(posted with permission from the mods)

A couple of months ago, I posted to several subreddits, asking for participants for a survey I conducted as part of my PhD dissertation. In it, participants listened to 18 audio clips of ~30 seconds, in which I recorded passages from the following invented languages

• Adûnaic; Black Speech; Khuzdul; Quenya; Sindarin (JRR Tolkien)
• Dothraki; High Valyrian (here specifically from Game of Thrones)
• Klingon (Star Trek)
• Na’vi (James Cameron’s Avatar)
• Simlish (Electronic Arts The Sims)

as well as two of my own invented languages and six “sketches” I made specifically for the survey in order to test linguistic theories about positive or negative evaluations of specific speech sounds and combinations thereof. Participants were asked to assign adjectives from a list to these sound samples, as well as decide which roles in fantasy or science fiction would fit the languages best. They were asked if they recognised the language and to speculate where in our world this language might be spoken if it was a natural (that is, not an invented) language.

In total, 90 people were kind enough to take the survey. Since I have finished evaluating the responses I received, I wanted to give everyone an overview of the results.

—————————

My survey was split into two parts—a listening section, followed by more general questions about participant demographics, prior knowledge of invented languages, and opinions about their usage in fiction. In this post, I will only show you the results of the listening section, since that was the biggest and most important part.

The questions participants answered were:

1. What adjectives would you use to describe the sound of this invented language?
   1. good
   2. evil
   3. peaceful
   4. aggressive
   5. pleasant
   6. unpleasant
   7. beautiful
   8. ugly
   9. soft
   10. harsh
   11. melodic
   12. discordant
   13. civilised
   14. barbarous
   15. familiar
   16. unfamiliar
   17. Other: [free typing field]
2. Do you recognise this invented language?
3. What role would you expect the speakers of this invented language to perform in a classical fantasy or science-fiction story?
   1. a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.
   2. a people who place much importance on honour, combat prowess, and strength in all matters of life. They often stand in conflict with other people but aren’t necessarily evil.
   3. an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.
   4. a people whose history is much younger compared to that of other species in the world. They are often a jack of all trades when it comes to magic or mystical abilities, though rarely true masters, and highly adaptable.
   5. a small, jovial people who value comforts such as food, drink, leisure, and peace more than personal glory or wealth. They are often overlooked by members of other species but are just as capable of great deeds.
   6. a violent people known to raid and pillage other settlements. Either they are the main antagonists of their setting, serve a greater power of evil, or work with it for their own gain.
   7. an industrious people who are renowned for their craftsmanship and skills as smiths and creators of functional yet beautiful works of art. To outsiders they seem gruff and short-tempered, but they are also noble and value honesty and honour.
   8. a massive empire that controls a vast territory with many citizens. They are highly advanced in many aspects such as industry, technology, military, and artistry. They either violently subjugated surrounding peoples or reign over them peacefully.
4. If this was a natural (that is, not explicitly invented) language, where in the world would you expect this invented language to be spoken natively? [this question included a map with the world regions highlighted in different colours]
   1. Western Europe
   2. Central and South Eastern Europe
   3. Eastern Europe and Central Asia
   4. North America
   5. Latin America
   6. North Africa and the Middle East
   7. Sub-Saharan Africa
   8. Asia and Pacific
   9. Other: [free typing field]
   10. Unsure / Don’t want to say

Without further ado, let’s see how participants rated the invented languages.

1) Adûnaic (JRR Tolkien)

Adûnaic is one of the languages JRR. Tolkien invented for his world, Arda. It was the native tongue of the Númenóreans and was spread by them throughout Middle-earth. Westron, the common speech or lingua franca among the Free Peoples of the West (which Tolkien ‘translated’ into English in his novels), descends from Adûnaic. It seems to be heavily inspired by Semitic languages such as Hebrew.¹

The passage I used has been named the “Lament of Akallabêth” and can be found in the journal Vinyar Tengwar, number 24.

¹ See for example Zak Cramer, “Jewish influences in Middle-earth”, jstor.org/stable/45320162.

The 3 adjectives chosen the most for Adûnaic are harsh (14%), pleasant (11%), and unfamiliar (10%). 2 people further thought that it sounded serious.

