Dritok
Encyclopedia
Dritok is a constructed language
(conlang) created by Don Boozer in 2007. Boozer is currently Secretary and Librarian of the Language Creation Society
.
Dritok is in the artistic language
genre of conlangs, specifically a fictional language
. It is spoken by the Drushek - a race of beings residing in the fictional continent of Kryslan. The Drushek are large-eared, long-tailed sapients with no vocal cords, who value solitude and quiet. Other languages of Kryslan include Umod and Elasin.
s and fricatives. The loudest phoneme in the language is a porcine
snort, referred to as a double-dot wide O at The Speculative Grammarian. The word "Dritok" is other sapient species' approximation of the sounds in the Drushek's endonym.
There is also an element of non-verbal communication to the Dritok language with various Syntactic
functions conveyed through the use of gesture.
' On Beyond Zebra and traced the Seussian alphabetical extensions in this author's constructed script
(conscript). He became enamored of creating languages after reading J. R. R. Tolkien
's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and being introduced to such languages as Quenya
and Sindarin.
In high school, Boozer created his own conscripts. While in high school, he created the constructed world (conworld) of Kryslan for an illustrated book as part of an art class project.
This conworld went on the backburner when Boozer focused on starting a family. Then, a few years before the date of the Elvish, Esperanto and Beyond exhibit at Cleveland Public Library
, Boozer took it up again.
Boozer came up with this sciurine language by speculating what sapients without vocal cords would sound like, and decided they would sound like chipmunks then explored whether one could make a language composed entirely of unvoiced sounds.
, he was regaled by such questions from the audience as: "How do [the Drushek] yell?", "Do they make art?", "Can they use whistling?", "Can they throw objects to get someone's attention?" and "Do they have thick skin?"
Arika Okrent
described the audience's reaction to Dritok as the samples sending "waves of glee through the audience -- they sounded so strange, so inhuman, but there was a detectable structure or system that gave Dritok a sense of 'languageness'."
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...
(conlang) created by Don Boozer in 2007. Boozer is currently Secretary and Librarian of the Language Creation Society
Language Creation Society
The Language Creation Society is a non-profit organization formed to promote constructed languages , support makers of constructed languages , and inform the general public about conlangs and the conlanger community...
.
Dritok is in the artistic language
Artistic language
An artistic language is a constructed language designed for aesthetic pleasure. Unlike engineered languages or auxiliary languages, artistic languages usually have irregular grammar systems, much like natural languages. Many are designed within the context of fictional worlds, such as J. R. R....
genre of conlangs, specifically a fictional language
Fictional language
Fictional languages are by far the largest group of artistic languages. Fictional languages are intended to be the languages of a fictional world and are often designed with the intent of giving more depth and an appearance of plausibility to the fictional worlds with which they are associated, and...
. It is spoken by the Drushek - a race of beings residing in the fictional continent of Kryslan. The Drushek are large-eared, long-tailed sapients with no vocal cords, who value solitude and quiet. Other languages of Kryslan include Umod and Elasin.
Phonemes and non-verbal communication
All the phonemes in Dritok are unvoiced. The language is a gallimaufry of hisses, clickClick consonant
Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...
s and fricatives. The loudest phoneme in the language is a porcine
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
snort, referred to as a double-dot wide O at The Speculative Grammarian. The word "Dritok" is other sapient species' approximation of the sounds in the Drushek's endonym.
There is also an element of non-verbal communication to the Dritok language with various Syntactic
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
functions conveyed through the use of gesture.
Real-world history
Boozer first entered the world of conlanging as a child, when he read Dr. SeussDr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
' On Beyond Zebra and traced the Seussian alphabetical extensions in this author's constructed script
Constructed script
A constructed script is a new writing system specifically created by an individual or group, rather than having evolved as part of a language or culture like a natural script...
(conscript). He became enamored of creating languages after reading J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and being introduced to such languages as Quenya
Quenya
Quenya is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his Secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Quenya is one of the many Elvish languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called Quendi in Quenya. The tongue actually called Quenya was in origin the speech of two clans of Elves...
and Sindarin.
In high school, Boozer created his own conscripts. While in high school, he created the constructed world (conworld) of Kryslan for an illustrated book as part of an art class project.
This conworld went on the backburner when Boozer focused on starting a family. Then, a few years before the date of the Elvish, Esperanto and Beyond exhibit at Cleveland Public Library
Cleveland Public Library
The Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically...
, Boozer took it up again.
Boozer came up with this sciurine language by speculating what sapients without vocal cords would sound like, and decided they would sound like chipmunks then explored whether one could make a language composed entirely of unvoiced sounds.
Reception
When Boozer presented this language at a Language Creation ConferenceLanguage Creation Conference
The Language Creation Conference is an annual conference about conlanging, organized by the Language Creation Society . It focuses primarily on the process of creating new languages, but also features talks that focus on features of various specific languages...
, he was regaled by such questions from the audience as: "How do [the Drushek] yell?", "Do they make art?", "Can they use whistling?", "Can they throw objects to get someone's attention?" and "Do they have thick skin?"
Arika Okrent
Arika Okrent
Arika Okrent is an American linguist, known particularly for her 2009 book In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, a result of her five years of research into the topic of constructed...
described the audience's reaction to Dritok as the samples sending "waves of glee through the audience -- they sounded so strange, so inhuman, but there was a detectable structure or system that gave Dritok a sense of 'languageness'."
External links
- http://kryslan.pbworks.com -- Kryslan Wiki
- "Are We Alone" podcast 30 March 2009 - interview with Donald Boozer