Zoe Saldana speaks Klingon, Na'avi, English, and Spanish

[@b-m9480]

Isabelle Sacks But not Viggo Mortensen who speaks 7?

[@isabellesacks3055]

I wasn't saying that to detract from the impressiveness of how many Viggo Mortenson speaks, but rather to highlight that I thought it was outstanding that Zoe Saldana speaks TWO fictionalised languages.

[@MagentaLooks]

She should join Game of Thrones.

[@isabellesacks3055]

So true

[@jzaar7483]

*Na'vi

[@nikisouza841]

I love how Mr. Singer finds something intelligent to say about everything they throw at him. A true professional.

[@travis33425]

Some guys be afraid to moan in their girls ear... Erik Singer: Voiceless Alveolar Lateral Affricate

[@MartianInDisguise]

This man is the dream of heterosexual female linguists everywhere.

[@EFlatPC]

He’s right. Viggo Mortensen really sounds like he’s been speaking Sindarin his whole life. I didn’t know he spoke six languages. That man is just impressive.

[@sarahgappmaier3574]

giving me a small heartattack with "he spoke"

[@elkaydoug8863]

I wish that I could speak Spanish

[@soulmediabo]

it sounds like he speaks Sinderion better than most of the elves...

[@p1rgit]

and there was poor Figwit (aka Lindir) having helluva time tryna memorize one single sentence in sindarin... :D or two. Taenen bar-en-abed athar glaind, nevui penim miruvor. Manann ingadh namen i-darthatar? kzbin.info/www/bejne/aafSYYNpjKxnsK8 around 5:00 -ish :)

[@p1rgit]

@@dxce_ meh, who cares... grow up ;) btw in oldest manuscripts it's 616, if you love number of the beast :p

[@SuVar6as]

The Ewoks also say some phrases in Tagalog. I remember watching Star Wars as a kid with my family. It surprised the heck out of us Filipinos. (In a good way.)

[@panda-gj2ml]

that’s so cool

[@greglialios7430]

Can we trust this guy? He speaks parseltounge.

[@ferastg6652]

Let’s appreciate Emilia Clarke. She surely nailed a fictional language perfectly

[@johat1219]

Can we also appreciate Zoe Saldaña that she nailed at least two fictional languages, in Avatar and Star Trek

[@ericbrown1101]

It's kinda crazy that she was able to show a progression in her speaking ability. I also love the clear distinction between Drogo as a native speaker and Dany as a non native speaker in season 1. Big credit to his friend Jan for that.

[@CeruleanRex]

@@johat1219 We can and we should.

[@CeruleanRex]

Dothraki AND High Valerian!

[@ikebeckman1074]

She even makes an unintentional mistake in the sale of the Unsullied that makes her pronunciation sound even more Astapori, where she says “iskos” instead of “iksos” as it would be in what Eric calls proper Valyrian. Over time ps and ks sounds switched to sp and sk

[@MadameHoot]

To Wired: I think it's super cool that your production crew applauds Erik and all your other experts. They really deserve it and so does the post-production matching the video clips so well.

[@lincolnsand5127]

There are more fluent speakers of Klingon than some native American languages. Which is both impressive and depressing.

[@GriffinPilgrim]

Still doing better than some. Cornish is dead.

[@yo18momas]

Kinda upset he didn’t mention that the Tl sound is also in Nahuatl (Aztec language) and has 1.8m speakers, making it the largest spoken Native American language

[@nexxusty]

How is that depressing? You unintelligent to enjoy Star Trek hmm? I understand. Most people are.

[@lincolnsand5127]

@@nexxusty I'm saying it's impressive how developed star trek has become. I like star trek. I'm saying how it's depressing how many of the native American cultures and languages have faded and been lost. I'm not insulting star trek.

[@alyssarosenberger4332]

@@nexxusty You insult someone's intelligence while simultaneously butchering the language. Do you have any idea about the real languages and histories and peoples who've been lost? I love Star Trek, but honestly as someone who's at least in some part Seminole, I have to say I agree with Lincoln. It's sad indeed.

[@justaguyyy]

Fun fact: J.R.R Tolkien actually made many languages other than Sindarin in the world of middle-earth/Arda. Like Quenya, Dwarvish, Entish, Black Speech etc. And unlike many other languages here, he made these by his own accord or by himself. Yes, he was a legend.