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Adûnaic are

• “a massive empire that controls a vast territory with many citizens. They are highly advanced in many aspects such as industry, technology, military, and artistry. They either violently subjugated surrounding peoples or reign over them peacefully.” (21%)
• “an industrious people who are renowned for their craftsmanship and skills as smiths and creators of functional yet beautiful works of art. To outsiders they seem gruff and short-tempered, but they are also noble and value honesty and honour.” (16%)

2 people recognised Adûnaic; 2 rightly attributed it to Tolkien, though one of those responses misidentified it as Khuzdul/Dwarvish; 1 person said it reminded them of Dovahzul (from Bethesda’s Skyrim); and 5 people either thought it comes from Game of Thrones or misidentified it as Dothraki.

Regarding location in the real world, 33% located it in North Africa and the Middle East. 4 people thought it could belong to the Semitic language family and 1 specifically compared it to Hebrew.

2) Black Speech (JRR Tolkien)

The Black Speech of Mordor is one of the languages JRR Tolkien invented for his world, Arda. It was created by the Dark Lord Sauron and was meant to be the language spoken by all his servants and subjects, though these efforts ultimately failed.¹ The Ring Verse (“ash nazg…”) is written in this language.

The passage participants heard is a combination of words Tolkien coined but wouldn’t immediately be recognised and words I created following the rules and ratios Tolkien used.

¹ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F:I.

The three adjectives chosen the most for the Black Speech are harsh (23%), discordant (13%), and unfamiliar (11%). 2 people thought it sounded powerful and strong.

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of the Black Speech are

• “a massive empire that controls a vast territory with many citizens. They are highly advanced in many aspects such as industry, technology, military, and artistry. They either violently subjugated surrounding peoples or reign over them peacefully.” (21%)
• “an industrious people who are renowned for their craftsmanship and skills as smiths and creators of functional yet beautiful works of art. To outsiders they seem gruff and short-tempered, but they are also noble and value honesty and honour.” (16%)

2 people recognised Adûnaic; 2 rightly attributed it to Tolkien, though one of those responses misidentified it as Khuzdul/Dwarvish; 1 person said it reminded them of Dovahzul (from Bethesda’s Skyrim); and 5 people either thought it comes from Game of Thrones or misidentified it as Dothraki.

Regarding location in the real world, 33% located it in North Africa and the Middle East. 1 person was reminded of Russian, 2 of German, and 1 person said it either sounds like a Middle Eastern or a Central Asian language.

3) Dothraki (here specifically from Game of Thrones)

Dothraki is the language spoken by the horse riders of the same name that George R.R. Martin invented for his A Song of Ice and Fire universe. When HBO adapted the novels for their TV show Game of Thrones, they hired the language creator David J. Peterson to expand upon the languages Martin invented. The lines participants heard were from the TV show.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Dothraki are soft (13%), pleasant (13%), familiar (9%), melodic (9%), peaceful (9%), and unfamiliar (9%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Dothraki are

• “an industrious people who are renowned for their craftsmanship and skills as smiths and creators of functional yet beautiful works of art. To outsiders they seem gruff and short-tempered, but they are also noble and value honesty and honour.” (16%)
• “a massive empire that controls a vast territory with many citizens. They are highly advanced in many aspects such as industry, technology, military, and artistry. They either violently subjugated surrounding peoples or reign over them peacefully.” (15%)
• “a people who place much importance on honour, combat prowess, and strength in all matters of life. They often stand in conflict with other people but aren’t necessarily evil.” (15%)

4 people recognised Dothraki and 2 rightly attributed it to Game of Thrones. 1 person was reminded of the constructed language Keva, 1 of Avatar, and 1 person said that “[i]t doesn't sound like a Conlang. Kind of feels like Celtic/Gaelic/something Scandinavian”.

Regarding location in the real world, 28% located it in North Africa and the Middle East. Other associations are with Semitic languages (4), Scandinavian (2), German (1), “African” (1), and Persian/Farsi (1).

4) High Valyrian (here specifically from Game of Thrones)

High Valyrian was the language of the Valyrian Freehold and the native tongue of the Targaryens from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire universe. The lines participants heard were from the TV show.

