How do you start inventing a language?
I separate the process into three distinct branches: sounds, word meanings, and grammar. I usually start with the sound system, which affects grammar, and also with nouns. Then I base the language on whatever desire I have for the grammar’s shape to take.
In the real world, languages evolve over time. Do yours?
I am creating the language to look as if it evolved in the real world, so it has to have a realistic character to it. But since I am emulating thousands of years of linguistic evolution on paper, it is a monumentally difficult task.
Is there anything you try to consciously avoid?
I don’t like articles and verbs. Languages like Russian, which have no definite or indefinite articles, get on fine without them—and that’s wonderful. This article was originally published in the January/February 2016 issue of Popular Science, under the title “Inventing Sci-Fi Languages.”
