Inventing New Languages for Hollywood

Occasionally it becomes necessary for a script writer to have to invent a completely new language from scratch. This is often the case in Hollywood where the high production values of movies and television call for a greater sense of authenticity.

Think of Star Trek and the many languages involved, particularly Klingon which has spawned an almost fully formed language which some dedicated fans have even learnt and use to communicate with each other. However, sometimes this challenge can present itself in a more problematic manner, such as when the linguistics have to be absolutely perfect. This is the case with the recent theatrical release of Avatar.

The language behind Avatar was dreamt up by Professor Paul Frommer from the University of Southern California, "Jim Cameron's production department at Lightstorm Entertainment was looking for a linguist that would be able to help him develop an alien language," explains Professor Frommer.

"At that time, it wasn't even called Avatar - it was project 880 - but the e-mail was forwarded to me and I saw it and jumped on it. I was very excited about it. A week or two later I was called in for a talk."

Although anyone could make up new words, the director wanted the language to have at least some form of authenticity. "This is an alien language but obviously it has to be spoken by human actors," explains Professor Frommer. "It has to be sounds that human beings are comfortable producing."

Professor Frommer was also involved in teaching the actors how to speak the languages. "I met with each of the seven principal actors who use the language beforehand. I helped them with the pronunciation, we broke things down.

"I also created some sound files, MP3 files. I guess some of them downloaded them onto their iPods so they could listen to them at the gym."

"I gave them quite a challenge. I found that they really rose to the occasion, everybody had a great time. I knew that it had to be something that actors could deal with and handle," he says.

The language ended up having in the region of approximately one thousand words. But who knows, perhaps the movie’s fan base will expand upon it developing it into, ok a made up language, but one that makes a foothold in cinematic history.