Language Imass

This page collects all that is known about the language of the Imass and tries to provide translations based on the examples of the language given in the books. Warning: may contain spoilers for all the books.
==In Memories of Ice==
*Maeth'ki Im - Pogrom of the Rotted Flower, i.e. the 33rd Jaghut warMemories of Ice, Prologue
*Jaghra Til - the name of an inland sea born from shattered Jaghut ice-fields
*L'amath - a part of the landscape, likely the area now known as the Lamathath Plain
*T'ol Ara'd - an ancient lava river; translates maybe as 'river/road of stone?' (note: these words return in the phrases below, so any theories are welcome)
* Aral Fayle - short for Chen're aral lich'fayle, translated by Tool as 'touched by stone', this is the name Tool gives Toc the Younger.Memories of Ice, Chapter 7, UK MMPB p.311 (Compare: Ifayle)
* Onos T'oolan - Onos means clanless man (leading to the speculation that 'Onass' is a clanless woman), T'oolan means flawed flint.Memories of Ice, Chapter 7, UK MMPB p.312 - translations given by Tool
* Finnest - Hold of Ice, translation by Silverfox Memories of Ice, Chapter 4, UK MMPB p.118
* Dubious case: Jen'isand Rul - the Wanderer in the Sword. This is what Silverfox names Paran, so could well be Imass, but is never stated as fact (someone calls it Rhivi, I think). I sense a link between Rul / K'Rul.
==In Midnight Tides==
The following phrases were used by Ulshun Pral, an Imass from the Refugium. Translations are not exact as much of them are the very young Rud Elalle paraphrasing what Ulshun said.Midnight Tides, Chapter 15, UK MMPB p.577-587 Interpretations are also based on our sum knowledge of Imass language so far.
*Peth tol ool havra d ara (Literally: far earth veined from the fire)
*Arad havra'd ara. En'aralack havra d'drah. (Literally: heart/mouth language fire. Melt/thaw+ashes from close/bind)
*Vis vol'raele Absi'arad. (Literally: They out+lungs (gates) autumn+heart/mouth - something about the gates??)
*Rae'd. Veb entara tog'rudd n'lan n'vis thal? (When he gets older, will the boy (Rud) eat us?) List vah olar n'lan? (What do dragons eat?) Ste shabyn? (Should we fear?)
*Ki'bri arasteshabyn bri por'tol tun logdara kul absi. (they promised her-we-fear to take care of him (Rud) until her return)
*Entara tog'rudd av? (literally: Found father? - Is this your (Rud's) father?) 
*T'un havra'ad eventara. T'un veb vol'raele bri rea han d En'ev? (He says he understands them some now. There are holes (the gates) and would you like to go there?)
*Vi han onralmashalle. S'ril k'ul havra En'ev. N'vist. Lan'te. (We came here with a bonecaster. It was a realm of storms. There were beasts. There was much fighting.) (Literally - Place of storm. Demons came from En'ev(?). Us. Fight.)
*Vi truh larpahal. Ranag, bhed, tenag tollarpahal. Kul havra thelar. Kul. (This realm is a path/road. Herds migrate (travel the road) (note: ranag, bhed and tenag are large herd animals). They seem to come from nowhere. But they come.)
*Epal en. Vol'sav, thelan (It is an overflow of where the road came from. Beyond, there is nothing.)
*A evbrox'l list Tev. Starvald Demaelain Tev. (I am pleased/surprised (bright-gem-eyed) you know Holds. This Hold is Starvald Demelain.)
== In Reaper's Gale ==
* Agkor Raella = Wolf SongReaper's Gale, Chapter 14
* Allish Raella = Caribou Song
* Farl ved ten ara = RefugiumReaper's Gale, Chapter 17
* Tog'tol = Yellow ochreReaper's Gale, Chapter 14, US HC p.381
== In Toll the Hounds ==
* De nek okral = Probably Short nose plains bear (This is what Samar Dev intuitively named an ancient bear god of war she met. Traveller knew it was Imass and translated it.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, UK HB p.664
* Okral = Plains brown bearToll the Hounds, Chapter 18, UK HB p.664
== In Dust of Dreams ==
* Nom Kala = knife dripDust of Dreams, Chapter 17
== In The God is Not Willing==
* Sae Imas hedi = People of the Cold Seas (Saemdhi)The God is Not Willing, Chapter 6, US HC p.107-109
* Vel'ay = tundra ratThe God is Not Willing, Chapter 11, US HC p.193
Untranslated conversation between a Saemdhi man and Saemdhi crone regarding Rant, the half-Teblor boy:
* T'eth sin veral. Nallit. 
* Ihm fal e'rath. Sae g'nath Toblakai.