[@animegandalf8690]

JustAGuy Well black speech was never fully done, since it was barely used in the books and that Tolkien himself said that he kinda hated it since he felt it made him uneasy. Which kinda fit when you make a language that the enemy should speak

[@chrissiec5541]

JustAGuy thank you, i was hoping there would be a comment paying J.R.R. Tolkien the fuckton of respect he deserves

[@huahualipo]

Anime Gandalf true; Tolkien's languages are of various states of completion. Fun fact: Black speech is related to Valarin, the language spoke by the sort of gods. Another fun fact: Sindarin is considered weird by many, perhaps because it was subject to time more than the "proper" Elvish Quenya.

[@CalebMcFarland]

Fun fact: hot pockets are almost impossible to cook correctly.

[@Caedus696]

Well it makes sense that Black Speech and Valarin are similar since the "magic" of middle earth is just that speech and song twisting the fabric of reality.

[@CJhasgoneidle]

I've been working for over two years on a conlang called Eka'ane. It's so time consuming, but so worth it when I can step back and say a paragraph or two in my language! I hope to eventually get to use it in a novel :)

[@maiagobbo]

Any updates on your novel?

[@rozach9504]

Is this the professor that y/n always falls in love with? 😂

[@redfrenchfries9263]

yep absolutely

[@NO-bl4gm]

I think so😂😂 cause he is cute asf

[@ghadaalkhalidi9733]

who is y/n

[@NO-bl4gm]

@@ghadaalkhalidi9733 Y/N is often known as "your name" in fanfics and self inserts on Tumblr and such

[@ghadaalkhalidi9733]

@@NO-bl4gm oh thanks:)

[@madajafarmer5414]

Okay but the editors were really nice for pausing his speech at fairly flattering points lol

[@bryntendo]

Dothraki sounds so badass, and Momoa pulls it off brilliantly.

[@deulily]

Bryn Jackson he’s the human representation of badass

[@rangerslayer2260]

Then you have Emilia Clarke who does nail it, but not without messing up. It's hilarious. Even when she speaks Valyrian.

[@braziliangopnik3040]

looks like spanish to me

[@bryntendo]

Supergirl Gamer I think she does it really well too, but she does it with her Valyrian/Westerosi accent since she's all high born and stuff, which definitely makes it sound less badass, but hey, Dany is pretty badass as it is so I give her a pass there lol

[@SmoothDogGaming]

Maybe Khal Drogo just kills off anyone that speaks it better than him lol

[@squashsoup1]

all of us at midnight choking on our tongue to make a d sound

[@nimratmand3318]

Not me though. I am Indian😆

[@perrodetokio]

Hahahahaha or as we laugh in spanish: Jajajajajajaja

[@cheecksXx]

Yooo it’s not often that I hear my tribe mentioned in a video (that isn’t about Alaska). Łingits have only about 1,000 fluent speakers, and enough sounds to make our language difficult

[@Idiomatick]

Wa sah iyatehte

[@jelleschelfthout3636]

Quite cool tho, make sure you keep your language alive! I know I would watch some beginners guides

[@jogiesler5872]

i'm just realizing all the weird sounds i can do all have names

[@SmilyLily1996]

Jo Giesler I studied English at Uni for a little time and had linguistics in it and had to learn most of these words. Best part is mumbling things to yourself when taking the exam.

[@HMcore]

I know, right :D "Is this fortis or lenis? t ... d ... t ... d ... t ... d"

[@Bigotedechivo]

are we NOT talking about his amazing Yoda impersonation!?

[@HeyCrabman14]

Right he is! Yessss!

[@GewelReal]

Book to him gave I

[@chimpinaneckbrace]

I feel like he could do a perfect impression of just about anyone or anything.

[@georgf9279]

Comment Yoda did. His head he shook.

[@jonnomate4085]

anyone can do a good yoda impression

[@burntumbrage6868]

This was such a pleasure to get into! For the first time in my 51 years, I’ve discovered a group of people with the same fascination for language and language sounds, structure and content that I’ve had all my life, seemingly alone! Even to the interest in the makeup of constructed languages! God I wish I had known this was an area of study that was practical and not just academic-I think I would have been profoundly happy to have devoted my professional life to this. Thank you.

