Over at Tor.com, an online interview has been published by one of their resident bloggers, Ellen B. Wright. Who with, you ask? None other than David J. Peterson, who created the Dothraki language for Game of Thrones, and Sai Emrys, the president of the Language Creation Society. They talk in surprising detail about the new conlang and the creative process behind it, as well as other related issues. David is keeping e-mail contact with GRRM, and there is a definite possibility for a Dothraki-English Dictionary. Language geeks, rejoice. Some notable excerpts from the interview:
SE: The HBO production team was wowed with what we sent; I think they hadn’t quite realized who they were dealing with. :-P
EBW: Were you a fan of the books before you got involved with the show?
DJP: It’s funny you should ask: Currently, A Clash of Kings is in my bathroom (resting right on top of Orlando Furioso). I had heard of the series before the show (my wife was a huge fan), and now all our copies are marked up with highlighter, a different color for each language.
EBW: Have you been or will you be on set at all as a dialogue coach?
DJP: I haven’t yet, but that may be because the status of a pilot is quite a bit different from the status of a greenlit show. I’m available, though, and so when it comes time to start filming again, we’ll see what happens. Thus far, I’ve provided them with recordings of every bit of dialogue to be used, so the actors have more to go by than just a transcription.
You will of course want to get your hands on the integral text, which offers a very interesting read. Click here for the whole interview, and learn how to say “blood of the dragon” in Dothraki!
Hear Me Roar: It has not quite yet dawned on me how big the move to properly create a whole new language (the first of a number of them?) for the show is. It demonstrates a great attention to details, and a determination to produce a believable, living world to embed the eagerly expected HBO drama series into. I like how David J. Peterson gets quite passionately technical about certain linguistic issues, yet manages to explain everything clearly to the non-expert majority of readers.
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43 Comments
Fascinating stuff. I especially like how DJP has even developed a way for Dothraki-speakers to speak broken English. We know that Drogo starts speaking the Common tongue later on, so this kind of attention to detail has me excited.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
agreed, it this type of detail that really sets a show apart from the rest of the pack…more i hear the more excited i get!
Gaz Quote Reply
I actually hesitated to read the interview …thought it would be zzzzzz…..instead I found it fascinating…I'm amazed D/D and team have gone to such lengths…it definitely helps having 'fans' running the show
Coltaine777Quote Reply
Dang… "I don't even need to go to my dictionary for that." The dude has it practically memorized already -_-
@ddaimyoQuote Reply
hopefully its the superior script that sets it apart… but thats just me ;)
TonySopranoQuote Reply
It never crossed my mind that HBO will invent a new language for the show, and apparently it's just the first one, I assumed that each foreigner will just mumble his foreign gibberish language and that would be it, this is amazing, how many shows on TV had new languages created for them? I know only of "Star Trek", and I think it's kind of placing GOT alongside with those great shows, and who knows, maybe it will become cult show too.
humusTasterQuote Reply
I'm glad you all are enjoying the interview! I had a lot of fun working on it.
EllenQuote Reply
It's the script overall, but details like this are the building blocks. Having a real language invented will definitely help maintain a feeling of immersive verisimilitude, which makes everything else work that much better (Getting the viewer to care about the characters, for instance.)
DemokritosQuote Reply
I think it already is a cult show, awesomely enough. Mmm, kool-aid…
DemokritosQuote Reply
Well done! ;)
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
Great interview. Who knew reading about language could be so entertaining :)
Phoenix_tornQuote Reply
he's the first real life guy fluent in dothraki! xD
LaurenQuote Reply
ditto @Phoenix!
it's so cool how much goes into simply developing one word. the article was fascinating!
LaurenQuote Reply
Same here. I thought the article would prove to be a boring read. Quite the contrary, I found it quite intriguing, and not necessarily for the GoT content either.
furreverQuote Reply
See guys, that's some of the reasons I'm a linguist ;)
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
That family in Kansas who raised their kids to speak Klingon are going to feel sooooo out of date.
David MooreQuote Reply
Yes, but are you a cunning linguist? :)
Critical_GeekQuote Reply
Ask my GF.
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
I'm a master debater, myself.
And in all seriousness, great article. Who would have ever thought we would find a connection between Homer Simpson and Dothraki?
