“But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”įriday night, the men who thought up the words that have launched wedding proposals, T-shirt slogans and “Big Bang Theory” punch lines will discuss the glittering joys and brain-twisting challenges of turning science-fiction dreams into functional languages. “It sounds like such an exaggeration,” said UC San Diego linguistics instructor Grant Goodall, who is moderating the panel. Peterson, the UC San Diego graduate who created the Dothraki language of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” Paul Frommer, creator of the Na’vi tongue in “Avatar.” And Marc Okrand, the linguist who expanded the “Star Trek” universe by developing Klingon.ĭothraki! Na’vi! Klingon! Let the Wordsmith Worship begin. Ladies, gentlemen, Hobbits, we present the men of Friday night's “Linguistics Goes to Hollywood” panel: David J.
Thank the pop-culture gods that UC San Diego is bringing in a team of cult heroes who can talk us out of our funk. It is awfully quiet out here in Geekville.
And don’t get us started on the “Avengers” sequel, which doesn’t begin filming (filming!) until next February. Comic-Con is a painful eightysomething days away, not that anyone is counting down the milliseconds or anything. The new “Star Trek” movie doesn’t open until May.