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more about #linguistics LittleDragon: Since the Na'vi have tails, I would think that the tails would possibly be integrated in to the language. Sort of a body language thing. Animals with ... more » Demonbird: I think they should stop saying this is going to be the enxt big thing, and wait to see if it actually happens before celebrating. Honestly, it doesn... more » GreyHammer: this language will come in handy if i need any smurf berries. more » dry-roasted-peanuts: "It may be too early to start translating Hamlet into the language of Pandora's blue aliens, but it's fascinating to read about Frommer's process and ... more » firstanointed: Hey, to all 12 people who are going to run out and learn Na'vi, more power to you. I just figured out what p'tach means, so I'm happy. more » SuperTuna: Look, here's an idea. Work on America speaking better English first. I'm not talking about the immigrants either. I'm talking about born in the Sta... more » Makidian: What if, one day, we find an alien race(s) that speaks all the made up languages humans have created? It would be just as mind blowing to find one tha... more » evildead1971: after hearing zoe speak a bit of it, i'm all for it more » hamshank: what's Na'vi for "scary bald man"? more » ManchuCandidate: Now that I think about, will Navi been the new Codetalker language to replace Navaho? [en.wikipedia.org] more » ciscokidinsf: Wait, I'm not done with my Rosetta Stone CDs learning Elvish language. more » CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard): As long as we dont have to get semi naked and paint our skin blue at conventions...... ...........Oh damn! Thats going to happen isnt it???? Thats re... more » ManchuCandidate: I miss the days when Esperanto was the only fictional language. more » ubermex: I hope someone writes a Klingon-Navi dictionary. more » darkstar5555: And this kids life is ruined. more » Chip Overclock: To my knowledge, this is the first attempt to experimentally verify the Sapir-Worf Hypothesis . All puns intended. more » CmdrHunt (aka Clarence Colton): Klingon is not a useless language. What is athe hubbub about teaching a child Klingon since day one? As if his son's life had been negatively impacte... more » Lassus: Also, Speer wrote into Gizmodo, you can see what he had to say from the update: [gizmodo.com] more » tande04: Awesome to see that the people at io9 are more reasonable than the people at Giz. Here was the little write up I did there cause their hackneyed rete... more » youseekyoda: growing up, my half brother and sister were taught three languages since birth (english, french and cantonese) and it hasn't affected them negatively.... more » -
#avatar
Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
The Na'vi language in Avatar isn't just a collection of pretty sounds. It's an actual language, constructed by a USC linguistics professor, complete with its own grammar and syntax. He talks language creation, and explains how Na'vi compares with Klingon. More » -
#madlinguistics
Scientist Writes the "Ideal" David Bowie Song
Can science create the ultimate David Bowie song? Psychologist Nick Troop has performed a psycholyrical analysis of David Bowie's most successful songs, using that analysis to create what he claims are lyrics to the ideal Bowie tune. More » -
#aliens
Want to Invent an Alien Language?
So you want to invent a cool alien race, complete with a fleshed-out language, for your game, book, movie, or personal benefit. There are others like you out there: they're called conlangers, and they construct elaborate languages for fun or to make the portrait of an alien race more believable. Rule number one of conlanging, however, is know the history of human languages. That way, you know the range of what's already been done — and you can deviate from it accordingly. And this beautiful chart of the history of Indo-European languages is just the thing to get your brain zooming. More » -
