[Nicodimas]

Woah a malazan post by nico!!

Hey I'm playing a game and need their native language for a breakdown.. anyone?

This post has been edited by Nicodimas: 24 April 2015 - 07:02 AM

[Egwene]

When you say 'need the language'... are you looking for the phrase or translations of phrases?

[Nicodimas]

Egwene, on 24 April 2015 - 10:11 AM, said:

When you say 'need the language'... are you looking for the phrase or translations of phrases?

translations of phrases? This part, does this exist? I messed around a google and was surprised to find nothing on this.

This post has been edited by Nicodimas: 24 April 2015 - 09:51 PM

[Egwene]

Hi Nicidemas,

I have finally managed to located the Imass phrases I vaguely recalled having seen somewhere...

I have listed them on this Wiki page:

http://malazan.wikia.com/wiki/Imass

They are from Chapter 15 of Midnight Tides. Have not yet done anything about translations, some of which (rough ones) are given in the book.

Hope this is what you were looking for.

[Felisin Fatter]

Egwene, on 06 July 2015 - 12:01 PM, said:

Hi Nicidemas,

I have finally managed to located the Imass phrases I vaguely recalled having seen somewhere...

I have listed them on this Wiki page:

http://malazan.wikia.com/wiki/Imass

They are from Chapter 15 of Midnight Tides. Have not yet done anything about translations, some of which (rough ones) are given in the book.

Hope this is what you were looking for.

I started to add some translations (there is a bit more in the chapter, I might add that later). It seems definitely possible to make some sense of the untranslated phrases, but I need some more input and time. If anyone else encounters words, anything, please add them

[Felisin Fatter]

I added the rest of the translations that's in that chapter and some speculation of my own. I really need some theories on common words like ara/arad; av/ev; en; vi/vis - to try and make some sense of the untranslated sentences. Also, I suspect Rud Elalle is not the most reliable interpreter we could have had... (And that Erikson had fun writing this chapter )

• Peth tol ool havra d ara

• Arad havra'd ara. En'aralack havra d'drah.

• Vis vol'raele absi'arad.

If anyone who likes translation could read the wiki page and give me some wild guesses tot start from?
This is what I have so far:
Ara/arad could mean she/he. My working hypothesis is that 'ara' stands for a person, and is something like: she / he / being / person. Could be a totally wrong assumption. This leads to or follows from my first wild guess: that 'Arad havra'd ara.' means something like: He was had by her. Referring to Udinaas and Menandore. (An Imass is saying this to/about Udinaas.)

Remember the apostrophes mean it's referring to something in another time (or place?) / past tense.

This post has been edited by Felisin Fatter: 18 July 2015 - 03:32 PM

[Felisin Fatter]

There is now a separate page for all the Imass language info : http://malazan.wikia.../Language_Imass

Please add any Imass phrases you find and feel welcome to speculate about translations. I made some progress, but haven't cracked it yet. It is a fascinating puzzle.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Great work so far! I don't think I can be of any help in translating, but I'll keep an eye out for any missing words or phrases.

[Egwene]

I never really paid that much attention to the meaning of names etc. until Felisin started adding stuff.

One bit I was wondering about is the prefix T' as in T'lan Imass... I thought that in the case of T'lan it came from Tellan. I assumed that the apostrophe in most cases stood for 'swallowed bits' of names. What made you think that it might mean 'broken', Felisin?

[Felisin Fatter]

Tool said so when translating his own name T'oolan: Ool is veined, Lan is flint, T' means flawed. Since apostrophes also indicate a past tense, I kinda assumed it was a change to his name since he is no longer first sword, hence 'broken'. Supporting that assumption is Onrack T'emlava. Onrack is a former bonecaster, hence T'Emlava, Emlava no more - or alternatively a flawed Emlava to begin with.
The same thing seems rather fitting also in the case of T'lan. Though certainly that could be a different case and as you say just a past tense with swallowed bits. I am afraid 'swallowed bits' are a thing (Ool + Lan becoming Oolan , for example), making translation even more... interesting However, T'lan having a (double) meaning of 'flawed flint' is very poetic

[Felisin Fatter]

I added a few more (perhaps dubious) examples in the wiki. And made it more clear that it's a hypothesis, not a fact.
The thinking about T' as a prefix makes me notice other prefixes that might have meanings:
- D': D'ivers, D'rek, D'riss - could mean something like 'fragmented'.
- K': K'rul, K'Chain, K'ell, K'azz, K'risnan, - would mean something like, 'lost' or 'pretty much dead'

Maybe I'm just being paranoid and it's simply the hyphen (is that the right word?) that denotes all kinds of broken-ness and 'in-the-past'-ness. So please give me pro- and counter-arguments and further examples where you find them! (It is a bit hard to search for single letters in the wiki...)

And I know it doesn't always apply, for example D'Arle and D'Avore are probably just last names in the local style. Same goes for a bunch of Malazan soldiers with hyphenated names.

[Kanese S's]

That's an apostrophe.

A hyphen is this: "-"

As in stuff-things. That is hyphenated.

[Gorefest]

Never really thought of the individual letters having an additional meaning to 'flavour' the brokenness, I just assumed the starting letter is whatever the original word started with. E.g. Tellan Imass or Kenussen (possibly K'Azz). Or simply an actual glottal stop. It's an interesting thought, though. Where would that leave T'Amber?

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 18 February 2016 - 01:14 PM