Atlantean language

The Atlantean Language is a constructed language created specifically for the film Atlantis: The Lost Empire by linguist Marc Okrand. The language was intended as a possible "mother language." Therefore it was crafted to include a vast Indo-European word stock with its very own grammar, which is at times described as highly agglutinative, inspired in Sumerian and North American languages. The decision of this language being a possible "mother language" was actually one made by the filmmakers, and not Okrand himself, who followed this presumption upon its creation.
==Concept/Origin==
The Atlantean language (Dig Adlantisag) is a historically constructed, artistic language. It is therefore based both on historic reconstructions or realities as well as on the elaborate fantasy/science fiction of the film's mythology. Here are the fictional bases upon which the language was created:
Atlantean is the “Tower of Babel language”, the “root dialect” from which all languages descended. It has existed without change since sometime before 100,000 B.C., within the First or Second Age of Atlantis] until the present. This is when the Mother Crystal (Matag Yob) descended to Earth and brought enlightenment to the Atlantean people. It is preserved by the presence of the Mother Crystal in the same way that the Shepherd's Journal, the City of Atlantis (Wil Adlantisag), the Atlantean people (luden), and especially its royalty (yaseken) are preserved, healed, and given extended blissful life.
To create this, Okrand took common characteristics of all world languages and applied them to the Proto-Indo-European language. His main source of words (roots and stems) for the language is Proto-Indo-European, but he also uses ancient Chinese, Biblical Hebrew, Latin and Greek languages, along with a variety of other ancient languages or ancient language reconstructions.
==Writing Systems==
There are three identified writing systems for Atlantean:
# Writers' Script
# The Atlantean Alphabet
# Reader's Script - AHD-luhn-tihs
They are listed in order of creation. Okrand originally put together the language in Writer's Script. For those many parts in the film for which it was written, the filmmakers wrote it using the Atlantean Alphabet, which was created by artist John Emerson with help from Okrand. For those fewer parts of the film for which it is spoken, Okrand devised a Berlitz-syle notation which he hoped would make the language easier to read for the actors.
Example:
# Spirits of Atlantis, forgive me for defiling your chamber and bringing intruders into the land.
# Nish.en.top Adlantis.ag, Kelob.tem Gabr.in karok.li.mik bet gim demot.tem net getunos.en.tem bernot.li.mik bet kag.ib lewid.yoh.(Okrand's original wouldn't have had periods; these are used for the translation below.)¹
# NEE-shen-toap AHD-luhn-tih-suhg, KEH-loab-tem GAHB-rihn KAH-roak-lih-mihk bet gihm DEH-moat-tem net GEH-tuh-noh-sen-tem behr-NOAT-lih-mihk bet KAH-gihb LEH-wihd-yoakh.
¹ (Spirit.Plural.Vocative Atlantis.Genitive, Chamber.Oblique you-plural-familiar.Genitive defile.Past-Perfect.1st-Person-Singular for and land.Oblique into intruder.Plural.Oblique bring.Past-Perfect.1st-Person-Singular for I-Dative forgive.Imperative-Plural.)
Written boustrophedon, as if in Atlantean alphabet:
NISHENTOP ADLANTISAG KELOBTEM
MIG TEB KIMILKORAK NIRBAG
DEMOTTEM NET GETANOSENTEM
BIGAK TEB KIMILTONREB
LEWIDYOH
===Atlantean Alphabet: Use and Sources===
====Writing Systems Correspondence====
Here is how all of the writing systems correspond to one another. For sake of standardization, they are arranged according a fan-composed alphabet. It is based on the oldest example of Northern Semitic Abecedary as found in the Ugaritic language.
 The Atlantean Alphabet (as used in the film)
Writers Script	a 	b	g	d	e 	w	h 	i 	y	k	l	m	u 	n	o 	p	r	s	sh	t
Readers Script	uh ah	b	g	d	eh e	w	kh	ee ih	y	k	l	m	oo u	n	oa,oh	p	r	s	sh	t
20 letters of the Atlantean alphabet are used to write Atlantean in the film's media. The letters c, f, j, q, v, x, z, ch, or th have likewise been acknowledged by the filmmakers as not being used. They were created so that the language might be used as a simple cipher code. They are all also based on diverse ancient characters, just like the rest of the alphabet.