The three adjectives chosen the most for High Valyrian are melodic (16%), soft (16%), pleasant (13%), and peaceful (12%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of High Valyrian are

• “an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.” (27%)
• “a massive empire that controls a vast territory with many citizens. They are highly advanced in many aspects such as industry, technology, military, and artistry. They either violently subjugated surrounding peoples or reign over them peacefully.” (19%)

13 people recognised High Valyrian; 1 rightly attributed it to the language inventor for Game of Thrones, David J. Peterson, though misidentified it as Shiväisith (Thor: The Dark World), just as another was reminded of the Dune movies which Peterson also worked on (Dune Part 1 and Dune Part 2). 1 person said it reminded them of Na’vi; and 1 of The Lord of the Rings.

Regarding location in the real world, 30% located it in Western Europe. 2 thought it could be a Romance language, 1 that it could be Latin, another located it in Scandinavia, 5 in Finland, and 2 in Greece.

5) Khuzdul (JRR Tolkien)

Khuzdul is the tongue of the Dwarves which J.R.R. Tolkien invented for his world, Arda. It was given to them by their Maker Mahal, whom the Elves call Aulë, and they guard it as a secret few outsiders ever learned.¹ It is very deliberately based on Semitic languages such as Hebrew, which highlights the comparison Tolkien himself made between his Dwarves and Jewish people.²

¹ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F:I

² See for example Zak Cramer, “Jewish influences in Middle-earth”, jstor.org/stable/45320162.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Khuzdul are harsh (15%), unfamiliar (10%), and melodic (10%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Khuzdul are

• “a people who place much importance on honour, combat prowess, and strength in all matters of life. They often stand in conflict with other people but aren’t necessarily evil.” (25%)
• “an industrious people who are renowned for their craftsmanship and skills as smiths and creators of functional yet beautiful works of art. To outsiders they seem gruff and short-tempered, but they are also noble and value honesty and honour.” (20%)

7 people recognised Khuzdul and 2 rightly attributed it to Tolkien, though 1 misattributed it to Mordor. 2 people guessed it was Klingon and 2 that it was Dothraki. 1 person guessed that it comes from Game of Thrones and 1 that it is Na’vi.

Regarding location in the real world, 28% located it in North Africa and the Middle East. 3 people specifically mentioned Semitic languages and 2 German.

6) Klingon (Star Trek)

Klingon is the language spoken by the aliens of the same name from the Star Trek franchise. It was principally developed by Mark Okrand and was meant to sound ‘alien’, so Okrand included sounds and sound combinations that speakers of English generally wouldn’t be familiar with.¹ It is one of the most widely known invented languages and has a large fan base of speakers across the globe, such as the Klingon Language Institute.

The passage participants heard was a combination of several sentences taken from the Klingon Wiki. The last line, for example, was the beginning of the famous soliloquy from the Klingon version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

¹ See for example Okrand et al. “‘Wild and Whirling Words’: The Invention and Use of Klingon”, in From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages

The three adjectives chosen the most for the Black Speech are harsh (26%), discordant (15%), and unpleasant (14%). 2 participants also called it strong and powerful.

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of the Black Speech are

• “a people who place much importance on honour, combat prowess, and strength in all matters of life. They often stand in conflict with other people but aren’t necessarily evil.” (30%)
• “a violent people known to raid and pillage other settlements. Either they are the main antagonists of their setting, serve a greater power of evil, or work with it for their own gain.” (28%)

38 people recognised Klingon and 1 rightly attributed it to Star Trek. 2 people even wrote short comments in Klingon. Another person said it could be from The Witcher.

Regarding location in the real world, 25% were unsure or did not want to guess. 18% located it in North Africa and the Middle-east and 16% in Eastern Europe or Central Asia. 2 people said it did not sound like a human language; 1 person was reminded of Semitic languages and 1 person compared it to French.

7) Na’vi (James Cameron’s Avatar)

Na’vi is spoken by the aliens of the same name from James Cameron’s Avatar movie franchise. It was developed by Dr. Paul Frommer and has, as of now, two variants spoken by the forest and reef Na’vi featured in the movies. It has a large community of learners across the globe who have even contributed to the development of the language itself.

The passage participants heard consists of several sentences taken from Dr. Paul Frommer’s blog about the Na’vi language.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Na’vi are unfamiliar (13%), discordant (11%), and harsh (11%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Na’vi are

• “a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.” (32%)
• “a people who place much importance on honour, combat prowess, and strength in all matters of life. They often stand in conflict with other people but aren’t necessarily evil.” (15%)

18 people recognised Na’vi (since I also posted the survey to Na’vi language servers, this high recognition rate is unsurprising).

