A naming language is the second-simplest kind of constructed language. (The simplest conlang is what’s sometimes called a “relex”, basically a form of English with all the words changed, but with the same grammar.) If all you need is a way to productively create alien-sounding names for people and places in a setting, with little regard to grammatical, syntactic, or naturalistic concerns, then a naming language is a good compromise between throwing some sounds together and creating a whole conlang.
Elements of a naming language
First and foremost, a naming language isn’t a full language. You can get away with cutting so many corners that you’re left with a circle. Throw out stuff like subordinate clauses and subjunctive moods. You won’t need them. True, some cultures have names that are complete sentences, but those are rarely the kind of complex structures requiring a whole conlanging effort. No, for naming languages, we can strip things down to the bare necessities.
One thing we’ll need is a phonology, a sound inventory. This can be whatever you like, whatever you think sounds best. Since we won’t have a lot of the grammatical cues of a full conlang, the phonology is going to determine the basic feel of our naming language. If you’re working with aliens, try to think of the sounds they would make, and then think of how a human would interpret them. For human cultures, look for inspiration in the languages of those cultures you want to emulate.
Next, you can work out a way to turn those sounds into syllables, then into words. Once again, use appropriate human languages as a guide, but not a straitjacket. At this stage, you can go ahead and make some simple words that you think might come in handy. Names for people and places follow different rules, and I’ll do a post for each in the coming weeks, but think of common objects, terrain features, activities, and occupations. Those are a good start.
Third, naming languages do need a little bit of grammar. It’s nothing close to what a “real” language would have, though. Your primary concern is making names, so you really only need the grammar necessary to make them. Simple combinations of nouns and adjectives work just fine for many cases; all you have to decide is what order they go in. You can throw in verbs, too, but don’t worry too much about case or mood or things like that. Those are only distractions.
Lastly, remember that languages change. Names change, too, but under different conditions. Place names tend to follow the phonological changes of their “host” cultures more closely than personal names, but the latter certainly aren’t immune to evolution. And some names pick up (or lose) connotations as their languages and cultures change. This is especially common for personal names. Boys’ names become girls’ names, and vice versa. Names fall out of fashion (Puritan names like “Increase” don’t find much traction today) while new ones arise from cultural shifts (witness the current popularity of fantasy names like Daenerys).
Place names can change, too, but this usually requires a massive shift in the cultural or political situation. For real-world examples, look at Burma/Myanmar, or the mass renaming of cities in India, or the changing of American place names in the pursuit of political correctness.
To be continued
In the next two weeks, I’ll go into more detail about each of the two main types of names. Next week, we’ll look at place names, because I think they’re easier and more transparent. After that will be personal names, with some closing thoughts on making “alien” names.