====Atlantean Alphabet: Use====
There is no punctuation or capitalization in the Atlantean Writing System. These characteristics are based by Okrand on ancient writing systems. The Atlantean Alphabet is written in normal boustrophedon writing order. It is written left to right for the first line, right to left the second, and left to right again the third, to continue the pattern. This order was also suggested by Okrand, based on ancient writing systems, and it was accepted because, as he explained, "It's a back-and-forth movement, like water, so that worked."
===Atlantean Numerals and Numbers===
====Atlantean Numeral System====
Emerson, Okrand, and the filmmakers also created numerals for 0-9. They are stacked horizontally, however, and hold place values of 1, 20, and 400. Their components are based on Mayan numerals and internally composed for the font like Roman numerals. If used according to the now-offline Official Website's directions, they are used, alternatively, like Arabic numerals.
====Atlantean Numbers and Suffixes====
 Cardinal Numbers
Numeral	Atlantean Root	English
1 	din 	one
2 	dut 	two
3 	sey 	three
4 	kut 	four
5 	sha 	five
6 	luk 	six
7 	tos 	seven
8 	ya 	eight
9 	nit 	nine
10 	ehep 	ten
30 	sey dehep 	thirty
Ordinal numbers are formed with the suffix (d)lag: sey 'three', sey.dlag 'third'. The d is omitted if the root ends with an obstruent or nasal stop|nasal consonant: dut 'two', dut.lag 'second'.
Fractions are formed with the suffix (d)lop: kut 'four', kut.lop 'quarter', sha 'five', sha.dlop 'fifth (part)'.
Distributives are formed with the suffix noh: din 'one', din.noh 'one at a time, one each'.
=== Atlantean Measurement Systems ===
For the purposes of guidebook material describing Atlantean vehicle statistics and other cultural concepts such as within Atlantis Subterranean Tours, measurement systems were developed with the intent of conversion into real world Imperial and Metric systems.
Measurements of Length, Weight, Volume and Speed
Atlantean Unit 	Imperial 	Metric
1 Kaytan (ki-TUHN) 	2.76 inches 	7 centimeters
1 Kelim (KEH-lihm) 	2.3 feet 	0.7 meters
1 Winyin (win-YIN) 	243 yards 	222.2 meters
1 Sintah (SIN-tuhkh) 	1.2 ounces 	34 grams
1 Bibih (BEE-bikh) 	1.8 pounds 	0.8 kilograms
1 Nayut (NAH-yut) 	943 pounds 	427.7 kilograms
1 Mok (mohk) 	4.5 cups 	1.1 liters
1 Danden (duhn-DEN) 	6.8 gallons 	25.7 liters
1 Gawen (GAH-wen) 	0.7 bushels 	24.7 liters
1 Wokanos (WOH-kuh-nohs)	0.65 miles per hour	1.04 kilometers per hour
Atlantis's measurement of time differs from our own as a result of its isolation from the surface and the general centuries-old age of its civilization.
Atlantean Measurements of Time
Atlantean Unit 	Surface Equivalent 	Notes
1 Sarab (SAH-ruhb) 	3 minutes 	24 saraben in a kwod
1 Kwod (kwohd) 	1.2 hours 	20 kwoden in an ag (day)
1 Ag (ahg) 	1 day 	
1 Haramek (KHAH-ruh-mukh) 	18 days (Atlantean month)	20 haramaken and a kritapar make up a Yanut or year.
1 Kritapar (KREE-tuh-puhr)	5 days 	Festival period held at the start of a New Year to round out at 365 surface days.
1 Yanut (yuh-NUT) 	1 year 	
==Grammar==
===Sounds===
===Vowels and Diphthongs===
 Chart of Atlantean Vowels
IPA Symbol	Readers Script	Writers Script	Example in IPA	Meaning 	Example in IPA	Meaning
/i, ɪ/ 	ee, ih, i 	i 	ti'kʊdɛ 	to be located	ˈalɪʃ 	child
/e, ɛ/ 	eh, e 	e 	we'sɛr 	marketplace 	 	
/ej/ 	ay 	ey 	ba'dɛɡbej 	best 	 	
/a, ə/ 	ah, uh 	a 	ma'kɪtəɡ 	of the king 	 	
/aj/ 	i 	ay 	kaj'tən 	7 cm 	 	
/o, ɔ/ 	oh, o, oa 	o 	o'bɛs 	lava 	 	
/oj/ 	oy 	oy 	ri'sojba 	squid 	 	
/u, ʊ/ 	oo, u 	u 	ku'nɛt 	surface 	kʊt 	four
Atlantean's phonetic inventory includes a vowel system with the above five phonemes, a system common to many languages, such as Spanish. Most vowels have two prominent allophonic realizations, depending on whether it occurs in a stressed or unstressed syllable. Vowels in stressed syllables tend to be tense, and likewise unstressed ones tend to be more lax. Thus, for example, /i/ is realized as [i] or [ɪ] in stressed and unstressed syllables, respectively. Likewise, /e/ is realized as [e] or [ɛ], and so on. There are three diphthongs.
