Kugganzir! Segirur binerii. Sedinersha ma ka-Bilanidin?
Aab sezusha ka-esharar-Bilanidin?
Shalena in bagaan, G. Kashkanun.
Talkin' Vilani
- Thread starter Stei'awtliyrl
- Start date
Kugganzir! Segirur binerii. Sedinersha ma ka-Bilanidin?
Aab sezusha ka-esharar-Bilanidin?
Shalena in bagaan, G. Kashkanun.
G. Kashkanun Anderson
SOC-13
Bageshka! Aab sheknerasima meama ka-meka kemaaka?
Kiknedikiid shenerii zigagim kika Bilanidin.
Melelaa iga! Shedushapi anaash? Aab shemdushiishma dugek karunin ka-admegun melekanak? Admegun barduka nesh aab ikhi?
Niiku sempap ka-mekhisaa galeka. Kidalak ma iga kikiimen bimi. Shiigaanguke ka-meshalenadiimar -- duunalekane arguka iru binerii!
Segaan in selenaluu ka-ishkishar, Medukiide.
Seshiish sinuparelii in s'aadenasi iishuu. Shemanazishki aku ka-Mashkim Ruurishagi duukuka!
G. Kashkanun Anderson
SOC-13
Seperuusma dimadirii daladka ka-uupla! Sesedubiilem shenerii.
Kiduugma imar udii rudka daladka linkumna agi. Sedaashii kurmuu ka-khaananun dushiliga in irzar kishirka garaka. Kikigun adlaam maagku.
Semgisiin sheneriigim ka-mesimaa in semlundagi. Sekbagazish binerii ka-ediniika bumka.
Semmaa ma semdarina ka-sesimaa resaaga. Shaa! Zikkulashna Bed ka-sedak ka-uzudgi mamkur gasliirka!
And speaking of phrases: "L'argu Ladum-ma Bu." is a keeper, too!
Kisgusiidar anaash argu ka-Bilanidin iga ma?
Kiduugma imar udii rudka daladka linkumna agi. Sedaashii kurmuu ka-khaananun dushiliga in irzar kishirka garaka. Kikigun adlaam maagku.
Semgisiin sheneriigim ka-mesimaa in semlundagi. Sekbagazish binerii ka-ediniika bumka.
Semmaa ma semdarina ka-sesimaa resaaga. Shaa! Zikkulashna Bed ka-sedak ka-uzudgi mamkur gasliirka!
And speaking of phrases: "L'argu Ladum-ma Bu." is a keeper, too!
Kisgusiidar anaash argu ka-Bilanidin iga ma?
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chshrkt
SOC-12
Wow, I wonder if this will ever get as much play as folks talking in Klingon. I am almost tempted to start learning this language as well... almost... hehehe
Does anyone watch the American TV show Chuck? There is a truly wonderful scene in there with a couple of Geeks talking in Klingon to hide their intentions from some international bad guy type spys...
What we need is to get a Traveller TV show or something...
Does anyone watch the American TV show Chuck? There is a truly wonderful scene in there with a couple of Geeks talking in Klingon to hide their intentions from some international bad guy type spys...
What we need is to get a Traveller TV show or something...
Wow, I wonder if this will ever get as much play as folks talking in Klingon. I am almost tempted to start learning this language as well... almost... hehehe
Does anyone watch the American TV show Chuck? There is a truly wonderful scene in there with a couple of Geeks talking in Klingon to hide their intentions from some international bad guy type spys...
What we need is to get a Traveller TV show or something...
Sweeeet Blue Sun logo.
Vilani's not a very easy language, and Klingon benefits from having a professional linguist.
But, if you're interested, I'm quite interested in you learning it. And Mr. Anderson is also a very good Vilanicist.
Let's see, how can someone start into Vilani from the very beginning? A very short phrasebook would do for starters, and I mean very very short. Then you'd be ready to transfer its concepts to new words. Huh, that's starting to sound like my Spanish 1 book...
...except the starting phrase has to be useful. The phrase I put in the Vilani grammar was "The air/raft hit Eneri", which, while fine, isn't something you'd use on a daily basis.
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jfetters
SOC-14 1K
Vilani for tourists?
"Please, kind sir, could you direct me to the lavatory?"
"Pardon me, but the Vargr has eaten my pants."
"Excuse me, but it looks like your world is being invaded."
G. Kashkanun Anderson
SOC-13
Vilani for tourists?
"Please, kind sir, could you direct me to the lavatory?"
"Pardon me, but the Vargr has eaten my pants."
"Excuse me, but it looks like your world is being invaded."
Well, I had to coin two "new" Vilani words to do it, but:
Esgadgiduu semersekager ka pelugaku.
