Ep. 5 - Talking Inventing Languages with David Peterson

Today our guest is David Peterson, who invents languages for a living. He invented Dothraki and Valyrian for a little TV show called Game of Thrones, moved on to Defiance, and from there on to a score of other languages. The list on Wikipedia includes Dominion, The 100, Penny Dreadful, The Shannara Chronicles, Into the Badlands, The Witcher, and Shadow and Bone.

Our conversation goes deep. We explore how language works, where it comes from, how we learn languages, how the gorillas that use sign languages see language differently from us. And we also get to talk Game of Thrones, how he got the job – which is a pretty impressive story, working with actors, and so many more things.

This is a fascinating conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

David Peterson's website: artoflanguageinvention.com/
On his Twitter: @Dedalvs
On YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCgJSf-fmdfUsSlcr7A92-aA There’s tons of fascinating stuff there, so check that out.
Plus, you can check out his book, The Art of Language Invention: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/31620…80143126461

Geekdom Empowers is a podcast that highlights the lesser-known sides of geekery, a greater diversity of SF&F artists and creators, including geeks, artists, and creators from all around the world.

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