How to Create A Language For Your Book

Need help with book formatting or cover design?
Check out my website: vivienreis.com/...
or my Fiverr page: bit.ly/VivienF...
- BUY MY BOOK: bit.ly/BuyTEP
READ MY BOOK: bit.ly/ReadElysian
This week's video is all about creating fantasy languages to use in your novel!
Subscribe to my newsletter: bit.ly/VivienNe...
_____________
Affiliate Links:
Scrivener for PC (affiliate link): bit.ly/VivienWi...
Scrivener for Mac (affiliate link): bit.ly/VivienMac
Need a cover designed? Check out Damonza: bit.ly/Damonza
and use VR5 for 5% off!
Get 2 FREE audiobooks with Audible trial! bit.ly/VivienAu...
Voracious Kindle eBook reader? Sign up for a KindleUnlimited trial: bit.ly/VivienKU
____________ _
I HAVE A NEW P.O. BOX NOW!
Vivien Reis
P.O. Box 352033
Jacksonville, FL 32235
Find me online! Do it nooow!
Twitter | / vivienreis
Instagram | / vivien.l.reis
Goodreads | / 14900742.vivien_reis
Website | vivienreis.com
Facebook | / vivienreis
Pinterest | / vivienlreis

[@maaderllin]

How to create a language: Step 1: Select the sounds it can use (Use the International Phonetical Alphabet for references) Step 2: Select the syllables distribution! (Wich letter will be used more often? Wich consononnants? Are your words gonna start often with two consonnant and then a vowel or will it be strictly simple syllables ( a-e-i-o-u-ka-ke-ki-ko-ku etc.) Step 2.5: Select a type of writing and the way the syllables are written (I did this step before step 2, though.) (If you put a "r" after a "d", or a "t" after an "s" in the beginning of your word will it sound differently than if put elsewhere?) Step 3: Is your language very archaic or does it come from a long history of merging and morphing of more ancient languages? How does that effect the etymology? Step 3.5 a): If your language is archaic enough, start with religious and nature stuff. Then proceed to their social organisation. Those are the names that will tell the most about your con-society. Step 3.5 b): If your language is a result of older languages, is there other languages in the same family? You wouldn't need to go too far with this, but if you have a character from a neighbooring kigdom, you can write their speech in a slightly altered form of your language. Step 4: Think of a grammatical system. What does that tell of how your people see the world? Do they put Subject first? Object? Verb? Do they even need a specific order in their sentence or do they have grammatical cases? I absolutely love your cannel btw ^^

[@br4nify]

maaderllin i

[@jakwuanscott3836]

Saka13 Kyoto he or she was not tallking to you

[@mortezgaming7187]

@@jakwuanscott3836 dumbass they were saying thankyou for leaving the comment

[@WatercraftGames]

Hga Zuy

[@boop580]

maaderllin Hey guys! I have an amino to advertise, an amino about Fantasy Worlds, Story Writers and Art! And basically anything else! The people here are very friendly and its growing very fast! If you have a question about anything just ask the owner! Go join now! You wont regret it! aminoapps.com/invite/1MS649BAHQ

[@Nerd_Detective]

There seems to be a scale to it. At one end we have invented words/names that serve to spice up the world. On the other end, we have the lovingly crafted and complete languages of JRR Tolkien, which are an art form all their own. He of course had a deep passion for languages, so must of us won't go *that* far unless we share in his passion. However, the thought of it excites the child in me that eagerly made up encryption ciphers and invented information storage formats for fun.

[@m.a.hickman1240]

Oh my goodness this was awesome. I haven't had any desire to write fantasy but after this video I want to just so I can make up my own language lol. Thank you for sharing.

[@VivienReis]

Aww, you're welcome!

[@deponensvogel7261]

Well, then don't write fantasy but create a language. Otherwise it's gonna be a bad novel.

[@toomanyschoolponies]

Dude, have you heard about how The Lord of the Rings was conceptualized? He made the languages first. You do you, M. A. Hickman. You might be the next Tolkien.

[@deponensvogel7261]

Caorides Touché.

