(Ufrgs 2018)The complex linguistic universe of Gam

(Ufrgs 2018) 

The complex linguistic universe of Game of Thrones

 

Game of Thrones has ¹garnered 38 Emmy awards for its portrayal of a world of sex, violence and politics so real that some viewers could imagine moving there. Part of that detail has been the creation of the richest linguistic universe since J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

In the field of language-creation for fictional worlds, there is Tolkien, and there is everybody else. But David Peterson, the language-smith of Game of Thrones , comes a close second for the amount of thought put into its two languages, Dothraki and Valyrian. The interest in these tongues is such that a textbook for learning Dothraki has been published, while Duolingo, a popular online language-learning platform, now offers a course in High Valyrian.

Inspired by fictional languages such as those in the Star Wars films and with a master’s degree in linguistics, Peterson made Dothraki and Valyrian as rich and realistic as possible.

Creating words is the easy part; anyone can string together nonsense syllables. But Peterson, like Tolkien, took the trouble to give his words etymologies and cousins, so that the word for “feud” is related to the words “blood” and “fight”. To make the languages pronounceable but clearly foreign, he put non-English sounds in high-frequency words (like khaleesi , or queen), put the stress in typically non-English places, and had words begin with combinations of sounds that are impossible in English, like hr .

²Armed with a knowledge of common linguistic sound changes, he gives his languages the kinds of irregularities and disorder that arise in the real world: High Valyrian’s obar (“curve”) becomes Astapori Valyrian’s uvor . Words’ meanings—as in real life—drift, too, giving the system more realistic messiness.

Languages also play a prominent role in the storyline. Dothraki is the guttural language of a horse-borne warrior nation, but high-born Daenerys Targaryen does not ³look down on it; ⁴methodically learning it is key to her rise. Tyrion Lannister is left to administer the city of Mereen despite his ⁵ropy command of Valyrian, leading to some comic moments. And a prophecy of a future hero acquires new meaning when an interpreter explains that the word in question is ambiguous in Valyrian—it could be “prince” or “princess”.

It might seem odd that a highly sexist society like the one of Game of Thrones would have languages where sex roles were not clearly marked, but languages are not always perfect vehicles for a culture. Random change can leave them with too many words for one concept, and not enough for another. In this way, the flawed nature of language reflects the ⁶foibles of flawed humans and the imperfect worlds they ⁷strive to create.

Adaptado de: <https://www.economist.com/news/books-andarts/21725752-dothraki-and-valyrian-are-mostconvincing-fictional-tongues-elvish>.

Acesso em: 21 nov. 2017.

 

Considere as possibilidades de reescrita do segment: Inspired by fictional languages such as those in the Star Wars films, Peterson made Dothraki and Valyrian as rich and realistic as possible.

I. Peterson, inspired by fictional languages such as those in the Star Wars films, made Dothraki and Valyrian as rich and realistic as possible.

II. Being as rich and realistic as possible, Peterson made Dothraki and Valyrian inspired by fictional languages such as those in the Star Wars films.

III. Fictional languages in the Star Wars films inspired Peterson to make Dothraki and Valyrian as rich and realistic as possible.

 

Quais poderiam substituir o segmento destacado, sem prejuízo do sentido original e da correção gramatical?