How to Make a Language: Writing Systems
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ธ.ค. 2024
- Just like any other language, many conlangs come with their own script-a way to write them down. Not every language needs a writing system, and most don't create their own original script, so don't feel like you have to take this step. However, if you do want to write using your conlang, there's a few tips we can share that might help you get started.
There's plenty more to discuss about scripts beyond what we had time for here, so if you're interested to learn more, check out the links to other episodes of Story Tips below. Or, if you're already well-versed in conlanging, drop a comment telling us some tips of your own!
Script and VO by Adam Bassett
Animation by Cole Field
Special thanks to Slorany for helping draft the script and providing some of their resources for conlanging (see them below!)
#conlang #writingcommunity #authortube #writingadvice
Check out Campfire, a customizable tool for writers to plan, organize, and share their work:
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//REFERENCES//
An interactive IPA chart: www.ipachart.com/
Conlangs: How to Construct a Language MIT lecture notes: ocw.mit.edu/co...
David Peterson's Conlang Lessons on TH-cam: • The Art of Language In...
Omniglot: omniglot.com/i...
//ALSO CHECK OUT//
Other videos we’ve made about conlanging: • How to Make a Language...
An interview with Paul Frommer (Creator of Na'vi): www.campfirewr...
Artifexian's TH-cam Channel: / artifexian
Biblaridion's TH-cam Channel: / @biblaridion
Conlangs University (Community-Made Resource): sites.google.c...
The Evolution of Writing: sites.utexas.e...
Vulgarlang (Word Generator): www.vulgarlang...
//SOCIAL MEDIA//
Adam's Twitter: / adamcbassett
Cole's Art Insta: / acolefield
Campfire's Twitter: / campfirewriting
Discord: discordapp.com...
Facebook: / campfirewriting
Reddit: / campfiretechnology
Instagram: / campfirewriting
//AFFILIATE LINKS//
ProWritingAid: prowritingaid....
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A tip I can give, if you don't want to develop the writing system, is to pick a handful of different strokes, rarely more, and then use only those in various combinations to make the glyphs. It is an easy way to make it look coherent and like it has history.
This is very good advice.
Never take the easy route
Im sorry but Im a hardcore conlanger, don't care much for world building but making languages is my jam, and whenever i see, "Oh, just take the easy way out so you dont have to do all the nerdy linguistic stuff" always pisses me off, even if its completely irrational to be mad about
If you cant make a language and a script for that language, then just ask a conlanger to do it for you, r/conlang is a great resource you can probably find many people willing to help, but taking the simple way out always just seems like a spit in the face to people like me who spend months or even years making languages as full and complete as possible
@@WatermelonEnthusiast9 I'm sorry if I appear rude, but isn't just having a whole other person do it for you even lazier?
@@sapphirewings8638 no, its teamwork, aslong as you and them are working together on it then its not being lazy; My main complaint anyway is that there is no art or thought into scribbling down lines/symbols and saying, "I'm done now"
@@WatermelonEnthusiast9 Well, when I look at that comment and think about what I would do, I would do something similar to what this comment suggests, make a phonetic chart, then come back to the few symbols I made and expand on it starting from there. There are ways to be creative with just a few symbols, and for people like me, it can be really overwhelming.
I've tried to learn more about conlang and such, but half of the things I learned just went through one ear and out the other. A lot of it is just hard for me to understand and I feel like I'm drowning in a bunch of information that's hard for me to comprehend. I also don't really feel like reaching out to someone as this is something I want to do myself (and I'm not the best at keeping consistent communication with people on the internet that I don't know).
The comment above didn't just say you should scribble random symbols and say "I'm done" (I know that was an exaggeration on your part but still), they suggested taking a handful of symbols and mixing and matching those in different variations to make glyphs. If you think about it, it can be a good starting point for people who aren't really as passionate about conlang as you or a bunch of other people.
What this commenter suggested can be a great place to start and add on to. It's not particularly lazy when you're considering the phonetics chart and a bunch of other things.
While I do understand your point being the fact that this is lazy and is just taking the art out of it, I don't really think its as lazy as you think. As I've stated before, this can be a really great starting place for people who like to start with the simple things and don't wish to do that all that mental heavy lifting or collaborate with someone they don't feel the need to collaborate with in the first place.
I guess what I'm saying is, while you have a point, if you look at this from another angle, it's not as lazy as you think. You can really make something great out of something as simple as that, I actually even did it in class once when we were making a code, it was quite fun and interesting really, and though it was simple in a way, it felt like something that could really work.