[@KennethMcGrath]

Another aspect of language as it reflects culture has to do with the metaphysic of the society itself. For instance, at different periods in history, as major changes in philosophy have occurred, words reflecting changes in the dominant worldview have become embodied in changes to language. For instance, when Cartesian philosophy took hold many words emerged in connection with structure, linearity, and so on. There's an incredible book entitled "Inventions of Teaching: A Genealogy" by professor Brent Davis that shows, through a historical review of English, how etymological changes have been connected to movements in philosophy. It's a book I would recommend for "world building". Worldview 2 Language - How they connect... If you're going to create a fantasy language, does your culture assume that we reincarnate? As such, does their language reflect "circularity" as perfectly normal? Or is your language's culture logic-based and assume no emotional content? Maybe it's a war culture that speaks in violent, passionate language? Maybe it's a matriarchy that has no male references. So, along with creating new words (and I loved your techniques and ideas!) there's also the culture itself and how that translates into words with real assumptions, limitations, values, concerns, hopes, and expectations. Just adding this comment in case it helps anyone. Your video did inspire another idea for my screenplay so THANK YOU! #peace

[@anothersoulintheuniverse]

wait... but how do you insert the language IN the novel? do you write your characters dialogs in that language? if so, how do readers know what those characters are saying?? I'm confused....

[@VivienReis]

My languages aren't complete languages. I create words for cities, people, activities, etc, and then use them during normal dialogue. You can use entire sentences of fantasy language in a variety ways: your protag doesn't know what the language is and thus has to either ask, deduce, or research what it means; your protag does speak the language and "translates" for the reader through reactions (spoken or body language); or your protag does speak the language but doesn't respond in any way immediately--this method can be used to generate intrigue, as long as the phrase has importance later. Your reader will feel a little robbed if it turns out to be "I like chickens," so make sure it's something that drives the plot forward. Hope this was helpful :)

[@anothersoulintheuniverse]

Vivien Reis Thank you so much! It was very helpful!! ;)

[@misfitmania4558]

I just wanted to add that Christopher Paolini handles this issue really well in his series Eragon. In it, Elves use the Ancient Language and as a part of their culture, everyone uses specific greetings based on their status. There are three parts to the greeting, the first part is spoken from someone of lower authority to someone of higher authority, then a response from the person who initiated the greeting. I remember he only explained it once in the books when the man character was being taught them. To indicate they were speaking another language he would say something like “They continued in the Ancient Language” or something similar. And at the end of every book there is a glossary of the common words used from the Ancient Language. Sorry for the long comment but I hope this helps!

[@katpascual9454]

For instance Tagalog Me: HOW DID SHE KNOW MY ROOT LANGUAGE!!!!

[@VivienReis]

:D

[@kamuelalee]

Filipinos rock!

[@jasonyntig717]

Gosh...

[@atropiaveteran]

OR you can cheat and just push your words through several translators! English-Polish-French-Creole and back to English.... the end result will FEEL foreign. Obviously, mix up the combo of languages BUT remember what each language uses as its base so you can duplicate it.

[@gabrielincognito8855]

The doggos in the background help me immerse in this video.

[@CocoShock]

Wow, this is motivating! I am recharged to finish a language I started in high school; and tried to work on without avail. Your demonstration of how you create a language has made the completion of mine seem far more attainable now.Thank you for sharing. :D

[@VivienReis]

This makes me so happy to hear! Get back to it! :)

[@IceRiver1020]

When you were talking about reconstructing words, thats what I do with names! I'll search for names by meaning, pick one I like, and then change it up. Or if it's a place I'll just make up something completely random, for example I named a continent Kipuoriss, it's people are called the Kipuoran, they look Caucasian, and their currency is coins called Shorv, Shorv being the plural and Shorving the singular. There's also Murkuror, Ariyssin, Gannavah and Lyrimian, to name a few. Each has a different culture and ethnicity, Kipuoriss is currently the most fleshed out among them. I need to get to work on some languages.

[@WilliamBilsters]

Saw this video when I really needed to make my own language. I like how practical your advice is and not just blabbing and telling, but with real examples

[@DailyShakti]

What a great video. My children and I are writing a fantasy novel together. I have been overwhelmed figuring out how to make a language. I love the way you explain the process. I see you use the english letters. Have you ever created your own written language? This is all new to me and I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to create our own symbols, or just use the english letters.

[@femmechientv]

The Internet at the airport is rubbish but I loved this video anyway! 💕

[@jankansi5679]

It's all fine. The Internet is the airport of rubbish anyway.

[@eyezerocool]

so I have a retroactive problem..... I created a real lot of races in my novels. 7 angeloids.. and five or six other races.. lol.. they all speak english apparently.

[@kamuelalee]

English -- the Common tongue

[@owlblocksdavid4955]

@@kamuelalee lol that is essentially how all fantasy books seem to work xD

[@jasonyntig717]

Make sure you got to have an excuse of why they speak English. My excuse in the novel was that one human slipped pass the border and tried influencing others to speak English.

