The Pattern

The Old Tongue

Spørsmålet: I was wondering where you came up with the "old language" and the Aiel language? Are there preset rules to them and it is a functioning language? Or do you just have a set of words that you devised and insert when needed?

Svar (RJ): It's a functioning language in that I have developed a basic grammar and syntax, and have a vocabulary list that I have devised, some from Gaelic of course, but from languages less often used.. Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese. I try to follow these rules that I've set up, but occasionally I realize I have to invent a new rule because I'm doing something I've never done before. But it all follows the grammar I've devised. As far as the Aiel that I've devised as a culture, they have bits of Apache, bits of Bedouin, bits that are simply mine.


Spm.:Do you have a Languages education? Where did you get the idea for the Old Tongue?

Svar (RJ):Well, I got the idea for the Old Tongue simply because the core beginnings of this story lie 3000 years in the past -- and I've never heard of a language remaining unchanged over that length of time. We could not understand the English spoken by an Englishman from 1000 years ago, and we'd have difficulty understanding him from 500 years ago, and the same holds true for a Frenchman with his language or a German with his.


Spm.:How did you develop the language in The Wheel of Time ?

Svar (RJ):The words come partly from Gaelic, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese. The grammar and syntax I believe I invented myself, although it's possible that another language uses the same. Of course, just as with English, I have deliberately put in some very illogical inconsistencies.


Spm.:Is there a complete language of the Old Tongue, and if so, how long did it take you to develop it?

Svar (RJ):There are some 880 basic words -- maybe 900. I got a list of what is considered basic English, which are the 800 odd words of a basic English vocabulary, removed the words that were of no use in the context of my world, came up with words in the Old Tongue in each of those English words, and then added those words that did have a specific context in my world.