Paul Frommer
Encyclopedia
Paul R. Frommer is an American communications professor at the University of Southern California
(USC) and a linguistics consultant. He is the former Vice President, Special Projects Coordinator, Strategic Planner, and Writer-Researcher at Bentley Industries in Los Angeles, California
. From 2005 to 2008, he served as Director of the Center for Management Communication at the USC Marshall School of Business
.
. Interested in astronomy from an early age, he changed his college major from astrophysics to math, graduating from the University of Rochester
with a bachelor of arts in mathematics in 1965. He soon taught English and math in Malaysia in the Malay language
with the Peace Corps
. He had studied languages earlier, but this experience switched his focus to linguistics. He began a doctoral program in linguistics at the University of Southern California
(USC). During the program, he taught English in Iran for a year in the mid-1970s and studied Persian
. He earned his masters degree and doctorate in linguistics at USC in 1981 under Bernard Comrie
; his doctorate was on aspects of Persian syntax and entitled "Post-verbal Phenomena in Colloquial Persian Syntax".
. Frommer was also a writer for the 1989 film Step Into the Third Dimension. In 1996, he returned to USC as a full professor of clinical management communication at the Marshall School of Business
. In 1999, he co-authored a linguistics workbook called Looking at Languages: A Workbook in Elementary Linguistics. From 2005 to 2008, he served as Director of the Center for Management Communication at Marshall School of Business.
After a search by James Cameron
, writer and director of the 2009 film Avatar, Frommer was chosen to create a language for the Na'vi
, the film's fictional alien race of sentient blue inhabitants of the moon Pandora. Frommer says that his process for creating the language began with phonetics
and phonology
: "The sound system has to be all nailed down first, so that there is consistency in the language". The morphology
, syntax and vocabulary followed. Cameron had already created several dozen words that he wanted to incorporate into the new language. That gave Frommer "a sense of what kinds of sounds he had in mind". Cameron also told Frommer that he "wanted the language to be pleasant sounding and appealing to the audience." "When you create a language, you experience the joy of rolling sounds around in your mouth, hearing unusual sounds, playing with the sounds and structural properties of language – it’s a process that took about six months for the basics".
Frommer based some Na’vi grammar on Polynesia
n languages and made creative decisions, like using consonants such as ejectives and word-initial velar nasal
s that do not occur in Western languages, while omitting common Western sounds like "b", "d" and "g". He placed verb modifiers in the middle of words, instead of at the beginning or end of them. Cameron wrote some songs for the Na'vi characters that Frommer translated into a poetic form of Na'vi language, and he then coached the singers on pronunciation. He then worked personally with the actors who needed to speak the Na'vi language in the film and created MP3 files for them to use to study it. The actors' voices were not altered in the film, as Cameron wanted the Na'vi characters to have human-sounding voices. Since the film opened, Frommer has received numerous e-mails from fans with suggestions for expanding the language and websites have grown up devoted to the study and use of the language.
Frommer is also creating the Martian language for the Disney film John Carter of Mars
.
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC) and a linguistics consultant. He is the former Vice President, Special Projects Coordinator, Strategic Planner, and Writer-Researcher at Bentley Industries in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. From 2005 to 2008, he served as Director of the Center for Management Communication at the USC Marshall School of Business
Marshall School of Business
The USC Marshall School of Business is a private research and academic institution at the University of Southern California. It is the largest of USC's 17 professional schools. The current Dean is James G. Ellis. In 1997 the school was renamed following a US$35 million donation from alumnus Gordon S...
.
Youth and education
Frommer was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Interested in astronomy from an early age, he changed his college major from astrophysics to math, graduating from the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
with a bachelor of arts in mathematics in 1965. He soon taught English and math in Malaysia in the Malay language
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
with the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
. He had studied languages earlier, but this experience switched his focus to linguistics. He began a doctoral program in linguistics at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC). During the program, he taught English in Iran for a year in the mid-1970s and studied Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
. He earned his masters degree and doctorate in linguistics at USC in 1981 under Bernard Comrie
Bernard Comrie
Bernard Comrie is a British-born linguist. Comrie is a specialist in linguistic typology and linguistic universals, and on Caucasian languages....
; his doctorate was on aspects of Persian syntax and entitled "Post-verbal Phenomena in Colloquial Persian Syntax".
Work
Frommer taught for several years and then moved into business, becoming a Vice President, Special Projects Coordinator, Strategic Planner, and Writer-Researcher at Bentley Industries in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Frommer was also a writer for the 1989 film Step Into the Third Dimension. In 1996, he returned to USC as a full professor of clinical management communication at the Marshall School of Business
Marshall School of Business
The USC Marshall School of Business is a private research and academic institution at the University of Southern California. It is the largest of USC's 17 professional schools. The current Dean is James G. Ellis. In 1997 the school was renamed following a US$35 million donation from alumnus Gordon S...
. In 1999, he co-authored a linguistics workbook called Looking at Languages: A Workbook in Elementary Linguistics. From 2005 to 2008, he served as Director of the Center for Management Communication at Marshall School of Business.
After a search by James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
, writer and director of the 2009 film Avatar, Frommer was chosen to create a language for the Na'vi
Na'vi language
The Na’vi language is the constructed language of the Na’vi, the sapient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of the fictional moon Pandora in the 2009 film Avatar. It was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at the Marshall School of Business with a doctorate in linguistics...
, the film's fictional alien race of sentient blue inhabitants of the moon Pandora. Frommer says that his process for creating the language began with phonetics
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
and phonology
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
: "The sound system has to be all nailed down first, so that there is consistency in the language". The morphology
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
, syntax and vocabulary followed. Cameron had already created several dozen words that he wanted to incorporate into the new language. That gave Frommer "a sense of what kinds of sounds he had in mind". Cameron also told Frommer that he "wanted the language to be pleasant sounding and appealing to the audience." "When you create a language, you experience the joy of rolling sounds around in your mouth, hearing unusual sounds, playing with the sounds and structural properties of language – it’s a process that took about six months for the basics".
Frommer based some Na’vi grammar on Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
n languages and made creative decisions, like using consonants such as ejectives and word-initial velar nasal
Velar nasal
The velar nasal is the sound of ng in English sing. It is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is N....
s that do not occur in Western languages, while omitting common Western sounds like "b", "d" and "g". He placed verb modifiers in the middle of words, instead of at the beginning or end of them. Cameron wrote some songs for the Na'vi characters that Frommer translated into a poetic form of Na'vi language, and he then coached the singers on pronunciation. He then worked personally with the actors who needed to speak the Na'vi language in the film and created MP3 files for them to use to study it. The actors' voices were not altered in the film, as Cameron wanted the Na'vi characters to have human-sounding voices. Since the film opened, Frommer has received numerous e-mails from fans with suggestions for expanding the language and websites have grown up devoted to the study and use of the language.
Frommer is also creating the Martian language for the Disney film John Carter of Mars
John Carter of Mars (film)
John Carter is a 2012 American epic science fiction film featuring John Carter, the heroic protagonist of Edgar Rice Burroughs' 11-volume Barsoom series. In the film, former Confederate captain John Carter is transported to Mars...
.