[@eyezerocool]

@@jasonyntig717 I figured it out and have implemented it... you see the original angeloid "species" were formed when "bioandroids" were sent into the past by accident. since their are "bioandroids" evulution kicked in over time evolving their biomechnicalness and o.s to the many species they have in that world..

[@jasonyntig717]

@@eyezerocool oh... really good. By the way, did you finish that book? I finish mine during June... 3 months of hard work. And created 3 languages already... how’s life for you?

[@squidmansoup]

The biggest key I think is getting some basic rules for phonology. This will help you keep your language sounding consistent across different names of cities and characters etc. If you have some rules about what consonants and vowels can go next to each other, and how many different sounds can be packed into one syllable (think of the amount of different sounds possible in English syllables: "strengths" - which is one syllable - vs Japanese syllables like "ka", "bun", "tsu" with only up to like three sounds in each syllable in most cases), you should have a pretty consistent-sounding language. So things I think about for my story: 1. Which sounds I want to use (do you want that German-sounding hissing "ich" noise? Do you want rolled 'r's? Maybe you don't want the 'h' sound in the language? Or 'z'? 'th'? Artefixian has a great video on this, kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWSaaXmifbBnrJI) 2. Which sounds can I put next to each other (phonology or phonotactics)? Can I put 't' next to rolled 'r'? How many different vowels can there be next to each other (consider the Finnish word "hääyöaieoionta")? This is a very important step I think. 3. Then I start making up some words and give them meanings. What seemed to work for me with my recent constructed language was first inventing words for each of the 'semantic primes' (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_primes). Once I invent a word for each prime (which totals around 61 words), I can use those as a very basic basis for all other words. For example, last night I invented the word "slahva" ('telephone') using my primal words "sla" ('speak') and "hva" ('listen'). It's a pretty fun exercise because you find you can say quite a lot having only created around 61 words. 4. Keep using the language and make changes to it as much as I can to make it more aesthetic or whatever I want. Remember that languages always change over time, often in really weird ways. I tend to alter words according to what sounds more natural. If a phrase is too hard to say even after several tries, I would tend to change it slightly to make it easier. I should be able to pronounce my own language after all! Hope this was helpful to someone :)

[@ReishaTerrin]

oh my gosh finally! Thank you for this!

[@anikawebster922]

I'm planning a book where the 'main' language would be based on Quechua and I've really been struggling with how I would make a language that is similar but not exactly it. This reeeally really helped me get started, thank you!!!

[@shaman8798]

I never even considered creating a language in my book but this has really opened my mind. Thank you.

[@VivienReis]

You're so welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@toinfinityandbeyond6578]

But how do you implement a language in your story?

[@siobhanm9690]

2nd comment....... Omg I was wondering when you were going to post. Thanks, I would be stuck on this except I'm using Haitian as my root (since I'm half Irish I use names and places from Gaelic and I'm honoring my Haitian side by using that language for Eolas.) :))

[@bulbisaurstudios2396]

Am I the only one who is distracted by the doge in the back( it’s adorable)

[@livedandletdie]

There are some misinformation such as the sound of a language carries regional or cultural ideas. Let's see M, N and Ng, are the three most common nasal consonants, they are common throughout the world. Nge noone can tell the difference if that is Vietnamese or Swedish. Ng is common in both of them. The unvoiced Linguolabial trill is however a fun sound, however it is not found used in any human language even though it's a nice sound.. I wonder why? Anyway no sound is specific to any language, there aren't over 6300 different sounds.. It is all about the rhythm of the language that defines it. Europe has over 200 languages and a lot of them aren't similar to European languages. Finnish, Hungarian, Basque among others are dissimilar to European languages yet the people share a similar culture and region.

[@owlblocksdavid4955]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Domingo_Coatl%C3%A1n_Zapotec Linguolabial trills :)

[@stormlordhailo30]

what if you want a language for when they do magic (if they do) so like if you are doing a spell ect. and just want to use it for when they do magic and not for the overall language

[@owlblocksdavid4955]

Presumably that would affect what vocabulary you would choose to make.

[@magithedon]

What I would do is take the purpose of the spell for example a teleportation spell and tweek it to make it sound different, "teleportas" what I do is take words associated with it like Hermes the Greek God of Travel and combine the tweeked words and the associated one making "hermortas" make sure to note it down so you don't use two different words for the same function, to keep it realistic.