Regarding location in the real world, 37% located it in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2 people specifically mentioned South Africa, where most click languages are found. It seems likely that participants equated ejectives (as in Kaltxì) with click consonants.

8) Quenya (JRR Tolkien)

Quenya is the language spoken by the Noldor Elves of J.R.R. Tolkien’s invented world, Arda. By the time of the Third Age, in which Tolkien’s novels take place, it has primarily become the language of “ceremony, and for high matters of lore and song”.¹ It is heavily based on Finnish but also includes elements from Latin and Greek.

The passage participants heard was from the poem “Markirya”, of which several versions can be found in The Monsters, and the Critics, and other Essays, as well as in A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages (2020).

¹ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F:I.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Quenya are melodic (20%), soft (15%), and pleasant (14%). 2 people further thought it sounded ancient.

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Quenya are

• “an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.” (37%)
• “a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.” (24%)

3 people recognised Quenya; 4 identified it as “Elvish”, and 4 rightly attributed it to Tolkien. 1 person said it reminded them of High Valyrian.

Regarding location in the real world, 25% located it in Western Europe. 1 person was reminded of Latin and another person of Finnish. 2 located it somewhere in Poly-, Austro-, or Melanesia, and 3 somewhere in Scandinavia.

9) Simlish (Electronic Arts’ The Sims)

Simlish is the language spoken by the eponymous characters controlled by the player in The Sims video game franchise by Electronic Arts. It was first used in 1996 in Sim Copter and was created as an emotive language with which the players could tell their own stories¹. Many singers such as Katy Perry or the Black-Eyed Peas have re-recorded songs in this language.

The passage participants heard comes from the Simlish version of Bebe Rexha’s song Sabotage, which I transcribed.

¹ See for example James Portnow, “Gaming Languages and Language Games”, in From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Simlish are soft (18%), pleasant (13%), and peaceful (11%). 3 people further thought that it sounded playful, funny, or goofy.

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Simlish are

• “a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.” (28%)
• “a people whose history is much younger compared to that of other species in the world. They are often a jack of all trades when it comes to magic or mystical abilities, though rarely true masters, and are highly adaptable.” (18%)

1 person recognised Simlish. Someone said it reminded them of Trigadeslang (The 100), another that it sounds like something from Star Wars, and 1 person compared it to English.

Regarding location in the real world, 23% located it in Western Europe. 3 people specifically said that it reminded them of English.

10) Sindarin (JRR Tolkien)

Sindarin is one of the languages J.R.R. Tolkien invented for his world, Arda. It is the native tongue of the Sindar, the Grey Elves, and many of the place and character names in Middle-earth are taken from it. Sindarin was deliberately designed by Tolkien to be similar to Welsh,¹ which can be seen in its sound, grammar, and other linguistic aspects.

The passage participants heard is from the King’s Letter, which Tolkien wrote for an abandoned epilogue to The Lord of the Rings, as well as a sentence from The Unfinished Tales into which I added a word to include the lh /ɬ/ sound.

¹ See for example Tolkien, “English and Welsh”, in The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Sindarin are melodic (17%), soft (14%), and pleasant (12%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Sindarin are

• “an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.” (42%)
• “a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.” (22%)

6 people recognised Sindarin; 9 identified it as “Elvish”, and 7 rightly attributed it to Tolkien. 1 person was reminded of Astaporian Valyrian from Game of Thrones.

Regarding location in the real world, 36% located it in Western Europe. 6 people located it in Scandinavia, 4 people said it sounded Celtic or Gaelic, and 1 person was reminded of Latin.

—————————

For the following samples, you need a little knowledge about the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) (link leads to the full chart). The IPA categorises speech sounds according to their manner and location of articulation. Sounds made, for example, with both lips, such as /m p b/, are called bilabial consonants. /p b/ are stops, which are articulated by stopping and then releasing the flow of air, while /m/ is a nasal consonant, as air flows through the nose.

11) Sketch 1

One of the sketches I made specifically for this survey. This sketch only features labial (made with the lips), coronal (with the tongue), and palatal (at the hard palate in the middle of the mouth) sounds, the one exception being /h/. It is heavily skewered towards sonorants such as nasals and liquids, only has two voiced stops /b d/, uses far more front vowels /a e i/ than back vowels /u o/, and has a lot of long vowels.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Sketch 1 are soft (20%), melodic (18%), and peaceful (14%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Sketch 1 are

• “an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.” (32%)
• “a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.” (31%)

1 person thought Sketch 1 was Sindarin and 9 that it was one of Tolkien’s (Elvish) languages. 2 people thought it comes from Game of Thrones.

