Top » Science Fiction & Fantasy

Romulan reflections

It's not every day that one takes it upon oneself to fabricate an entire new language, much less an alien one. But Diane Duane's not your average writer. Aside from being fluent in English and pretty good in German and Latin, Duane has a fair-to-middlin' understanding of the basic mechanics of about 14 (14!) other languages--as well as a keen interest in Star Trek lore, Romulans included. This delightful article explains how Duane began work on her Romulan novels, focusing particularly on the decisions she made in constructing Romulan words and syntax. There are some pretty interesting bits of trivia here--BASIC programming played a central role in Duane's work, for instance--and links to downloadable Romulan programs are provided, as well as a more recent C version. Not to be missed!

Wed, 12 Jan 2000 08:37:44 -0800