Filling Your Worlds with Words

Have you always wondered how language works? Are you a science fiction or fantasy writer who wants to make the languages in your setting believable, but the idea of creating an entire constructed language is too daunting? Are you looking for a way to make your characters' voices sing? This book is for you.

In this writer's guide to linguistic worldbuilding, you'll learn

- how the sounds of human speech are created and how you can apply that to nonhuman species

- how to build words to name your people, places, and things that follow a logical pattern

- how society and culture shape the way language is used and how that affects the way people talk

- how to break universal translators

Every chapter includes a brief introduction to the linguistic theory behind the topic, examples from existing science fiction and fantasy novels, a writer's toolkit with questions to get your worldbuilding started, a more detailed discussion of the linguistic theory, and additional resources.

The author is a linguist and a science fiction writer who has written a column for Reactor Magazine (formerly tor.com) about linguistics in speculative fiction.