Backstage - OOC Forums

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Vitoc is the antidote to a deadly toxin, not the poison itself?  For more information see Vitoc.

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 9

Author Topic: [Language] Amarrad  (Read 55325 times)

Horatius Caul

  • Words words words
  • Omelette
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 344
[Language] Amarrad
« on: 09 Sep 2010, 07:04 »

It's important to consider that Amarish has very, very deep roots. The basic shape of the language can be traced straight along the path of expansion the Amarr people followed on their homeworld. But it has changed dramatically along the way, and whenever the Amarr have spread and divided, so has their language splintered and developed along tangents.

The most notable change must be the linguistic restructuring that occurred during the Moral Reforms, 1400 years ago. Before this, the ruling class and bureaucracy had been conducting all its business in what was largely considered an antique form of the language - out of respect for tradition and the language of the Scriptures. The Empire was already old at this point, and in the general population the language had rapidly evolved to be practically unrecognizable from Amarrad - the clerical language.

At some point during the Moral Reforms, a decision was made to change the language of the state into something more modern - symbolically moving the power closer to the people than the church (as the clergy practically monopolized Amarrad education and information, and used it in all ceremonies). The process was problematic, as the common Amarish could have tremendous differences between regions, constellations, planets and even different cities. In the end, the linguistic reform married Domain Amarish with the roots of Amarrad, eventually producing the Imperial Amarish used throughout the Empire today - a modern language that rests on foundations older than the Empire itself.

 - Prof. Arnaudel Rochin, University of Caille - Lecture on World Languages

Amarrad naji emun.
Amarrad naji e Chorim.
Amarrad naji divreon Sacerotu, Darogu, ta Mispalu.
Amarrad naji Vishen puor ta Vishen osedas.
Amarrad naji amarr-rad.

Amarrad is religion.
Amarrad is The Scripture.
Amarrad is the word of the cleric, the seer, the apostle.
Amarrad is the old knowledge and the coming knowledge.
Amarrad is our speech.

 - Our Speech, foreword to religious studybooks up until AD 21897

* * *

Having found this document you may be wondering at its purpose and at my intentions for having created it.  The simple answer is that it is a piece of fan fiction written for the setting of EVE Online.  The harder answer is that it is an expression of the freeform play encouraged in the sandbox game world of New Eden and it is also homage to the deep, rich, and dark universe of EVE and the characters that inhabit it.  Some players prefer to mission, some to mine, some to steal, and some to save.  I enjoy these things too, but most of all I prefer to imagine.
 - Ken, introduction to "On Napanii, Reconsidered"

The collective writings have been maintained and updated throughout the centuries by Imperial Theologians and include texts that hearken back to the very origins of Amarr society, written in a tongue so ancient as to be unreadable by today's Amarrians.
 - Evelopedia, The Scriptures (CCP Ginger)

Latin is boring. There, I said it.

Latin has two pros: it is a simple way to evoke a sense of recognizable antiquity, and it's readily available. That's about it. Yes, I've used my fair share (like in my current corp name), and so has CCP/AURORA in the past (like the Holder oath), but maybe with this project there can be an alternative. An alternative that doesn't pierce immersion like a submarine surfacing through three feet of ice.

Amarrad is not modern Amarrian/Amarish. It is a much older language that no-one is even bothering to machine translate, and was phased out of use so long ago that commoners haven't spoken it in generations. The clergy still studies it, as practically all religious texts are in Amarrad (or even older pre-cursors to it), and some Holders (particularly Ardishapur and Kador ones) learn it to impress the priests. Outside the confines of Imperial authority however, the old language sometimes thrives.

Cults, criminal rings and splinter factions often make use of Amarrad - sometimes because they can trace their origins back to a time when the language was the tongue of the state (like the Tetrimon), sometimes simply because the local police can't understand it. In some fringe settlements, the modernisation and revision of language never really caught on, and priests kept Amarrad entrenched amongst the populace.

In many ways, the language can be compared to today's latin in terms of history and utility. A language that used to dominate the land and which became the de-facto language of scripture, eventually surpassed by its own children and pushed into the fringes where it stuck to its scrolls and bibles.

This project was inspired by a TV program I saw a few days ago, about the Romani language. It's a language that has a mix of influences I think makes a perfect foundation for the Amarr - ancient indian, persian, greek, slavic, european cocktail... it's a tremendous blend! And it is what I decided to use as the ignition spark for Amarrad. A great number of words and terms are from Romani - albeit usually with a fair amount of syllable switcharoo and modding. Added to this is an icing of Yiddish and Hebrew, with some sprinklings of latin and assorted additional semitic languages.