Even if it's not as much work as what you suggested, as long as you're consistent with it and are able to be creative, it's not really that bad. You can still make art out of something as small as this.
I'm sorry if anything I said offended you, I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything intended to be disrespectful but if I did I am deeply sorry. Thank you for reading this.
My tip is to start w a rlly rough script and allow yourself to naturally change and adapt it as you use it until u end up with a more consistent script that you like (and then ofc u can manually add your own touches to it)
This was awesome, Adam!
In my YA anime fantasy, all 6 of my clans used scripts at one point but the only clan who retained their original scripts in present day, is the one who has edification as their ethos.
Since they value education and wisdom, it made sense that they would retain the original script to pass on to future generations.
Great video!
hey if someone wants inspiration sri lankan books (for example, other languages/people did this too) weren't written with like a quill, it was embossed into leaves with a stylus and then ink was wiped across it and then it was cleaned off leaving the ink only in the letter grooves,
so like if you're doing like an alien/fantasy thing maybe that might give you some ideas to like think about the actual mark making thing isn't always pen or brush or chisel based
the letters have to be more curvy because straight lines can cause the leaf to split, so the way it is written is really informed by the physical process of writing
Majority of South-Indian languages were also written like this.
@@SirAU yep
I created a language which has its own writing system , grammer , pronounciation . I created this language 4 years ago ❤
What's the name of your language and how it works?
I create my "main" writing system when I was at 8 grade of school and I don't really like it at first but I get tired of creating writing systems so I just used that, at the end I didn't develop a conlang but I used it to write silly thing in my school notebook.
After a time I decided to create a diary and used that writing system to it, but I didn't like the look of it so I "standardized it" after a long time, and it actually looks a little different.
I continue using that and after 2 years I realized that the thing than I was writing down was different enough to have a, re-standardization.
In that moment I was so happy, because my writing system evolved.
Some of the letter than I use now are even different from that "standar" of that time, but I don't want to re-standardized it again, If I continue like that, in 10 years I'll be unable to read the things that I'm writing now.
Sorry for the errors, I think this is the longest things I had written in English
Revisiting your work after a few years can really help it improve. Sometimes I'll just let my work sit for a while so I can come back later with fresh eyes. In the case of conlangs and scripts, it can help it feel more real if it changes over time. That's what real languages do. :)
if your notebook have windows, you can create your own characters.
Thank you i made my own Language written top to bottom
When coming up for a script for my Yenid language I ended starting at the culture and why in universe the script was made. It started out as record keeping but as times changed it also became a part of religious ceremonies to burn letters to dead relatives as a form of sacrifice, so a new script was created that was one sound for each letter with diacritics for vowels that is written on palm leaves which are more accessible in the region with a variation written in stone that is angular
One really weird writing system I have is with beads each bead is made from a different species of wood and engraved with different patterns to represent different words. This script is only used for legal documents and religious scriptures.
im making a language for a species with fire magic, and their script started by dragging their finger across wood to burn markings into it. i imagine this would make some thick, curved and pretty connected lines.
i love that idea!!
Very interesting. I myself have made my own language a while ago and it seems to be a combination of a substitution language, and symbols that when stringed together in certain ways means different things. My language is more based on the worlds power system where the language itself acts as a command code for the energy of the universe. One example of this is construction circles. This can take many forms. The simplest is simply using its alphabet with a script-like circuit to make it work. To the most difficult and seemingly most simple which is the compressed construction circles. One example is to illustrate the object of creation in this case an arming sword as real to life as possible. Then to write how the object is made(construction methods and materials used), then its size and dimensions, the laws imbued into it (elements, enchantments etc.). Then the sacrifice required for it to be created and then its activation method and outcome of the script. Then they would compress all of that information into a string of information and combine it with the sword image. In this way the information contained is sturdy and can be used multiple times. Its even possible to bind this compressed construction circle to an object and mass produce them so long as they have the right materials to sacrifice in order to make them. It can even be used as a blueprint and duplicated so they do not need to make the construction circle again. Energy can be substituted to long as there is enough for the circle to make the object. In that way its possible to use it as a spell where they fire a barrage of fully functioning arming swords with the downside of the ones made from energy into mass not being as strong and that it may cost a lot of their internal energy. But, that to can be mitigated with external power sources or even dimensional spaces where the required materials are stored.
Well anyway that's just some of the basics as well as some of the possible application. Though still difficult to progress as I keep having to come up with symbols to represent a function, action or even more complicated objects.
I love how detailed this is so far!