[@freybenafin4318]

did you just said "tagalog"? im a filipino and i've been watching your videos. When I tried making my own language or some magic spells I tried using letters from W and S would be used in water spells coz they just really sound good for a water spell or use F or P in fire spell I thought at first it was a crazy idea but it somehow works lol. In language I tried to create my own words like a word that ends with Dia would mean something mysterious like encantadia.

[@VivienReis]

I did :) Sounds like you've perfected creating a language!

[@freybenafin4318]

Yeah! Thanks to your video! It was really helpful! :)

[@marieyt1332]

EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!

[@v3arsyanti885]

WINGARDIUM PATRONUM! It's both fire and water

[@memo4870]

i really wish i knew the specific word for those little dots and tics that are on some words

[@fire-lg8gu]

diacritics?

[@Heidiblackrose84]

I’ve been listening to lord of the rings and some of the words sound like there Gaelic do you think that or is it just me

[@rikardosilva1754]

Only one extra advice that i didn't see anyone saying, If you create a language, what are the geographical and historical reasons for that language, like the elven languages of tolkien, they evolved and separeted, why all elves in your book speak the same language? Why all dwarves in your book speak the same language? Why all humans speak the same language? You can do some cheating like the elder scrolls and my own book, and that's some world conquering empire took over every country and "erased" their old language, and now everyone talks this empire language, obvious it would be a lot of dialects with some gramatical changes and phonetical differences, for example think of Elder Scrolls Khajiits, they speak always in third person, one remnant of they old language, you can cheat this way and only create dialects based on what was their old language, or just do like the portuguese languages, they made a language council where they changed the grammar and syntax to every portuguese language stay relatively close to one another and just sound different, just do the comparison of brazilian portuguese x european portuguese and you will understend my point.

[@shyzunk]

I was wondering what tactics others might use. I was quite surprised that your suggestions were pretty much exactly what I did. I took the german language, put a bit of a medieval poetic spin on it, changed the spelling but kept most words and structure and rhythm. Added a bit of germanified latin for herb names and voila! I asked a few native Germans and they had absolutely no clue what the text is about. I am still worried it's going to be too obvious but apparently I got away with cheating like this.

[@skykidpastel6419]

I’ve made fake languages before but it’s always been more along the lines of just switching sounds (like piglatin) but I want to make a language with few letters in its alphabet and a limited amount of vowels. The problem is I’m not sure how I would actually translate words over to fit the language. Do I just make a completely new sounds or do I make a way to break down an English word to fit the language and if so how to I go about doing that.

[@polskiisapegasus6062]

My first language is simplified constanant based German with angled letters. The words are separated by dashes. (zig/B/sngt) The second is Old Prussian with curved letters. Nice and simple. (Ebwar'e Sau'lisde'iwas) The third is Japanese verbs and non foreign nouns and everything else Chinese in roman letters. Each sentences is a big word, so the people are forced to make them short (Shyouridetaiyogami) All the sentences say Victory of the Sun God, which is the Taubish motto.

[@creativecrap4436]

Awww the puppy🥰🥰🥰

[@EmelieAsmr]

your videos are really helping me in my writing, thank you so much!

[@VivienReis]

You're so very welcome!

[@tadpoleontheweb]

Good tips, Vivien. I've applied a lot of the ideas you presented previously in a book I wrote. It's not a fantasy novel, but it does include a fictional aboriginal culture. Specifically, I created an idyllic society called the Tuaraks (based on the Arawaks, the aboriginals of Jamaica) who live on a Caribbean island that happens to be a British colony. I based their language on a combination of Hawaiian and French. Hawaiian because of its simple 'tropical island' sound and limited syllabic combinations. And French because it is my second language. The language itself is called Téoni. But I didn't set out to flesh it out completely. Instead I just chose certain key words and phrases, just enough to give a sense of a full culture that contrasts against the protagonist's British heritage. One challenge I needed to overcome involved scenes with encounters between Tuaraki (adjective form of Tuarak) and British characters, switching between English and Téoni within the same scene of dialog. I chose to set literal phonetic quotes in regular roman lettering and in-stream translations in italics. So when a character is speaking literally in Téoni, you will read Téoni words in roman letters. If that character were to turn to a fellow Tuarak and speak in their native tongue, I would write their dialog in English, but with italic lettering, so that it is understood that the Tuaraks understand each other, but any English character within earshot is hearing Téoni words. However, the reader can fully understand what is going on. Think of it as the literary equivalent of subtitles.

