This article is for authors interested in incorporating a conlang into their worlds. The exercise will ask you to consider language on a granular level, and get you to precisely consider the in-world implications of your conlang.
Scenario:
You have been transported Alice-in-Wonderland-style to a fantastical world. It’s got magic, dragons, ancient prophecies, crumbling kingdoms--the whole deal. There’s one critical difference, however. In this world, magic is cast not by speaking in Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, or some eldritch tongue, but by speaking in English (or your native language). As a native English speaker, therefore, you can accomplish a feat that would have the mages of the realm salivating with envy: you speak the magical language fluently. By pure accident, and through no effort of your own, you are now the most powerful mage in existence.
Exercise: Consider what the implications of this scenario would be, and how it would actually be realized in a story. Consider all the following questions:
Are individual sounds magical? Why and how?
Are individual words magical? Why and how?
Are some words more magical or differently magical than others?
Are Sentences magical?
Are some sentences more magical or differently magical than others?
What are the magical properties of the written language? How do those play out?
How would a magical duel play out? Is it like having a conversation?
What role does intent play in the language’s power?
What happens if you use sarcasm, irony, make an implicature, use a metaphor?
What about parts of speech? Are nouns more magical or differently magical than verbs and adjectives, for example?
What happens if you twist the word order around? E.g. “Begone, foul demon, back to the depths of hell” vs. “Back to the depths of hell, foul demon begone!”
What happens if you ask a question?
What happens if you use incorrect grammar? . e.g. “Across Dog walked street the the”.
What happens if you change the tone in which you pronounce a sentence? E.g. commanding tone vs. soothing tone.
Does the age of the word make a difference? E.g. Is there a difference between “thou” and “you”? Why and how?
What are people’s attitudes towards you and your immense linguistic power?
What legends and stories circulate regarding your language?
What are peoples’ first reactions upon hearing your fluency with the magical tongue?
I have two questions:
1.- What is the deadline?
2.- "As a native English speaker": what if you are suficiently proficient, but not native? Will that be a problem?