
Inset detail from the magnificent “Nova et Accuratissima Terrarum Orbis Tabula” map by J. Blaeu (1664). Place names were “universal” at the time, to those who read and spoke educated Latin.
My ever-thinkish buddy Charles Moore recently brought up something in a G+ discussion thread: In fantasy fiction, why does everyone have the same name for places? …
I’ve been thinking about constructed languages lately, since I’m dealing with my own Sa’adani language in my novel revisions. As synchronicity would have it, WBA list member Chris Mennell just wrote me about creating a dwarven language. He asks,
Any advice on how one should go about crafting a realistic sounding, original form of language for a race of people that has, for all intents and purposes, been pre-defined in the minds of everyone by a specific author?…