[@MediaFishman]

my Novel has 6 languages... but most oh them are only mentioned... but I have created all of them... i would consider myself as fluent in all of mine... and there are Germanic and Arabian sources... so they could not be more apart..LOL

[@HandSanitizerAttack]

Awesome! But don't sell yourself short, use your languages! You might be surprised at how it will turn out. Like Vivien said, language helps immerse the reader and even knowing that someone has a language will help to immerse.

[@dennyconary5509]

Hi....I am from a country where English isn't the native language in fact there are many languages spoken and written and English is one of them... My characters are from different ethnicities some even mixed and hence they would in reality communicate in their regional language especially during intense situations... How do you suggest I write these parts? As of now I've written subtext in brackets direct translation to English is that a recognized method?

[@thegremlinduke2190]

What I have goblins as a native race in my book? can make them speak their language and another language while reading languages that are similar to sign language sometimes in novels goblins are fast learners and can develop muitli-languages structurer like goblin lord from goblin slayer?

[@artloveranimation]

speaking of languages... "Bark!" lol

[@MeanMrMustard1]

I thought it was my dog lol

[@joannaholden943]

VIDEO REQUEST:: can you do a follow-up video on how to incorporate this new language? I want to create one but am unsure how and how often to include it in the actual manuscript

[@deiniou]

I have one question. Let's suppose that the character your story is about speaks his language, in what moment would you show it? Here is what I mean, if I write a novel about a guy from my land, he speaks basque, but f the novel got translated to english all the dialog would have been translated too, so, lets say you have a language for the people of your story, when would it pop up? maybe in some untranslatable words but that is it, right? For me rather dan making up a language, the struggle comes how to go about it in the story, if you put it randomly looks silly, forced and makes no sense, I have never read a book that was originally written in english that mantained any english words when I read it in basque.... So yeah... any thoughts? P.S.: pardon my english, pretty rusty right now and my spelling has always been crap.

[@giselledsouza4073]

Daniel Gimenez Have you read Lord of the rings or star trek? I think checking to see how they encorporate things like elvish and Klingon into their stories might help

[@deiniou]

Giselle D'Souza i have read lord of the rings. but my question was about the language of the protagonist. in the lord of the rings there is something weird going on, as most lf them speak the common tongue, which is not explained a lot, and sometimes other languages appear. So that method is easy, I live in a place where two languages are spoken at the same time, so yeah, the second language is easy to make it appear. my concern arose when thinking about the language the protagonist uses, how it would manifest, if it did at all. in star trek, what do they talk usually? english? we don't actually know because it gets translated, much like if I wrote a book about a guy from here, if you read that in English you would never know he spoke basque unless I told you so, because all of it would get translated, it would make no sense to translate one thing and leave other stuff in the original language, as I said, I read a lot of books in Spanish that have been written in English and there in no clue that the protagonist really speak English. so my question again, is why bother creating a language for your main character, and if you have, how to go about it.

[@giselledsouza4073]

The closest thing I could think of is characters having an accent that's based off the language or writing the way they talk differently (having them use expressions that are common for their culture, verbal ticks etc) But that's not using a fully constructed language... or Do the thing Lemony Snicket does where he translates what Sunny's phrases mean It could be lengthy though Which is why I originally suggested finding literature that uses created languages and looking for something that works for you

[@deiniou]

Yeah, but again i come back to my example. If your read a book in English, about a man from the basque country, everything, even expressions, and verbal ricks would be translated or else it would be incomprehensible haha, for example we have the phrase here that literally sounds "to you five", it means is not your bussines, that appearing in the middle of a text would throw the reader out in my opinion. My language is fully developed, well, 89%, at least the main one, the rest are not as developed. That us why I raised the question, because I don't think anyone has done what I am saying successfully. Either sounds silly with random words and phrases in the original language (that would never happen in a real translation) or they avoid the fact they use a different language at all. As I see it, it can only manifest in some nouns and names, for example (im sorry to use my mother tongue all the time but its a good analogy) again in a book about basque tales, the name of the mountain aizkorri, would not be translated even if it can, for it means red rock. So as I see it, what it would be optimal would be to invest in the grammar and lexicon related to naming for the language your protagonist speak, and fully develop the ones even the main characters would not understand, because those can appear in its full glory.

[@squidmansoup]

I'm not sure except the language of a local area would present itself in names of people and cities...