==In Fall of Light==
The Dog-Runner, Ifayle, said his name translated to something like "falling sky".
==List of known words==
* ' = past tense
* Absi = autumn - Absi Kire (meaning autumn promise) is the name Tool gives his mortal son.
* Absin = serpent
* Ag = tundra
* Agkor = timber wolf - a type of predator, that hunts bhederin and dwells in forests, kin to Fanderay (See Agkor Raella above)
* Ah = I
* Alle = antler
* Allish = caribou
* Ana = claw
* Ara = fire
* Arad = heart/mouth
* Aral = spark
* Aralack = ashes
* As = feminine
* Av = fatherSteven Erikson Facebook post 21 May 2020
* Ay = dire wolf - extinct species of wolf
* Ay'tog = yellow-haired kin to the ay, that live in the far south (hyena's??)
* Baektar = a type of vegetableReaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.600
* B'al = for
* Behn = copper
* Ben = white
* Bendal = arctic wolf - a type of predator, white, kin to Fanderay
* Ber = ash tree
* Beth = wide
* Bhed = bison - extinct species of large prey animal, larger than their comparatively smaller bhederin cousinsDust of Dreams, Chapter 12
* Bhederin = bison - species of large cattle-like animal
* Bor = oak tree
* Bri = to
* Brol = crystal/cold eye
* Brold = polar bear
* Brox'l = eye
* Cal = return
* Ch = of ice
* Chid = face
* Chole = ice
* D = the
* Dal = get
* D'al = got
* Darah = close (bind)
* Den = blue
* Drah = close (proximity)
* Em = fanged
* En = melt/thaw
* Emlava = extinct species of large felines - note similarity to Kilava 
* Entara = spring (season) /father?
* Entara tog'rud = found
* Epal = over (distance)
* Epal en = overflow/flood
* Ev = bright gem Eye(s)
* Evbrox'l = pleased/surprisedMidnight Tides, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.485
* Eventara = understand?Midnight Tides, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.483
* Fayle = sky-fall (see also Ifayle)
* Finnest = Hold of Ice
* Gaeth = ear
* Gam = starstone
* Ger = stone
* Han = of
* Haran = summer
* Havra = from
* Havra'd = language
* I = a
* Iath = chert
* Ifayle = falling skyFall of Light, Chapter 6, US HC p.164 (see also Fayle)
* Ilm = sky
* Imass = People, their name for themselves
* Ish = red/brown hair
* Ist = spearshaft
* Ith = black hair
* Iv = as
* Keb = sharp
* Kel = this
* Kelt = red
* Ki = vow/promise
* Kilava = panther (black) extinct species of large felines - note similarity to Emlava 
* Kire = promise (see Absi)
* Kor = forest
* Kul = to come (verb); 
* K'ul = came past tense of kul
* Kun = how 
* Lan = flint/life (Lan'te is translated as 'there was much fighting', so it may also mean... weapon? sword? or just have several meanings. Compare also to T'lan, Tellann, N'lan) From thelan=nothing, Lan might also have an generic meaning of 'thing' or 'object' or similar
* Lan'te = fight
* Lar = where
* Lar's = when
* Larpahal = path/way/road; from thelar=nowhere I draw that Lar means somewhere/place, so Pahal must indicate movement or direction
* Le = air
* Lechae = cold
* Lich = brow
* Lim = up
* List = what (to know?)
* Logros = hand
* Lok = that
* Lotheck = foot
* Lyn = tall
* Maeth = rot/decay
* Man = shape
* Marl = thin
* Mas = skin
* Mashalle = winter
* Monok = ape
* Myr = thick
* Myrk = deep
* N'lan/N'lar = eat (the spelling on Erikson's vocabulary list does not match the spelling used in the book)
* N'vis = us
* Nok = spearhead
* Notr = why
* Okhan = snow bear
* Okral = plains brown bear
* Olar = Dragon/Eleint
* On = hot
* Onass = probably: clanless woman
* Onos = clanless man.Memories of Ice, Chapter 7, UK MMPB p.311 Related: Onass, Onrack
* Onra = wind
* Onral mashalle/Onralmashalle = storm
* Ool = veined
* Oph = limp (locomotion)
* Os = masculine
* Oth = skeleton
* Pah = go
* Pah'tol = with
* Pahal = travel
* P'arad = right (direction)
* P'cal = turn
* Peth = far
* Por'tol = keep (possession)
* Porul = under
* Pral = sacred
* Pran = arctic/ arctic fox
* Ra = feminine
* Raa = me (feminine)
* Raed = women
* Raele = lungs
* Raella = song
* Ranag = muskox extinct species of large prey animal
* Re = masculine
* Rea = me (masculine)
* Read = men
* Roth = skeleton?
