Video Fix: How to Tell a Difference between a Realistic Fictional Language and a Terrible One

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video fix

video fix

This week’s Video Fix is about fake languages. And no, these are not the languages that are used to write fake news. We’re talking about fictional languages used in films and TV shows, amongst other places.

Also referred to as conlangs (which is short for constructed languages), these purposefully invented communication tools are frequently employed to add that extra level of depth to a fictional universe, enrichen its mythology – or, alternatively, just to have fun.

Depending on how much effort is put into constructing such a language, the end result varies, to put it mildly. Watch the video below to learn more about how to tell the difference between a naturalistic conlang and lousy gibberish, and what makes a conlang sound real.


Written by Dimitri Efremov, a Communication Study Visitor at the Terminology Coordination Unit of the European Parliament (Luxembourg) and a student of the Master Programme in Learning and Communication in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts at the University of Luxembourg.