Many science-fiction stories utilize language to some extent. Some use it just to add depth to the setting, where others may make it a quintessential element of the plot. I really like language (like… a lot), so I wanted to compare some of the different uses of language in science fiction. One of the best ways to compare things is to attempt to arbitrarily classify them and post that classification online for people to debate and tell you how wrong you are, so I’ve developed a Scale of Linguistic Integration that I will explain here.

The Scale of Linguistic Integration

The scale is as follows:

  • A Type-1 Work, also called a glossarial work, is a work which introduces or repurposes individual specific terms or phrases.
  • A Type-2 Work, also called a culturally linguistic work, is a work which intends to give a sense of the existence of a culture by using custom language.
  • A Type-3 Work, also called a linguistic work, is a work which makes extensive use of language to affect either the reader or the characters deeply.

Works should be classified by their highest attributable type. That is to say that a particular work might well have elements that could be classified as any of Types 1, 2, or 3, in which case it should be labeled as a Type-3 work.

Type 1: Glossarial Works

Type-1 works contain words invented by or specially defined by the author to name specific phenomena within the work.

At the Type-1 level, there may be only a few invented words and they may not be directly connected to one another, either within the work or without. Often, though, the terms will be related and used in a more orchestrated manner.

Some Type-1 examples:

  • “Liar!” (Isaac Asimov, 1941) sees the first written use of the word robotics, which is defined (by context) as the study of robots. Asimov then went on to provide the terms roboticist, roboticide, psychoroboticist, and a few other related terms in other robot-related works. However, in my opinion these terms alone do not constitute the sense of culture that is required for the Robot novels to be considered Type-2.
  • A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle, 1962) uses its own definition of the term tesseract quite extensively, but this is (as I recall) the only specially-defined word in the book.

Type 2: Culturally Linguistic Works

A work that is Type-2 utilizes multiple terms or phrases which coexist to build the sense of a unique culture within the work. They may also (or alternatively) introduce new idioms or other expressions that cause the reader or some character(s) to feel that there is an entirely separate culture from their own due to the use of these words.

There are many examples of Type-2 works in science fiction:

  • Dune (Frank Herbert, 1965) famously includes a large glossary at the end of the book to help the reader through the many invented words. These are all meant to give the reader the impression of centuries-old secret societies and governments.
  • The Naked Sun (Isaac Asimov, 1957) features a society where a dichotomy is drawn between seeing and viewing, which poses problems for the Earth-born protagonist when he is first exposed to this.
  • The Red Rising series (Pierce Brown, 2014) invents many words and phrases which are then used by characters according to their different social castes. At some points, this is even a direct plot device.
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell, 1949) is particularly noteworthy for its portrayal of language as a weapon of oppression. The Eurasian government’s official langue, Newspeak, is the result of taking the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis too far, insisting that (for example) the lack of negative modifiers in the language will prevent citizens from even thinking about disagreeing with the government. Although Newspeak is labeled as a language within the book, I think its use is not quite extensive enough to warrant classification as a Type-3 work.

  • The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula K. Le Guin, 1969) introduces the concept of shifgrethor, which plays an important role in the development of some of the protagonist’s relationships with members of an alien (but human) society. I don’t consider Left Hand to be merely Type-1 because the (lack of) comprehension of this term is a crucial element of the plot at some points, causing much distress to the protagonist as he attempts to understand the culture. The book also introduces a few other terms or confusions of terms (e.g., island), but these are not as relevant to the protagonist other than in passing comments.

    Additionally, the use of gendered pronouns is a point of much contention among readers of Left Hand, since the non-protagonist characters are all androgynous most of the time. (Approximately 26 days of their 28-day months are spent without having a biological sex or any related organs, but for those two days each month each person will sort-of-randomly acquire a sex.) The protagonist (a xeno-anthropologist) reflects on this in his writings, and notes that he chooses to exclusively use the masculine pronouns “he” and “him” in referring to the locals, unless they are currently female.

Type 3: Deeply Linguistic Works

Some works go above and beyond the classification as Type 2 and instead use language as a whole to help tell the story. These works might use language for the sake of the reader, or they might use language for the characters to interact with. Sometimes the work is written in a specific way with the intent of causing the reader to think about things in a different light.