[@Spookiedoo]

I was watching something totally unrelated and happened upon this video and now I can't get enough of this guy lol. Yes Mr. Linguistic Man, please keep educating me on Uvular Trills and Lateral Afficates *heart eyes emoji* lol

[@NOOOOPENOPE]

I was watching counting calories with a balleriena to this.

[@justinvalle7644]

After he’s done breaking down these fake languages can he break down this bussy oml

[@taklampa6197]

Who else doesn’t understand anything but thinks it’s really interesting.

[@chrstnptt3398]

Same, lol

[@faselwesen]

Haha. Thanks for putting my thoughts into words. I'm captivated

[@deckzid]

Me here :)

[@PishTosh83]

✋

[@reddparadox4141]

I do. Its cool to realize how if even small changes in the things weve always done unconciously could totally change how we sound.. That's pretty neat.

[@supermansdoctor]

These are ridiculously, addictively good.

[@stuffthings9618]

Tolkien is a freakin genius. Im always surprised at how detailed he made his world. Its a linguistics goldmine.

[@fawkespryde9183]

It's two am and at the beginning of the video, I questioned why I was watching this. Three minutes in and I'm completely immersed. Wow. Honestly you find yourself appreciating movies and tv series more after seeing the time and research they put into these details. Each language in this video feels organic and if I close my eyes, it's like being transported to a new world. I'd expand on my curiosity more but it's two am. Great video regardless of the time though.

[@rockdog2584]

Funny.... I just posted a comment a moment ago...and it's just after two in the morning. GO, Team Insomniacs!

[@fawkespryde9183]

Rock Dog Team insomniacs? At this rate I'll need to print shirts. But your right, who needs sleep!

[@elliediringer3821]

Fawkes Pryde I’m so tired but I can’t turn it off

[@falxonPSN]

And I'm replying to this at quarter till 1am. We're all gonna need some NyQuil to pass out and sleep. :)

[@JackJack-zo4zt]

Fawkes Pryde 🎶2 A.M and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake. Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?🎶

[@MinaF99]

YES! Love these language/accent videos

[@MinaF99]

Also the sims language next pls

[@Halinspark]

Mina F Step one: Put marbles in mouth. Step two: Pretend to speak French

[@factsverse9957]

Mina F Finally! Official name (Technique Critique)

[@anandadaquino3604]

what is your native language, guys?

[@nicorans5369]

Native Language is Dutch, but i also speak Englisch, French, German and a little bit of Spanish

[@cuoredolce29]

As someone who LOVES languages, THIS is absolutely AMAZING!!! And am I the only one who did not know that Viggo spoke 6 languages?!!

[@WildeFyre69]

I didn't know, but it doesn't surprise me, he is extremely smart.

[@sarahwnyc8080]

His Italian pronunciation wasn't super on point but he was talking about a fairly advanced/ conceptual topic.

[@atticusfinch3536]

His Spanish is perfect

[@saiasdlalsdsk1203]

@@atticusfinch3536 because he's argentinian lol it's his mother language

[@siggilinde5623]

I did know. But I spent the most time of my puberty swooning over Aragorn Arathornion 😅 So yeah...

[@miguelvaleroarcia7931]

I love him I love his seriousness I love his humor I love his knowledge I love his enthusiasm I love his hand gestures The guy is just great

[@yyaaa3434]

someone fell in love

[@Words-of-encouragement.-.]

@@yyaaa3434 Lmao

[@williamyazvey2793]

I’m Navajo and I flipped out when I heard him mention our language!

[@yasmina6715]

same here but i speak Kalmyk (that ewoks thing) :D

[@jtoatm5923]

black-white spagetti wow so cool! Same here when he mentioned Welsh :D

[@The_True_Mx_Pink]

Navajos for the win! :)

[@CCGMASTER]

Tlingit here, I also freaked out. Shout out to him for knowing bout indigenous languages.

[@The_True_Mx_Pink]

@@CCGMASTER and not calling us Indians! Cause we're not! It's racist to say that we are!

[@lookoutpiano8877]

Wow. This man is stupid intelligent.

