20 October, 2015

CAN YOU SAY "WATER" IN MARTIAN?

par Chesley Bonestell
The indispensable Language Hat has brought another internet gem to my attention: Edmund Griffith's "Remarks on the Etymology of Literary Martian." It's a highly amusing mock-philological essay on various fictional "Martian" languages in literature, ranging from Aleksandr Bogdanov to C.S. Lewis. Griffith cheekily points out different real-world languages authors have used as reference points for their own constructions (C.S. Lewis = Old Icelandic), and maintains an endearing, faux-academic register throughout that tickled this reader's funny bone.

Griffiths' website includes an Infrequently Questioned Answers page that's also worth a peek.

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