I can think of fewer examples of Type-3 works, but these are among my favorites:

  • A Fire Upon the Deep (Vernor Vinge, 1992) opens with two characters who refer to themselves using first-person plural pronouns and grammatical constructions while simultaneously referring to themselves as individuals. Within the first two or three chapters it becomes apparent that these creatures are actually small packs of lower-minded beings who, when in close proximity to one another, telepathically link to form a collective individual. This is one of my favorite uses of language in all of science fiction.
  • The Expanse series (James S.A. Corey, 2011) is set a few hundred years in our future when humans have settled Mars and parts of the asteroid belt. The Belters (those who have been living in the asteroid belt for a few generations now) have experienced significant dialectal drift and evolution over those centuries. The culture of the Belters is an amalgamation of the cultures of people from many different backgrounds on Earth, and the books show its use regularly. There are invented words whose roots to old Earth languages can be deduced by the keen-eyed, as well as entirely new words to serve as complement.

Additional Types

Of course, we can enumerate further types if we so choose!

Type 0: Alinguistic Works

A work is Type-0 if it makes no special use of language. It invents no new terms. All people speak as though they are real people today, so there is no interesting juxtaposition of linguistic constructs.

It seems that most science-fiction authors invent (or repurpose) at least a few words in their works. This is perhaps unsurprising: science fiction is described as a genre all about speculating on the future and how humans will interact with it, so giving names to the different phenomena of the fictional setting seems quintessential.

Even going back to the earliest days of science fiction, we can see that works were using their own terms. The War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells, 1898) introduces the concept of the heat-ray — a terrifying device that can instantly incinerate humans with ease. But we have to ask: does this really constitute Type-1 classification? After all, the device is really just a ray that inflicts massive amounts of heat in whatever direction it is pointed. What else could it be called? Further, Wells tells us of the black smoke (sinister smoke which is black) and tripods (devices with three legs). While these terms have a particular meaning within the work, they do not seem incredibly inventive.

I think arguments could definitely be made for classifying The War of the Worlds as either Type 0 or Type 1, and I imagine many early science-fiction works could be similarly subjected to debate.

Type 4: Fundamentally Linguistic Works

These are all works said to be above Type 3. An example of a qualification for being Type-4 might be the construction of a full language which is used within the work.

I do not know of a science-fiction work of literature that could be categorized as Type 4. However, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1954) absolutely qualifies. What do all those songs and poems translate to? Hell if I know — it’s not all spelled out for the reader! There’s a (comparatively) complete language back there, most of which was never explicitly published in any sort of book meant for learning the languages. It’s more than just a culture or a deep presence of language; it’s an entire history, embedded within the pages of the book.

I think The Expanse comes closest within science fiction, but it falls short because the Belter language is not as complete. It’s really more of a creole resulting from the amalgamation of various Earth language whose meaning can be determined by the observant (and appropriately-educated) reader. However, many fans of the series seem to have taken up development of the language, and I can’t decide whether this should impact the series’s classification here. You tell me!

A Dichotomy Further

I realized after developing this scale that there is actually an additional dimension to the analysis: whether the given use of language is relevant in-universe or not. We might say that a work’s language has in-universe relevance (IUR) if the presence of this new language-stuff has a direct impact on the story.

For example: the new words in Asimov’s early robot-focused short stories (robotics, roboticist, etc) do not have IUR. They merely exist and are used by characters as though they have always existed, more or less. But the see/view distinction in Asimov’s The Naked Sun has IUR because the presence of this distinction causes conflict for the protagonist.

Nineteen Eighty-Four’s Newspeak language definitely has IUR, as it was specifically designed in-universe for the oppression of people. But the unique grammatical constructions in A Fire Upon the Deep do not have IUR, because no character is really impacted by them.

Finishing Thoughts

When reading, I really love to pay attention to how the author uses language to augment the story-telling. Sometimes they just introduce new words, and other times they use language in a fundamental way that has a deeper impact on the reader or characters in the work without which the work would not be complete. As far as I know, there is no existing classification for these different levels of linguistic integration — so I have given you one!

Of course, these are just thoughts regurgitated out of my head. I’m sure many people will find ways to disagree about either the scale itself or my classification of works within this post. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Lastly, if you think there’s a work that should rank highly on the scale but which I did not mention, I would very much appreciate a recommendation. I’m always looking for new books to read!