Welcome to my website!

Beyada means “hello” in my conlang Gnóma, which is a language I created for my gnomes (I have many). The expression comes from a phrase that means “be happy” and is used among friends and family members. Hello, friends!

About Me

I have a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and was a professor of linguistics at Stephen F. Austin State University for 13 years, where I created a conlanging course and taught students how to construct a language from the ground up. I am now a full-time professional conlanger and work with my partner, David Peterson.

Our languages appear in TV shows and films, including Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem, the Peacock’s Vampire Academy, and the second Dune movie. We host the weekly livestream LangTime Studio on YouTube, where we create new languages from scratch and share the process. And we enjoy presenting talks and participating in panels on all things related to linguistics and conlanging.

I love having a career centered around creativity that continually challenges me to grow in directions I had never before considered. Because of it, I have met amazing people from around the world who, like me, are bewitched (and sometimes beguiled) by language.