Conlang General Sketch: Orcish

This is a useful one. There are a few partially-created Orcish dialects out there, but I may be able to publish a fully developed language anyway. The concept here is, again, like Tolkien's, in that it is a worn-down version of Black Speech used by creatures who don't care enough about language to maintain one of any complexity. This will almost certainly be the easiest for writers and players to learn and use, should they so desire.

Because orcs are orcs, sloppy usage of Orcish will be considered a fairly minor issue. This makes it even easier on the players. Note that even orcs can speak their language well enough if necessary, for worship, military directions, diplomatic situations, etc, so having a "proper" way to do things is still needful. However, their grammar is quite simple.

The sound of Orcish should take into account the speech issues inherent in creatures that generally have tusks or other enlarged teeth. Subtleties such as tones are out of the question.

The difference between casual and "proper" Orcish speech extends to the vocabulary as well. While the usual sort of dictionary could (and shall) be made, largely of words derived from Black Speech, a gloriously and inventively foul additional vocabulary comprises orcs' daily speech. Most languages would consider this slang, but in Orcish it is the better part of the language. By "better" I mean not only more commonly used, but also where orcish subtlety can be found. Most scholars look at Orcish, an apathetic version of Black Speech, itself simplified from Draconic, and see a low-minded mire. This is not an unfair assessment. However, in a bewildering array of grotesque metaphors, orcs have a startlingly precise and nuanced mode of communication.

Needless to say, a lot of the time a literal translation might not be the best idea.

As I mentioned at the top, there are Orcish glossaries to be found, mostly online, and have been for a long time. What's funny is that the Orcish dialect makers and gamer-users get along with each other far better than the Elvish ones. I think it's partly because the assumed origin of Orcish means that since every major group of orcs has its own dialect, new creations just add to the depth of things, whereas most Elvish want to be definitive, when not actually created for an elvish sub-race... and then they want to be definitive for that group.

I think it's also because people who have orcish fun are less uptight in general. These are also reasons why I created Dwarven and tend to prefer that species in general. But don't tell the Elf-folk.

My Planned Languages

Designing languages is fun, and it's easy to get carried away with it.  I realize that it's unlikely I will get all of my ideas into a functional form, but the plan is to get some real development done on each. Even if they never get done they can be handed off to someone else, and failing that I'll at least amuse and educate myself.

The following list is a very brief description of each. I'll sketch out fuller plans in later posts.

• Dwarven:  Designed for gamers to actually use, this is made to be easy for English-speakers to learn. This is the only one with any real work done on it so far, and in fact I'm likely to publish something on it in the not-too-distant future.
• Parseltongue:  It was partly created for the Chamber of Secrets movie but no information seems to be on it anywhere.  So I'll do it.  It would be spectacular to talk Ms. Rowling into publishing or at least signing off on it. For one thing, it'd ensure development of probably the entire list.
• Draconic:  This is conceived as the head of a language family, and sort of a sister language to Parseltongue.
• Black Speech:  That's what Tolkien called Sauron’s created tongue for his minions, so I'll need a different name, though mine is for the same purpose exactly:  created by a big baddie to unite his disparate underlings.  Unlike Tolkien's, though, it's based not on Elvish but Draconic.
• Orcish:  Again like Tolkien’s, a simplified Black Speech, worn down by dumb underlings (orcs) who have no love or knowledge of language and little brainpower for using it.  Certainly easy to use by gamers, and possibly publishable.
• Arboreal:  I have a great idea for a language which is built of radicals and infixes, like the Semitic languages, and which uses a symbolic writing system that reflects it. The fictional speakers are a race of deeply philosophical tree-dwellers.
• Magic:  It would be very helpful to have a writing system for magic which is as regular and functional as the writing system for mathematics. It's been tried without much success for centuries. However, it seems there is a system which allows one to chart logic like a sentence diagram, and that makes it very promising.

I suspect I've left something off the list. Not that the above isn't more than enough.