This is, like with the Fenno-Japanese mixture of Napanii, more a matter of producing the right sound than any sort of origin theory.

Grammar
Keep in mind that I've been working on this for a grand total of, like, three days at the time of posting. The Amarrad grammar is in flux at the moment, but I think I can define a basic outline. Also, I'm hardly a linguist.
Amarrad mainly relies on a Subject-Object-Verb typology, but also uses Object-Subject-Verb structure on occasion.

Nouns
Amarrad doesn't really seem to have grammatical gender at the moment, which saves a lot of trouble really.
Possession can be expressed using either the -i (of/in) or -(n)u (of/from) suffixes, -i usually being applied to the subject (Sani Sabik - Friends in Blood) and -(n)u applied to the object (Imud Hubrau - Beast of Heaven). The two possessives are as a rule never combined. The -(n)u suffix is often attached to possessive pronouns to form words equivalent to "of his", "of theirs", etc. (e'shlech jarru - a slave of his).

Pluralisation is expressed by appending -(a)n to a word (sa - friend, san - friends; rab - brother, raban - brothers).

Definite article is usually left to inflection and context. In writing is it usually represented by a capital letter. In special cases, the word e is injected into the mix to make things pop (Dei e Tet - God the Divine; e Chorim - the Scriptures).

Verbs
Most verbs begins with va-/la-, and many end in -eer/-ir, but there's plenty of irregularities already. Anyway, the conjugations are pretty regular. Everybody now: Hooray! Conjugations!   :D :bash:

Song: alagor
Sing: lagorim
Sang: lagorimet
Sung: lagorit

Speech: rad
Speak: radir
Spoke: radiret
Spoken: radit

Sight: khijd
See: vakhid
Saw: vakhidet
Seen: vakhit

Pronouns and other fun guff!
I/Me: em
You (s): tey
You (pl): teyn
He/Him: jav
She/Her: lav
It/That: chov

I am: a

My/Mine: emarr
Your: teyrr
His: jarr
Hers: larr
Our: amarr
Their: teynarr

a/an: e', ekh

One: iekh
Two: jud
Three: intr
Four: rasht
Five: shpan
Six: kese
Seven: estik
Eight: tsegh
Nine: yien
Ten: sedd
First: ikhni
Second: juddi
Third: intrin
Fourth: rashtin
Fifth: shpani
Sixth: kesen
Seventh: estikin
Eight: tseghn
Ninth: yienne
Tenth: seddni

Phrases!
Let's see if this shizzle works at all...

English: My slave was stabbed by my brother.
Amarrad: emarr shlech ejed chetoman emarr rabu vetekht.
Lit. trans: my slave was, at the hand of my brother, stabbed.

English: I am the devoted hand of the divine god!
Amarrad: a Manu Dei e Tet rimon!
Lit. trans: I am of the hand that is to God the Divine devoted

. I am . of (the) hand . God . the . Divine . devoted .
.   a  .      Manu     . Dei .  e  .   Tet  .  rimon  .


English:
In the beginning all things were as one.
God parted them and breathed life into his creation
Divided the parts and gave each its place
And unto each, bestowed purpose"
- The Scriptures, Book I 1:4

Amarrad:
for Ikhnitiast resa zakhn iekhi ejed.
Dei chavn vaplatset, ta for Shaife jarru khaies dechjret.
Platsen vaplatset ta ijed mojem teynarr vedat.
ta kajiv itlech ziel vedat
- e Chorim, Buaran iekh 1:4


Lit. trans:
in The First Time, all things were in one.
God them parted and, into Creation of His, life breathed,
(he) the parts parted, and each their place given.
and unto each, purpose given.
- The Scripture, Pages one 1:4

Glossary!
Big H's Awesome Amarrad Glossary
(Moderator's Note: Original glossary link no longer works. A copy of the glossary can be found here instead.)

Go ahead and hate it, I dare you!  :evil:
« Last Edit: 20 Sep 2018, 08:16 by Samira Kernher »
Logged

Silas Vitalia

  • Demigod
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3397
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #1 on: 09 Sep 2010, 09:05 »

Amazing, will give this a thorough read soon as I can :) very promising!
Logged

Ken

  • Will Rule for Food
  • Veteran
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1261
  • Must Love Robots
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #2 on: 09 Sep 2010, 09:19 »

Awesome!  You've got a very good start for only a few days work.

Now watch out, Artabanus will be by in a few minutes to turn this into The Complete Unabridged Amarrad.  That is as soon as he and Bataav are done pumping Intaki full of steroids.  :D 
Logged

Horatius Caul

  • Words words words
  • Omelette
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 344
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #3 on: 09 Sep 2010, 11:20 »

Awesome!  You've got a very good start for only a few days work.

