How to invent a realistic language for fictional speakers

Fictional languages like Avatar’s Na’vi are providing insight into real-world communication

An illustration of two Na'vi from the Avatar movies. Their mouths are open and white glowing symbols and letters are coming out as they speak.

Illustration by Jason Raish

The distant moon Pandora from James Cameron’s Avatar films is a feast of sci-fi world-building. Dragonlike creatures prowl the skies. Supersmart whalelike beasts write poetry under the sea. And a splendid variety of jungle plants glows multicolor in the dark.

Cameronʼs famously stunning visual effects can make these ecosystems appear vivid enough to touch.