Whether they’re meant to be inscrutable, easily understood, or a way to bring a fictional universe to life, some made-up languages have had an impressive impact in the real world, even for people who’ve never heard of them. Here are four notable examples:
– Pig Latin
You might have spoken this made-up language when you were a kid…and maybe you still speak it today. No one knows exactly when Pig Latin originated, or how it got its name, but it’s been around for at least three centuries. ow-Way! If you couldn’t understand that, you can take a quick Pig Latin tutorial here. What was a childhood language for many of is like a playful child itself, hiding and sometimes popping up in the most unexpected places, including rap songs, computer games, and some of Thomas Jefferson’s letters. A few Pig Latin words, like “ix-nay” (nix) have even been adopted into English.
Dr. Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof’s dream wasn’t to create a “secret” language like Pig Latin, but one that anybody could use. In 1887 he published his first guide to Esperanto, and hoped the language would spread and become a lingua franca. Although that hasn’t happened, Esperanto has had a fair amount of success, considering it’s a constructed language. Today, around 1 million people understand it to some extent, about 10,000 are fluent speakers, and an estimated 1,000 people consider it a native language.
“Futurama” was an amazing TV show, from its hilarious writing, to its bright, detailed depictions of life in the future. One of these details was the form of writing used in this future world. Dubbed “Alienese”, it looked like a series of inscrutable symbols…until hardcore fans decided to see if it was a code. It turned that it was! The show’s creators originally set it up as a basic substitution cipher (one character = one letter in our alphabet), but when they saw how easily fans were reading the messages and sharing them online, they made the code a bit harder. Alienese’s connection to your life might not seem obvious, but to me, it’s something that shows the wonderful ways creative minds can interact with each other, especially with the internet. It’s also a reminder of the power of fandom: “Futurama” was doomed to cancellation until its fans did their darndest to have it brought back for a few more seasons on another network. Hey, they were dedicated enough to crack Alienese – are you all that surprised?
Of course this is on the list! Created for “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” in 1979, and further developed by linguist Mark Okrand, Klingon is the most widely spoken fictional language in the world today. There are Klingon translations of Shakespeare, Klingon dictionaries, even a Klingon Language Institute. Even if you’re not well-versed in Klingon, it’s hard to avoid mentions of it in all sorts of pop culture sources, from “The Simpsons” to “The Big Bang Theory”. It’s become a sort of code we all understand: having a character who speaks Klingon is a way to quickly explain to an audience that said character is a geek. You may roll your eyes at someone naming their daughter Khaleesi (“Queen” in the fictional Dothraki language that they probably heard on the TV adaptation of “Game of Thrones”), but don’t be so smug. It’s actually not that surprising: As this list goes to show, made-up languages don’t always stay in their original context or fictional universe.
Iwe ni lugha zisizoeleweka, zinazoeleweka kwa urahisi, au njia ya kuamsha ulimwengu wa uwongo, lugha fulani zilizobuniwa zimekuwa na athari kubwa katika ulimwengu wa kweli, hata kwa watu ambao hawajawahi kuzisikia. Hapa kuna mifano minne mashuhuri: <unk> Pig Kilatini Huenda ukasema lugha hii iliyobuniwa ulipokuwa mtoto... na labda bado unaizungumza leo. Hakuna anayejua hasa wakati Pig Kilatini ilitokana, au jinsi ilipata jina lake, lakini imekuwa karibu kwa angalau karne tatu. O-Way! (Kushangaa) Kama huwezi kuelewa kwamba, unaweza kuchukua haraka Pig Kilatini mafunzo hapa. "Lakini lugha ya utotoni kwa wengi ni kama mtoto mchekeshaji mwenyewe, akijificha na wakati mwingine popping juu katika maeneo ya kutarajia zaidi, ikiwa ni pamoja na nyimbo za rap, michezo ya kompyuta, na baadhi ya barua za Thomas Jefferson. """ Maneno machache ya Kilatini ya nguruwe, kama vile <unk>ix-nay<unk> (nix) hata yamekubaliwa katika Kiingereza. Ndoto ya Dakt. Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof haikuwa kuunda lugha ya "siri" kama Kilatini cha Nguruwe, bali moja ambayo mtu yeyote angeweza kutumia. Mwaka 1887 aliandika kitabu cha kwanza cha lugha ya Kiesperanto, na alitumaini kwamba lugha hiyo ingeenea na kuwa lugha ya kawaida. Ingawa hilo halijawahi kutokea, lugha ya Kiesperanto imefanikiwa sana, ikizingatiwa kwamba ni lugha iliyoundwa. Leo, karibu watu milioni moja wanaelewa kwa kiasi fulani, karibu watu 10,000 wanazungumza kwa ufasaha, na watu 1,000 wanadhani ni lugha ya asili. "Futurama" ilikuwa kipindi cha televisheni cha ajabu, kuanzia maandishi yake yenye kuchekesha, hadi picha zake zenye kung'aa, za maisha katika wakati ujao. Mojawapo ya mambo hayo yalikuwa namna ya kuandika itakayotumiwa katika ulimwengu huo wa wakati ujao. Iliitwa <unk>Alienese<unk>, ilionekana kama mfululizo wa alama zisizoeleweka... mpaka mashabiki wa hardcore waliamua kuona kama ilikuwa nambari. Ilionekana kwamba ndivyo ilivyokuwa! "Wanamuziki wa kwanza wa programu hiyo walianzisha kificho cha msingi cha ""substitution cipher"" (mwandiko mmoja = herufi moja katika alfabeti yetu), lakini walipoona jinsi mashabiki walivyoweza kusoma ujumbe huo na kuushiriki mtandaoni, walifanya kificho hicho kiwe kigumu zaidi." "Uunganisho wa ""Alien"" na maisha yako hauwezi kuonekana wazi, lakini kwangu, ni kitu ambacho kinaonyesha njia za ajabu ambazo akili za ubunifu zinaweza kuingiliana, haswa na mtandao." Pia ni ukumbusho wa nguvu ya fandom: Futurama ilihukumiwa kufutwa hadi mashabiki wake walifanya bidii yao kuirudisha kwa misimu michache zaidi kwenye mtandao mwingine. Hey, walikuwa kujitolea kutosha kuvunja Alienese <unk> ni wewe wote kwamba kushangazwa? Bila shaka hii iko kwenye orodha! Klingon ilianzishwa kwa ajili ya Star Trek: The Motion Picture mnamo 1979 na kuendelezwa na mtaalamu wa lugha Mark O'Kane, Klingon ni lugha ya hadithi inayozungumzwa sana ulimwenguni leo. Kuna tafsiri za Klingon za Shakespeare, kamusi za Klingon, hata Taasisi ya Lugha ya Klingon. Hata kama hujui vizuri Klingon, ni vigumu kuepuka kutaja katika aina zote za vyanzo vya utamaduni wa pop, kutoka "The Simpsons" hadi "The Big Bang Theory". Imekuwa aina ya kificho sisi wote kuelewa: kuwa na tabia ambaye anaongea Klingon ni njia ya haraka kueleza kwa watazamaji kwamba alisema tabia ni geek. Unaweza kugeuza macho yako kwa mtu kumwita binti yao Khaleesi (Malkia katika lugha ya uwongo ya Dothraki ambayo labda walisikia kwenye marekebisho ya televisheni ya <unk>Game of Thrones<unk>), lakini usiwe na kiburi sana. Kwa kweli si jambo la kushangaza: Kama orodha hii inavyoonyesha, lugha zilizobuniwa hazibaki daima katika muktadha wao wa awali au ulimwengu wa uwongo.