That's a little like discovering the missing link.
Fire And BloodQuote Reply
Well played…*golf claps*
dizzy34Quote Reply
A connection to Homer Simpson? Maybe we should call it D'oh!-thraki. :)
LexQuote Reply
Also
Congratulations to David Benioff and Amanda Peet on new baby girl :) http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20363398,…
Phoenix_tornQuote Reply
Yeah, they're so last year.
SteveQuote Reply
yup excatly what i was tryin to say, of cource the script is the most major factor, follwed quickly by actors talented enough to do it justice, but i just love attention to detail.
i wonder what the dothraki for verisimiltude is…
Gaz Quote Reply
Haha, I came here to post that! Congratulations to David and Amanda!
This page has a particularly adorable picture of the happy couple :http://www.usmagazine.com/momsbabies/news/amanda-…
Stella MarisQuote Reply
Haha, I came here to post that! Congratulations to David and Amanda!
This page has a particularly adorable picture of the happy couple :http://www.usmagazine.com/momsbabies/news/amanda-…
Stella MarisQuote Reply
I hope they make the Valyrian language as well. And the old tongue of the First Men! This is all so exciting!
Wyatt DornQuote Reply
Now, if only they'll invest this amount with in the combat…
RogerQuote Reply
*this amount of detail in the combat
Gah.
RogerQuote Reply
Where's the casting news ?….
Coltaine777Quote Reply
I know what yah mean. Part of the appeal for GRRM's work is his gritty realistic fight scenes.
If they put a single "buffy the vampire slayer" fight scene in this show, i'll be PISSED!
RerQuote Reply
Nowhere near as it seems. :(
@The_Rabbit01Quote Reply
In the lack of any news, I found another possible Dothraki wedding-dancer.
Her name is Coral Messam .
@The_Rabbit01Quote Reply
I'm sure he'll post anything he finds. Are you talking about WiC?
RerQuote Reply
Just getting impatient…wondering why there not announcing further casting…What are they waiting for ?
Coltaine777Quote Reply
A casting to announce?
sjweningsQuote Reply
Dany, perhaps?
@The_Rabbit01Quote Reply
Another Dothraki dancer !
Kemi Durosinmi .
WiC, F & B and HMR if you want, you can update the blogs cast listing with them.
@The_Rabbit01Quote Reply
Here is a link to the Canadian website of TVGuide: http://tvguide.ca/TVNews/Pilot_Watch/Articles/100…
Here they list some of the pilots/series for the upcoming 2010/11 television season. If you scroll down then you'll find "Game Of Thrones", the production and writing team, as well as the director, the cast and a description of the show. Granted it still lists Jennifer Ehle as part of the cast, and George RR Martin get no credit as a writer for the show, but still I am glad to see that more and more notice is being paid to the now upcoming series. If you go to the main page you can get also network pilots, as well as which shows have already been renewed, cancelled or are still pending. For example "Fringe" (yeah baby!) and "Supernatural" (whoooohooooo) have been renewed , while "Chuck" is still pending (arghhhhhh).
Anyways, here here for "Game Of Thrones" getting more and more mainstream recognition…
loco73Quote Reply
Is Chuck any good? I'm an IT guy, so I might be put off by hokey computer and network stuff.
RerQuote Reply
Where’s the casting news ?….
RickQuote Reply
I like "Chuck". I have been watching it for 3 seasons now (it almost got cancelled after the second one, but hardcore fans did something (involving Subway sandwiches, just check it out!!! funny as hell) and unbelievably managed to wrangle at least one more season out of those tightwads over at NBC. The series is basically a comedy, with just the right amount of drama and action thrown in to spice things up and keep it from being too silly. The cast is great, and I must say there hasn't been a single episode that has left me down. Plus it features the hotest girl on TV, Yvonne Strahovsky (wow)! Still, you'll have to make up your own mind, check out imdb.com to see the profile of the series and visit nbc.com for more details and to stream full episodes from past seasons. To me it is one of the few network shows worth watching…
loco73Quote Reply
a small Dothraki thing,http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?i… Me, I would go for High Vallyrian…
TPFKA Thoros of MyrQuote Reply