Yutepos Kutlag
Lesson 4
<Would you all like me to use mostly Readers Script or Writers Script? To understand what I’m asking, keep reading. I know that you, Pharoah, seem most used to Readers Script.>
The Writing Systems of Atlantean, Punctuation in Atlantean,
and a Sneak Peak at Grammar
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To answer some of your questions,
(moakh) DEEG-tem EHN-luh-nuhg BAH-sheh-beh-nen doo.
is a direct quotation from canon. It can be found in the book “Subterranean Tours” and in the video by Mark Okrand “How to Speak Atlantean”. It’s part of the “Lexicon” at this site by Jeffery Henning:
http://www.langmaker.com/atlanteancorpus2.htm
Its official or given translation is “Do you speak English?” but it can also be translated “Do you speak the tongue of England?”. Literally it’s “(you) language-Object England-Genitive speak-now-you question-word-for-verbs ? “Genitive” and “Object” are two of five Grammatical Case Markers in Atlantean, -uhg and –tem respectively.
(kahg) DEEG-tem AHD-luhn-tih-suhg kwahm BAH-sheh-beh-kik (another fr. canon)
(I) language-object Atlantis-Genitive not speak-now-I.
“I don’t speak Atlantean.” I speak not the Language of Atlantis.
See how it works? I’ll explain all this later.
BEH-ket, luht PEH-wuhd TEE-ku-deh-toat duhp.
Now, this is a hard one. I may not have seen this before. Where did you get it?
It asks “Where is _______ located?” Literally, it’s “Please(to one), location _______ to-be-located-now-he/she/it question word for nouns ?” I cannot find the word PEH-wuhd or pewad in my dictionary nor in my notes, though it might be there. I can tell you that it’s in the Nominative Case, so it’s the subject of the sentence. It’s obviously a noun because of the duhp, or dap in Writers Script, question word for nouns. And it’s not even plural.
”quick question. do atlanteans use punctuation? like commas, and periods and things like that?”
No, but Atlantean put spaces between their words and paragraphs. Freeze frame the parts in the movie where Atlantean is shown to get some idea. The clearest examples are in the flying fish inscription in the scene where Milo shows Kida how to activate it.
“beacsue i was looking in the script and guides i got (i have every atle book there is) and i did not once see a period, but i did a see a comma here and there.”
I do not own the script yet, but I use print-outs of it from
http://www.langmaker.com/atlanteancorpus.htm
See, here’s the thing: There’s three ways of writing Atlantean. (“Script” is used in linguistics to mean “a writing system”.) There’s what I call “Atlantean Script”, “Readers Script”, and “Writers Script”. Basically, “Atlantean Script is used to write Atlantean in the movie. It’s the one without punctuation or lower case. It uses the “Atlantean Alphabet”. “Readers Script” is used in the Illustrated Script and other places to write Atlantean so that people (actors) can read it. “Writers Script” is an unofficial, fan-developed way of writing Atlantean so that it’s easier to read and write. It looks more like English. Here’s examples of each. I use “Epigraphist Script” to represent “Atlantean Script” as that font doesn’t show up on this board:
(Atlantean Script as represented by Epigraphist Script. Note that Atlantean writes boustrophedon, “as the ox plows”, left to right, right to left, left to right. I think that’s the “unique flow of the reading format” you mention.)
KIDA NESHINGTEM GEBRIN
PUD HENESE BEL KOYNEP ED
DUWERENTOP LAT
PUD HENEPUDLUS
(Writers Script as in the movie’s script)
“Kida: NEH-shin-gen-tem Gehb-Rihn Deh pen-yoakh. Leb EH-seh-nekh dupp DOO-weh-ren-toap? Luht sull-DOO-peh-nekh dupp? (Who are you strangers and where are you from?)”
(Readers Script as I use it. Note the differences between Delalyra’s and my transliteration. That’s because we have different ideas about how a few of Atlantean vowels work.)
Kida: Neshingentem gebrin de penyok. Leb esenekh dup duwerentop? Lat suldupenekh dup?
So Readers Script and Writers Script use complete Modern English style punctuation but Atlantean Script and its Epigraphist Script do not. I answered your above question thinking that Atlanteans would write in Atlantean Script.
“btw that atlantean i typed above, is it in the correct format?”
Almost. Corrections are in [] square brackets.
([M]oakh) DEEG-tem EHN-luh-nuhg BAH-sheh-beh-nen doo[?] (Do you speak English?)
([K]ahg) DEEG-tem AHD-luhn-tih-suhg kwahm BAH-sheh-beh-kik. (I don't speak Atlantean.)
BEH-ket, luht PEH-wuhd TEE-ku-deh-toat duhp[?]
“also, an atlantean to english dictonary would be somthing cool to have.”
I’ve written a few and I’m giving them out for free. It’s not a final draft but it’s got almost every word I’ve attempted to discipher. It’s about 20 pages with discipherment commentary, 5 without. There’s one for my “New Atlantean” Atlantean neologisms at:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/atla ... e/database
if you have a Yahoo Account and join this group. Also, my dictionary in very reduced form is online temporarily at:
http://www.spinnoff.com/zbb/viewtopic.p ... c&start=25
if you become a member of Zompist BBoard.
”WEEL-[t]em AHD-luhn-tih-suhg net GAH-wih-dihn NAH-[g]eb-yoakh!”
Wiltem Adlantisag net gawidin nagebyokh!
City-Object Atlantis-Genitive into-Postposition joyfully-Adverb to-enter-Verb-Plural-Imperative !
“Welcome to Atlantis!”: one of two translations given in “Subterranean Tours”. This isn’t the other one: Joyfully enter into the City of Atlantis, (you-all)!
[L]ohg DAH-rim EH-seh-toat duhp?”
What time is it? What-for-time specific-time to-be-now-he/she/it question-word-for-nouns ?
luht...LEHpen BOH-geh-kikh duhp KEH-tuhk-tem?
Location (nonsense word. “pen”, as seen above, might mean “to put down”. “Leh-“ is a present emphatic tense marker, but it’s out of place) to-be-able-now-I question-word-nouns flying-fish-Object?
Did you make that up? It means something like, “Where can I put down the flying fish at this time?”
That would be, in Readers Script, “Luht KEH-tuhk-tem pen BOAG-leh-kihk duhp?”
deh-GIHM! AH-nik KAH-gihn Pharoahgakashtoap
“Greetings! Call me “Pharoahgakash”.”
Very excellent. Bravo!
We discussed this in the instant messenge conversation last evening: Atlantean has no ph- or f-sound, so let’s have your Atlantean phonetic equivalent be “ROH”. “-Gakash” at the end of your name means that you are a daughter of Kashekim, King of Atlantis from circa 6, 586 B.C. – 1, 914 A.D. Sons use the suffix –ekim, like their fathers do. And, like I mentioned last evening, -toap is a “Vocative Suffix” and means “I’m talking to you.” So your full Atlantean name would be ‘ROH-kihm’ and your short name would just be ‘ROH’ (Rokim and Ro in Writers Script).
If you wanted to be a bit more grammatically correct, you’d say either:
deh-GIHM! AH-nik KAH-gin ROH-kihm EH-seh-toat.
Greetings! My name is Rokim.
deh-GIHM! “ROH-kihm-toh-pesh” MOH-khit BAH-sheb.
Greetings! Speak to me using “Rokimtop”.
or, if you want to be less formal,
SOO-puhk! BEH-ket, “ROH-toh-pesh” MOH-khit BAH-sheb.
Hi! Please speak to be using “Ro”.