===Consonants===
 IPA Chart of Atlantean consonants
 	Bilabial 	Alveolar 	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar 	Labiovelar
Plosive 	p   b	t   d	 	 	k   ɡ	
Nasal 	m 	n 	 	 	 	
Fricative 	 	s 	ʃ ¹ 	 	x ² 	
Approximant	 	 	 	j ³ 	 	IPA|w
Trill 	 	r 	 	 	 	
Lateral 	 	l 	 	 	 	
Where symbols occur in pairs, the left represents the voiceless consonant and the right represents the voiced consonant.
¹ Transliterated as sh in Writers Script and Readers Script.² Transliterated as h in Writers Script (bibɪx, inner cover of Subterranean Tours) and "kh" in Readers Script.³ Transliterated as y in Writers Script and Readers Script.
===Phonology===
Aside from the stressed-syllable-based vowel system, the only other example of phonology found in the entire language may be expressed as:
0 -> [m,n] in the context of [i,o/e]_-Person/Aspect Suffix
/bernot-o-ik/
/bernot-o-mik/
[bernot-o-mik]
n -> [k,t] in the context of _ [i,o]
/bernot-e-ik/
/bernot-e-nik/
/bernot-e-kik/
[bernot-e-kik]
===Word Order===
Atlantean has a very strict Subject-Object-Verb word order. There is never any deviation from the pattern. Adjectives and Genitive Nouns go after the nouns which they modify, post-positions go after the nouns or clauses which they modify, and modals go after the verbs which they modify and subsequently take all agglutinative suffixes. However, adverbs go before their verbs. Last of all are the interrogative particles. The given order of all parts of speech and particles is as follows in both an interrogative and declarative statement (a little redundant in order to use the whole sentence):
 Sentence Order
Word 	Example 	English Gloss
Adverbs of Time, Manner, Location 	Log 	What
Time, Manner, Location Adverbial Nouns 	darim 	time
Instrumental Cased Nouns 	shayod.esh 	using.hands
Adverbs 	ser 	just
Adjectives 	gwis.in 	our
Nominative Cased Nouns 	weydagosen 	Visitors
Post-positional Objects/ Oblique Cased Nouns 	keylob.tem 	(in) the chamber
Adjectives 	ta.mil 	royal
Possessive Pronouns 	tug.in 	his
Post-position 	net 	in
Dative/Oblique Cased Nouns 	makit.tem 	The King
Genitive Cased Nouns of Relation 	Adlantis.ag 	of Atlantis
Post-Positions 	gom 	to
Accusative Cased Nouns 	neshing.mok.en.tem	great contrivances
Adverb 	gawid.in 	joyfully
Verb with Modal Verb 	bernot 	to bring
Modal Verb [stem.mood.tense/aspect.person/number] 	bog.o.mkem 	we will be able
Interrogative Particle 	du 	eh? (North Central American English / Canadian English)
Final Explanation 	 	
At what time will we visitors be able to use our very hands to joyfully give our great contrivances to the King of Atlantis in his Royal Chamber?	 	
There are two given variations on the simple sentence order involving sentence connectors, also called connective particles. These are grammatical particles whose particular roles seen here occurs in Native American languages, among other languages. These Atlantean sentence connectors relate two clauses in a logical yet idiomatic manner which produces a complete thought in the same way that the equally complicated English sentence does. English doesn't use sentence connectors in the following ways, however:
 Clause Order 1, Example 1
Clause or Particle 	Example 	English Gloss
Initial Clause 	"Wil.tem neb gamos.e.tot..."	"He sees this city..."