[@ethanfields1444]

most words I come up with are altered forms of English words. I have the word for food/eat Nom, nomek. which is based on nom. The word mahik, (at) the store. which is based off market. then there are times when I'll get super lazy and just say okay what of English was more like Spanish and come up with words like talgai for I talk and talgu for you talk I used the word tawen in another language again based off talk with a similar meaning and the world Tev (which I plan to change to teli) the word for to see, sight, and scenery based on T.V. other times I will brainstorm to make something I think sounds interesting like ghetuva. most the times though the idea is just to change English into something more exotic because I like tinkering with that idea.

[@alwaysjuliebooks4126]

These are good tips, thank you!

[@rainygyal6771]

Thank you this is very helpful!

[@melon7538]

I was thinking more along the lines of auxiliary language

[@TheMilitantHorse]

Does it count if you just take words in English and turn them backwards? Like instead of typing like this... .siht ekil epyt I

[@stellarstudio5495]

Does this sound alright? I am writing a fantasy story that uses two separate languages as the main character travels between regions. The language she speaks is written in English with special names for places and objects, but the second language is completely foreign to her with exception of a few words she begins to pick up on. I made a text file of the different letter combinations per character in the alphabet and a script that uses 'rules' to combine and split them into whole words when I type. So for the most part, my language is auto-generated. I tend to skip actually writing out their language in dialogue, instead describing how the character just doesn't understand or using someone to translate for her occasionally. There are few parts where I actually write in their native language because no one is going to understand it and I feel they would just gloss over it anyway. But I do it sometimes when they bicker back and forth and then the main antagonist uses it when talking to the main character for the first time before realizing she doesn't understand it - at which point it begins speaking in her tongue. What do you guys think about using the language like that? What would be considered too much or even too little? I want to go sparingly so it doesn't annoy anyone but also don't want it to be like it's not even there.

[@kriglum0760]

Sounds good!

[@Shadowfire204]

I tried to read it but it wasn't on screen long enough and I didn't get past the first word so I had to go back and pause it

[@abbiepeytonwyatt]

This video got me sooo excited!😄

[@teabooksgirl854]

I want to create idioms that go along with my world's culture and history. Any suggestions on how I could do this?

[@niku..]

Teabooksgirl Just be creative and use some weird metaphors that are somehow connected to that culture. If your culture is very detailed it should work pretty well

[@EdricoftheWeald]

A cheeky bit of Mazar, the language in my story: Az viyc gwóto miy. Viy hreyn dʒúnọge howmun úw, lyé suwẹyca iyinọyswin ans dyiw on ʒiwiŋov myit. Uwviwm, nwó gwóto ʒiwiŋ lyaw vewldiy íwɣ dyiw byúsụwt myit: ayze hyá bwáyzem wo suwá mo viywew wradạ́ lyúsụwmyuw. Nwó lyaw vedew dyiw avay bazat dew wóy myit.

[@chevimae]

Edric Vaurnheart Iyaw is like Ayaw which means don't in Cebuano ahhaha

[@theraceanalystphdprovingha4119]

Thanks again...

[@sasmitdatta7139]

I'm multilingual. So, the first tip is really useful.

[@MrMusicislife69]

Seriously, thank you

[@ozes1000]

I be looking to make a book, still didnt touch a paper..😑

[@robertwheelock7444]

OKRA-it's with a !! UNQTUGGAH!!

[@carynschmidt5061]

Right! This Southern girl of Carribean heritage is itching over this!

[@RedWizardFox]

The two examples of words you like and hate I've never heard of either word lol

[@katlyn3697]

Hey! You should do a video about struggling with ending your novel because I'm so stuck ah

[@VivienReis]

Ohh, good suggestion! Thank you for watching :)

[@morganblackwood9263]

Great energy. Good tips; highly intelligent.

[@VivienReis]

Aw, thank you!

[@blahblah-mg1ve]

I would love to watch your video but my data is too slow and I hate that

[@meorahmad4681]

the dog almost murdered me

[@hichamabououalid5107]

Nice job, Thank you

[@angelstarfire]

Thank you!!

[@gracesummer3671]

I know this is probably a late comment but I was wondering how you would use your language that you made in the book? Thanks for making these amazing videos. They help a lot, thanks ☺☺

[@mohamedbakr5696]

i know you are a writer but how about voice acting these words?

[@galileor.cuevas9739]

My case is the opposite: I started developing a conlang I'm very proud of, but I can't come up with conworld ideas.

[@someordinaryyoutuber5886]

Excellente vidéo

[@johnnysomething153]

Isn’t making a language like extremely difficult though? I am just sixteen and I speak 5 languages ( a little Spanish, Greek, German, Italian and English three of which I can speak in a proficient level) it’s a fairly ok amount of languages to know and maybe they will be helpful in creating a new language but the grammar, the syntax, the spelling and pronunciation are so complex in all of those ( apart from English let’s be honest XD)... I haven’t tried inventing a language yet but I’m just terrified of how complex it’s going to be! Not to mention the fact that I would probably end up wanting to create my own characters... I’ll give it a try but I really do think that it is going to be one hell of a challenge and you don’t really seem to treat it like that... watching your video made me relax for a second but then all this came back to my mind and I’m like fffffuuuuuuu*#+%}

[@CornerTalker]

Choose an easier sounding language? Check out China Mieville's City and the City

[@mionysus5374]

Hi Viv! I love your videos. And I know you're a busy writer who uses Scrivener and I had this problem/question that has been the unholy bane of my finished writing for months now: How do you format your finished manuscript on Scrivener for lit agent standards?? Now I know 'S' does the majority of the formatting manually but there's always something off or wrong.... :(

[@VivienReis]

I unfortunately don't know the answer to this yet, as I haven't had to worry about exporting yet. I do know that you can set your own formatting rules for export if one doesn't fit lit agent standards, but don't know the exact process. I'm sorry! It's on my list of videos to eventually get to.

[@mionysus5374]

Vivien Reis Thanks for answering, and I will be counting the days that maybe one day you'll come out with an info vid on this or i will be able to crack it lol

[@hpwizard1013]

if my story takes place in Eastern Europe, is it okay if the characters speak in English, even if it is culturally out of place?

[@amehak1922]

love your advice

[@VivienReis]

Thank you!!

[@mrglasselijahprice4512]

I'm having a really hard time! 😳 can you please help! Respond as soon as possible! (I really don't get this!?)

[@stormlordhailo30]

im trying to write a novel with my friend and i do you know how i can make my own language like from scratch

[@csr9183]

Don't. Of the 6500 spoken languages in the world, , surely one will suit your purposes (In fact, depending on your definition of language, one may even suit your porpoises). "Dead" languages like Latin are a good choice as well. But if you insist on doing your own, and are not a dedicated philologist like Tolkien, at least take the time to create a consistent basic sentence structure and morphology. Think about Yoda. He may not have his own language, but he always uses a Object-Subject-Verb construction (Cake He Eats) and that consistency adds to his character the same way it will add a certain rhythm to even an imagined language. You can recreate this by studying a basic grammar book from any language with which your comfortable. Ms. Reis Covered the phonology well but if you want to go further I'd recommend "Written in Stone" by Christopher Stevens. It's basically a book of folk etymology that attempts to get the root meaning of common sounds in PIE languages. Whether you agree with his conclusions is irrelevant to the exercise, you can use his basic ideas and build the phonetics of your language from there> Just a suggestion.

[@planespottermerijn]

bluebird 789 try 'Artifexian'

[@chrisannlittle]

vivian, off topic, do you recommend Scrivener to a beginner writer? I'm not sure if I want to make the investment!!

[@VivienReis]

Definitely try the trial version then! It counts the actual days that you use it, so if you don't use it for a week, it doesn't count those days. That way you get 30 actual days of use before you buy it :)

[@cecily796]

What do you think? Is it neccesary to create a "smooth" language? I mean, my friend told me because of the "reader needs" but to me the creating of a whole new language is hard enough and don't know that I should care about smoothnes as well. Because.. Hey, Germany isn't smooth at all xD To the other countries Hungarian isn't smooth at all. Then what?

[@alphawolfdoggo354]

I see a adorable doggo in the background, It has nothing to do with the video but I wish to pet it. :)

[@muzhiwaay]

I just finished working gn on how to pronounce each letter in my alphabet now I’m doing words and phrases like leleklopola (hello) lelakee (how) akrrlek (are) yehlookk (you)

[@jednomsezivi279]

The derpy Potato Hello, I have a language, too. So can I see your language?

[@kerodelkigh]

I’m learning Scottish Gaelic.

[@DrWoofOfficial]

The dog at the back

[@VivienReis]

:)

[@rowan404]

Ironically, I know enough German to have a simple conversation and enough Russian to form short sentences, but I only know a few French words.

[@breannap9728]

ih ym eman si annaerB ogaP!! mI nevele!! dnA I tog secarb!! That meant hi my name is Breanna Pago!! Im Eleven!! And I got braces!!

[@junoesqueset]

looC!

[@jaidestrykr7135]

Great video, but I just wanted to say I want your dogs. They're so cute, omg.

