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Saturday, May 31st, 2025

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How should invented languages be added?

Many films and TV programmes have speech in languages created for them or the work they're adapted from, e.g., Elvish in "The Lord of the Rings", the Klingon language in "Star Trek", the Na'vi language in "Avatar", Molanguese in "Molang". I don't think all such languages should be added to the pop-up list (Klingon might be in it, but that's a special case). But there needs to be a way of indicating them, especially when they're the only language spoken in a work. However, there's no mention of this in the languages guide at https://help.imdb.com/article/contribution/titles/languages/GSCRBZYEH5NX5SXL so I don't know what to do about it.

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2 months ago

The guide is clear in stating that IMDb "will list any language spoken" in a certain title. There's no differentiation made between natural and invented languages. This means that invented languages are also eligible to be listed. This is evidenced by the fact that both Klingon (see https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?languages=tlh) and Esperanto (see https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?languages=eo) are languages that are listed on IMDb. I do think there are two difficulties with the issue you raise though. One, when is something a language? I don't know too much about it, but if for example Na'vi is not a fully developed language with its own grammar, it doesn't qualify as a language and shouldn't be added to the database. The other problem is something IMDb should've fixed years ago, but still hasn't: New (for IMDb purposes) languages don't get added to the database, as you can see (among many other posts) here: https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/data-issues-policy-discussions/issues-adding-new-languages/65f7387674d83c4497fc93f2

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The Na'vi language is a full language, at least according to the trivia on IMDb. But, unlike Esperanto, which was created for real-world use, it's specific to one fictional universe. I think such work-specific languages should be ineligible for the list of languages, at least unless it can be demonstrated that they have a significant life beyond the works they were created for. It’s not helpful to be able to list all the works with speech in, e.g., Molanguese, if all that’s going to get you is "Molang" or otherwise only works in one media franchise. Something as simple as adding an "other" or "invented language" option to the list and instructions to use this in such cases and add the English name for the language as an attribute would be sufficient to solve this problem. However, it shouldn't be used as an excuse not to add real-world languages in which there are numerous films, TV programmes, etc. It could perhaps be used for extinct/reconstructed languages in which there are only a few works on IMDb. For languages still in use but only in very specific places, I feel it would be more appropriate to have a more general category in the list and instruct people to add the specific language as an attribute, rather than throwing them in the same category as invented or extinct languages.

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45.2K Points

2 months ago

Hi English_pedantic_grammarian and Marco- Thank you for reporting! I have escalated this to the appropiate team. Please note that although immediate action might not be taken right away, these issues will be reviewed accordingly by the team. Cheers!

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6.4K Points

17 days ago

La Guerre du feu (1981) https://imdb.com/title/tt0082484 has a made-up language. "The dialogue consists of grunts, gestures, and a primitive language created by novelist Anthony Burgess." "The film has no modern dialogue at all. Ulam, a specially created Stone Age language created by writer and composer Anthony Burgess, is spoken throughout and has never been subtitled in any release, although there is a short introductory title card that has been translated for various countries." Languages listed on IMDb are None • French French seems superfluous.

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1.6K Points

Going on those facts about it, I think it should follow the rules at https://help.imdb.com/article/contribution/titles/languages/GSCRBZYEH5NX5SXL for silent films: “Silent Movies should be listed with a language of None and an order number of 1 (‘silent’ should also be added to the sound mix section). If onscreen text appears in the original version of the title, add the language that the onscreen text appears in with an order number of 2 including an attribute explaining in what form the text takes - (intertitles), for example.” Except for the bit about the sound mix, as the film has sound, just not dialogue in the normal sense.