Exploring Fantasy Constructed Languages

By Maryann Yin 

Have you ever tried to speak J.R.R. Tolkien‘s elvish language?

The animated video embedded above features a five-minute TED Ed lesson on “conlangs” (fantasy constructed languages). It focuses on Elvish from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Dothraki from A Song of Ice & Fire book series, Na’vi from the 2009 Avatar movie, and Klingon from the Star Trek franchise.

Over at the TED Ed website, linguistics fans can access a quiz, a discussion board, and more resources. John McWhorter, a language expert and author, serves as both the educator and narrator for this video. He has also given a talk about texting at a TED conference and narrated other lessons on plural words and nicknames.