David J. Peterson
| David J. Peterson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 20, 1981[1] Long Beach, California[2] |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Writer, language creator |
| Known for |
|
| Spouse(s) | Erin Peterson[3] |
David Joshua Peterson (born January 20, 1981) is an American linguist and language creator who constructs artificial languages for TV and movies, including Dothraki and Valyrian for the Game of Thrones TV show.
Life
Studying at University of California, Berkeley (1999–2003), Peterson received B.A. degrees in English and in linguistics.[2] He received an M.A. in linguistics from University of California, San Diego (2003–06).[2] According to an interview given to the publication Conlangs Monthly, he had his first contact with constructed languages while still at Berkeley, after attending an Esperanto class in 2000.[4] In 2007, he co-founded the Language Creation Society,[2] with nine other language creators[2] and served as its president (2011–2014).[5]
In 2009, the television network HBO needed a fictional language for the Game of Thrones television series and turned to the Language Creation Society for help. This resulted in a contest, which Peterson won.[6][7]
Peterson has created the Dothraki and Valyrian languages for the HBO series Game of Thrones and the Castithan, Irathient and Omec languages for Syfy's Defiance; but he has been creating languages since 2000.[2][8] He also created the language used by the Dark Elves in the movie Thor: The Dark World.[9]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Language(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2011–2016 | Game of Thrones | Dothraki, Valyrian |
| 2013–2015 | Defiance | Kastithanu, L'Irathi, Indojisnen, Kinuk'aaz |
| 2013 | Thor: The Dark World | Shiväisith |
| 2014 | Star-Crossed | Sondiv |
| 2014–2015 | Dominion | Lishepus |
| 2014–2016 | The 100 | Trigedasleng |
| 2015 | Penny Dreadful | Verbis Diablo |
| 2016 | The Shannara Chronicles | Noalath |
| 2016 | Warcraft: The Beginning | Orcish |
| 2016 | Doctor Strange | Nelvayu |
| 2017 | Emerald City | Inha, Munja'kin |
Bibliography
- Post, Nina; Peterson, David J. (2014). The Zaanics Deceit. Nina Post, LLC. ISBN 978-1-4954-6134-7.
- Peterson, David J. (2014). Dothraki. Living Language. ISBN 978-0-8041-6086-5.
- —— (2015). The Art of Language Invention. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-312646-1.
References
- ↑ "The birth of David Joshua Peterson". California Birth Index. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "About David J. Peterson". Dothraki.org. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
- ↑ David J. Peterson [Dedalvs] (27 April 2013). "David J. Peterson referring to his wife" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 April 2013 – via Twitter.
- ↑ "Interview with David J. Peterson". Conlangs Monthly. February 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ↑ "Minutes for LCS Board Meeting (3/5/2011)". Language Creation Society. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
- ↑ http://dothraki.conlang.org/official-hbo-press-release/
- ↑ http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&aid=73&rid=4282989&tpl=archnews
- ↑ Banks, Dave (August 25, 2010). "Interview: Creating Language for HBO's Game Of Thrones". Wired. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
- ↑ "Thor: The Dark World credits". The New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
