Alatika (Atlantean Language)
Atalantean, or Alatika, is the official language of all nations under the Atlantean Empire.
Dialects
The various dialects of Atlantean include:- Standard (in books, etc.)
- Aristocrian (spoken almost exclusively by traditionally "noble" families. Seen as extremely old-fashioned and pretentious)
- Epistimonian (highly technical language spoken by scientists and technologists)
- Kalitekian (song-like language spoken by artists and artisans)
- Metic (harder, blunter language spoken by salt-of-the-earth working folk)
Writing System
Atlantean uses a syllabic script for its alphabet.
Geographical Distribution
Atlantean is spoken in all nations in the empire of Atlantis, from the original settlements near the Mediterranean to the offshoots in the Atlantic, Indian, and central Pacific Oceans.
Phonology
Atlantean is a logophonetic language that uses symbols to represent sounds. They follow the pattern of CCV, CV or V syllables--that is, an (optional) consonant sound or sounds followed by a vowel sound.
Morphology
Atlantean nouns decline for 7 cases: accusative, dative, locative, instrumental, nominative, genitive, and vocative. Verbs conjugate for 3 tenses: past, present, and future; 4 aspects: perfect, progressive, perfective, and imperfective; 4 moods: indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and optative; 3 voices: active, middle, and passive; 3 persons: first, second, and third; infinitives and verbal adjectives. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and articles are all gender neutral.
Syntax
Sentences in Atlantean follow a pattern of OSV (object, subject, verb). Think Yoda-speak and you'll have a pretty good idea.
Vocabulary
Untranslatable Words
Like with many languages, there are some words in the Atlantean language that simply don't have an English translation. For example:Should vs. Ought To
One interesting aspect of the Atlantean language is the connotations of prepei (should) vs. tha eprepe (ought to). Generally, if someone comments that you should do something, there's a genuine level of respect involved. However, if someone comments that you ought to do something, it tends to be more sarcastic or insulting. For example:Phonetics
Vowels
- A - Pronounced like the "a" in "father"
- E - Pronounced like the "e" in "bed"
- I - Pronounced like the "ee" in "free"
- O - Pronounced like the "o" in "no"
- U - Pronounced like the "oo" in "food"
- Y - Pronounced like the "i" in "sit"
Common Phrases
Comments