[@lookoutpiano8877]

kenza abdi I don't know what you mean. I was giving him a compliment. It's a phrase used in America. Think of it like, "I got a new Ferarri. It's stupid fast."

[@Kindroth110]

kenza abdi “stupid” in this context is synonymous to “crazy” or “very”

[@Arthur-yf9yv]

Loving the oxymoron :)

[@musical_lolu4811]

'Stupid' here is an intensifier adverb. A typical Americanism. Kinda funny too, its intended comedic effect. Nothing to be bothered about.

[@djsickbeatz4005]

Pp and poopoo

[@DrNothing23]

He missed the opportunity to describe how R2-D2 has 26 electronic sounds. One for each letter in the English alphabet. The noises actually spell out his dialogue.

[@RicardoMorenoAlmeida]

Whaaaaat??? For real?

[@qs987]

Wtttt so its just english?

[@alisa2628]

Then that language would just be English no?

[@Helloitzkenny]

Did you know that Deadmau5 actually has *the* synthesiser board that was used to create R2-D2's "Language"? Source: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnPMonmEg8uomqM Timestamp: 5:25

[@alexandersuarez6835]

Nerd alert

[@librarianlysia4709]

The rewatchability of Erik's videos is insane. I would watch this man talk for hours about languages.

[@rikijones7825]

I'm curious what he thinks of the 72+ ways that Hodor says "Hodor" on Game of Thrones.

[@jorellelouis1551]

I was waiting for Hodor too since he discussed GOT conlang already.

[@chrismanuel9768]

Hodor is perfectly cromulent.

[@Kokiri601]

This guy does for linguistics, what Vsauce did for science.

[@giantmetaldog9153]

you should watch tom scott

[@md.niamulahadchowdhury7403]

You are to grammar what Albert Einstein was to grammar

[@PSYLP]

And far less pandering and intellectually insulting then Vsause too! Bonus!

[@FrankLoon]

Vsauce ain't shit! More like Dsauce.

[@RadShiba]

Infinite Loop indeed

[@gpeddino]

I was expecting Simlish.

[@andrewnagengast2349]

sims are a game, not TV or movie. So he could get away with not including it lol.

[@matejanj.h.3668]

and Furby is a TV or a movie?

[@theghostofkinglear]

YES

[@asherraar.2906]

I was looking for Simlish too! Degdeg...

[@kjanikova6731]

Oh no, I was going to make this comment, but you made it one year ago, so now I can't :(

[@imperatorglaber1752]

Should have covered the Black speech of Mordor. One of the coolest sounding languages ever

[@nighthaunter5615]

agreed wish he'd also cover quenya, since that's much more developed than sindarin even though there's more sindarin in the book and out of curiosity, do u know the ring verse in black specs by heart?

[@AdamKoebel]

@@nighthaunter5615 it's some form of Elvish, I can't read it.

[@citadelofwinds1564]

As a lifelong language enthusiast, I can say this was the most satisfying linguistics video I've ever come across. Yeah, I'll say it: a nice long nerdgasm.

[@cuoredolce29]

Citadel of winds Ditto!!!

[@feedthemultiverse]

Legolas yelling "they are all going to die" in Sindarin is one of my favorite conlang moments of all time. Disappointed you didn't mention Huttese with all the Star Wars comments at the end, that's somewhat more established in the fandom than Ewok, though the background there interesting too.

[@sayedmohidulislam8102]

He didn't include geonosian too. The language is kinda wird and primitive cus geonosians are bugs. And it also includes ticks and other bug things. Geonosian could be interesting.

[@jellybeanslash]

The 'how did I even get here?' look on his face after breaking down the syllable structure of Furbish is just my favourite thing.

[@dollykumo2959]

Timestamp ?

[@jellybeanslash]

@@dollykumo2959 About 18:54.

[@dollykumo2959]

@@jellybeanslash thx ✨

[@silver6380]

For those curious about the English R bit - there are only a few other languages with a similar sound. They include Faroese, Albanian, Mandarin, and (southern) Vietnamese, as well as Dutch but in Dutch it's only pronounced that way when it is before a consonant or at the end of a word. However, none of these are exactly the same. In Faroese and Mandarin it approaches a fricative, in Albanian and Vietnamese it's inconsistent and there are several pronunciations (even though the Englishlike one is the most common), and the Dutch one is almost "more American than American English" in a way I can't describe - they pronounce it so intensely that it feels like it almost becomes its own syllable.

