Language of the Sorrows

The language of the Sorrows was a devolved pidgin of Spanish and English spoken by members of the Sorrows tribe. It evolved in isolation in Zion Canyon, where the progenitors of the tribe arrived as child refugees from a place called "The School".Year: 2123Morning Glory cave terminal entries; Terminal, Year 2123.White Bird: ", outsider. Welcome, child of omens. You come to receive visions of truth?"(White Bird's dialogue)Question: "How did the Sorrows manage to forget how to speak and read English and all the knowledge and stories gleaned from the Survivalist's gifts in less than two hundred years?"Joshua Graham: "The Survivalist's notes may give an incorrect picture of how much English the Sorrows knew when he initially made contact. Even by that point, they were speaking a devolved pidgin language and many of them could not read."Joshua Saywer Formspring post May 19, 2011 (Archive)Question: "Trate de preguntar en español? OK. ¿Qué idioma es el idioma de los Dead Horses basada en? La idioma de los Sorrows se basada en español, por supuesto. Pero no puedo entender qué idioma de los Dead Horses se basada en." (English translation: "Can I try to ask in Spanish? OK. What language is the language of the Dead Horses based on? The Sorrows' language is based on Spanish, of course. But I can't understand what language the Dead Horses is based on."Joshua Sawyer: "El idioma de los Dead Horses se basada en alemán, inglés, y navajo, pero la morfología del navajo es irreconocible." (English translation: "The Dead Horses language is based on German, English, and Navajo, but Navajo morphology is unrecognizable."Joshua Sawyer Spring.meQuestion: "Is It correct that the tribals are descended from vacationers at the time of the Great War? I swear I hear a little German in the Dead Horses and Spanish in the Sorrows, but I also hear another language(s) mixed in and spoken by either tribe as well."Joshua Sawyer: "Yes. Joshua Graham explains that they speak languages from a place he calls "Res" mixed with languages from people who were vacationing in Utah."(Joshua Sawyer Formspring post 19 May 11) This article lists phrases spoken by members and their translations.
==Normal conversation==
Phrase 	Pronunciation 	Translation 	Circumstance
Holadu, Tsagasee. 	oh-LAH-doo, Sah-GAH-see 	Hello, outsider 	Greeting
Holadu, Na'ne. 	oh-LAH-doo, Nah-NAY 	Hello, person 	
Katu Veo. Nayoo? 	KAH-too Bee-oo. Nah-YOO? 	I sense you. What's up? 	
Deha ruido! 	DAY-ha roo-WE-do 	Stop such noise! 	Player fires weapon
No discarge armoos! 	no dis-CAR-gay AR-moose 	Do not fire weapons! 	
Me no heranu a katu. 	may no err-RA-hu ah KAH-tu 	I have not harmed you. 	Player aims at tribal
Baje ka armoo. 	BAH-jay KAH AR-moo 	Lower your weapon. 	
Ke cosa estee-na? 	Kay KO-sa ES-tee nah? 	What is that thing? 	Player lays mine
Por ke katu pongwa estee?	Por kay KAH-tu PONE-gwaa ES-tee	Why are you putting there?	
Coriendoo! 	cor-ee-EN-doo 	Run! 	Player throws grenade
Grenahoo! 	gra-NAH-hoo! 	Grenade! 	
Grasas, na'ne. 	GRAH-sahs nah-NAY 	Thank you, friend. 	Thanks
==Combat==
Phrase 	Pronunciation 	Translation 	Circumstance
Paz patasooba. 	PAHZ pah-tah-soo-ba 	In peace, go 	Accepts yield
Ayud me! 	AY-ood may 	Help me! 	Attacked
Wa golpe me! 	Wah GOAL-peh may 	I've been hit! 	
Wa ataco me! 	Wah ah-tah-CO may! 	I've been attacked! 	
Akee! 	AH-kee! 	Here! 	Attacks
Tunnoo estee! 	too-noo ES-tee! 	Take this! 	
Uweka muerna! 	oo-WAY-kah moo-WEAR-nah! 	Fall down and die! 	
Cuidaloo! 	kwee-DAH-loo! 	Look out! 	Avoids threat
Katu mirana! 	KAH-too meer-AH-nah 	Watch out! 	
Nona! Ud muerna! 	NO-na! OOHD[rhymes with "dude"] moo-WEAR-nah!	Oh no! He's dead! 	Reaction to death
Ud matanna mes! 	OOHD[rhymes with "dude"] mah-TAH-na mays! 	He's killing us! 	
Infiernoo akee! 	en-fee-AIR-noo AH-kee! 	Fire in the hole! 	Throws explosive
Tunno granahoo! 	TOO-noo grah-NAH-hoo 	Take this grenade! 	
No matanna me! 	no mah-TAH-na may 	Don't kill me! 	Flees
Me no kaade muerna! 	may no KAH-day moo-WEAR-nah! 	I don't want to die! 	
Me no kaade akee! 	may no KAH-day AH-kee 	I'm out of here! 	
Katu no kaade akee. 	KAH-too no KAH-day AH-kee 	You aren't wanted here. 	Player trespasses
Mueba, Tsagasee. 	moo-AY-bah, Sah-GAH-see 	Move along, outsider. 	
Katu matanna ud! 	KAH-too mah-TAH-na OOHD[rhymes with "dude" 	You killed him! 	Player killed a friendly NPC
Asekene! 	ah-seh-KEY-nay! 	Murderer! 	
Nona! Asekenoo-na! 	NO-nah! Ah-seh-KEY-noo-na! 	Oh no! A murder! 	
