What does our good friend and Secret Lifer Jean Berko Gleason have to do with Disney’s big-budget fantasy “John Carter”? The invention of fake languages, of course!
This TIME magazine article shows how her famous “wug” experiments informed the work of those inventing Thark, the imaginary language used on Mars in “John Carter” and Na’vi, the language used by the inhabitants of Pandora in “Avatar.” In lieu of residuals, we say “oe irayo si ngaru” (Na’vi for “I give thanks to you”) to Jean for helping Hollywood discover the beauty of imaginary languages!
