Hi there!
I'm working on a space-themed videogame set in the future (year 4501), and I LOVE language and linguistics. 😍 And I would love to include as much as I can into my game!
If anyone can help, I'm interested in creating a "fusion language" for some of my 'Empires.' The premise is that humans explore the stars and create colonies / explore exoplanets, But the humans left on Earth are faced with war, famine, civil unrest, environmental collapse, etc.; So there ends up being a shift between the humans that left, and the "reformed" humans who grew up in the "new world order." I didn't group the cultures together by anything specific, (so maybe I'm just being ignorant about what will mesh well together...?), but here are the major powers that be:
Blue Force: who are pretty rigid but still advance in technology, health, etc. I was thinking that it'd be cool if, (in this fictional world), Russia, the U.S., and some Chinese states somehow conglomerated into one being? And so, language-wise, they could use both a phonetic alphabet and Chinese characters (like Korean signs in hanja, or how hieroglyphics draw the "emoji" word, but then spell the word phonetically afterwards). But as far as grammar goes and/or comparing dictionaries between (at least the most-populous Chinese languages), I unfortunately don't have too many resources. 😥
Next are The Socialists: who are really cool because they're colorful and use "mods" (body modification nanotech.) to make themselves look however they want! Like the Blue Force, the Socialists have a heavy focus on the economy, but they instead lean on consumerism and social media to promote societal advancements.
But as far as language goes, I have no idea... I know I want English in the mix, but maybe I can push for some Romance languages if they're similar enough? (Like maybe I would start with Spanish grammar and remove the "English r" since ^^^Chinese and English already have that in common.)
The Holy Yellow: focused on "purity of genes" and their divine perfection,,,, but I don't have a direction to go with their language yet. (And maybe it'll just be English because I'm boring lol),
but The Free Thinkers (are my favorite so I'm biased); but their whole empire focuses on preserving the environment, tradition, and the cultures of indigenous tribes-- so every time they discover a new planet, there's a toss-up for which ethnic group will get it. (So signs will have the local language as well as the "standardized" galactic language.) And a cool idea that I picked up from Dr. Who is that there were cool symbols written on the walls in one of the episodes, and their explanation for it was "when India collided with Japan" (<which isn't possible because of the plate tectonics, but it's still a COOL concept!! 😍). So I love the idea of incorporating systems, grammar, and writing styles from indigenous languages all over 💖 (<but in a way that isn't offensive and/or infringes on their culture. Cuz that's rude).
And of course, I'm not trying to break down entire histories of languages, jUsT to create these "fusion languages" that consumers won't even use or appreciate. 😑 From the viewpoint of a basic consumer, "these are just pretty shapes that are in the background."
However, I do love worldbuilding... And even if I just get a 'handbook' or 'CliffsNotes' version of these languages out of this whole ordeal, I think it'd be a cool way to push player engagement. Like, I'm planning on hosting a lot of real-world media in the game (like real music on the radio, real company's ads on virtual billboards, etc.), so how cool would it be if an aspiring musician could have their song on the radio if it were in this 'fake' language? People from all over the world could connect, because the languages are similar enough to real native tongues for them to learn..! (<which I think is SUPER COOL, and it's kind of the same extent as people learning Esperanto..! Except......... with less practical use........... 😅). But I feel like the whole game would be more enriching with the languages, so I'll allow myself to be ambitious with them. 😆
So if anyone wants to help, or knows any resources where I can start, please let me know!
Sounds super cool! I don’t know if I can help much but there is a lot of info here: https://worldlanguages.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page I also thought there might be something on the Wiki Tongues page but not sure.