[@chrissede2270]

I hope there isn’t a test after this video because I am going to fail miserably.

[@banished4eva]

Chris Sede hahahaha

[@kevinmencer3782]

I wish this guy would teach a course on how to speak Parseltongue. It'd be cool to scare people with.

[@stanbabyphotostheslither-p8815]

Yup

[@geometrydashlevelarchive5091]

but what about that language in Sims

[@ImpetusOmnipotens]

DavenX4 Asking the important question

[@faizfuad8361]

yeah!

[@buoy9665]

pobble herby

[@katiehernandez423]

Lol yes

[@Pingijno]

simlish is actually gibberish

[@himamouli5047]

Fun fact, the "American R " sound that he mentioned was really wierd is a sound frequently used in Tamil, one of the most ancient languages of the world. In fact, even the word 'Tamil' is actually supposed to be pronounced with that american R at the end but since most native English speakers don't get it, they often just pronounce as 'l'

[@teddynkwabi4502]

Huh....interesting 🤔

[@BigBoss-sm9xj]

American English for the win!

[@himamouli5047]

@@BigBoss-sm9xj actually the sentiment was more "Tamil for the win!" But whatever floats your boat 😂👍

[@BigBoss-sm9xj]

@@himamouli5047American english and Tamirrr for the win!! Lol tamil can also be a winner

[@himamouli5047]

@@BigBoss-sm9xj True ❤️😀

[@GayaoftheGods]

Eric Singer is a language nerd, and I love itttt He's so excited throughout the video, he's obviously passionate about his field, what a pleasure to watch and listen =]

[@twstf8905]

There is no word for, "thank you," in Dothraki.

[@cluckendip]

what about "cheers mate"?

[@twstf8905]

@@cluckendip Ba dum dum PSSSH 👍

[@therealjumin1941]

TWSTF 8 What about "creep"

[@kadigan1979]

Originally there was, but there wasn't a word for "please", according to the notes David Peterson provided to the showrunners. They liked the idea so they added it to the script but made Peterson remove the word for "thank you" instead.

[@twstf8905]

@@kadigan1979 OMG lol whatever 😂 (Nobody likes the "actually...." guy)

[@dropthewalls]

I love watching this man's videos. I actually have no idea the accuracy of what he's saying, but his snide confidence is very convincing.

[@wuwei87]

As a linguist, I can confirm everything he says is correct, except for the translations simply because I'm unfamiliar with these languages. But there's no reason to doubt him on that front.

[@northstar5240]

I know and as of now have a nerd crush on this man

[@hopemooketsa1867]

I didn't have any doubts until you brought it up. And know I don't know

[@ryukryukryukryuk7294]

"I can't comment... I'm not a Heptapod." ICONIC

[@robertolastra9975]

Is anyone else laying in bed at night wondering why you just watched a 20 minute video about a guy who listens to people talk?

[@BlueyMcPhluey]

only 20 minutes?

[@smakhanian]

Nope. I watch over & over and share with friends. He's brilliant.

[@michaelchallis4129]

No, because he also did aliens.

[@leibun]

Because it's super interesting

[@hadeermu3315]

Cause he's fuckin hot

[@cameoshadowness7757]

Man I had stuff to do but this is way too addicting!

[@tomaskuli177]

Cameo Shadowness I'm stuck here. I had other plans

[@octaviancaesarhibernicus4447]

Cameo Shadowness *addictive

[@charliesieben5695]

This was amazing! I'm a film nerd, but not that big with languages. This was captivating! Well done!

[@sharonolsen6579]

I know.. right ? .... captures your attention and holds you in your seat !

[@jordanvigil7414]

ive fell down the rabbit hole. i have been watching these videos for over an hour now lol.

[@fullmetalfunk]

I was surprised not to see Sim language.

[@unicornburger16]

fullmetalfunk why would it be? This was languages from film and tv, which Sim speak is from neither.

[@fullmetalfunk]

True but they had the Furby at the end. That's not from a film or movie.