"My hovercraft is full of eels."
And thus have I merged two of the greatest geek pastimes in the known universe -- speaking in made up science fiction languages and reciting lines from old Monty Python skits.
And as a bonus trick, here are two actual examples of "Vilani for tourists:"
Diimki ka mekurak. (Literally: "Do your job" -- a common phrase used to request for professional service, such as from a receptionist, waiter, DMV clerk, etc.)
... and the companion phrase:
Sekdiim (sheneriigim) ka mekurak. (Literally: "You are doing your job" -- in professional situations, this is the closest thing you're going to hear to a "thank you" in Vilani.)
G. Kashkanun Anderson
SOC-13
OK, as a little extra Dasiisirkagi Kugirii present, I cooked up some translations of the phrases mentioned above. At least I think these work.
Well, now. This is pretty complicated. You generally can't just go up to the nearest Vilani you see and demand to know where you can relieve yourself. Rather, you should approach a Desk Clerk or Information Officer (there are usually plenty of them on any Vilani world), wait your turn, and tell him/her something like:
"Diimki ka mekurak: Dushurek meshe?"
(literally: "Do your job. Where's the bathroom?")
Admittedly, this is a little brusque. Ordinarily you should wait for the official to acknowledge your request for service before telling him/her what you need. But even the Vilani recognize a bathroom situation as potentially urgent enough to let some protocol issues slide.
Even if you don't see an official nearby, it's generally not a good idea to walk around approaching strange Vilani with bodily function related requests. If you do, however, you must make it absolutely certain to him/her that you have no other choice but to come to him/her for the information. Something like this should work:
"Maraanash sedakhedu! Seskhinnuuzish binerii ka sigadulare ka segedaamnurkashaan: Dushurek meshe?"
(literally: Greetings my stranger! I ask that you forgive me for these actions that are the result of my increasingly panicky burden: Where is the bathroom?")
Note: "Segedaamnurkashaan" ("my increasingly panicky burden") is a known (if slightly prudish) euphemism for "I really have to go!"
Now if you say that right, and are understood, and don't inadvertently call the Vilani a criminal (see below), he/she should reward you ... by pointing you in the direction of the nearest person who is qualified to tell you where the bathroom is.
Also note that you addressed the Vilani as "sedakhedu" ("MY stranger"), rather than simply "dakhedu" ("any old stranger"). This is important: just because YOU don't know who he/she is, please don't insult your new Vilani acquaintance by implying that NOBODY does! The last thing you want is to be dancing around with a full bladder while the Vilani you just impugned is furiously waving his paperwork and family photos in your face.
Polite version -- say, you're a guest at a prominent Vilani friend's villa, and another guest (a Vargr) has been into your hamper:
"Melelaa! Kimguna nesh daakha Kaniizu ka sezirike!"
(literally: Alas! The Vargr just ate my pants!)
Less polite version -- say, you wake up on the floor of a starport bar after one too many rounds of Vilani beer. Your shoes are missing, your pants are torn to shreds, and there's Vargr slobber all over your knee. If I were you, I'd say:
"Burudak! Kimguna igi adlaam ka sezirike Daag dakakapu!"
(literally: Fr@ck! Some stupid-@$$ Dog has eaten my pants again!)
It should go without saying that you don't want to have too many Vargr present when you call one of them a "Daag." And "burudak" (a barnyard epithet derived from "burud" -- "to stab, pierce"), although not as harsh as its Anglic equivalent, is an exclamation generally unwelcome unless used to express unhappy realizations in seedy locales.
And for the record: the quickest way to get a Vilani woman to break your nose is to call her "buruda" to her face.
That's easy! Generally, we say:
"Irgimke. Lekag Solomani."
(literally: Oh, great. The Solomani are here.)
Vilani for tourists?
"Please, kind sir, could you direct me to the lavatory?"
Well, now. This is pretty complicated. You generally can't just go up to the nearest Vilani you see and demand to know where you can relieve yourself. Rather, you should approach a Desk Clerk or Information Officer (there are usually plenty of them on any Vilani world), wait your turn, and tell him/her something like:
"Diimki ka mekurak: Dushurek meshe?"
(literally: "Do your job. Where's the bathroom?")
Admittedly, this is a little brusque. Ordinarily you should wait for the official to acknowledge your request for service before telling him/her what you need. But even the Vilani recognize a bathroom situation as potentially urgent enough to let some protocol issues slide.
Even if you don't see an official nearby, it's generally not a good idea to walk around approaching strange Vilani with bodily function related requests. If you do, however, you must make it absolutely certain to him/her that you have no other choice but to come to him/her for the information. Something like this should work:
"Maraanash sedakhedu! Seskhinnuuzish binerii ka sigadulare ka segedaamnurkashaan: Dushurek meshe?"