For symbols, I might look at the structure of the language. Like I mentioned toward the end of the vid, just figuring out how many vowels there are could help steer you in a direction.
@@AroundTheCampfire Interesting and thank you. Though I should specify that this language is more of a written one and not so much a spoken one. Meaning in order for it to function as a command language for the universes energy so long as it is specified it could even be a hand gesture/hand seals, sound, or even a particular way of using energy. Even a key word or string of words is fine so long as it is specified. It would function similar to magic circles, or more similarly like alchemical symbols in full metal alchemist especially how it functions on the basis of equivalent exchange. Only in this world energy can turn into mass and vise versa at close to 100% efficiency which is the basis for everything.
That being said if you were to speak it since its core is a substitution language of English with potential changes in dialect, not too much needs to be done in that regard. As for the symbols that can hold more than one word or meaning and can change depending on the order the symbols are read they are more literal in meaning. Since their main purpose is to command energy and materials in a certain way to make things and phenomena I have tried to simplify them into core meanings. In which case a cube whose overall shape resembles a hexagon means material. If you place an arrow on either side pointing outwards it means tensile material. If you add a solid circle, a circle with lines inside and one with dots inside the cube, it would mean tensile material of solid, liquid and gaseous components making up the material. If you add the symbols meaning a specific type of sword which is made up of about 10 separate symbols into one which includes its weight class, how and how many edges. Then add an anvil symbol between the two it would mean "Arming sword forged with tensile materials of solid, liquid and gaseous components". Which amounts to about 3 larger symbols.
My main issues are coming up with more symbols of a similar nature in conjunction with my power system. As well as making it work for other languages or even incorporating them together. Since the worlds this language exists in I am not doing entirely from scratch so terms known in different languages such as Latin, French, germen and so on that have words and meanings in English will still exist.
Any more advice would help and what I said is a lot but, it is only the tip of the ice berg so it can be a bit overwhelming at times.
I use abugida for my writing system and i want to add some logography but just for adverbs because envelopes more consumed than others.
Thanks for this great starting point! As for my work I have only made one langue so far for my sci-fi setting that cover an alt future/history from 2019CE-3000AD... Called ECish and it was developed in world as anew lingue Franka for the Eastern Coalition to use instead of their enemies English... It is a mix of modern day Russian and Traditional Chinese as they are the major powers in the Coalition which how I interpret it is the Chinese goes first and the Russian second as based on my use of google translate that is how it should work... Which the most used word in the langue in my work so far is Sida(是Да) or yes for the Chinese word of Shi De and the Russian word Da. And a Red a descendent Human species(Yeah alot of things happened to and in the EC) of the EC might say...
"是Да(Sida Yes) Comrade Leader! I will restation my Sumig(Sukhoi, Mig aircraft companies and what ECites/Reds call their small aerospace craft.) squadron to the Rénmen Korzina(Peoples basket a 666KM long on average city ship) to train for our mission to liberate the protalote(To them it means the lower class) of their Móguǐ d'yavola(Devil's Blood Money) and bring them into the Red(Their society)!"
I have chosen to use 3 spirts a alphabet for naming and loanwords, a logography for Nouns and a abugida for everything else how does it seen
It's not something I would recommend. Typically a language has just one kind of script. Even in secret languages, English uses a Latin alphabet (which is a bit of a sweeping statement for which there are probably exceptions I don't know about lol).
That said, it's your conlang, and it's an interesting idea. Give it a shot! It could be really cool.
@@AroundTheCampfire I Got this Idea from The Japanese Writing System but its more Centralised. In Japanese there are 3 scripts too Like kanji, Hiragana, Katakana. Hiragana and Katakana are centralised but Kanji isn't. I got Inspiration from Japanese
@@Dark.Pri77 Ah, fair point!
Great video! I've been interested in creating my own sort of script for my fictional language as a form of art, and this video really helped me out!
I already like the intro. Like, the video is good, but any intro usually isn't as good as this. Exactly what an intro should be, not stringing along the listener in hopes of watchtime retention but giving a synopsis of the content that makes me want to know more. engaging
Great video! Btw, digraphes are used not only in alphabets but in other writing systems too, for examples, u use one symbol for z in hebrew - ז, but u need two symboles for zh (like s in pleasure) - ז׳
Yep! We just used English as one example, but tons of languages use digraphs. We try to keep these videos a bit on the shorter side so we don't have time to go through all of them 😂
The latin alphabet in it's modern iteration only has 2 distinct parts. l(line) and c(unclosed circle) This holds true for Uppercase and Lowercase, and numbers.