[@VivienReis]

:D

[@rachele.3229]

8:24 Can this just apply to everything 😭 I'm tired of people saying stuff like "This isn't how medieval times were" when my novel is FANTASY! Plus, why does everyone assume fantasy is modeled after medieval times. I make up stuff. If you don't like what I wrote, so be it. If you don't think it makes sense, so be it. It's called fantasy for a reason

[@thimbl]

Hello. I have one question. So I am writing my first novel and its from the main character POV. His world speaks English, but later on change the language. At 1st he wouldn't understand the language so can I keep the convos untranslated and as he starts understanding to start translating? And in the final chapters I will change the POV convos in those chapter should be translated or not?

[@farefouse]

Short answer is if you don't include a way to decipher it in the book, make up any old words.

[@atticusshadowmore3263]

I am creating ones that is made entirely out of vowels

[@sirbutthurt2937]

Your word looks similar to the swedish word. Äppelsås - apple sauce.

[@tinmvn]

I named a city in my book off a very common name, Lennox. I spelled it Lenoxx.

[@llarry2009]

In my language, I changed the word ‘tree’ to ‘talivud' and ‘apple' to ‘talifot’ Apple tree= ‘fotaliv. Naw jk

[@tinmvn]

CopperCookie lol wtf

[@Avatargeek23]

I did not read the example. I saw all the letters and what not and was like 😳 "Unmmm no thanks...." 😂😂😂

[@VivienReis]

Hahaha, I knew there was at least one of you!

[@mayazeewonder6349]

(I’m not making a language for a book)but, my language is based off traditional Mongolian.

[@judahverrein1352]

You forgot to talk about syntax in this video.

[@rachele.3229]

In my current WIP, there's two main languages, the one my main knows and the one spoken throughout the kingdom. In my book, since my main knows her language, obviously, the text is in English because it's how she understands it. Her speech is a bit off because it's revealed that her father makes her do something like Spanglish where she speaks in both her language and the other language. This part is also in English. She understands both well but the issue lies in her speaking it. Is this bad? Should I take out her language altogether? Btw I never put actual made-up words in it because it's in first person.

[@deadlylaughterproductions]

I actually tried to read the example, haha.

[@UndyingRavyn]

Hi Vivian, I watch your KZbin vids all the time, along with a few other writers' vlogs. I know this might sound outta line -I dunno, but I was wondering if you could read my book (at least what I have written so far: 11 chapters), Warrior's Trial, on Wattpad.com/RavynD ? And, maybe gimme some advice, comment, etc.? I've been kinda stuck for nearly two yrs--Yes, TWO YRS! As to where I wanna go and what to write. I know it sounds like I'm asking a lot--I hope I ain't though. God bless.

[@languagelover9170]

Şã géb video! Ñemaca hontãso néaγeđen névideon, néspálfésq, žavímir ãγ!

[@jpro630]

One of my favorite uses of an author creating a language was in Mercedes Lackey. I had operated under the assumption that everyone in her Valdemar series spoke English. There was never any talk about language in the series really so I defaulted to my own. Then I read the Mage Winds trilogy within this series and the heroine (who is a native of Valdemar) leaves a note for another character in PHONETICALLY SPELLED OUT ENGLISH. It made me rethink the entire series and the way I perceived all of the characters. It was one of the more interesting uses of language--without obviously creating a language--that I had ever seen.

[@Alejojojo6]

That language seems similar to Hungarian or something like that. Not cherokee or whatever. Also Avatar is the effects of Mass migration. Does land belong to people or doesnt the world belong to all human beings? If land belongs to etnicities or peoples, then the racist phrase "Go back to your land/Go back to your country" would be right? Is it stealing when people dont have a concept of ownership of the land? Just some thoughts

[@paulapoetry]

I enjoyed watching this anyway, even though I don't write fantasy, and it isn't directly relevant to me. I think we all love words, so maybe that's why. Do you ever invent character names? And can you do a video on character names? Because I love watching You Tube videos on how writers name their characters. I love all of your writing videos. xxx

[@VivienReis]

Sure, I'll add it to the list :) Thank you for the suggestion!

[@lazranasinghe7086]

Great video but I missed every thing she said because I kept looking for that beautiful husky to appear in the background... :)

[@VivienReis]

She steals the show a lot!

[@jojoquigley7741]

HOW DO YOU SAY IN YOUR FICTIONAL LANGUAGE: "THERE IS A MYSTICALY APPEARING AND DISAPPEARING DOG IN YOUR VIDEO" ?

[@dimzay]

Umnitsa.