Weleekish

Happy Wednesday!

Today I thought I'd continue the trend and tell you a little more about my affinity for...

Language

1. Yiddish

No, I'm not saying that I really want to learn Yiddish. I'm saying that I really like the sound patterns and intonation of the language -- and I like the lettering enough that I've actually borrowed from this language in one of my books.

Sorry guys, you wouldn't know what book it is. I'm hoping to release it next year or the year after though, so keep your eyes peeled!

I chose Yiddish for that particular story because it was fairly guttural, which was exactly what I was looking for. Only a few of the characters in the book used the language, but all of them were ones who would've spoken in these tones. 

2. Greek

I've actually used Greek in a couple of short stories as well. At the very least, it's a fun language to riff off.

I tend to use it when I'm writing things that are heavily influenced by Christianity, because the New Testament was written in Greek. It makes things interesting, because it helps to "hide" words in plain sight, by tweaking them and writing them in Greek (or with Greek spelling, if you can't muster their letters).

3. Welsh

If you've read anything of the Druid Novels yet, you'll know about this one. The language the druids speak is actually a variant of Welsh. If you're fluent in Welsh and were expecting the druids to speak fluent Welsh, you're in for a surprise. They weren't.

This language I chose because of something I'd heard in one my classes -- that the original druids were, in fact, Welsh. And I'd named the species druids, so... it fit. 


Another surprise: these aren't the only languages I've riffed or tweaked for my writing.

[love]

{RD}