Regarding location in the real world, 33% located it in Western Europe. Other associations are Celtic/Gaelic (1) and Scandinavian (2).

12) Sketch 2

One of the sketches I made specifically for this survey. This sketch uses many stops and fricatives and combines them in clusters of up to four consonants. It only has the velar nasal /ŋ/, so no /n/ and /m/, and features a lot of other velars /k g x ɣ/, as well as the uvulars /q/ and /ʀ/, and the glottal stop /ʔ/. It uses far more back vowels /u o ɑ/ than front vowels /i e a/ and more short vowels than long ones.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Sketch 2 are harsh (20%), discordant (19%), and unpleasant (16%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Sketch 2 are

• “a violent people known to raid and pillage other settlements. Either they are the main antagonists of their setting, serve a greater power of evil, or work with it for their own gain.” (27%)
• “a people who place much importance on honour, combat prowess, and strength in all matters of life. They often stand in conflict with other people but aren’t necessarily evil.” (26%)

5 people thought that this was Klingon. 1 person guessed that it came from Star Trek, 1 from Avatar and 1 from Star Wars.

Regarding location in the real world, 28% located it in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. 2 people were reminded of Russian and 2 of German(ic) languages.

13) Sketch 3

One of the sketches I made specifically for this survey. This sketch uses a combination of sounds made at the front of the mouth and sounds made at the back of it. It thus stands directly in the middle of two other sketches (Sketch 1 and Sketch 2) in which I use predominantly (or exclusively) front or back sounds respectively. In this sketch I used exactly the same amount of front and back sounds and included consonant clusters of no more than two consonants.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Sketch 3 are harsh (13%), melodic (10%), pleasant (10%), and unfamiliar (10%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Sketch 3 are

• “an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.” (18%)
• “an industrious people who are renowned for their craftsmanship and skills as smiths and creators of functional yet beautiful works of art. To outsiders they seem gruff and short-tempered, but they are also noble and value honesty and honour.” (18%)
• “a massive empire that controls a vast territory with many citizens. They are highly advanced in many aspects such as industry, technology, military, and artistry. They either violently subjugated surrounding peoples or reign over them peacefully.” (14%)

2 people thought it could be from Game of Thrones, with one specifically mentioning Dothraki.

Regarding location in the real world, 22% were unsure or declined to assign one. 20% thought it could be from Western Europe and another 20% that it could be from Central and South-Eastern Europe.

14) Sketch 4

One of the sketches I made specifically for this survey. This sketch is very similar to another one, in which I exclusively use consonants made at the front of the mouth (so labial, coronal, and palatal) with the exception of /h/, and predominantly the front vowels /a e i/. The difference between that sketch and this one is that I have included the two velar sounds /x ɣ/ and the glottal stop /ʔ/ to test whether this small addition is enough to affect the way participants evaluate this sketch compared to the other one.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Sketch 4 are harsh (13%), melodic (13%), pleasant (13%), and unfamiliar (11%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Sketch 4 are

• “an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.” (25%)
• “a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.” (16%)

2 people thought that Sketch 4 could be Sindarin, while 3 thought it was some form of “Elvish”. Other guesses include Na’vi (1) and Hildegard von Bingen’s “unknown language” (1), likely meaning Lingua Ignota.

Regarding location in the real world, 32% located it in Western Europe and 28% in North Africa and the Middle-east.

15) Sketch 5

One of the sketches I made specifically for this survey. This sketch is very similar to another one in its predominant use of sounds made at the front of the mouth (so labial, coronal, and palatal) with the exception of /h/, and the preference for front vowels /a e i/. What differentiates this sketch from that one is the inclusion of something akin to lexical tone, though very exaggerated. In tonal languages, the meaning of a word or word segment can differ depending on the pitch with which it is said. This sketch is meant to test whether tones affect the way participants evaluate this sketch compared to the other one.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Sketch 5 are melodic (21%), unfamiliar (19%), and unpleasant (11%). 6 people called it robotic, 6 other people alien, and 2 fun or jolly.