Sentence connector 1 	deg 	(roughly) "for"
Modifying Clause 	duwer.en tirid. 	all foreigners.
Final Explanation 	 	
No outsiders may see the city and live. More literally, " 'He Who Doth the City See...' is meant for ALL foreigners.'	 	
 Clause Order 1, Example 2
Clause or Particle 	Example 	English Gloss
Initial Clause 	Tab.top, lud.en neb.et kwam gesu bog.e.kem	Father, we cannot help these people
Sentence connector 1 	deg 	(roughly) "and yet"
Modifying Clause 	yasek.en gesu.go.ntoh. 	they will help the Royalty.
Final Explanation 	 	
Father, these people may be able to help us. More literally, "Father, we can't help these people and yet they will help us, the King and Princess."	 	
 Clause Order 2
Clause or Particle 	Example 	English Gloss
Descriptive Clause 	Ketak.en.tem obes.ag sapoh.e.kik 	I view the lava whales
Sentence connector 2 	yos 	(roughly) "then"
Action Clause 	lat nar badeg.bey tikud.e.tot dap?	where is the best place?
Final Explanation 	 	
Where is the best place from which to view the lava whales?	 	
===Nouns===
There are seven cases for nouns.
====Grammatical Cases====
 Grammatical Cases
Number	Name 	Suffix 	Example	English Gloss
1 	Nominative 	no suffix	yob 	crystal
2 	Oblique 	-tem 	yobtem 	the crystal give, in the crystal, to the crystal, etc.
3 	Genitive 	-ag 	yobag 	of the crystal
4 	Vocative 	-top ¹ 	Yobtop 	O Crystal!
5 	Instrumental	-esh 	yobesh 	using crystal
6 	Unknown 1 	-kup ² 	yobkup 	(something) crystal
7 	Unknown 2 	-nuh ³ 	yobnuh 	(something) crystal
¹ With the exception of "mat", "mother", which takes the special Maternal Filial Suffix -tim. Note that the only other kinship term, "father", "tab", takes the usual -top.² No translation given. As discussed in "The Shepherd's Journal" on the "Collector's DVD": ketub-kup (page 4) and setub-mok-en-tem (page 10), setub-mok-en-ag (page 5), and setub-kup (pages 1–4).³ No translation given. As discussed in "The Shepherd's Journal" on the "Collector's DVD": derup-tem and derup-nuh (page 5).
====Other Suffixes====
 Other Noun Suffixes
Grammatical Function	Suffix	Example	English Gloss
Plural 	-en 	yoben 	crystals
Augmentative 	-mok 	Yobmok 	The Great Crystal
Nouns are marked as plural with the suffix -en. Case suffixes never precede the -en plural suffix. "-Mok" occurs after it.
===Pronouns===
There are five cases for pronouns.
====Grammatical Cases====
 Grammatical Cases
Number	Name 	Suffix 	Example	English Gloss
1 	Nominative	no suffix	kag 	I
2 	Accusative	-it 	kagit 	me, whom was (sent), etc.
3 	Dative 	-ib 	kagib 	(to) me
4 	Genitive 	-in 	kagin 	my ( my heart, karod kagin)
5 	Unknown 	-is 	kagis 	not translated ¹
¹ No translation given. Appears in "First Mural Text" on the "Collector's DVD": tug-is.
===Verbs===
Verbs are inflected with two suffixes, one for tense/aspect and the next for person/number.
