Re: Speculative linguistics(*)

In article <1hyzqd4.1x3hjjr1xyx0s4N%zeborah@xxxxxxxxx>,
zeborah@xxxxxxxxx says...

So how does one speculate on linguistics, without those tropes to rely
on? Should I be looking at how early sf writers speculated on physics
back before they had the tropes that are now second nature to us?
Reading those early works now, they so often seem clunky and
infodumpish; was that necessary to introduce readers to then-new
speculative physics? Or is it possible to introduce readers to
speculative linguistics while retaining a modern (incluing-based?)
style?

And is it possible to include throwaway speculative linguistics in a
story, or does the whole story need to be about linguistics in order to
support the reader into the new tropes?

If one of the characters is investigating the ancient alien texts and
makes some asides about kinship terms etc., I think the same rules
would apply as for any sort of spoof jargon (as was discussed in a
different thread recently). If that's what you mean by throwaway
speculative linguistics.

Some SF involves linguistic ideas, usually proposing that the use of a
particular language provokes a mental transformation. This is a common
enough trope; obvious examples are Vance's _The Languages of Pao_ and
Ted Chiang's _Story of your Life_.

My guess is that most readers will simply miss any great effort you put
into the first kind. Done right, it can be a nice bit of world-
building but is not intrinsically important to the story.

- Gerry Quinn





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