* Rudd = boy
* 'Sav = then (temporal)
* Sagra = arm
* Shayn = desert
* Shun = gift
* Sin = lichen
* S'ril = demon
* Stalyn = high
* Ste shabyn = fear
* Steba = narrow
* Styloh = low
* T' = broken hypothesis: a prefix that means broken or flawed. Examples where this meaning (if true) may apply: T'lan Imass; Onos T'oolan; Onrack T'Emlava; T'ber Tendara; T'iam; T'ol Ara'd; T'rolbarahl; T'riss.
* Te = break
* Telar = nowhere (see also Thelar)
* Tem = knoll
* Ten = tusk/horn
* Tenag = mammoth extinct species of large prey animal
* Tellann = (Hold of) Fire, though the Path of Tellann is also the magic of the Soletaken Bonecasters. Olar Ethil appears to be the root here, being aspected to both.
* Tev = stone circle/ Hold (as in The Holds)
* Thal = soon (what?)
* The = no
* Thek = leg
* Thel = stop
* Thelan = nothingMidnight Tides, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.484-485
* Thelar = nowhere (see also Telar)
* Til = sea
* T'lan = broken flint or broken thing
* Tog = yellow hair
* Tog'tol = Yellow ochreReaper's Gale, Chapter 14, US HC p.381
* Tol = earth (river? / flow?)
* Tollarpahal = migrate/migration, contraction of Tol + Larpahal
* Truh = is
* Tun = you
* Tyloh = short (distance)
* T'nath = nose
* U = an
* Ul = cave
* Ulphan = cave bear
* Ur = bronze
* 'Ves = when
* Vah = do
* Vahar = to
* Veb = will (intent)
* Vel'ay = tundra rat
* Vi = place
* Vid = there
* Vil = in
* Vis = they
* Vis'd = then
* Vol = out
* Vol'raele = holes/magic gates
The Imass bonecasters appear to be named after their Soletaken shape (the first name), though this may not be a rule. Here is a list of the known ones:
* Ay Estos = an arctic wolf (= an ay presumably)
* Bek Okhan = a snow bear
* Bendal Home = an arctic wolf
* Gr'istanas Ish'Ilm = a bear (but I don't see it in the name, he might be an exception)
* Hentos Ilm = a colourful bird
* Monok Ochem = a large silver-grey ape 
* Okral Lom = a plains bear
* Pran Chole = an arctic fox
* Til'Aras Benok = a bear (here the last name, Benok, sounds like a word for bear)
* Kilava Onass = a large cat
* Olar Ethil = a dragon
We are also told the meaning of most of the Unbound's names (from House of Chains):
* Ber'ok = dead ash treeHouse of Chains, Chapter 1
* Emroth = fanged skeleton
* Haran'alle = antler from summer
* Sin'b'alle = lychen for moss
* Thek Ist = spear leg
* Urual = mossy bone
* ?? = red moss
A bit of a theme here is moss (alle/al?). Maybe this is what T'lan Imass name those fallen who they leave behind? Or maybe it was just a fashion in their original clan?
Other Imass names + speculative meanings:
* Onos T'oolan = clanless man of flawed/broken veined Flint
* Kig Aven (Kilava and Tool's chieftain) = ?
* Logros T'lan (commander of Logro, several clans?) = see T'lan, no idea about Logros
* Eitholos Ilm (chieftain of Olar Ethils clan) = ?
* Galad Ketan - could be a person or an indication of time
* Onak Shendok - idem
* Kron (a clan / army)
* Is Kellanved an Imass word?? Kellan could be shadow and ved throne
* Ulshun Pral
* Cannig Tol (Pran Chole's chieftain)
Notes:
The Imass language could combine several words into one. For example: arasteshabyn contained the words ara-ste-shabyn, and it probably meant something like 'her-we-fear', meaning Rud's mother. (Seemed they did not want to use her name... wisely.) Ev-ent-ara was likely another example.
The Imass did not seem to use 'to be' (much?), leaving it implied in many sentences.
Other theory (contradicts some previous ideas): they do use 'to be', and it goes like this:
* A = I am
* Av = you are
* Ara = they are (not sure)
* Arad = we are
Though it could as easily be 'to have', as in many languages these verbs are used interchanged. Absi'arad means - probably - 'we promised'. So that could work as we are promised, or we have promised. (Or the arad-part could just mean 'we'.)
In reference to a fan question, author Steven Erikson has stated that the "general rule for the insertion of glottal stop apostrophes is that, in Imass language, it confers past-tense".
==Notes and references==
Category:Imass
Category:Languages