The sci.lang FAQ: 15

15What are some stories and novels that involve linguistics?

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[--markrose]

The following list is by no means exhaustive. It's based on James Myers' list of books, which was compiled the last time the subject came up on sci.lang. Additions and corrections are welcome; please suggest the approximate category and give the publication date, if possible.

Aliens And Linguists: Language Study and Science Fiction, by Walter Meyers (1980) contains a general discussion and lists more works.
Also see Myra Edwards Barnes, Linguistics and Languages in Science Fiction/Fantasy (1975).

Alien languages:

• "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" in Ficciones -- Jorge Luis Borges (1956)
• 40000 In Gehenna -- C.J. Cherryh (1983)
• Babel-17 -- Samuel R. Delany (1966)
• Flight Of The Dragonfly -- Robert L. Forward (1984)
• The Haunted Stars -- Edmond Hamilton
• West of Eden -- Harry Harrison
• Inherit The Stars -- James P. Hogan
• Hellspark -- Janet Kagan (1988)
• "Not So Certain" -- David I. Masson
• "Omnilingual", in Federation -- H. Beam Piper
• Contact -- Carl Sagan (1985)
• Psychaos -- E. P. Thompson
• "A Martian Odyssey" in SF Hall Of Fame -- Stanley Weinbaum (1934)
• "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" in SF Hall Of Fame -- Roger Zelazny (1963)
• Weltgeist Superstar -- P.M. (1980)

Futuristic varieties of English:

• "Barrier" -- Anthony Boucher
• A Clockwork Orange -- Anthony Burgess (1962)
• Hellflower -- eluki bes shahar (1991)
• The Inheritors -- William Golding (1955)
• The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress -- Robert Heinlein (1966)
• Riddley Walker -- Russel Hoban (1980)
• 1984 -- George Orwell (1948)

Other invented languages:

• Native Tongue -- Suzette Haden Elgin (1984)
• The Gameplayers Of Zan -- M A Foster
• "Gulf" in Assignment In Eternity -- Robert A. Heinlein (1949)
• Always Coming Home -- Usrula K. Le Guin
• Pale Fire -- Vladimir Nabokov
• The Klingon Dictionary -- Marc Okrand (1985)
• The Void-Captain's Tale -- Norman Spinrad
• The Lord Of The Rings -- J R R Tolkien (1954-55)
• The Memorandum -- Vaclav Havel (1966)
• The Languages Of Pao -- Jack Vance (1957)

Linguist heroes:

• Rates of Exchange -- Malcolm Bradbury
• Double Negative -- David Carkeet
• The Full Catastrophe -- David Carkeet
• Pygmalion -- George Bernard Shaw (1912)
• The Poison Oracle -- Peter Dickinson (1974)
• Out Of The Silent Planet -- C.S. Lewis (1943)
• Lear's Daughters -- M. Bradley Kellogg, with William B. Rossow (1986)
• The Sparrow -- Mary Doria Russell (1996)
• Children of God -- Mary Doria Russell (1998)
• Hands On -- Andrew Rosenheim (1992)

Animal language:

• Watership Down -- Richard Adams (1972)
• Tarzan Of The Apes -- Edgar Rice Burroughs (1912)
• Congo -- Michael Crichton (1980)

Use of linguistic theory:

• Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson (1992)
• Gulliver's Travels -- Jonathan Swift (1726)
• The Embedding -- Ian Watson (1973)
• Ozark trilogy -- Suzette Haden Elgin
• Yonder Comes The Other End Of Time -- Suzette Haden Elgin

Other:

• The Troika Incident -- James Cooke Brown (1969) [Loglan]
• Triton -- Samuel R. Delany [reflections on meaning]
• Etxemendi -- Florence Delay [Chomsky ref]
• So You Want To Be A Wizard -- Diane Duane
• Tongues Of The Moon -- Philip Jose Farmer
• Dune -- Frank Herbert (1965)
• The Dispossessed -- Ursula LeGuin (1974)
• Love Me Tomorrow -- Robert Rimmer (1976) [Loglan]
• "Shall We Have a Little Talk?" -- Robert Sheckley [language change as a defense mechanism]

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