Black Speech?

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Ainuke
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Black Speech?

Post by Ainuke »

I recently saw something about 'Black Speech'. It made me think about making a language with all the most ugly phonemes I could possibly think of. Has anyone EVER done this kind of thing?
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Tanni
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Re: Black Speech?

Post by Tanni »

Ainuke wrote:I recently saw something about 'Black Speech'. It made me think about making a language with all the most ugly phonemes I could possibly think of. Has anyone EVER done this kind of thing?
Then, maybe, you'll start to love them ...
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Ainuke
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Re: Black Speech?

Post by Ainuke »

Tanni wrote:
Ainuke wrote:I recently saw something about 'Black Speech'. It made me think about making a language with all the most ugly phonemes I could possibly think of. Has anyone EVER done this kind of thing?
Then, maybe, you'll start to love them ...
Indeed...
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Veris
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Re: Black Speech?

Post by Veris »

I hope it was my topic you heard it mentioned at.

As for me, I actually came up with a Black Speech idea long ago, when first beginning to pen my magnum opus of fiction. The idea wasn't "a language that sounds ugly," but "a language of dark power." The way I envision this Black Speech of mine working is that the words spoken aloud have a magical nature to them that causes them to hang in the air. Rather than words, phrases and so forth consisting of chronologically-sequenced single sounds ("1. hell 2. oh 3. mai 4. neim 5. izz 6. vair 7. iss"), they consist of chronologically-simultaneous sounds -- new sounds spoken over previous sounds that are still "hanging around," building up on one another to a cacophony only decipherable by a demon or suchlike ("1. hell 2. helloh 3. hellohmai 4. hellomaineim 5. hellohmaineimizz 6. hellohmaineimizzvair 7. hellohmaineimizzvairiss").

Never actually came up with phonology or anything, just the concept.
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Micamo
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Re: Black Speech?

Post by Micamo »

How many sounds are they able to articulate at once? If it's infinite then they'd never have any sentence longer than a single phoneme.

And I have tried to make my own "Black Speech." It was rather pathetic really.
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Veris
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Re: Black Speech?

Post by Veris »

Well, in the story, the Black Speech was naturally spoken by non-euclidean demons who could presumably articulate several sounds at once (and who may or may not have been extra-temporal, so...I wouldn't even begin to know how to describe a non-temporal language O_o), dependning on the individual. In the story, however, we're introduced to Black Speech through a "human" (technically not homo sapiens sapiens since the story's set on a conworld, not Earth, but close enough) who speaks it. He, and presumably any human speaker of the Black Speech, would only be able to articulate a single sound at once. However, that sound, rather than dissipating like normal speech, "hangs in the air," allowing phonemes to be stacked over time.

Look at my example again and think of each number being a second apart from the rest.
1. hell
2. helloh
3. hellohmai
4. hellomaineim
5. hellohmaineimizz
6. hellohmaineimizzvair
7. hellohmaineimizzvairiss
That is, in the first second he just says "hell," in the second second he just says "oh" but since "hell" is still hanging around in the air, you'd hear "helloh." Although I didn't imagine the actual sounds to be remotely distinguishable to a human listener. To you and me it'd just sound like some horrible monster growling and snarling through a mouthful of jagged teeth.
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Nortaneous
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Re: Black Speech?

Post by Nortaneous »

probably that'd have to work on phonemes instead of words, though (also you wouldn't have any stops)

either that or the phonemes are just sine waves at varying frequencies or something
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Black Speech?

Post by eldin raigmore »

Ainuke wrote:I recently saw something about 'Black Speech'. It made me think about making a language with all the most ugly phonemes I could possibly think of. Has anyone EVER done this kind of thing?
Check this out. It's got lots.
Especially look at the Real Life category of examples.

I think Tolkien's Orcish language of Mordor was such an attempt; in fact I think it was even called "the Black Speech". (Actually, Sauron invented it. So it's a "conlang" even in-world.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Speech
http://www.thelandofshadow.com/mordorga ... peech1.htm
http://tolklang.quettar.org/articles/Appleyard.BlackSpeech wrote:`Gakh Nazgi Ilid/Albai/Golug - durub-uuri lata-nuut.
Udu takob-ishiz gund-ob Gazat-shakh-uuri.
Krith Shara-uuri matuurz matat duumpuga.
Ash tug Shakhbuurz-uur Uliima-tab-ishi za,
Uzg-Mordor-ishi amal fauthut burguuli.
Ash nazg durbatuluuk,
ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatuluuk,
agh burzum-ishi krimpatul,
Uzg-Mordor-ishi amal fauthut burguuli.'
Does that count? Or did you mean an attempt by a CBBer?
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rickardspaghetti
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Re: Black Speech?

Post by rickardspaghetti »

It looks Turkic.
そうだ。死んでいる人も勃起することが出来る。
俺はその証だ。
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ǧ š ŋ ȟ ž č
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