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Sketch 5 are

• “a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.” (30%)
• “an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.” (20%)
• “a small, jovial people who value comforts such as food, drink, leisure, and peace more than personal glory or wealth. They are often overlooked by members of other species but are just as capable of great deeds.” (20%)

3 people thought Sketch 5 could be Solresol, an invented language that is sung or played on musical instruments.

Regarding location in the real world, 34% located it in Asia and the Pacific; 3% narrowed this down further to (South)East Asia. 31% were Unsure and 12% said that it was like no natural language, alien, or robotic.

16) Sketch 6

One of the sketches I made specifically for this survey. This sketch uses so-called click consonants, which are only found in 1.8% of the 449 languages analysed by Ian Maddieson on WALS Online, all of them coming from southern and eastern Africa. It also has an unusually low vowel inventory with only three sounds, /a i u/. Combining these incredibly rare sounds with the most common consonants found in languages worldwide,¹ I am testing whether unfamiliar sounds affect the way participants evaluate this sketch compared to the other ones.

¹ See the UCLA Phonetics Lab.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Sketch 6 are unfamiliar (16%), discordant (11%), and melodic (10%). 5 people called it fun(ny) or jolly, 2 “click-y”, 2 “primitive” or “tribal”, and 2 interesting.

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Sketch 6 are

• ·“a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.” (33%)
• “a small, jovial people who value comforts such as food, drink, leisure, and peace more than personal glory or wealth. They are often overlooked by members of other species but are just as capable of great deeds.” (18%)

1 person thought this was Na’vi; 1 that it was Kelen or Itkul, two constructed languages; 2 that it comes from Star Trek, and 1 that it comes from Star Wars.

Regarding location in the real world, 73% located it in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 10% being more specific with South Africa. Xhosa (3), Zulu (1), Khoisan languages (1), and Hausa (1) were mentioned, out of which all but Hausa are natural click languages.

17) Tàrhama

Tàrhama is one of my own invented languages which I have been working on for several years. Its speakers are a humanoid species of aliens with nine sub-species, each of which has its own language that descends from Tàrhama. In creating the phonology of Tàrhama, I only used sounds and sound combinations that I enjoy or find interesting.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Tàrhama are unfamiliar (14%), harsh (13%), and pleasant (11%).

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Tàrhama are

• “an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.” (19%)
• “an industrious people who are renowned for their craftsmanship and skills as smiths and creators of functional yet beautiful works of art. To outsiders they seem gruff and short-tempered, but they are also noble and value honesty and honour.” (17%)
• “a people who place much importance on honour, combat prowess, and strength in all matters of life. They often stand in conflict with other people but aren’t necessarily evil.” (17%)

1 person thought Tàrhama could be from The Lord of the Rings; 1 from Star Trek; and 1 that it could be High Valyrian.

Regarding location in the real world, 25% located it in North Africa and the Middle East. 2 were reminded of German and 2 of Semitic languages.

18) Wi:çǫthashìgä

Wi:çǫthashìgä is one of my own invented languages and is part of a language family which I have been working on since June 2024. The language family, and its alien speakers, are very deliberately based on the Haudenosaunee and their Iroquoian languages.

The three adjectives chosen the most for Wi:çǫthashìgä are soft (14%), melodic (13%), and pleasant (11%). Unsurprisingly, given the inclusion of nasal vowels (as in French), 2 people called Wi:çǫthashìgä nasal.

The two roles that participants thought best fit speakers of Wi:çǫthashìgä are

• “a people who live in harmony with the natural world around them. They have a close connection to their environment and value all plants and animals that share their home.” (23%)
• “an ancient, noble, and mystical people with a long history. They are wise, graceful, skilled, and possess great powers. Their prime is long behind and few of them remain.” (17%)

Guesses about which invented language this is include “Tolkien’s Elven languages” (1), “Avatar Na’vi” (1), and Star Wars (1).

Regarding location in the real world, 24% located it in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and 23% in North America. 1 person specifically mentioned Native American languages and guessed “[m]aybe Iroquoian, maybe Algonquian”.

—————————

If you have made it this far, thank you for your time. I’d like to once again thank all participants. The survey will be immensely useful for my PhD dissertation and future research in this field. It is possible that my results will be published in an academic journal, so keep an eye out for that, if you are interested.

At any rate, qatlho’ (Klingon, thank you) and namárië (Quenya, farewell).