I technically use two, Shavian script is the main writing system, but the Latin Alphabet still gets used, as an extension on the counting system, which is based 36 in my language, so the whole 0-9 plus A-Z before 10.
Language naver gets minimal or sinple, it grows with knowledge and experience
question I have about script direction (though I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go unanswered): say you’re working with a conlang, and you need to translate something from say English like Taco Bell, but you don’t have a direct translation and you don’t want to make one on the spot or you don’t want there to be one for some reason
if your conlang uses a direction that conflicts with the one used in English with Taco Bell, like if it’s meant to be read top-bottom, what would you do?
I'm trying to make a syllabary right now
this is amazing! needs more views!! earned a sub
1:01 this actually counts as a script, unless its a seperate language
I'm working on a very simple conlang? if it can still be called that? that is based purely on physical touch. again, very simple. focused on getting across mostly emotions, i've sometimes used it to signal things to my friends or to check up on them when in a public space
so far it's short taps, long taps, and swipes across the skin. there are 4 base concepts to bring across (positive, negative, affection, and one i can't quite define yet) that are modified using one of 2 suffixes (representing questions or exclamations. no suffix is neutral in most cases)
Though there is also another conlang i'm working on that uses intonation only to differentiate between "good" and "bad" words (so i.e. love and hate are the same word, just pronounced differently), that one is going to take me AGES
I think I worry about how it would look handwritten. How easy are the letters / sounds to connect?
oh pleaseeee add captions next time you make a video like this so i know how to spell anything i wanna research lol
Noted! I'll try to work them in more for key terms at least where we can. For now, if you have any questions, feel free to check the description (I try to share any resources or related articles I found there) or ask me in the comments!
Lewis Carroll made up a language when writing alice in wonderland, Not to go in his story though.
When he woke up with an idea for his story he found it a fuss to find a candle s to light the room .
So he invented a way to write in the (near)dark .
Its called nyctography .
I could imagine dwarfs and underground creatures having a similar writing system
I use abugida but its jot CV but its VC
I made an Abugida with 15 letters:A(null),Pa,Ta,Ka,Ma,Na,Ba,Da,Ga,Sa,Ha,Wa,Ya,Ra
Final N
Diacritics:I(above letter),U(below letter)
My language, Lirigan, has 3 writing systems. The first one is a syllabary with a twist. The twist is that u need to learn ONLY how to write 35 main glyphs. 35 glyphs may sound very small for a syllabary (or maybe not cuz hirigana has only 51) but these symbols are the building blocks of the acutal glyphs used in writting (also i was just kidding when i said u need to learn only 35 glyphs, u need to learn more than that). The syllable structure is CCVCC so each syllable glyph could be made up of 2, 3, 4 or 5 glyphs. The glyphs that make up the syllable glyphs are called "creator glyphs". The 37th creator glyph is more of an extra sort of glyph. This is because, the 36th creator glyph represents the /e/ sound but the /e/ sound isn't a true sound in my language's phonology, it's a sound that only occurs if an vowel is after a qu. Also, if there is a vowel and then a plosive after a qu, when the vowel becomes an /e/, the /e/ also becomes long. Speaking of long vowels, a circle under a vowel means that the vowel is long. When creator glyphs are combined to make a syllable glyph, the creator glyphs are combined with the top glyph and going down to the bottom of syllable glyph. A syllable glyph is read this same way. 4 vowels and 9 consonant creator glyphs have an extra glyph for when a vowel is before a consonant. These 14 creator glyphs are: /a/, /u/, /ae/, /e/, the schwa, /p/, /q/, /ng/, /v/, /r/, /r/ (trill), /pf/, /d3/, and /kx/. If a vowel is long and consonant is after it, they don't connect, the long diacritic (the circle underneath a vowel if the vowel is long), separates them. So, the 36 main glyphs + the 37th /e/ glyph and it's long counterpart + the long counterparts of the 5 main vowels (except the schwa which doesn't a long counterpart) + the 13 extra glyphs for connecting a consonant to a vowel that's before the consonant = 56 glyphs to learn. All of my 3 writing systems have a name and the name literally translates to the type of writing system that writing system is. My 1st writing system's name is Minsho (syllable structure: min-sho) which translates to "syllabary".
