A reader suggested an excellent change to my constructed language's spelling system.
Category: conlang
The Linguistic Legacy of Dragons: A Worldbuilding Case Study
A month or two ago, while writing Crown of Crows, I suddenly and unexpectedly found myself in desperate need of a language for dragons. Not really having time to come up with one completely from scratch, I asked myself if there were some quick way I could create something that sounded reptilian and exotic, but also grounded in linguistic theory and historical linguistics.
A Discursive Lecture on Late Pizan: a Linguistic Revolution
Professor Eleinn Hahíns and Magister Errícc Cnohrmann discuss the evolution of the Pizan language post-Yḿboldhźh revolution. Late Pizan, known as Kamvlŕsâi, emerged as the official language, marked by significant phonological simplification and a shift from SVO to VSO grammatical structure, reflecting a society's transformation towards directness and efficiency in communication.
Creating Pizan: The Language of Conquistadors and Conquest
In my ongoing development of the languages of the world of my novel Crown of Crows, I've been working on Pizan, a language with a complex fictional history rooted in Spanish colonization and subsequent English influence.
Land of the Witch, Land of the Bear: Naming the Language of a Fantasy World
Why I'm moving from the name "Sagaia" and "Sagaian" to "Artír" and "Artanga." Themes of power, resistance, and cultural identity, highlighting the influence of the Bear and the evolution of language among the inhabitants following the White Witch’s defeat.
New Words Daily 2025
English clearly doesn't have enough words. Let's make more! I will introduce a new English word daily in 2025 through social media, inspired by Proto Indo-European roots. #NewWordsDaily2025!
On Words and Names in Sagaia II: Sindarin Inspiration
How often do you get halfway through a fantasy novel and realize you need to revamp the primary language of your world?
Strange as News from Bree: NaNoWriMo 2023
The Shire is the perfect setting for English-style murder mysteries. The idea is irresistible. The only issue is that, of course, hobbits do not commit murder. It would be unthinkable! A hobbit detective would be stuck solving mysteries of missing pies and silver spoons. Nefarious, no doubt, the stuff of high drama and family feuds. But I wanted to write murder mysteries. So… I set the stories in Bree, where there are lots of people who are not hobbits, and all sorts of murderous business can be afoot.
The Wilds of Sagaia: Artwork, Plotcraft, and Language Evolution
As I sit down to write this, I can hardly believe it, but just a week and 100 days from now, on November first, I'll be starting my Million Word Year.
The Roman Code: the Why of our Letters
It seems as though perhaps, over four thousand years, the chaos of the original Phoenician letters has developed into a linguistic system.