Behind the scenes with David Peterson
Valar Morghulis. These are the magical words which sent a shiver down the spine of the 4.2 million viewers of ‘Game of Thrones’ even before most of them could comprehend its meaning. Today, any person who has watched ‘Game of Thrones’ can, in a split second, translate this phrase to ‘All men must die.’
‘Game of Thrones’, among other shows, uses alien languages, namely: Dothraki and Valyrian. We sit glued to the television, as we watch the characters utter some seemingly immensely powerful sentences, which probably wouldn’t have had the same effect on us had it just been gibberish.
The creation and development of a language is a very complicated process, which is unfathomable to most people, yet piques the curiosity of many. I too had succumbed to this curiosity, and hence the invitation of David Peterson as a guest lecturer for Pragyan ’17 was the perfect opportunity for me to get a glimpse into the life of a linguist and language creator. Pragyan is one of the biggest annual technical extravaganzas of the country, hosted by NIT, Trichy and invites eminent personalities like David Peterson to share their experiences and knowledge with young, enthusiastic minds.
Donning a rich blue kurta and a wide smile, the man with more than 10 languages to his name was the epitome of grace, enthralling us with his mesmerizing voice. Language creation is a very unconventional profession, which is why I opened with the following question:
How did your fascination for linguistics transform into a career?
“That’s a difficult question to answer. I was always studying languages, I loved studying them. I started studying languages at the University of California Berkeley. Studying linguistics was like the final piece of the puzzle that gave me the idea to create languages. I was very poor at first, but later I started meeting other language creators online and I started learning from them. I started getting better and better at languages over the years as I continued to study linguistics. I got a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in linguistics, but it didn’t lead directly to a job. In fact, after graduate school, I taught freshman composition for two years at a community college. And then the ‘Game of Thrones’ job happened out of nowhere! They came to a language creation society, who then put together a competition, and they announced this competition to language creators everywhere. So, I just took part, and my language was chosen for the show.”
For most people, including myself, who struggle with the few languages they know, attempting to comprehend the process of creating a language would be futile, so instead, I decided to explore his life and listen to his experiences creating them.
You have created a lot of languages like Dothraki, Valyrian, Shivaisith etc. How different have your experiences been in their creation and which has been your favourite?
“I look at the experience as working on different shows and not necessarily as working on different languages, because some shows have multiple languages. My favourite was working for my second show, which was ‘Defiance’. The team which was working behind the venture put in a lot of love and effort, but the end results didn’t come as expected; it happens sometimes. I worked on the show for 4 years, in the span of which I created several songs, four different alien languages, alien religions and it was an amazing experience. I went to the set several times and met with the actors. It was an amazing experience. It felt like family. It is different for every show, but that one was special.”
How difficult was it for the actors to learn the correct pronunciation of the languages you created?
“Well, of course, none of the actors learnt the languages. I still remember, the actors memorise their lines so well that they can say them even when asked months later. But not all of them, know their meaning; they don’t have to. They just need to know when they’re supposed to say it and how they’re supposed to say it. I made it a point to record every single line for every single show. For some shows, I worked directly with the actors, while for some shows, I didn’t. Some actors pick the language up fast, while others don’t. It varies a lot from person to person. There are some actors whom I have never met and never even spoken to, who do an excellent job while there are some actors with whom I have worked with in person, several times but still can’t get it right. I guess that doesn’t say much for me as dialect coach!”
Since language creation for television shows involves interacting with a lot of other people, it obviously led Mr. Peterson to have different experiences each time.
It is fascinating to know the various details one must explore before creating a language, like the culture of the people who speak it and the topography and weather of the place. Every language undergoes changes constantly, adding new words to its dictionary, while eliminating or modifying the obsolete ones. The same language can be spoken with different accents. I thus proceeded to ask him some questions pertaining to this, referring to the Dothraki and Valyrian languages.
Now that Daenerys and the Dothraki are reaching Westeros, how will it affect the Dothraki language, since they will be interacting with the people who speak the common tongue?
“That depends on what happens in season 8. I know what has happened in season 7, but even I don’t know how the series is going to end. So, the question is, after whatever happens there, happens, will the Dothraki stay, or go back? Will they try to integrate into society and maybe set up their own townships over in the 7 kingdoms? It seems doubtful to me, but it’s an interesting question to ponder on. I have always wondered what would happen to my 2 languages if we went to the same world a thousand years later. Because the time that was supposed to be set in was around 1200–1300 AD of our time, so it would be interesting to know the equivalent of 2017 in that world and what would happen to the Dothraki and Valyrian languages.”
How do you train the actors to speak different forms of the same language, like High and Low Valyrian?
“They are basically just 2 different languages, and there has only been 1 actor who speaks both. Most of the actors either do one or the other. So, it isn’t usually a problem. The only actor who had both, was Nathalie Emmanuel, or Missandei in the show. But it wasn’t a problem, as she is just so talented!”
Do you accommodate for children or the lower strata of society to speak incorrect grammar in the languages which you create?
“It depends entirely on the situation, of course. But some instances are when Daenerys is learning Dothraki. All her Dothraki is intentionally ungrammatical, in a way that a foreigner would speak, so it’s appropriately ungrammatical. But even after, her Dothraki has a slight accent. You can tell that it is an English speaker speaking Dothraki. Another example is Tyrion, who is hopelessly poor when it comes to High Valyrian. His High Valyrian is just a mess. Other times are working with the Meereenese, as their version of Low Valyrian is very different.”
For an interview that lasted for a mere ten minutes, I had the experience of a lifetime. It shed light on areas which I previously never would’ve thought twice about. David Peterson truly is a role model for all future language creators, with unmatched skill and unending enthusiasm for his craft.
