#lcc10 Andrew Higgins - Linguistic Poachers of the Star Trek and Stars Wars Storyworlds

details & slides: https://conlang.org/lcc10/#higgins

In this paper I will explore the role that fan reception and engagement has had in the invention of languages for two of the most popular and ongoing story worlds in fiction – the worlds of Star Trek and Star Wars. From the genesis of both these story worlds fans have sought to engage with and add to its world-building by inventing languages for the peoples of the world. This paper will explore, compare and contrast several of these attempts including the first versions of a language for the Vulcans of Star Trek that appeared in the earliest fanzines while the original show was in its first run to one of the earliest websites ‘The Complete Wermo’s Guide’ that offered fan developed versions of established Star Wars languages like Huttese, Jawas, and Ewokese. Through this analysis I will explore how these fan language inventors employed sophisticated methodologies of language invention to ground their works in the reality of the worlds they were creating and also explore how some of the work of these linguistic poachers went on to become part of the ‘canon’ story world they were contributing to.

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Captions by @stenoknight.