(literally: Greetings my stranger! I ask that you forgive me for these actions that are the result of my increasingly panicky burden: Where is the bathroom?")
Note: "Segedaamnurkashaan" ("my increasingly panicky burden") is a known (if slightly prudish) euphemism for "I really have to go!"
Now if you say that right, and are understood, and don't inadvertently call the Vilani a criminal (see below), he/she should reward you ... by pointing you in the direction of the nearest person who is qualified to tell you where the bathroom is.
Also note that you addressed the Vilani as "sedakhedu" ("MY stranger"), rather than simply "dakhedu" ("any old stranger"). This is important: just because YOU don't know who he/she is, please don't insult your new Vilani acquaintance by implying that NOBODY does! The last thing you want is to be dancing around with a full bladder while the Vilani you just impugned is furiously waving his paperwork and family photos in your face.
Polite version -- say, you're a guest at a prominent Vilani friend's villa, and another guest (a Vargr) has been into your hamper:
"Melelaa! Kimguna nesh daakha Kaniizu ka sezirike!"
(literally: Alas! The Vargr just ate my pants!)
Less polite version -- say, you wake up on the floor of a starport bar after one too many rounds of Vilani beer. Your shoes are missing, your pants are torn to shreds, and there's Vargr slobber all over your knee. If I were you, I'd say:
"Burudak! Kimguna igi adlaam ka sezirike Daag dakakapu!"
(literally: Fr@ck! Some stupid-@$$ Dog has eaten my pants again!)
It should go without saying that you don't want to have too many Vargr present when you call one of them a "Daag." And "burudak" (a barnyard epithet derived from "burud" -- "to stab, pierce"), although not as harsh as its Anglic equivalent, is an exclamation generally unwelcome unless used to express unhappy realizations in seedy locales.
And for the record: the quickest way to get a Vilani woman to break your nose is to call her "buruda" to her face.
That's easy! Generally, we say:
"Irgimke. Lekag Solomani."
(literally: Oh, great. The Solomani are here.)
Renaissance Man
SOC-12
This is a total noob question but here goes:
What's with the doubled vowels in all of this Vilani? Are you elongating the vowel sound or are you pronouncing each letter separately?
Take "Maraanash": is it "Ma-ra-an-ash" or is it "ma-RA-nash"?
Or are we dealing with a pharyngeal fricative sound like the Arabic "3ayn"? (Ma-Ra3-nash)
What about these "kh"s I keep seeing? Are these pronounced like a strong "k" sound?
In Arabic transliteration "kh" signifies a fricative velar sound, like the "kh" in the worm-like klingon dish "gakh" (for those TNG fans out there.)
In short, are we dealing with a language that has the same phonemes as in English, or are these letters representing sounds that English doesn't traditionally have?
What's with the doubled vowels in all of this Vilani? Are you elongating the vowel sound or are you pronouncing each letter separately?
Take "Maraanash": is it "Ma-ra-an-ash" or is it "ma-RA-nash"?
Or are we dealing with a pharyngeal fricative sound like the Arabic "3ayn"? (Ma-Ra3-nash)
What about these "kh"s I keep seeing? Are these pronounced like a strong "k" sound?
In Arabic transliteration "kh" signifies a fricative velar sound, like the "kh" in the worm-like klingon dish "gakh" (for those TNG fans out there.)
In short, are we dealing with a language that has the same phonemes as in English, or are these letters representing sounds that English doesn't traditionally have?
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I treat them as extended vowels. But, I know for a fact that the double-a is a result of a sound change in an ancestor language from 'o' (as in 'boat') to something more like 'aah'.
The 'kh' is a spirant (is that the word?) k, I think. Not Klingon, nor Scottish nor Yiddish, not as hard and spittle-producing as those, but it is a k+h.
I pronounce Maraanash as ma-RAH-nash, more or less. No glottal stop.
I've taken just enough guitar lessons to be dangerous. So, I'm writing a song, to be sung in Vilani. Here's my translation so far.
Kanakarun Maraba (on the Empress Marava)
Verse
Waited in Startown
i-wait at-startown
se-kaashlag kan-gigishe[k]
for someone who didn't show
for-someone who not-show
ka-lu le-du-dasii.
tipped the bartender
him-i-paid bartender
zi-k-ruurin dinarsha ka-medake
finished my beer
it-i-finished beer
i-ke-shududu kasgi[g].
didn't know why I
no-knowing reason
se-du-gebi iile
went to the starport
i-went to-starport
se-kiish kash-unnadinim.
