Tuesday, 10 December 2019

A Fictional Language II

See A Fictional Language.

I know that some people are elaborating Klingon (see image) so maybe they are way ahead of us here. Let me just try to demonstrate some more of Alan Moore's ingenuity.

p. 14, panel 4
Alanna: D-duss maol olt? Fao Adam AEL? (How is he? Will Adam be well?)

Sardath: Sa. Adam fao ael. Qu dral ol VIER, tertel bu. (Yes. Adam will be well. You can see him...)

p. 14, panel 5
Alanna: Iu, Sardath-cho, Ba ONAMAO qu! (Oh, Sardath. I love you!)
Sardath: Ba onamao QU emsec, Alanna. (I love you too, Alanna.)

p. 15, panel 1
Alanna: ADAM! Iu, onamaol bu... (Adam! Oh, love they...)

p. 15, panel 3
Alanna: Qu fao zon ililoc huls CHECHEDOR Rann, di tomta ILIOCTIBANI. Olf fao doh rette RANN leps THANAGAR. (You will be able to talk to the new Ambassadors to Rann, during the Conference/negotiations. They will (or have?) come to Rann from Thanagar.)

p. 15, panel 4 
Adam Strange: THANAGAR? THOM KATAR HOL? (Thanagar? Not Katar Hol?)

Alanna: Tho. Thom KATAR HOL ool SHAYERA. Olf fao HAKKESTRANG! (No. Not Katar Hol or Shayera. They are (will be?) Hawkpeople!)

p. 16, panel 1
Keela Roo: Ael, Sardath-chat. Ol wa ililoc THANAGARRU wo? <... (It is well, Sardath. Should we speak Thanagarru?) (Her Thanagarru is represented by < and by similar signs which are not on my keyboard.)

p. 16, panel 2
Sardath: ADAM-CHI! Ol fa aeli qu fao ael! Olf fao KEELA ROO ep SCIRA EK, checheder leps THANAGAR... (Adam! It is good that you are well! These are Keela Roo and Scira Ek, ambassadors from Thanagar...)
Keela Roo: < etc.

p. 16, panel 3
Keela Roo: ...absorbacon-linked translator should simplify the discussions.
(She holds a glowing pyramid which emits the sound "Veep" as it makes everyone present understand everyone else's speech.)

p. 17, panels 5-6
Adam Strange, speaking while running beyond the range of the absorbascon: Yes, yes. It's okay. I know... "It's a dirty job... (VEEP!) ...claab APOCHAN masraut fao ol!" (Give it to the ape man.) (Or something like that.)

p. 28, panel 2
Adam Strange: Lam TALSA, Keela Roo. Qu glispi SARN. (Good morning, Keela Roo. You look "sarn.")
Keela Roo: Lam Talsa, Adam Strange. Bas Hakkestrange ETHMET glispi sarn. (Good morning, Adam Strange. But Hawkpeople always look "sarn.")

p. 28, panel 3
Keela Roo: Ba murrn ililocta-unulacon bu... (VEEP)... so that we may talk more easily.

p. 34, panel 3
Alanna: ADAM? Voryegger ilioc INGLISH? (Adam? The monster speaks English?)
Adam Strange: Uh, tra. Ol utu "SMALSH-YEGGER," aps URTH. (Uh, yes. He was "Swamp Thing" on Earth.

p. 35, panel 6
Alanna: ADAM? Duss ililoc qu ap Smalsh-Yegger? (Adam? What are you talking about with Swamp Thing?)

p. 36, panel 1
Adam Strange: Ep URTH, epo GOTHAMAGAR, Smalsh-Yegger faor lurshastrang. Fao ol lurshastrang ep RANN? (On Earth, in Gotham City, Swamp Thing made vegetation. Will he make vegetation on Rann?)

p. 36, panel 2 
Alanna: Mamoon. Iu, Smalsh-Yegger, MAMOON. (Please. Oh, Swamp Thing, please.)

I am starting to decipher more but enough is enough. One sentence of Planha in Poul Anderson's "Lodestar" has made me revisit and re-appreciate Alan Moore's Rannian dialogue.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And I wonder how a professional linguist and philologist like Tolkien would have regarded Alan Moore's invented language? He certainly would have exacting and demanding standards as Tolkien evaluated Moore's work!

Ad astra! Sean