Now watch out, Artabanus will be by in a few minutes to turn this into The Complete Unabridged Amarrad.  That is as soon as he and Bataav are done pumping Intaki full of steroids.  :D 
I'd welcome such a treatment to Amarrad.  :D

lallara zhuul

  • Now with rainbows and butterflies.
  • Veteran
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1123
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #4 on: 09 Sep 2010, 12:02 »

Tetrimon used latin. There is an interview of the Grand Master Elata Ardo where he uses it...
Logged

Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!

Horatius Caul

  • Words words words
  • Omelette
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 344
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #5 on: 09 Sep 2010, 12:15 »

Tetrimon used latin. There is an interview of the Grand Master Elata Ardo where he uses it...
Yes, AURORA used Latin a couple of times - because the players had resorted to Latin.

I don't like it, so I made this.

Jakiin

  • Sorceror of Semantic
  • Wetgraver
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 57
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #6 on: 10 Sep 2010, 13:29 »

All right, looks good, just one question: Why Amarrish? Why not Amarr or Amarrian? I mean, Amarrad looks all right, but Amarrish looks kind of amateurish (No pun intended I swear to the gods).

Pretty minor complaint considering it's not the dialect you're actually focusing on, but it's just bugging the hell out of me.
Logged

Horatius Caul

  • Words words words
  • Omelette
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 344
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #7 on: 10 Sep 2010, 14:08 »

All right, looks good, just one question: Why Amarrish? Why not Amarr or Amarrian? I mean, Amarrad looks all right, but Amarrish looks kind of amateurish (No pun intended I swear to the gods).

Pretty minor complaint considering it's not the dialect you're actually focusing on, but it's just bugging the hell out of me.
http://www.eveonline.com/background/potw/default.asp?cid=apr02

Jakiin

  • Sorceror of Semantic
  • Wetgraver
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 57
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #8 on: 10 Sep 2010, 14:20 »

All right, looks good, just one question: Why Amarrish? Why not Amarr or Amarrian? I mean, Amarrad looks all right, but Amarrish looks kind of amateurish (No pun intended I swear to the gods).

Pretty minor complaint considering it's not the dialect you're actually focusing on, but it's just bugging the hell out of me.
http://www.eveonline.com/background/potw/default.asp?cid=apr02

Damnit CCP...

Complaint withdrawn. 'Cept you spelt 'Amarish' wrong.
Logged

Horatius Caul

  • Words words words
  • Omelette
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 344
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #9 on: 10 Sep 2010, 14:28 »

All right, looks good, just one question: Why Amarrish? Why not Amarr or Amarrian? I mean, Amarrad looks all right, but Amarrish looks kind of amateurish (No pun intended I swear to the gods).

Pretty minor complaint considering it's not the dialect you're actually focusing on, but it's just bugging the hell out of me.
http://www.eveonline.com/background/potw/default.asp?cid=apr02

Damnit CCP...

Complaint withdrawn. 'Cept you spelt 'Amarish' wrong.
Yeah, I noticed. Corrected.

And I agree, it's not the most creative of language-names - especially when there's a different adjective consistently pushed (Amarrian), but still.

Artabanus

  • One of Three
  • Wetgraver
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 70
  • "I cannot live without books"
    • Chronicles of EVE
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #10 on: 18 Sep 2010, 15:44 »

Ok...just noticed this posting...this looks extremely promising...
Logged

Horatius Caul

  • Words words words
  • Omelette
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 344
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #11 on: 18 Sep 2010, 16:52 »

Working on translating some more Scripture passages at the moment, and adding to the glossary to keep pace.

Graelyn

  • Ye Olde One
  • Veteran
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1349
  • These things just seem to happen...
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #12 on: 19 Sep 2010, 01:03 »

OShit!

\o/
Logged


If we can hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate!

Laurentis Thiesant

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 229
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #13 on: 19 Sep 2010, 01:37 »

I really do love all these languages popping up all over the place.  :)
Although, I think we're going to start needing translators on hand, anyone techy enough to do that. It would be quite awesome.
Logged

Ashar Kor-Azor

  • Banned
  • Pod Captain
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 656
  • Banned
Re: [Language] Amarrad
« Reply #14 on: 29 Sep 2010, 09:01 »

Just found this.

>Amarrish
>Amarrad is The Scriptures.

Ho-ho, no no.

Amarrians speak Amarrian, because the Empire is big and the culture is bigger. And because Caldanese is also aesthetically displeasing.

But nice fluff, other than that.
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 9