[@unicornburger16]

fullmetalfunk cause it was part of the random stuff section. And yes, while they could've had Sims there, all the other randoms were from tv or movies also, including the Furby because it's a tv commercial.

[@fullmetalfunk]

You're incredibly pedantic, but ok. I just figured it was one of the more well known made up languages in our culture and since it's just gibberish and not a real conlang it would have been funny to hear what he had to say about it in the random section is all.

[@unicornburger16]

fullmetalfunk I'm sorry I came off that way, maybe it'll come up in a future episode, I just wanted to be clear why it wasn't in this one.

[@SeraphusInferis]

The "Divine Language" was created out of Ancient Egyptian and a Polynesian dialect, and had about 400 words at the time of filming; it now has over 900 words. Part of Mila's job was spending days speaking only DL while doing ordinary daily tasks, and she and the director would have full conversations on set, as well as with Ian Holm. So... not actually gibberish, Eric.

[@lulumoon6942]

Fascinating.

[@kristenhouseholder]

"There is no word for thank you in Dothraki." - Jorah Mormont

[@TreetopCanopy]

"You know, that wasn't in the original script. They added that based on something I said in the original press release. ... I remembered the first time I saw that [Jorah says it] thinking, 'Wait a minute, I don't remember that...' Then it hit me, and I realized, 'Oh, hey. They picked that up from me!' Then I forgot it and created a word for "thank you,' anyway." -David Peterson, Dothraki language designer

[@GreenMareep]

I thought he rephrased it with something like "I appreciate your work" or similar. Would have worked, too.

[@Giulsgiuls93]

I had to scroll too far down for this!

[@Anxiou5Panda]

Makes me want to learn every single language right now lol.

[@rylandvanmeldert]

Same

[@marcioamaral7511]

I can teach you portuguese

[@adityatiwari456]

@@marcioamaral7511 how do I learn ?

[@Gruntled2001]

After taking a small-ish hit of acid, I realized that I already knew all of those languages, but after the trip wore off, I forgot them again.

[@videoinformer]

I hear my daughter play SIMS on a nearby computer, and I often find myself repeating what is said, however imperfectly, because I find the seemingly meaningful tone, usually festive, like party conversation, amusing. SIMS language has a characteristic sound, but apparently no meaning. I think it would be amazing if the SIMS language were constructed so that a player who plays for hours and on many days would *passively* and *subconsciously* start understanding the SIMS language, and start being able to speak it, merely by hearing it in the context of events in the game!

[@AndraRX]

charamba conopida!

[@DoctorLodi]

Simlish is unfortunately just gibberish, though it’s interesting in that the sounds are tightly controlled to match standard American English which is why it comes across so convincingly.

[@Awesomefulrific]

Bom WOAHsa, bom woahsa!

[@mrlnxf8455]

Sulsul!

[@alexxander966]

That happened to me, I played Dragon Age so much that I can understand their Elvhen language pretty fluently

[@loi9909]

YESSSSSSSS U GUYS MADE ANOTHER ONE!!!!!

[@loi9909]

i love the usage of videos like in 6:09 omg i love everything abt this

[@dawnguinto]

Loi Gabrielle didn't think I'd see you here lmao

[@bizquikboy]

The editing in this is stupid helpful. So great.

[@omega4837]

A common theory for groot-speak is that it's majorly scent or pheromone based, since it would be spoken by plants.

[@DesoloSubHumus]

Or chemical... www.wired.com/2013/12/secret-language-of-plants/

[@siali8683]

Desolo SubHumus you know what a pheromone is, right?

[@GhostDiam]

@@siali8683 pheromones are used as a way to "convey" information or ex: ants

[@ijustwanttocomment21]

ghostdiam they were asking because Desolo SubHumus said “or chemicals” as if a pheromone is not chemical in nature. I’m sure they know what a pheromone is.

[@GhostDiam]

@@ijustwanttocomment21 yeah i realized after but i was too lazy

[@kaleighcleveland7897]

The editing on this video is on point lmao

[@charki40]

I absolutely enjoyed this. Am learning my own language (Aboriginal) which has been revived but not taught for 100 years. Yes we are minority speakers but its been around for 30,000 years. This vid has inspired me. Human culture is so interesting. Cool stuff.

