Questions tagged [languages]
Questions about languages, whether alien, fantasy, or human. Always use in conjunction with the specific work tag the language appears in. If a more specific tag exists use that instead, for example, [tolkien-languages].
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How should I pronounce Jalabhar Xho’s last name?
In George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, there is a somewhat exotic character called Jalabhar Xho:
JALABHAR XHO, an exile prince from the Summer Isles
I’m not sure how to pronounce ...
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Fantasy novel read in the 80s or early 90s. Protagonists visit a land where people only speak by quoting their holy book
The way language works in this country is explained to the visitors. The person teaching them says that here only children speak language in the ordinary way. Amongst adults, many never speak at all. ...
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Looking for more information on a Wuxia novel term (返老還童)
I have come across this term (返老還童) in a few of the manhwas and novels that I have been reading, and each work translates it to a different name and the rules are all a bit different. I know generally ...
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Short story about an alien glossary of untranslatable terms [duplicate]
A story from an anthology, a list of untranslatable terms, possibly written by a female writer... I think one of the terms was "laha sihp", defined as "the first breath of fresh air ...
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Is there an SF story on the theme of language that does NOT use the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? [closed]
There are numerous SF stories based on language but I have never heard of one that doesn't focus on the idea that language shapes thought. For example, here is a previous question that lists a few ...
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When was the first time a human spoke an alien language in Star Trek, without the use of the Universal Translator?
The Universal Translator in Star Trek translates languages to allow species to communicate with each other.
This obviously leads to a need not to know an alien language, as the computer will translate ...
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How did Lo'ak learn the language of the Tulkun?
At one point during the movie, Jake Sully's son Lo'ak is abandoned (by Na'vi of the Metkayina clan) in the middle of a sea predator's territory. Lo'ak is saved from the predator by Payakan, a member ...
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Why didn't Gandalf identify the troll's swords?
Elrond identified the swords by their runes in The Hobbit:
Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. That day he looked at the swords they had brought from the trolls’ lair, and he said: ‘These are ...
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Linguistics science-fiction story by James Tiptree, Jr
A while ago I stumbled on a list of science fiction with linguistic themes. I'd quite like to re-find the list, but I remember little more about it than that it mentioned Babel-17 by Delany, and a ...
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Novel or short story where people who had different professions spoke different languages?
There was a work about a distant future where people belonged to different castes or tribes based on their education/specialization, and every tribe had their own language. A mathematician would ...
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Is "Dank Farrik" an exclamatory or a cuss word?
I have seen Dank Farrik being used only in the Mandalorian show and only in scenes where the word sayer either is in trouble or just surprised.
This makes me wonder is it an exclamatory word akin to - ...
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What's offensive about 'poodoo'?
In a lot of Star Wars media, most notably The Phantom Menace, we see "poodoo" used as an apparent curse word or exclamation:
However, in its first appearance ...
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How, precisely, does one "narfle" a Garthok?
In the 1993 movie Coneheads, Beldar (Dan Aykroyd) and his family (Jane Curtin and Michelle Burke) are recalled to Remulac. He is brought before the Highmaster (Peter Aykroyd(*)), who is displeased ...
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Science fiction story published before 1966 with constructed language demonstrating some NLP principles
In a 1966 interview, J.R.R. Tolkien was discussing his thoughts about contemporary science fiction writers.
It is when dealing with the question of language, he feels, that science fiction writers do ...
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Trying to remember the title of the novel I thought Arrival was based on
When I saw the O-shape of the alien language in the trailer for Arrival I thought "Ok, I already know the plot and how it ends". Today I discovered that the plot was instead taken from "...
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