German linguists from Humoblt University analyzed a range of fictional languages from popular works in the fantasy and science fiction genres to understand why some made-up dialects are associated with evil and aggression, while others are associated with goodness and pacifism. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Language and Speech (LAS).
Experts examined artificial languages (conlangs) such as the “dark speech” of orcs and the Klingon elven languages ”Quenya” and “Sindarin” from John Tolkien’s famous fantasy epic “The Lord of the Rings.” the language of the space epic “Star Trek”, the Dothraki language of George Martin’s fantasy novel series “Game of Thrones” and others.
129 German-speaking people participated in the research. They were asked to listen to audio recordings of sentences in different languages and rate them on three scales: harmony, tranquility, and helpfulness.
Phrases in conlangs were pronounced by male and female voices in a neutral tone, without emotional intonations and special sound effects. Additionally, the audience was not given any context or information about the fictional cultures represented by the fictional languages.
The results showed that the most rude, aggressive and hostile languages for listeners were Klingons in Star Trek and Dothraki in Game of Thrones. Klingons are an alien race of warrior humanoids whose culture is based on military traditions and concepts of honor. The Dothraki are violent nomads who raid neighboring countries for plunder.
Participants in the experiment thought that the language of the elves in “The Lord of the Rings” was the most pleasant and harmonious.
The researchers found that languages with a higher percentage of vowel intervals were rated more positively on all scales. This shows that voicing contributes to a more enjoyable listening experience. Voiced intervals refer to the parts where the vocal folds vibrate to produce sound. This action of vibration is an important aspect of the formation of vowels and some consonants. Voicing is the difference between sounds such as /b/, /d/, /g/ (voiced consonants) and /p/, /t/, /k/ (voiceless consonants).
An unexpected result of the work was the relatively positive reception of the Orcish language, a language that Tolkien intended to sound threatening and harsh. The results showed that the orc speech samples used in the study were perceived as more pleasant and less aggressive than expected.
“One of our key findings was that the Orcish language did not sound as angry as it was portrayed in the movies, where speakers used growls and hissing to accompany their speech.
Therefore, the average person should be aware of the impact of stereotypes that actually affect language perception. Do languages like German sound tidy and unpleasant, and does Italian sound beautiful and seductive, due to phonetics or because of our personal attitude towards their speakers? – attracted the attention of the author of the study, German Professor Christine Mushammer.
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