[@Alternatives_Universum]

I am glad to see that there are still people trying to revive or maintain their original language instead of learning just economical important languages like English or Chinese. I am doing the same for my original language which is about to disappear within the near future. In contrast to people wondering "Why do you learn this language? Nobody is using it anymore!" I think "Because nobody will use it anymore soon, I am the one who will save it and pass it on to my children." Our original language is our identity. When the language is lost the biggest part of our identity is lost, too.

[@nicholasvannoek7838]

@@Alternatives_Universum what language is that?

[@genericusername4206]

You can't just say aboriginal, they have many languages Like the gaurna

[@cluckendip]

Aussie aussie aussie!

[@zaydonknowles5941]

oy oy oy!

[@googlespieonsomeoneelse4898]

That Yoda impression was awesome

[@Tikayy]

Though wrong sentencing :P Yoda would never say "book to him gave I", but would say "book to him I gave", as if he pasted the beginning at the end. "Patience you must have" "Ready are you" "consume you it will", stuff like that. I'm not even into star wars, but I recall that easily as I found it hilarious ^^

[@jacobdamour8926]

13:32 JFK is a jelly donut confirmed

[@brettdibble2763]

actually funny thing about Yoda's speech pattern is that it is IDENTICAL to Korean grammar, so when star wars was translated for a Korean audience Yoda sounded like your typical old dude

[@caaaatchup]

@Brett Dibble: That was a stupid mistake on the translator's part then, he should've translated it so it would have a different grammar so his speech would stick out just as it does in English. I guess the translator was not imaginative enough.

[@brettdibble2763]

well, compared to everyone else (remember, yoda is the ONLY one with that specific speech pattern in the movies) yoda's speech would STILL stick out since i'm assumeing everyone else would sound....wonky. that is unless the translators REALLY got into the nitty gritty of things

[@chicsheik8726]

There is no Dothraki word for thank you! He’s saying, “much honor to you.”

[@arandomdude8584]

Marilyn Webb youre a dweep lol jk

[@crusadrian5010]

@@arandomdude8584 Nice joke

[@jazzcatt]

And Q'aplah in Klingon doesn't mean 'thank you' either. It's basic meaning is 'success'.

[@shorthairkorra]

thats what i thought haha

[@najwa7491]

This helped me understand Parseltongue better. I need to learn it to be able to communicate with my friends.

[@juliaaleksandra3764]

Hello! Fellow linguist nerd here. That voiceless alveolar lateral affricate (4:46) is also found in Icelandic, in words such as the name of the famous volcano Eyjafjallajökull (ey-yah-fyatl-ah-yoh-kootl). It's so much fun trying to explain it to foreigners ('spitting as you smile' or 'spitting sideways' is usually works as an explanation). Thank you for the video, I loved it!

[@vladaprilason]

Julia K in Nahuatl too

[@lilyfizzle8632]

THANK YOU! I absolutely LOVE Icelandic. Actually, I just love everything about Iceland-the most beautiful landscapes, the friendliest people, and the weirdest language. I think the funniest part is that they admit it, too. When I studied abroad there with a group of 12 other people for a month last summer, it was absolutely fantastic to get to interact with them. I love Iceland. I have an unquell-able passion for it. English and Spanish lie on my plate; then on my list is Icelandic and Arabic. So thank you, linguist nerd! I think you're pretty cool!

[@bugdrawsportraits]

I kinda have a crush on this guy.

[@Nhaunderstood]

who's not :D

[@sawyerblack4688]

If we're being honest, this seems like a really well put together guy. I bet he lives in a really fucking awesome loft and buys quality goods.

[@Uhohlisa]

LOL Sawyer. Too true

[@justdecember]

Same, a smart man talking about something he's passionate about makes my ovaries implode!

[@kgcko]

of course! he is five a star man!

[@octo448]

Another video idea for Erik: Video Game languages and accents! You could include: Mass Effect (Elcor, Geth, Kett, etc.), Simlish, The Witcher, Dragon Age, World of Warcraft, and many others.

[@Idiomatick]

Mostly not conlangs though. Elvish (Darnassian) in WoW is based on the LOTR elvish but fairly bastardized/evolved and Thalassian is even further off.