====Tense/Aspect Suffixes====
 Tense/Aspect Suffixes
Number	Name 	Suffix	Example 	English Gloss
1 	Simple Present Tense 	-e 	bernot.e.kik 	I bring
2 	Present Perfect Tense 	-le 	bernot.le.kik	you have brought
3 	Present Obligatory Tense	-se 	bernot.se.kik	I am obliged to bring
4 	Simple Past Tense 	-i 	bernot.i.mik 	I brought
5 	Immediate Past Tense 	-ib 	bernot.ib.mik	I just brought
6 	Past Perfect Tense 	-li 	bernot.li.mik	I had brought
7 	Simple Future Tense 	-o 	bernot.o.mik 	I will bring
8 	Future Possible Tense 	-go 	bernot.go.mik	I may bring
9 	Future Perfect Tense 	-lo 	bernot.lo.mik	I will have brought
10 	Future Obligatory Tense 	-so 	bernot.so.mik	I will be obliged to bring
 Further Examples of Tense/Aspect Suffix Morphology
-e 	sapoh.i.mik (SJ:10) 	I viewed 	sapoh.e.kik (ST) 	I view 	 	 	 	
-le	yube.in/yugeb.le.tot (IS)	strangly/he is being strange	panneb.le.nen (IS) 	you are knowing 	peren.le.mot (DVD:MURAL)	Untranslated.	pasil.le.tot (IS)	it is being sufficient
-se	kaber (SJ:789) 	warn! 	kaber.se.kem 	we are obliged to warn 	 	 	 	
-i 	es.e.tot (ST) 	it is 	es.i.mot (SJ:10) 	it will be 	 	 	 	
-ib	bernot.li.mik (IS) 	I had brought 	bernot.ib.mik (IS) 	I just brought 	 	 	 	
-li	bernot.ib.mik (IS) 	I just brought 	bernot.li.mik (IS) 	I had brought 	 	 	 	
-o 	komtib.lo.nen (SJ:5) 	you will have found 	komtib.o.nen (SJ:5) 	you will find 	 	 	 	
-go	satib.yoh (IS) 	move along! 	satib.go.ntoh (SJ:89)	they may move along 	gesu.go.ntoh (IS) 	they may help	 	
-lo	komtib.o.nen (SJ:5) 	you will find 	komtib.lo.nen (SJ:5) 	you will have found 	 	 	 	
-so	komtib.lo.nen (IS) 	you will have found 	komtib.so.nen (SJ:5) 	you will be obliged to find	 	 	 	
====Mood Suffixes====
 Mood Suffixes
Number	Name 	Suffix 	Example 	English Gloss
1 	Imperative Mood Singular	no suffix	(Tok.it) Bernot! 	Bring (it, you)!
2 	Imperative Mood Plural 	-yoh 	(Tok.it) Bernot.yoh! 	Bring (it, y'all)!
3 	Passive Mood 	-esh 	(Im.tem shib.an) bernot.esh.ib.mik.	I just was brought (something).
4 	Infinitive 	-e 	bernot.e 	to bring
 Further Examples of Mood Suffixes
Number 	Name 	Suffix 	Example 	English Gloss 	Example 	English Gloss 	Example 	English Gloss 	Example 	English Gloss
no suffix	nageb.o.ntoh (SJ:789) 	they will enter 	Nageb.yoh (ST) 	 	Enter, y'all! 	Nageb! 	Enter! 	 	 	
-yoh 	gamos.i.mik (DVD:TRAVEL)	I saw 	Gamos.yoh! (DVD:MURAL)	May ye behold! 	gamos.e (DVD:MURAL) 	to see 	Beket! (ST) 	You're begged! 	Beket.yoh! (ST) 	Y'all are begged!
-esh 	pag.en (ST) 	you (are) thanked (short form)	pag.esh.e.nen (ST) 	you are thanked 	dodl.esh.mik (DVD:MURAL)	Untranslated. 	kobden.en/hobd.esh.e.tot (IS)	command / he has doomed	 	
-e 	wegen.os/wegen.e (IS) 	traveler/to travel 	wegen.os/wegen.e (IS) 	traveler/to travel	gamos.yoh (DVD:MURAL) 	May ye behold!	gamos.e (DVD:MURAL) 	to see 	gobeg.en/gobeg.e	arms/to be an arm
====Person/Number Suffixes====
Person/Number Suffixes
Person	Number 	Familiarity	Independent Pronoun	Suffix	English Gloss
1st 	Singular	- 	kag 	-ik 	I
2nd 	Singular	- 	moh 	-en 	you
3rd 	Singular	- 	tug tuh tok 	-ot 	he she it
1st 	Plural 	- 	gwis 	-kem 	we
2nd 	Plural 	Unfamiliar 	gebr 	-eh 	you-all (unfamiliar)
2nd 	Plural 	Familiar 	gabr 	-eh 	you-all (familiar)
3rd 	Plural 	- 	sob 	-toh 	they
==Trivia==
*In Strange World, a book using the language was last seen at the end of the film.
==External links==
*onlinewebfonts.com: Atlantean V1 Fonts
*Henning's Old Introduction to the Language
* Atlantean alphabet on Omiglot
pt-br:Língua atlante
Category:Atlantis: The Lost Empire