Hi
I'm writing fantasy and I want to use a language other than English for an ancient tribe in my book. I was hoping to use Latin but I'm not sure that would work in a fantasy world but then again what about English that's a realistic language from this world? advice would be much appreciated
Wow! My 2 favourite W&A commenters together on one question!
Lorraine's right about the translation. Some writers used to pepper their work with Ancient Greek WITHOUT translations. At least when they were doing it, public-school boys (as opposed to public schoolboys) learned Ancient Greek, and the men that they grew into were expected to understand this literary pepper. It pisses the rest of us off, though. And - although I actually did 3 years of Latin at my comprehensive (you must remember that this was between 49 and 47 years ago), even Latin in an English book gets up my nose. If written by someone today, I'd think that they were showing off. Not a good tactic to use on your readers...
Speaking of thees and thous (as Kate has done) leads me to point out that at school I always considered the French terribly stand-offish, because they [back when I was learning French] used "vous" (the formal and/or plural form) except when VERY close to somebody, when they could ask permission to use "tu", the informal, singular form.
And then I read the English translation of "Doctor Zhivago", and Pasternak is explaining the way that Yuri yearns for intimacy and mutual acceptance with Lara. It bothered him that - even long into their sexual relationship - while he used "thou" with her, she still was using "you" with him.
And the penny dropped! It isn't the French - or the Spanish, the Italians, the Germans, the Dutch (all of whom have a formal and and informal way of addressing a single person) - who are overly formal... it's the British (and the USAns) who have COMPLETELY THROWN THE INFORMAL FORM OUT OF THE WINDOW!!! (Except for "loony", old-fashioned sects such as the Amish and the Religious Society of Friends ["Quakers"] whom - ironically enough - the rest of us view as terribly formal, even stuck-up.)
Not old enough to have lived in ancient Rome myself (contrary to appearances some days) reams of Latin would put me off the rest of the book.
Have you read 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'?
The protagonist has Spanish as a second language (he teaches Spanish in an American University) and speaks it over-formally to the locals' ears. As the book is written in English, this difference in their language is conveyed by the Spaniards speaking in standard English, whilst the professor's dialogue is peppered with 'thee's and 'thou's (and other sundry Ye Olde-ness). It's different enough to mark his dialogue out as old-fashioned but still perfectly comprehensible.
You could use Latin, David: why not? You'd have to provide a translation, though. How ancient are these people? Latin, after all, was a very developed language, so would it suit what you have in mind? Do you mean ancient and learned, or ancient and primitive?
You could invent a language - like Klingon! (Which, by the way, people do actually speak at StarTrek conventions, so it has been proved to work, if only by the most ardent of Trekkies.)