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Conlanging and Futuristic Englishes: A Comparison of Science Fiction Narratives and Real-World Language Change

Iris Krips is currently a Master’s student, enrolled in the RMA Linguistics program at Utrecht University. Previously, Iris obtained a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences, with Majors in Linguistics, Literature, Rhetoric and Argumentation, and Musicology. Iris’ main areas of interest are theoretical and historical linguistics, and they thoroughly enjoy learning more about conlanging and its history.

In the paper Conlanging and Futuristic Englishes: A Comparison of Science Fiction Narratives and Real-World Language Change, Iris Krips reviews aspects of English language change, and attempts to determine to what extent these aspects are reflected in the conlangs of science fiction narratives. More specifically, Krips analyzes selected a posteriori conlangs, with English as a source language, that are spoken by members of a futuristic, post-apocalyptic society. The conlangs considered herein are Nadsat (A Clockwork Orange), Trigedasleng (The 100), and the unnamed language used in the Cloud Atlas chapter “Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After.” Relying on corpus stylistic and close reading methodologies, the conlangs are analyzed and discussed as possible future versions of English, with potential explanations offered for their different approaches, as made possible through reflection on the contexts of the works’ varying societies.

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