Aquarian
Aquarian (an sheeb weskoyrish, pronounced [æn ʃib wɛs'kɔjrɪʃ] in Aquarian) is an ongoing and developing artlang project first created by Owen Fish in early 2012. After various proto-forms, Aquarian is starting to develop into a usable language for conworld and conculture use. The premise of Aquarian is that it is the main language spoken in the Kingdom of Aquaria (Weskoyrick [wɛsk'ɔjrɪk]) an as-yet undiscovered country.
Orthography
Aquarian is written using the unmodified Latin (English) alphabet without diacritics or variations. This was done to facilitate the language's use for online typing, Twitter, instant messaging and compatibility within all English-language system fonts.
Phonology
Aquarian is designed to be spoken as if it were English; in other words, you would read Aquarian as you would standard English.
Vocabulary and Etymology
The vocabulary and grammar of Aquarian is heavily influenced by the Celtic languages (Cornish, Welsh, Manx, Gaelic) but also by regional English dialects and slang, Yucatan Mayan, Turkish, Japanese and probably a dozen other languages. Being an artlang foremost, a degree of aesthetics and a sing-song cadence to the language was more important than the evidence of development through parent languages etc.
Grammar & Syntax
This is still very much in flux and so I will not be publishing too many details of this until I am happy that the language has matured enough to standardize grammar and syntax. Needless to say, any of the examples I post on this wiki are subject to changes and retconning until things are standardized, stabilized and consistent.
Example Phrases
- Nee chyon qui chintas, araany yas. [ni tʃjon kwi tʃɪn'tæs, ə'rɑnni jæs]
- Not all that glitters is gold.
- Yas an Chey Howell da! [jæs æn tʃe hawl dɑ]
- There is The White House!
- Vas ee a h-iracky heck ans blywnes ugle. [væs i ə hɪræki hɛk æn bljunɛz ugəl]
- She was just reading the old books.
- Chy a h-affy allen Londra, gava? [tʃi ə hæfi ælən lɒndrə, gɑvə]
- We come from London, and you?
- Cha s'a h-affy, besh cha g'a dicky? [tʃɑ sæ hæfi, bɛʃ tʃɑ gɛ dɪki]
- Were I to go, what would I see?
- Chey meen, chey voon yas! [tʃe min, tʃe vun jæs]
- My house, is your house!
- Cas gally yoon yas a h-iracky how, onged surrys! [kæs gæli jun jæs ə hɪræki haw, ɒŋɟæd səris]
- If you can read this, well done!
- An ead qui yas a h-argy teenway say howlick; yas a h-argy leed say faad! [æn id kwi jæs ɘ hɑrɟi tinwe se hawlɪk; jæs ə hɑrɟi lid se fa:d]
- The light which burns twice as brightly; burns half as long!
Other Texts & Translations
- The Lord's Prayer - Palleth an Aytrar
- UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
- Article 1. - All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
- SHENDLER POBRISH AN ADDERKES DOWNISH
- Ambeth 1. - Pob renges downish yash suntys mandlick ga ezzick dhe hayseth g'adderkes. Yash waddlys veck ribenneth ga budhi, g'errash m'a andry the meedh an frowred la'n yan an yanareth.
Arlon an Haughari
- The Ring Poem from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
- Tether Haugh ben ans Ereffhoyes foy'n indra,
- Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
- Lether ben ans Nannagarlonnes dhe'n rentres argeous heem,
- Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
- Danver ben Downes Nenhonty, dammys a honto,
- Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
- Yan ben an Arlon Tudor ar ilden tudle heen
- One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
- Dhe Teer Mordar ry yash a yally an Cheas.
- In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
- Yan Haugh ben a curallo dhem pob, yan Haugh ben a rasto dhem,
- One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
- Yan Haugh ben a hecarro dhem pob, ga dhe'n tudor a cacho dhem
- One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
- Dhe Teer Mordar ry yash a yally an Cheas.
- In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
The North Wind and the Sun
- Am Fenge Lindrar ga'n Cundal
- Vashetto a hentenny am Fenge Lindrar ga'n Cundal, pry dar vas mas gorky, quan vas a h-affy tiester soth, lappys adhens cloggan pooth. Vashetto hem a h-ontenny, qui keegan yanway vas a jeghy a fraddo an tiester a banro cloggan heen, erras sa frangys mas gorky na'n yanareth. Noon vas a zerby am Fenge Lindrar marson carsh say modnick, madge dha mas vasetto a zerby, dhu mas creeb vas a lingy an tiester timple'n; G'a-larmo, vas a rusky am Fenge Lindrar am praffle. Noon vas a chinty an Cundal tomber, g'a-yanway vas a banry an tiester cloggan heen. Argo, vasetto a frody am Fenge Lindrar a h-adho qui vas an Cundal mas gorky eddr'an teen.
- The North Wind and the Sun
- The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveler came along wrapped in a warm cloak. They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveler take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other. Then the North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew the more closely did the traveler fold his cloak around him; and at last the North Wind gave up the attempt. Then the Sun shined out warmly, and immediately the traveler took off his cloak. And so the North Wind was obliged to confess that the Sun was the stronger of the two.
Am berdickavol yennial yn Lena dhe’n Weskoyrick
Lena's first visit to The Kingdom of Aquaria is a series of everyday dialogs Lena has with various people she meets on her travels through the land.
- At the store: Lena wants to buy some bread-rolls.
- A’n yennchey: Yas Lena a madry ben yans scrannettes a yenno.
- Lena: "Good morning! Can you help me?"
- Clerk: “Certainly! How can I help you?"
- Lena: "I need to buy some bread-rolls. Do you have any?"
- Clerk: "Yes, we have fresh bread today. How many rolls would you like?"
- Lena: "Give me eight, please. That should be enough."
- Clerk: "We also have cakes from England today. Would you like to try one?"
- Lena: "Oh, no thank you! But I would like some milk please!"
- Clerk: "Of course. That comes to seven dollars."
- Lena: "Here you go..." (she gives ten dollars to the clerk)
- Clerk: "From ten dollars... here is three dollars in change!"
- Lena: "Thank you! Goodbye!"
- Clerk: "Please come again!"
- Lena: "Keenrath lush! O galleth moy a surrongo?"
- Surronger: "Benser! Sar cha my a gally voon a surrongo?"
- Lena: “Ann my’n bezar ben scrannettes a yenno. O ayth yans?"
- Surronger: "Aye, amm scran zadge keenow. Ketch scrannettes yeth a madry?"
- Lena: "Yeldeth la moy catra. Erras ya dusty."
- Surronger: "Amm keenow haffa, gattnes gowanathick. Yeth a madry ben yan a praffo?"
- Lena: "Aa, heen ocrent! Madge cha my a madry yans moodge, ocrand!"
- Surronger: "Ayyo. Erras ya bleherren lether dollar."
- Lena: "Hemmen ya..." (yas a yeldy edge dollar la’n surronger)
- Surronger: "Allen edge dollar... hemmen ya tether dollar say chinker!"
- Lena: "Ocrent harker! Mirronged!"
- Surronger: "Ocrand, ataraveth yo benser!"
