Word games
Here’a a curiosity I came across: a 2002 interview with Hiroyuki Morioka, the author of the Crest/Banner of the Stars novels. One disappointing revelation: in its genesis, the Abh language has more in common with Pig Latin than Quenya:
Question: How was the Abh language developed?
Answer: It’s based on Japanese Actually I just changed the sounds of the words. First write it down using the alphabet, using consonants and sounds. Then mark the same vowels first. The basic idea is to group similar sounding vowels then shorten the syllables. Randomize the consonants. I’m sure no one will understand this explanation.
***
Question: Could you translate a word into the Abh language?
There was a demonstration next. He started with the Japanese word Takamagahara. He then changed it to TAKMGAHAR by reducing the number of vowels. One feature of Abh language is a consonant before a vowel changes. It finally became LAKMHAKAR. He doesn’t recommend anyone memorizing this.
Nevertheless, this has hasn’t stopped fans from compiling Baronh dictionaries.
Tags: Crest of the Stars, Language, Words
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November 24th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Highly amusting. He could’ve used some other language, I guess. I know of a case where Russian authors used Japanese in a similar way to create an alien language.
November 24th, 2008 at 10:01 am
That was one of the things I was wondering about the the series, since the Baronh language was one of the more interesting things about the setting that was present. At least we still have the narrator sounding like the Swedish Chef when speaking in Abh.