Inventing Words and Worlds: ChatGPT's Journey into Linguistic Creativity

ChatGPT has been trained on vast amounts of data, a considerable amount of which is in the form of long-form English text articles. From the contents of Wikipedia to the works of Shakespeare. ChatGPT is capable of analysing articles, suggesting improvements, correcting grammatical errors and fixing spelling mistakes.

Earlier articles on Explain Yourself have explored ChatGPT's ability to generate brand new creative writing in various styles. But can ChatGPT generate brand new words and even entirely new languages?

Dr. Sarah Thomason, a prominent linguist, states, "The creation of new words and languages involves a blend of creativity and systematic thinking. It taps into our cognitive abilities to recognize patterns and create meaning, which is fundamental to human communication ."

In 1983, the late great Douglas Adams published a book called "The Meaning of Liff". The core idea behind the book was that in life there are many hundreds of common experiences, feelings, situations and even objects which we all know and recognize, but for which no words exist. The book used English place names to describe some of these meanings.

Let's see if ChatGPT can channel Douglas Adams and generate brand new English words to describe experiences, feelings or situations for which there is no current adequate word available. After only a few moments, ChatGPT presented the following:

ChatGPT: Ambivise - To mentally prepare oneself for multiple possible outcomes of a situation.

Example: Before the meeting, she took a moment to ambivise, anticipating both positive and negative feedback.

Glintury: A fleeting moment of clarity or insight during confusion.

Example: Amidst the chaos of the brainstorming session, he experienced a glintury and proposed a brilliant idea.

Nestflint: The warm, comforting feeling of returning to one’s own bed after a long absence.

Example: After weeks of travel, she felt a profound sense of nestflint as she lay down in her own bed.

Dremlune: The state of being caught between wakefulness and sleep, often accompanied by vivid dreams.

Example: In the dremlune, he couldn't tell if the voices he heard were real or part of a dream.

Whimspoke: To speak or act on a sudden, unplanned impulse.

Example: She whimspoke, suggesting a spontaneous road trip, much to everyone's delight.

Frostrix: The tiny patterns formed by frost on surfaces, particularly windows, during cold weather.

Example: The intricate frostrix on the window reminded him of delicate lace.

Mirthquake: An intense bout of laughter that shakes the whole body.

Example: The comedian's joke caused a mirthquake in the audience, leaving everyone gasping for breath.

Solivibe: The unique feeling of being alone yet content and connected to oneself.

Example: During her hike, she felt a deep solivibe, appreciating the solitude and beauty around her.

Glowper: The subtle feeling of pride and warmth experienced when seeing someone succeed.

Example: Watching her student receive the award filled her with a glowper she couldn't hide.

Veilwish: A deep desire to momentarily escape reality and enter a fantasy world.

Example: As she read the fairy tale, she felt a veilwish to step into the enchanting world described in the pages.

I read through the response and smiled. I would say some attempts are worthy of the great Douglas Adams himself. Then I wondered about their originality. What if ChatGPT had just happened on an article that had explored this concept and was just reciting the relevant parts of the article. One downside of ChatGPT is that it often doesn't quote its sources and you never really know where response fragments may have originated from.

There is a risk of unintended plagiarism, the writer has incorporated ideas and content from ChatGPT research only to discover later that they belong to someone else. I asked ChatGPT to invent a new word for such a scenario:

ChatGPT: Word: Plagishock

Definition:
Plagishock (noun) - The feeling of surprise, embarrassment, and frustration when you discover that the content you generated or researched using AI, such as ChatGPT, inadvertently plagiarizes someone else's work.

Example Sentence:
"She experienced a sudden wave of plagishock upon realizing her article contained uncited passages from an existing publication."

Anti-plagiarism tools can and should be used to mitigate such risks. I will explore such tools in a future article but for the moment I quickly Googled the ten suggestions and only found two possible matches. "Mirthquake" had been suggested before in a very short wikipedia article and "Frostrix" had been claimed by a technology company, albeit for a completely different purpose.

As far as I could tell, the other eight were original creations. Emboldened by this modest success, I moved on to the notion of creating an entirely new language. From my readings, I know that J.R.R. Tolkien spent nearly 40 years developing the languages used in his Middle-earth legendarium, including Quenya and Sindarin, the two chief Elvish languages. His work on these languages began around 1910 and continued until his death in 1973.

Invented languages, also known as constructed languages or 'conlangs', have a rich history. From Esperanto, created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, to the elaborate languages in George R.R. Martin's 'Game of Thrones', conlangs have fascinated linguists and fans alike. The complexity and detail of these languages often reflect the cultures and worlds they are meant to represent .

So with 40 years to beat, I asked ChatGPT to create a new language in the style of an Elvish language. Without missing a beat, the response was delivered almost immediately.

ChatGPT: Sure, I'll create a new language called Aranthi. This language will be characterized by its melodic and flowing nature, similar to Tolkien's Elvish languages. I'll provide a basic vocabulary, sentence structure, and some grammar rules.

Basic Vocabulary

Pronouns:

I/me: ala
You: ara
He/she/it: ena
We/us: alir
They/them: enar

Common Nouns:

Tree: linth
Water: nen
Star: eil
Light: loth
Earth: thon

Common Verbs:

To be: rûn
To see: hen
To go: leth
To love: mír
To sing: lain

Adjectives:

Beautiful: anir
Bright: laloth
Dark: dún
Tall: taran
Swift: weth

Grammar and Sentence Structure

Word Order: Aranthi uses a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) structure.

Articles:

Definite article: na (the)
Indefinite article: sa (a/an)

Pluralization:

Plural is formed by adding -ir to the end of the noun (e.g., linthir for trees).

Tenses:

Present: Verb as is (e.g., hen - see)
Past: Add -edh (e.g., henedh - saw)
Future: Add -il (e.g., henil - will see)

Sample Sentences

I see the star.
- Ala eil hen na.
You sing a beautiful song.
- Ara lain sa mír.
They will go to the tall tree.
- Enar taran lethil linth.

Additional Features

Prepositions:

To: an
From: ren
With: mel
Without: mil

Conjunctions:

And: ael
Or: oel
But: ben

Example Dialogue

Person A: Ala nen leth an linth. (I go to the tree.) Person B: Ara linth hen ael loth. (You see the tree and light.) Person A: Ena mír taran linthir. (He loves tall trees.)

Writing System

Aranthi can be written using a unique script inspired by runes and cursive elvish writing. The letters flow together seamlessly, creating a visually pleasing and connected text.

Sample Alphabet:

A: 𐓄
L: 𐓆
I: 𐓂
N: 𐓉
T: 𐓋
H: 𐓈
E: 𐓁
R: 𐓎
U: 𐓊
M: 𐓅
S: 𐓇

Cultural Context

Aranthi is spoken by the Aranthil, a race of ethereal beings who dwell in the Eilion Forest, a place of immense beauty and magic. Their language reflects their deep connection to nature and the cosmos, with many words derived from natural elements and celestial bodies.

Conclusion

Aranthi, with its melodious tones and flowing script, embodies the essence of a language created by a culture deeply connected to the natural world. Its structure and vocabulary provide a foundation for creating rich and immersive linguistic expressions, akin to the Elvish languages crafted by Tolkien.

ChatGPT provides a rich toolkit for lovers of the English language and those interested in the structure and mechanics of foreign or even brand new languages. With the advent of AI and digital communication, language evolution has accelerated. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, 'the rise of digital tools has not only changed the way we communicate but also how new words and phrases are created and disseminated' .