Young Writers Society

So in a story, my main character likes to sing, a LOT. But the only thing is, he sings in an entirely different language that really doesn't sound like words...

-does anyone have a clue as to how I'd approach that?-

Is it a real or make-believe language?

Totally make believe.

Then perhaps you would want to approach it as people do when they talk about speaking in tongues. I personally have never heard some one speak in tongues, but it is considered by many religions as the language of angels. It is holy, mysterious, and one of the perfect components of a fictional story.

A tongue is a language... From what I know, any language can be a tongue.

I meant in a spiritual sense. Many followers of God have been filled with the holy spirit so that they have the ability to speak in a language unlike others, their own personal language for prayer and worship. There is an abundance of information about it on the internet. Sorry about the confusion. Being in the 'buckle of the bible belt', I assumed you would understand my meaning

>>? I didn't know I could speak a language unlike others....

-sighs-

It's confusing. But it's also a gift.

That really didn't answer my question...

Sorry again. I think I've started a train of thought I'm unable to complete. I would just work with the songs, if you feel like they are a vital part of your story. Spell things phonetically and vividly describe the emotion of the voice. It will enlighten the readers on why the character is talking like this and may even intrigue them to try and speak you special language. I for one think it's really cool.

To add on, if the songs actually mean something to the character, maybe describe what he's singing about or transcribe it in English, making a note that he's singing in a different language. For example - "He sang about the death of spring in [his language/language name]", or ""Where rivers turn into seas," he sang quietly in [his language/language name]."

If they don't actually translate to anything or mean anything in English, you could easily say "he sang in his own fictional language" or something the like.

For me, I'd focus more on melody and rhythm and emotion, without bothering to spell out the language unless it shows up in other contexts of the story. If you're only using this language for singing, then it will look very out of place. If the language is used elsewhere, then I'm going to assume you've put in the necessary linguistic work for the language to be sensical and therefore people will actually be able to understand the spelling of it.

(An aside, "spell out phonetically" can be really fun when you do it in IPA)

But for when songs don't have many words, persay, and the meaning is all wrapped up in other parts of the singing itself, then I'd suggest describing the song and emotions— everything but words— over spelling it out.