I am new to this forum, so I am not sure if it is OK to just post a question as a thread, but I wanted to get other opinions on this topic. A lot of Science Fiction that I read uses language (english in my case) that sounds like we speak today, even though the setting could be several hundred years in the future. Does it sound contrived to alter words to create a future sounding dialect? The Fantasy genre does this to some degree, in my experience that feels similar to old english, so not entirely unusual. Also names, my name is Jeff, which I believe was derived from Gottfried, which is not a popular name these days, so these things evolve as well. Thank you.
Best way to know is to read around and get a feel. Good habit for new forums in general. But yeah, people have questions answered here all the time, either general or specific, just make sure you're in the right subforum, which you are. That could work fine or it could be obstructive and convoluted. Language evolves, after all, so it could make sense. But it might get annoying for the reader depending how you do it. I think it makes more sense to sprinkle in altered words or new usages of words that can be intuitively grasped, rather than have the reader decipher minor variations constantly. Since it's really a matter of how you do it, could you give some examples of what you have in mind and how you're thinking of using it? Hi, Jeff. As far as I know, Jeffrey/Geoffrey/etc. actually comes from a distinct Germanic root that later got mixed together with Godfrey/Gottfried, leading to some modern confusion between the two, although the original root of Geoffrey is unclear and a few different elements/meanings have been hypothesised. None of them "God", though. I'm fascinated by name etymology, so I like knowing these things.
truthbeckons, Thank you! Yeah, I think that it makes sense to use invented dialect sparingly, maybe only when discussing technical things? I have done a little 'Google research' on how language (English, anyway) has changed over the last several hundred years and it seems to be less cumbersome in it's current form, but maybe not as eloquent. I imagine in a couple hundred years people will say the same about this time as funny as that sounds. Certainly other languages have influenced changes as well, so it may be a mixture of many languages all condensed into single syllable words. As far as my ideas around words, I was thinking of basically shortening things, lots of abbreviations like 'LOL' became so mainstream so would so many other phrases. Say things like 'Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner' would be reduced to more generic terms like Meal One or 'M1, M2, M3'. Transportation of any kind would be reduced to "Trans" and the context would imply 'land, water, air or space'. Really just a much more concise set of indicators. Almost like our interactions with the world had become texts, still human but very abbreviated. The trick would be to still convey emotion in all of this. It's good to hear that Jeff is not derived from 'God' that would be way too much responsibility!
You can certainly do it but it's a fine line between gimmicky and clever. Most writers have a tough enough time making traditonal language sound coherent, but that shouldn't stop you. Check out "A Clockwork Orange" if you haven't already. I believe Anthony Burgess was a linguist in some capacity. Us mere mortals have to work harder to sound clever.
I think you're generally on the right track. I've heard that there are people in the States that are actually vocalizing "Oh Em Gee" and "El Oh El" in their daily conversations, so to have those take hold sounds pretty realistic. "Trans" for any kind of transport is more of a stretch, but possible. The M1, M2, M3 thing, however, I don't really see happening. Those words are pretty well rooted, and there's nothing pushing towards a change. I suppose if you had people living on alternating shifts on a starship or something, where there is no defined "day" or "night" because the crew is hot-racking, it might work, but in any other sort of system, it would strike me as somewhat contrived.
Iain, let me know if you can confirm this and obtain a positive location on the offenders so I can go punch them.
Robert Heinlein did something along those lines in which a highly simplified English became the global language. I don't remember the name he gave it, or the books in which it appeared, but the phrase "outdowngo rightwards" sticks in my brain. He was careful to just sprinkle a few samples in, and then never after really use it, just tag people as speaking it. And welcome to the forum... this has become on of my favorite places to hang out on.
I remember The Moon is a Harsh Mistress eliminated all the articles and most, IIRC, of the pronouns. I'm pretty sure that in Grumbles from the Grave, Heinlein said that that was due to his publisher saying the novel was too long, and needed a few thousand words cut, so he did just that, cut a few thousand words out of the manuscript. For Us, the Living doesn't use slang, but it does mention rationalized spelling, with (paraphrasing from memory) a "blonde wearing nothing but a bored expression sitting inside a business with the sign 'Korektiv Masaj' on the door".
Language drift happens constantly. You can even hear it in old television shows. For example, I always found Ed Nortons way of speaking quite strange in The Honeymooners. I assumed it was just something that Art Karney did for the character, then I heard lectures from physicist Richard Feynman and he spoke the same way. Turned out of be a 50s Boston accent, which is very different than modern boston. With more and more data available from all over the place though, small groups don't become isolated enough to totally transform the language anymore and because of it, certain creoles are now migrating back to their original language.
Ok, so it sounds like there is a fine line, a little goes a long way. I might just continue to write using current dialect, things like 'email' or 'cell phone' that are technical terms could be updated but something like breakfast has survived hundreds of years and will probably survive several more. M1, m2, m3 in a space ship scenario where there is probably some level of military order and night and day are really defined by your duty schedule makes sense. Even there in casual conversation between humans the term breakfast would probably be used. Thank you for the warm welcome to this forum, even for a newbie!
Maybe it depends on the type of future. If it's post-apocalyptic, I'll bet all kinds of punkish slang and mispronunciation is common. Or if it's a highly structured, monitored, and rigid future, a lot of superfluous and colorful language, and some dialects and slang, would be gone, leaving a bare-bones English instead. It could be chillingly stark and emotionless in nature, especially in domestic or romantic contexts. "I have achieved great affection for you." "Yes, and I reciprocate. Are we compatible for reproduction?" "I will give an affirmative or negative within 24 hours."