[@FabulousKilljoy917]

I think there’s enough conlangs to warrant a Part 2. Point is I’m on a big kick as to why Marvel/Disney didn’t invest in creating a Sokovian language, it would added a lot to Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver’s relationship, or Zemo’s... just putting this into the aether

[@charmedprince]

My God! Viggo Mortensen speaks so many languages and yet he's ao underused in Hollywood!!! AragornForever#

[@hiram201]

His Sindarin had a Spanish accent like the one native to Spain which I found pretty cool.

[@embecmom5863]

out of the whole video this is the most surprising thing... respect to Viggo..

[@fakecubed]

He's kind of intense, and I don't think people quite know what roles to put him in. He's had very little commercial success as a leading man, also, so I don't think they're eager to cast him.

[@LeifNelandDk]

As a Dane I'm claiming he is danish.

[@mrcopycat2355]

@@LeifNelandDk As an Argentinian I claim he is argentin... ish? Now we need a venezuelan here and we'll be complete.

[@8ay8ee]

wow you just told all americans who struggle with the german "ch" how to easily pronounce it. props

[@lucadreier22]

8ay8ee Aawww now I can't correct a "ck" to a "ch" anymore :(

[@Pierrot110194]

Yeeeeah it's close but not exactly the same. When saying "cute" I'm using a part of my tounge that's a teeny tiny bit further back when saying "Ich". Source: am german. (Although the possibility stands that I'm pronouncing "cute" wrong, obviously.)

[@Kahli21]

@Peter Pepper - From a native English speaker, you're correct. I know how to ( properly ) pronounce "Ich", and I think it has more to do with the vowel sound immediately next to the "ch". Your mouth is more open when you are saying "Ich" and the tongue is slightly more forward - open more because of how "i" is pronounced. In "cute", the vowel u requires your lips to be a different shape, and the tongue is juuuuuust slightly further back. You're probably just fine pronouncing "cute", so don't worry about it!

[@madczech9568]

like we care

[@madczech9568]

czech's say it right

[@pwetty4r4]

this guy is so smart geez..

[@daviddacus8168]

He is breaking down fictional languages I guess

[@dopeysnow1561]

he looks like dennis reynolds

[@peterwyetzner5276]

If you've never heard a Finnish speaker get excited, I highly recommend it. All those double k's and t's that interrupt the flow give the language a really interesting rhythm.

[@melaniemagdalene1616]

Daniel was twelve when Chamber Of Secrets was filmed, and he got his Parseltongue right. That's really impressive.

[@max10dler]

14:38 That old Norse dude sounds EPIC!

[@dalamardlight2060]

DogoByte Well, you can memorize that part. It means: "...why have we not gotten layed, why haven't we had any fortune in those matters."

[@erickcapitanio1957]

where's the clip from?

[@alexyoung8807]

That's what I wanted to know haha

[@sverrg]

The actor is Icelandic, Ólafur Darri, and as mentioned it is from a comedy skit

[@BestUsernameIGot]

This is actually not old Norse, it's just old-timey Icelandic. I can understand it as a native Icelandic speaker, but nobody has actually talked like that for centuries.

[@SoapyTurtles]

Wait. Was he saying "thank you" in all of the languages at the end? But Jorah said that there is no word for thank you in Dothraki!

[@slowsatsuma3214]

SoapyTurtles Maybe it's a similar meaning

[@nomad7196]

pretty sure it means "a lot of honour to you" but don't quote me on that.

[@suitov]

Qapla' doesn't mean straight "thank you" in Klingon either. It's "success" or something.

[@kasper2447]

Ravage "pretty sure it means "a lot of honour to you" " - Ravage, 2017.

[@JMcDaniel93]

oh shit, this man has gone mad

[@KuebelHund]

"Thu'um", the Language of the Dragons and the Dovahkiin is clearly missing here.

[@jljljl1820]

its called dovahzul. thu'um is a word in dovahzul

[@girv98]

It's just an English relex, not really a proper conlang

[@alvindzaki6085]

@@girv98 actually, there is a dovahzul course.

[@girv98]

@@alvindzaki6085 I didn't say there wasn't. The point is that it's a relex - a word for word copy of English grammar just with different words

[@alvindzaki6085]

@@girv98 Ah, I see your point.