David Salo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the American linguist. For other uses of "Salo", see Salo (disambiguation).
David Salo giving a talk in Bloomington, Illinois, April 30th, 2005
David Salo giving a talk in Bloomington, Illinois, April 30th, 2005

David Salo (born 1969) is a linguist who worked on the languages of J. R. R. Tolkien for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, expanding the Elvish languages (particularly Sindarin) by building on vocabulary already known from published works, and defining some languages that previously had a very small published vocabulary. He is a graduate student in linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[1]

His primary professional interest is Tocharian, an extinct Indo-European language spoken in medieval Xinjiang.[1][2]

[edit] Salo on Tolkien's languages

David Salo's interest in Tolkien's languages arose when he read Tolkien's works as a boy. As an undergraduate at Macalaster College he studied Latin, Greek and linguistics, and used the knowledge gained to improve his understanding of Tolkien's languages.[2] In 1998 he founded the Elfling mailing list for Tolkienist language enthusiasts. In 2004 he published a linguistic analysis of Sindarin: A Gateway to Sindarin: A Grammar of an Elvish language from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (ISBN 0-87480-800-6). This book was reviewed in 2006 in volume 3 of the journal Tolkien Studies,[3] and it was further reviewed in the context of Tolkienian linguistics as a whole in volume 4 of Tolkien Studies (2007).[4]

Salo was contracted for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy to write all the material in Elven, Dwarven, and other languages for the movies, as well as assist with other language-related items such as the Tengwar and Cirth inscriptions which appear in the movies. Salo also translated the lyrics for the movie soundtracks.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Smith, Susan Lampert. "Linguist Is A Specialist In Elvish, The Uw Grad Student Provides Translations For Lord Of The Rings Movies.", Wisconsin State Journal, William K. Johnston, 2003-01-19, p. C1. ISSN 0749-405X. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.  (also available here)
  2. ^ a b "Need an Elvish Translator? We've Got the Right Person for the Job" (2002). Artes Liberales Today Vol. 7 (1): p. 4. College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 
  3. ^ Straubhaar, Sandra Ballif (2006). "Gateway to Sindarin (review)". Tolkien Studies Vol. 3: pp.166-173. West Virginia University Press. ISSN 1547-3155. 
  4. ^ Hostetter, Carl F. (2007). "Tolkienian Linguistics: The First Fifty Years". Tolkien Studies Vol. 4: pp.1-46. West Virginia University Press. ISSN 1547-3155. 
  5. ^ Wilonsky, Robert. Talkin' Tolkien. Phoenix New Times. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.

[edit] External links