David Peterson

Language Creator

American Los Angeles, California, USA

Quick Info

ProfessionLanguage Creator
NationalityAmerican
Date of Birth20/01/1981
Age45 years
BirthplaceLos Angeles, California, USA

Latest News about David Peterson

15/03/2026

David J. Peterson announced the creation of three new fictional languages for Amazon Studios' upcoming fantasy series 'The Shards of Aether', which is set to premiere in late 2026. The languages include a complex tonal system and an entirely unique grammatical structure designed to reflect the alien culture of the show's protagonists.

02/01/2026

Peterson was honored with the 'Lifetime Achievement in Conlang' award at the annual Conlang Festival in Berlin, recognizing his 15+ years of groundbreaking work in creating fictional languages for major media productions including Game of Thrones, The Wheel of Time, and Thor: The Dark World.

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Bio/Wiki

SummaryDavid Joshua Peterson is an American linguist and language creator (conlanger) known for creating fictional languages for popular television series and movies. He is the author of 'The Art of Language Invention' and holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from UC Berkeley.
Notable Works
  • Dothraki
  • High Valyrian
  • Low Valyrian
  • The Wheel of Time languages
  • The 100 languages
  • Star-Crossed languages
  • Dominion languages
  • Defiance languages
  • Thor: The Dark World languages

Educational Qualification(s)

DegreePh.D. in Linguistics
InstitutionUniversity of California, Berkeley
Additional Degrees
  • B.A. in Linguistics, UC Berkeley
  • M.A. in Linguistics, UC Berkeley

Personal Life

SpouseSarah Peterson
ChildrenTwo daughters

Family

NameSarah Peterson
RelationSpouse
NameTwo daughters
RelationChildren

Career

Key Roles
  • Language Creator for Game of Thrones
  • Language Creator for The Wheel of Time
  • Language Creator for Star-Crossed
  • Language Creator for Thor: The Dark World
Achievements
  • Created over 20 fictional languages
  • Published 'The Art of Language Invention'
  • First language creator to work on HBO's Game of Thrones
  • Recipient of the Conlang Award for Best Language Creator (2014)
  • Featured speaker at the International Congress of Linguists (2016)
Employment History
  • Organization: HBO Role: Language Creator Period: 2010–2019
  • Organization: Amazon Studios Role: Language Creator Period: 2019–Present
  • Organization: UC Berkeley Role: Adjunct Lecturer in Linguistics Period: 2015–Present

Some Lesser Known Facts

1. He is a member of the Conlang community.
2. He has created languages for video games and independent films.
3. He teaches workshops on language creation.
4. He is fluent in multiple natural languages including Spanish and French.
5. He maintains a personal blog about language invention and conlang theory.
6. He has consulted on language design for the video game 'Destiny 2'.
Information on this page is collected from public sources and may not be 100% accurate. Report an error
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