Research in the area of language, emotions, and art
From Wikipedia
Grammelot (also known as Gromalot[1]) is a style of language used in satirical theatre, a gibberish with macaronic and onomatopoeic elements, used in association with mime and mimicry. The format dates back to the 16th century Commedia dell’arte, and some claim Grammelot to be a specific universal language (akin to Lingua franca) devised to give performers safety from censorship and appeal whatever the dialect of the audience.
A while ago I step upon Enya’s album Aramantine, and the song ‘Less than a Pearl’ triggers me. Enya chants in a mysterious language that fits with the rhythm so well. After a little bit of research, it turns out that the lyricist Roma Ryan especially designed the language ‘Loxian’ because she felt English, Irish, Latin, or other languages is not sufficient aesthetically. And the inspiration came from Tolkien’s elvish languages. Thus Loxian is written with Tolkien’s alphabets, as well as Runic, and Pitman shorthand.
Enya talk about the creation of Loxian language in interview, starts at 4:52.
However, Enya is not the only one. Sigur Rós has created language ‘Hopelandic’ (in English) or ‘Vonlenska’ which usually sung by the band member Jónsi. And it seems like only Jonsi understands the language. It is, according to their website:
it’s of course not an actual language by definition (no vocabulary, grammar, etc.), it’s rather a form of gibberish vocals that fits to the music and acts as another instrument.
Starts at 1:45
Although you can almost say Rossini did it first:
Well, maybe not quite. 😉
The french band Magma created the language ‘Kobaïa’ based on the concept of a fictional planet by Vander because “French just wasn’t expressive enough. Either for the story or for the sound of the music.” (wikipedia)
Lastly, this collection cannot be complete without Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Cirquespeak’.
A very good reference of the list of artificial languages on wikipedia here: List of Constructed Languages
This post tends to have a very rough overview of the areas the project intends to draw inspiration from. The main question of the project is: what is our relationship with language? Perhaps language denotes the patterns of human communication, something that’s universally hard-wired into human brain. Are we all connected? What is the ultimate basic components of human brain?
At the level of daily practical uses: