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182 reviews for:
The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, the Words Behind World-Building
David J. Peterson
4.09 AVERAGE
182 reviews for:
The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, the Words Behind World-Building
David J. Peterson
4.09 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
Definitely more technical than what I needed as a layperson with no ambitions to create my own language but fascinating nonetheless.
funny
informative
medium-paced
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
a good read for language geeks. it gets a little technical at times, but does shine a light on the relatively new conlang craze on TV and on movies
Don't look at my blunder years review. It was 2016, okay? I was innocent and new.
2nd read: I got to read this as a textbook this semester! Isn't that fucking cool?? :D It's fucking cool, dammit.
I still have my original print copy but I bought the ebook for the class (money well spent). It has since been updated! Which is neat.
Also, I get to share my highlights now. :D :D :D
I've obviously spent a lot of time over the last 8 years learning a lot about this stuff in different contexts so this wasn't as exciting as it was the first time. But it's still a really good read. Still my favorite non-fiction book. And still the first recommendation I'd make to someone wondering if linguistics is for them (If you're not entertained by this book; get out.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2016 Review:
I've said it before in a John McWhorter review (can't remember which, but it was definitely McWhorter) and I'll say it again: If grammar/linguistics were a tangible thing, I would roll around in it like a dog in trash.
I want to roll around in this book. I want to snuggle it to sleep like a teddy bear. I want one of those tiny book necklaces with its cover. I want to excessively extol its virtues to people who are probably monolingual English speakers who would lose their shit at the sight of some of these charts and never ever read it and now I'm sad.
This book is the most magnificent info dump (very much a good thing in nonfiction) I've ever read. I expected it to be a bit stuffy, but the humor is just fantastic.
"This is important to keep in mind when examining English, whose orthography was devised by a team of misanthropic, megalomaniacal cryptographers who distrusted and despised one another, and so sought to hide the meanings they were tasked with encoding by employing crude, arcane spellings that no one can explain. ('Ha, ha! I shall spell "could" with an ell! They will be powerless to stop me!')"
"To explain it, let me take a fun topic like werewolves and ruin it by turning it into math."
And can I just take a minute to recognize the cover art? I think it was the schwa that caught my eye in the book store. Either that or the รค. I likes me some funny symbols.
A quick note from the future (2024): ^Hey, look! Look at that bolded bit! It's that neat little accusative pronoun ("me") construction that came up in three different classes this semester. Apparently Icelandic can do that too. Isn't that neat? (You're supposed to say yes.)
I had no idea who David J. Peterson was when I picked this up. I'd never watched an episode of GOT in my life. "Dothraki? That's that horsey people language, right? What's a khaleesi?"
I flipped a couple pages and went, "ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh.... look at all the pretty charts and tables and symbols and *stuff.* Yes, I think I will pay full cover price for this. Yes."
When I got to the register, the cashier excitedly informed me that the author would be presenting at a nearby library the next day. I was confused. Why was she excited. This is a language book. Look at the symbols. Had she seen the charts? No one is ever this excited about linguistics. There must be something wrong with her. She seemed so normal, though. But then... I seem normal too, don't I? *Glaces down at faded Pac-Man hoodie and Harry Potter shirt that I totally wear out of the house. Often. I'm 27. Almost 28. Fuck off.* Yesssssss....normallll....
Looking back: Ah yes. Dothraki. It all makes sense now. (But I'll still give her the benefit of the language-nerd doubt.)
At any rate, I was only passing through town and checking out the local bookshops and would not be able to attend. And probably wouldn't have anyway because I didn't know who the guy was and hadn't read this book and now I am UPSET because David J. Peterson was in the same gaddanged town and I didn't go to the thing. Now I have to settle for following him on Twitter. I hate Twitter.
I've rambled.
TL;DR: This book is totes amazeballs, yo. You should read it.
2nd read: I got to read this as a textbook this semester! Isn't that fucking cool?? :D It's fucking cool, dammit.
I still have my original print copy but I bought the ebook for the class (money well spent). It has since been updated! Which is neat.
Also, I get to share my highlights now. :D :D :D
I've obviously spent a lot of time over the last 8 years learning a lot about this stuff in different contexts so this wasn't as exciting as it was the first time. But it's still a really good read. Still my favorite non-fiction book. And still the first recommendation I'd make to someone wondering if linguistics is for them (If you're not entertained by this book; get out.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2016 Review:
I want to roll around in this book. I want to snuggle it to sleep like a teddy bear. I want one of those tiny book necklaces with its cover. I want to excessively extol its virtues to people who are probably monolingual English speakers who would lose their shit at the sight of some of these charts and never ever read it and now I'm sad.
This book is the most magnificent info dump (very much a good thing in nonfiction) I've ever read. I expected it to be a bit stuffy, but the humor is just fantastic.
"This is important to keep in mind when examining English, whose orthography was devised by a team of misanthropic, megalomaniacal cryptographers who distrusted and despised one another, and so sought to hide the meanings they were tasked with encoding by employing crude, arcane spellings that no one can explain. ('Ha, ha! I shall spell "could" with an ell! They will be powerless to stop me!')"
"To explain it, let me take a fun topic like werewolves and ruin it by turning it into math."
A quick note from the future (2024): ^Hey, look! Look at that bolded bit! It's that neat little accusative pronoun ("me") construction that came up in three different classes this semester. Apparently Icelandic can do that too. Isn't that neat? (You're supposed to say yes.)
I flipped a couple pages and went, "ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh.... look at all the pretty charts and tables and symbols and *stuff.* Yes, I think I will pay full cover price for this. Yes."
Looking back: Ah yes. Dothraki. It all makes sense now. (But I'll still give her the benefit of the language-nerd doubt.)
At any rate, I was only passing through town and checking out the local bookshops and would not be able to attend. And probably wouldn't have anyway because I didn't know who the guy was and hadn't read this book and now I am UPSET because David J. Peterson was in the same gaddanged town and I didn't go to the thing. Now I have to settle for following him on Twitter. I hate Twitter.
I've rambled.
TL;DR: This book is totes amazeballs, yo. You should read it.
This book was fun if you like language and thinking about how incredible it is that we have developed so many natural languages to communicate with each other and at the same time conlangers are out there creating fictional languages for stories but these languages are sophisticated enough for audiences to learn as well. I know more about words and language structure now and can understand how this is a topic many people devote their lives to.
informative
slow-paced
This book is very fun (said a self-identified language nerd)! If you're into any created language (aka if you love sci fi and/or fantasy), or if you're just interested in language in a general sense, you'll get a lot out of this book. It also serves as a great introduction to many of the basics of linguistics and to all the strange strategies human languages have for encoding meaning. Peterson's joke-filled conversational writing style makes this book much less dry, too. Highly recommended!