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.
GrammarKeep 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.
NounsAmarrad 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).
VerbsMost 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! 
Song:
alagorSing:
lagorimSang:
lagorimetSung:
lagoritSpeech:
radSpeak:
radirSpoke:
radiretSpoken:
raditSight:
khijdSee:
vakhidSaw:
vakhidetSeen:
vakhitPronouns and other fun guff!I/Me:
emYou (s):
teyYou (pl):
teynHe/Him:
javShe/Her:
lavIt/That:
chovI am:
aMy/Mine:
emarrYour:
teyrrHis:
jarrHers:
larrOur:
amarrTheir:
teynarra/an:
e', ekhOne:
iekhTwo:
judThree:
intrFour:
rashtFive:
shpanSix:
keseSeven:
estikEight:
tseghNine:
yienTen:
seddFirst:
ikhniSecond:
juddiThird:
intrinFourth:
rashtinFifth:
shpaniSixth:
kesenSeventh:
estikinEight:
tseghnNinth:
yienneTenth:
seddniPhrases!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 1:4Lit. 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!
Author
Topic: [Language] Amarrad (Read 68933 times)