Creating New Language When Our Own Isn’t Enough
From the earliest cave paintings to modern-day novels, from poetry to speeches and impassioned letters to music lyrics, we have used words and symbols to express our inner thoughts, interpret our world and make meaning of our human experiences. And yet, despite all these ways of meaning-making, sometimes the right expression or turn of phrase just can’t be found. When that happens, wildly creative writers gift us with new words.
Literary tradition is littered with fake languages that stoke the imagination. But print isn’t the only place where a fictional language can sit side by side with English—just look at Hollywood adaptations of bestselling novels like Lord of the Rings and Dune. Readers and viewers appreciate invented words for their ability to create lived-in worlds. As an author, I do too. But I also appreciate what invented languages can do for creative expression. That’s why I created a few words of my own.
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The most famous fictional language
Arguably, the most well-known created language is Elvish by J.R.R. Tolkien, who says he created a world for the language, not the other way around. He states that he was fascinated by “linguistic aesthetic,” meaning he enjoyed the beauty and sound of words and how they could be combined to create a new style. Then he created the fictional world.
A scholar of languages and an enthusiast of mythology, he combined his love of both to give us Middle-earth and Elvish, demonstrating how history informs language, as seen with the iconic characters and imaginary cultures in his famous fantasy book, The Lord of the Rings.
The (fake) language of childhood
In my newest novel, The Story She Left Behind, the character, Bronwyn, was inspired by a true cold case: Literary prodigy Barbara Newhall Follett disappeared in 1939 after creating her own language and fantasy world. Sadly, her language—a full linguistic system called Farksoo—sits in 16 dusty boxes at Columbia University and is mostly unknown.
Follett started creating this fake language and world when she was only 8 years old. Her incredible ability to create a language system at such a young age—and the desire she felt to do so—inspired me to try and understand a woman whose creative world surpassed her ability to describe it.
I first came across Follett’s story while researching Beatrix Potter. I discovered that this extraordinary woman, who is most known for her creation of Peter Rabbit and so many other whimsical stories, had once created a coded language to keep her mother from reading her journals. A rebellious child who wanted more from the world than the Victorian era was allowing, she felt a need to express her internal life in words, illustrations and story, and yet she wanted to keep those thoughts private—so she created an encrypted language.
After Beatrix Potter’s death, a man named Leslie Linder spent years decoding her writing so we might read her journals. Part of me was appalled—didn’t Potter want those thoughts and musings to remain private? And then my second thought: what a genius Potter must have been as a child to create this language that took someone years to decipher.
The human drive to create new words
I wanted to know more about other authors who created their own languages and, perhaps most interestingly, why. And that is how I stumbled upon Barbara Newhall Follett. Unlike C.S. Lewis or Madeleine L’Engle, who included a few invented words in their children’s stories, Follett had constructed an entire linguistic system like Tolkien, who had studied and taught languages for most of his adult life.
Other authors have undertaken linguistic endeavors. George R.R. Martin created Dothraki, and Ronald Dahl developed Gobblefunk. Lewis Carroll played with language to capture the absurd, as seen in “Jabberwocky,” a poem filled with nonsensical works that still evoke strong imagery. Carroll’s funny words frabjou and chortled may have started as playful inventions, but like all creations, they reflect an innate human drive to expand language when words fail to convey the desired sentiment. In fact, chortle has since entered the English lexicon, and I bet you’ve used it a time or two without knowing its origin! Words that Dr. Seuss created—like nerd—have also entered our everyday speech.
Writing this novel sparked my own interest in other languages. I have always been fascinated by Irish Gaelic, a dying language that many are trying to keep alive. During COVID-19, I tried to teach myself this complicated language and failed miserably. It is a language that is much more expressive and particular in its vocabulary than English. For example, Gaelic has 40 words for field and numerous others to describe water. I admire this ancient language for never settling for the simplistic.
The words that give us meaning
In The Story She Left Behind, I explored my own fascination with fictional language by making it the heart of the mystery within the story. It is 1952, and Clara Harrington, at home with her 8-year-old daughter, Wynnie, receives a call from a man in London named Charlie, who tells her that he has a mysterious satchel containing an unknown language. Clara realizes that they’re papers belonging to her missing mother, Bronwyn, and they might be her only way to translate a sequel her mother left behind and might answer the question of what happened to her when she disappeared 25 years ago.
The language her mother created holds the key to everything.
Creating a language might seem to be an act of whimsy, but I now believe it is more often a search for self-expression. I wanted my characters, Clara and Wynnie, along with Charlie, to find the truth of Bronwyn’s language and discover the ways in which stories bring us together.
I think it’s beautiful how language and modes of expression are constantly changing, shaping our perceptions, emotions and cultural identities. Every time an author coins a new word or constructs a language, they contribute to the ongoing dialogue about what it means to be human—and how we can best articulate that experience.
How, in the end, can we make meaning of our lives? Maybe it’s with a word we haven’t yet invented.
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Sources:
- Farksolia: “Barbara Newhall Follett’s life and letters”
- The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry
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