Origins & Early Life

David Joshua Peterson (born January 20, 1981) is an American language creator. He came to prominence after creating the Dothraki and Valyrian languages for the television series Game of Thrones. He has subsequently worked on a number of other projects, including the films Dune and Dune: Part Two, for which he created the Chakobsa language. He has written a book on language construction entitled The Art of Language Invention.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

David Joshua Peterson was born in Long Beach, California, on January 20, 1981, to a father of German descent and a mother of Mexican descent. Studying at University of California, Berkeley (1999–2003), Peterson received BA degrees in English and in linguistics. He received an MA in linguistics from University of California, San Diego (2003–2006). He had his first contact with constructed languages while still at Berkeley, after attending an Esperanto class in 2000. In 2007, he co-founded the Language Creation Society with nine other language creators and served as its president (2011–2014).

Enduring Legacy & Impact

In 2009, the television network HBO needed a fictional language (Dothraki) for the Game of Thrones television series and turned...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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• Alberto Sordi — Historical peer (Died in 2003) (2003): Pillar of Italian Cinema, master of Commedia all'italiana comedy.
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