I guess I
it’s possible that
em khii
had no reason to stay
it-does-not-remain purpose for me
i-du-marid kabek shenerii...
Chorus
Now I'm halfway across the sector
already i-on-the-other-side-of sector
Daakha se-gumuzaak khurem/karim/khuniim
on the Empress Marava.
on-Empress Marava
kan Akarun Maraba
Seen a lot of things
i-seen strange-things
i-k-gir daagarek
been a lot of places
i-gone places-many
i-k-khiish gimishek admegun
Well there's adventure
well there-is adventure
Dape khii <adventure>
and danger
and there-is danger
in ikanasu
on the Empress Marava
on-Empress Marava
kan Akarun Maraba
But I can't stop
but i-no-able stop
ma se-du-naak <aux>-shilig
thinking of you.
of-you thinking.
binerii sushu-<ptcl>.
Verse
We bought and sold like Bennett Lai
turned sand into gold
and fought like Arbellatra
and Gustus.
Now I'm stuck here on Talchek
Jump drive is slag
But I'd never wish for
a second chance.
(chorus)
Kanakarun Maraba (on the Empress Marava)
Verse
Waited in Startown
i-wait at-startown
se-kaashlag kan-gigishe[k]
for someone who didn't show
for-someone who not-show
ka-lu le-du-dasii.
tipped the bartender
him-i-paid bartender
zi-k-ruurin dinarsha ka-medake
finished my beer
it-i-finished beer
i-ke-shududu kasgi[g].
didn't know why I
no-knowing reason
se-du-gebi iile
went to the starport
i-went to-starport
se-kiish kash-unnadinim.
I guess I
it’s possible that
em khii
had no reason to stay
it-does-not-remain purpose for me
i-du-marid kabek shenerii...
Chorus
Now I'm halfway across the sector
already i-on-the-other-side-of sector
Daakha se-gumuzaak khurem/karim/khuniim
on the Empress Marava.
on-Empress Marava
kan Akarun Maraba
Seen a lot of things
i-seen strange-things
i-k-gir daagarek
been a lot of places
i-gone places-many
i-k-khiish gimishek admegun
Well there's adventure
well there-is adventure
Dape khii <adventure>
and danger
and there-is danger
in ikanasu
on the Empress Marava
on-Empress Marava
kan Akarun Maraba
But I can't stop
but i-no-able stop
ma se-du-naak <aux>-shilig
thinking of you.
of-you thinking.
binerii sushu-<ptcl>.
Verse
We bought and sold like Bennett Lai
turned sand into gold
and fought like Arbellatra
and Gustus.
Now I'm stuck here on Talchek
Jump drive is slag
But I'd never wish for
a second chance.
(chorus)
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Renaissance Man
SOC-12
Dude... that is outta control :rofl:
Which works great. Since I dislike seeing spittle, I like to call it a 'spirant', which can be considered a subclass of the velar fricative, where the friction (the 'fricative' part) is less audible.
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G. Kashkanun Anderson
SOC-13
Back when I was trying to figure out how to pronounce these things, I ultimately settled on both the 'kh' and 'sh' sounds as being aspirated versions of their regular consonants -- which (I think) is a little different than the pronunciation scheme you're talking about.
That is, my Vilani 'kh' sounds pretty much like a somewhat breathier Anglic 'k' (since English is so heavy with aspirated consonants), while my Vilani 'k' is more phonetically similar to the hard 'c' sound in a lot of Continental European languages. Thus, the difference between 'kag' (noun -- "a statement") and 'khag' (verb -- "to be magnetic") would be whether or not you felt a puff of air against your hand if you placed it in front of your mouth while pronouncing the words.
The 'sh' sound would be a little less intuitive to an Anglic/English speaker; but it's still a practical pronunciation scheme.
It'd be very easy for my version of the Vilani aspirated 'kh' to (de)volve into a fricative velar, however, particularly if contact with Second Empire Ruling-Class Anglic speakers caused a broadening of the use of aspiration among all Vilani consonants. The same goes for my version of the 'sh' sound.
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Which brings up a thought I was thinking a couple days ago: the Ziru Sirka seems to have been the last time the Vilani language was anything like a unity. They had the power and desire to enforce and teach from a single standard. I think that after the ZS, a bunch of "Romance Vilani" must have sprouted in the various sectors and domains. And this is probably the case with the Third Imperium, which has the power and desire to enforce and teach from a single standard Anglic, but may be free and easy with regional languages.
So we've got Vilanic languages and pidgins, only one of which is the "Standard Vilani" spoken in much of the Vland sector, perhaps some neighboring subsectors, and whatever culinary priesthoods and megacorporations are still operating out of the old ZS.
