| Wenja | |
|---|---|
| Winja | |
| Pronunciation | ['win.d͡ʒa] |
| Created by | Andrew Byrd, Brenna Byrd |
| Date | From 2016 |
| Setting and usage | Far Cry Primal |
| Purpose | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
| IETF | none |
Wenja is a constructed fictional language in the video game Far Cry Primal, developed by Ubisoft. It is spoken by the Wenja, a fictional nomadic people in the game's world set in the valley of Oros in Central Europe. Two similar dialects, spoken by the Udam and the Izila tribes, are also present in the game. The language was developed for the game by a team of linguists led by the Indo-Europeanist Andrew Byrd.[1] The use of a prehistoric language instead of English was intended to create a more immersive in-game experience.[2]
Proto-Indo-European, which is theorised to have been spoken around 4000 BCE, was deemed too modern for a game set around 10000 BCE.[3] Therefore, Ubisoft sought to project the language back in time, creating what Byrd called a "proto-Proto-Indo-European".[1][4] This language was further divided into two dialects, Wenja and Udam, while the Izila tribe speak a different dialect that resembles PIE more closely.[5]
Far Cry Primal's dialects are one of the few appearances of PIE and a PIE-based constructed language in a mass-consumed medium, and it was also the first time a video game featured a constructed prehistoric language.[6] As of June 2017, Wenja and Izila comprised about 2400 words (roughly 1200 each),[7] with both dialects having a full grammar.[8][9] In total, 40,000 words of dialogue, mostly in Wenja, were developed for the game.[10][11]