10 likes and i'll talk about the 2nd one, Asninwa.
i just reallized that a syllabary is not good for a language that has closed syllables so i will replace minsho
Greek alphabet for Brazilian
Alpha:used for A
Beta:used for B
Gamma:used for G
Delta:used for D
Epsilon:used for E
Digamma:used for F
Zeta:used for Z
Eta:used for H
Theta:used for Ç
Iota:used for I,J
Lambda:used for L
Mu:used for M
Nu:used for N
Xi:used for X
Omicron:used for O
Pi:used for P
Koppa:used for Q
Rho:used for R
Sigma:used for S
Tau:used for T
Upsilon:used for U,V
Chi:used for C
Psi:used for Ñ
Omega:used for Y
You can distinguish J and V from I and U by adding two dots on top of each letter
Weirdly enough, the word "upsilon" is the german name for the letter "y"
@@StarlasAikoI'm pretty sure upsikon is for J in all germanic Language and Indonesian (until 1970)
@@georgespaceagency9894 I can't speak for anything before 1980, but since I went to school, upsilon (spelled Ypsilon and pronounced Üpsilon in German) is the name for the German Y and is pronounced like the English Y in Yellow. But then again, the German J (longform spelled Jott, pronounced Yott in German, rooted in the greek letter Iota) is also pronounced like the English Y in Yellow.
@@StarlasAiko ah, yes that's what i meant. J and Y are pretty much the same
The video is very helpful but the music (everything from the song choices to the volume of it behind the narration) was extremely distracting for me.
agreed!
"Stone needs to be chiseled and will create hard edges"
Looks up stone carving on TH-cam: Watches people create all sorts of different shapes and wavy lines
In my world only 1 out of the 8 main languages of Faunus (one of the planets) survived, changing its name from Medinian (Պεδιηιαη) to Faunian (Բαմηιαη)
I have 0 artistic ability, so attempting to come up with some kind of letters is terrible. At this point I'm just watching videos like this to pretend I'm still working on it and haven't abandoned my language for the parts of worldbuilding I'm much more passionate about lol
can you create a language called zelosamy please
3:22 favourite
2:58 “ consonants stop the airflow“
Ssssssssay what?
S is a vowel, confirmed.
Ffffffffffffffrick
Abugida is the best system for a language.
Any particular reason for that? Glad it works well for you, just curious. :)
@@AroundTheCampfire I am Maraathii(Marathi/मराठी) speaker. Maraathee uses Devanaagarii (Devnagari/देवनागरी) as a script. I can write in Modii (Modi/मोडी), cursive version of Devanaagarii.
It(Abugida, not Devnaagarii) is the best because-
01) It shows the word as it is pronounced. There is no need to learn spellings, no need to remember the Kanji strokes.
02) Devnaagarii Abugida improves upon the alphabet by using different मात्रा(Maatraa/Matra), signs for vowels which saves space on paper. It also has the feature of जोडाक्षर(joined alphabet), which saves space even more. If you use Sanskrit, you can write sentences without having spaces between words.
@@AroundTheCampfireAbugida gives more clarity of how to pronounce what is written. You may say Spanish does that. But there's no difference in short and long vowels. So, Abugida wins.
A new kind of script that combines both the Featural aspect like Hangul & Abugida aspect like Tamil will be more superior. Ex: Bharati script ( a conscript that is developed by IITM college professor to unify Indian languages).
@@DailyLifeSolution I too belong to the tribe that uses Abugida. Devanagari is good. But still it needs more reformation like the half र् in र्क, क्र all are different and confusing. Also the short i symbol ि needs a change because while stacking up more and more pure consonants it is difficult to write this. And some more.
Language with Max Umlaut, Vowel Harmony, and ALOT of Vowels... But Abjad :3
(tranditional)Chinese alse write top to bottom.
My comment is that you don't want to have to many letters, and you should group them in specific ways throughout the language.
"tsalagi" is pronounced "jalagi".
I made a writing System based on what producing each Sound looks like. For example
I_I_I
._I_
I I I
Represents clicking your teeth together. Once I have all the symbols I will simplify them to something comparable to Latin
So Hangul? 😋
Oi’xaun xii’tuna’taun in’ini’nika zitunaxipango quekami zi’tahngu xii’tao quechuwapaxi huapaxipa tiwasanguyu makalpk xisochiniyu sanokipajo xa xikuntai
My elves uses quills
A WRITING SYSTEM IS NOT A LANGUAGE, AND A LANGUAGE IS NOT A WRITING SYSTEM. THE TWO ARE DIFFERENT THINGS.
Yeah, I don't believe we ever said it was. Scripts are a part of language and a big part of conlanging (if you decide to include one at all) but we separated scripts into their own video for a reason. Sorry if there was some confusion about that! :)