One of the first questions I get asked about my conlanging and worldbuilding is “What language/culture is it based on?”, under the assumption that I consciously base each language/culture on a parallel from the real world. This not something I have ever done (consciously at least)–in fact I’ve often consciously not followed the archetypes of certain human Earth cultures, not because I think they aren’t worth emulating or aren’t interesting (the opposite it true), but if I copied so many aspects directly from particular cultures, I really feel my worldbuilding and language creation would lose its own unique flavor.
Language creation and culture creation are pretty similar in this respect–I do take small elements of grammar (e.g. active-stative verb systems) and elements of culture (e.g. deities of war, absolute monarchies, ruling councils, desert-dwelling culture that revere water) but the elements of particular extant cultures are mixed and varied when they appear in Aeniithian cultures/languages.
So I can’t say, “oh yes, this is my ~Norse~ based culture, this is their very Norse-like language,” or “this culture is based on East Asia during X century” or something, because worldbuilding isn’t like that for me. It’s more organic, less copy-paste, and I never started this hobby with any desire or intention to replicate human cultures.
Nonetheless, I have always wanted both my languages and cultures to be feasible or understandable, as well as internally logical and consistent. My expertise in linguistics allows me to do this with the languages, and my growing understanding of anthropology, history, etc. lets me do so with regard to culture and other constructed human systems.
turnnoffyourmind
blakekathryn
germansingergirl
areudirty