Powee desafortuba... 	poe-ee day-sa-for-TOO-b 	Such misfortune 	Player killed another NPC, but wasn't registered as a criminal
Wa no beunu por katus. 	Wah no BWAY-noo por KAH-toos 	It's not good for them. 	
Wa muerna yegwi cuado wa kaade.	Wah moo-WEAR-nah YAY-gwee QUA-do wa KAH-day 	Death comes when it wants. 	
Ponedo lawatba! 	poh-NEE-do la-WAHT-ba! 	Rotten thief! 	Player caught stealing
Katu! Pongwa de nuevu! 	KAH-too! PONE-gwaa day noo-AY-bu 	You, put that back! 	
Wa desafortuba yegwi a lawatba.	Wah day-sa-for-TOO-ba YAY-gwee ah la-WAHT-ba!	Misfortune comes to a thief.	
==Detection==
Phrase 	Pronunciation 	Translation 	Circumstance
Ke estee-na? 	Kay ES-tee nah? 	What was that? 	Idle, alert
Me escuchu algue-na? 	may es-COO-choo AHL-gay-na 	Did I hear something? 	
Ke ruido estee-na? 	kay roo-WE-do ES-tee-na 	What's that noise? 	
Ayee katu! 	ay-YEE KAH-too 	There you are! 	Alert to combat
Me sabaloo estee! 	may sa-BA-loo ES-tee 	I knew it! 	
Holadu! 	ho-LAH-doo 	Hello! 	
Me suenoo-na? 	may soo-WAY-noo-na 	Did I imagine that? 	Alert to normal
Wa nana, me supongoo. 	wah NAH-na, may su-PON-goo. 	I guess it was nothing. 	
Escuchu nana, me supongoo. 	es-COO-choo NAH-na, may su-PON-goo. 	I guess I'm hearing things. 	
Adone patasooba? 	ah-DOE-nay pa-ta-SOO-ba 	Where did you go? 	Lost track of target
Katu veo e luchoo! 	KAH-too BAY-oh ee LOO-choo 	Show yourself and fight! 	
Cobar'e! Deha coriendoo! 	ko-BAR-ee! DAY-hah cor-ee-EN-doo! 	Coward! Stop running! 	
Si, coriendoo! 	see, cor-ee-EN-doo! 	That's right, run away. 	Combat to normal
Cobar'e. Wa fortuba me no matanna katu.	ko-BAR-ee. Wah for-TOO-ba may no ma-TAH-na KAH-tu	Coward. Lucky I didn't kill you.	
Si, me meja ke katu. 	see, may MAY-ja kay KAH-tu 	Yes, I'm better than you. 	
Katu no n'veo de me! 	KAH-tu no nih-BAY-oh day may 	You can't hide from me. 	Lost target, idle
Me olfale katu! 	may ol-FA-lay KAH-tu 	I can smell you... 	
Me val a discube katu. 	may BAHL ah dis-COO-bay KAH-tu 	I will find you. 	
Discube katu! 	dis-COO-bay KAH-tu 	Found you! 	Lost to combat
Akee yegwi! 	AH-kee YAY-gwee! 	Here it comes! 	
Estee val a duela a katu! 	ES-tee bahl ah doo-WAY-la ah KAH-tu 	This will hurt you! 	
Baste veoo. Uds pasane. 	BAH-stay BAY-oo. oods pa-SAH-nay 	Enough looking. They're gone. 	Lost to normal behaviour
Me perdilo a uds. 	may per-DEE-lo ah oods 	I lost them. 	
Wa atendu? Uds pasane. 	wa ah-TEN-doo? oods pa-SAH-nay 	Who cares? They're gone. 	
Wa algues ayee? 	wa AHL-gays ay-YEE 	Is someone there? 	Normal to alert behaviour
Ke estee-na? 	Kay ES-tee nah? 	What was that? 	
Uweka duerme! 	oo-WAY-ka doo-WEAR-may 	Go to sleep now! 	Normal to combat
Muerna yegwi a katu! 	moo-WEAR-nah YAY-gwee ah KAH-tu 	Death comes for you! 	
Me ka asekene! 	may kah ah-seh-KEY-nay! 	I am your killer! 	
Momewi de luchoo! 	mo-MAY-we day LOO-choo 	Time to fight! 	Starts combat
Mes luchoo ahorla! 	mays LOO-choo ah-OR-la 	We fight now! 	
Me derote katu! 	may duh-ROW-tay KAH-tu 	I will defeat you! 	
==Miscellaneous==
Phrase 	Pronunciation 	Translation 	Circumstance
Estee no luchoo mela! 	ES-tee no LOO-choo MAY-la 	That's not my fight 	Observes combat
Me no kaade partu estee.	may no KAH-day PAR-too ES-tee	I want no part of that.	
==Behind the scenes==
* Fallout: New Vegas project director Joshua Sawyer explained what the Sorrows' language is based on and its history.
* The pidgin languages used by the tribal groups in Zion was actually done in an effort to cut costs, so that many of their voice lines wouldn't need to be localized.Joshua Sawyer on Something Awful forums: "Even the pidgin languages the tribes speak in Honest Hearts were just an attempt to keep costs down. All of the DLCs feature very few speaking characters because Fallout games have localized text and VO. That includes background characters and their reactive barks, so we made pidgin languages for the tribes so they wouldn't need to be re-recorded. Of course, the tribes were also supposed to be multi-ethnic, so you'd see white Dead Horses, black Dead Horses, etc. And again, Daniel was supposed to be Asian. It was incredibly frustrating to get halfway through production only to discover that making ethnic variants for every tribe would completely blow the already limited in-game memory limit. It wasn't a problem of 'Ah, this will take more work,' but, 'The game will crash as soon as this area loads.' "
==References==
Non-game
Category:Sorrows
Category:Post-War languages