Questions tagged [language]
For questions about the written or spoken language of a world.
460 questions
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How could (a group of) humans "forget" their language and start a new? [closed]
In my setting, modern humans have colonized a habitable planet, with no ways of communicating with the Earth. After a few centuries, 3 main civilizational centres arise, 2 of them located in areas ...
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Where to find appropriate name for adult from the Chinchurro people [closed]
Doing something with a risen mummy that, instead of Egypt, came from a now-disappeared culture that once lived in a part of Northern Chile known to modern anthropologists as the Chichurro people, ...
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Pros and cons of introducing modified Hangul(Korean Alphabet) to people of another Time-Space(who don't have their own script) over English alphabet
For those who don't know Hangul was created by King Sejong(There is a Civ Game song) as an alternative and easy to use script for Korean to replace Chinese characters(Hanji) which are really difficult ...
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How to translate alien language when the aliens are dead?
I'm writing a hard-ish science-fiction novel, and a problem came up with the background.
In the novel, humans figured out p-p fusion through magnetic monopole catalysis by way of Roswell. In 1947. Cue ...
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What kinds of phonemes can a race with penguin-like barbs be able to make or not?
Click to enlarge. Photo courtesy ???.
They are omnivores that can eat small plants, seeds, fruits, bugs, and small animals, and sometimes carrion, but they also eat fish during certain times of the ...
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How could I get two characters who speak different languages to the point where they can effectively communicate without a translator? [closed]
In my fantasy novel, I have two main languages (for the sake of this question I'll refer to them as the "Old Language" and the "New Language". The main character grew up isolated ...
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What sounds are most practical under conditions of low pressure, large spaces, and low temperature [closed]
This is for a very isolated group of humans living uncontacted for several thousand years. Obviously language is going to change and evolve beyond their native English over the generations (as will ...
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How could humans communicate with sapient elephants?
[PLEASE READ] After some consideration, I have decided to abandon this question as I have not gotten the answers I hoped for initially and cannot edit the parameters without invalidating one or more ...
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Would it be reasonable to assume writing systems would change drastically over the next 100,000 or more years?
On the one hand, 100,000 years is a pretty damn long time, I mean just look at how drastically writing systems have evolved over the past 5,000 years of their existence. On the other hand, since ...
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Limited list of words for a text or glyph-based messaging system
I'm building a world for a Pathfinder (TTRPG) mystery/political campaign, where I have a city that is a trading hub for shipping. I'm toying with the idea of having a glyph-based messaging system - ...
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Could an Alien decipher human languages using only comms traffic?
Could a hiding alien ship decipher all of our languages only using the comms traffic of our civilization without our cooperation(assuming our civilization has expanded across the solar system, to the ...
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Opposite 'Fire Magic'?
Not 'Ice Magic'. Ice is just frozen water and fire magic goes beyond water. But, for the sake of explaining in this question, let's go with "Ice Magic".
In a world where these two magics are ...
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How to make a sign language that only uses three fingers
I'm not sure if this is too broad, but a character I have in my story is mute. This character only has three fingers on each hand. They probably aren't going to be able to use ASL or other sign ...
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Is it possible for a humanoid to learn English within a few days, just from observing conversations?
A humanoid woman from another planet accidentally stumbles through a portal to 2024 Earth. I want her to be able to learn English in just a few days from overhearing my characters speak. Is there any ...
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The rebirth of a language from a group of mute people
I am toying around with a corner case of a well explored scenario: post apocalyptic world human re-population.
The added complication this time is that the group of survivors, by a sheer strike of ...
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