User:Dokkoida/sandbox
| Zandalari | |
|---|---|
| Troll | |
| Zandalari | |
| Created by | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Date | 2005 |
| Setting and usage | Video Game |
| Ethnicity | Trolls |
| Purpose | imaginary / virtual language
|
| Sources | Jamaican Creole |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Sen'Jin |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
Zandali, also known as Troll, is the native language of trolls. All Trolls in World of Warcraft live in the fictional world Azeroth and are able to speak Zandali, which is based on their ancestral tongue. Some Trolls have descended so far into barbarism that they have forgotten to use it. To be able to talk to other races of the Horde in Azeroth, many Trolls started to use Low Common as their mother tongue. The name Zandali is based on the Isle of Zandalar, which is the native country for the Trolls.
Background Information[edit]
With World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment has made a very successful attempt to create a world which is virtual and therefore fictional. These types of worlds, so called Secondary / Virtual Worlds, enable the recipients the following:
- to be part of an almost living, constantly changing (virtual) world,
- to be able to customize their own character (also known as an avatar),
- to solve riddles or quests and
- to interact socially with other people worldwide.
These types of games are called: MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). But not only the interaction with other (human) players or non-human players (Non-player characters) is one key factor of MMORPGs; the virtual world has to be authentic and represent a coherent and real world to a certain degree. The better and the more realistic this representation is, the more it will be accepted by the player base.
For the Trolls in World of Warcraft, the designers of Blizzard Entertainment "borrowed" a lot from Jamaica of our real world. Not only the island, where the Trolls are living, with its palm trees, white sand beaches and blue lagoons, is based on Jamaica. Even the mother tongue of the Trolls is influenced by a real world role model: Jamaican Patois, also known as Jamaican Creole.
Phonology[edit]
Consonants[edit]
Accounts of basilectal Jamaican Patois postulate around 21 phonemic consonants[1] and between 9 and 16 vowels.[2]
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ1 | ŋ1 | ||
| Stop | p b | t d | tʃ2 dʒ2 | c3 ɟ | k ɡ | |
| Fricative | f v | s z4 | ʃ | (h) | ||
| Approximant | ɹ | j | w | |||
| Lateral | l |
In comparison the consonants of Zandali.
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Stop | p b | t d | c | k ɡ | ||
| Fricative | f | s z | (h) | |||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||
| Lateral | l |
- Consonant /ɲ/ and /ŋ/ do not exist in Zandali and will be replaced by /n/.
- Consonants /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ do not exist in Zandali. They will be replaced by /ts/.
- Consonant /c/ will be replaced by /k/ or /s/, depending on the word. /ɟ/ does not exist in Zandali.
- Consonant /z/ is only used as the plural-s.
Other phonetic distinctions or similarities:
- /ð/ and /θ/ do not exist and will be replace with /d/ or /t/
- Examples:
- think = /θɪŋk/ turns into /tɪnk/
- them = /ðem/ turns into /dem/
- Zandali is a non-rhotic dialect, which means that the /r/ after vowels is dropped, like in British RP or Australian English.
- Zandali has no dark-l /ɫ/, instead the /ɫ/ is replaced by /l/.
- The status of /h/ as a phoneme is different to the one of Jamaican Patois: There are no Western varieties like /hiit/ 'hit' and /iit/ 'eat'. Zandali is closer to Eastern varieties of Jamaican Patois, where the presence of /h/ in a word is in free variation with no consonant. The result is that the words for 'hand' and 'and' (/an/) may be pronounced /han/ or /an/.
- The usage of voiced stops in Zandali is the same, as it is for voiced stops in Jamaican Patois:
Vowels[edit]
Zandali exhibits, as Jamaican Patois, two different types of vowel harmony:
- Peripheral vowel harmony: sequences of peripheral vowels /i/, /u/, and /a/) can occur within a syllable.
- Back harmony: /i/ and /u/ cannot occur within a syllable together.
- Exception: /uu/ and /ii/ are allowed but /ui/ and /iu/ are not).
The following tables will show some of the vowel-shifts which are very common in Zandali. All examples are based on the phonetic transcriptions of words used in British RP.
/a/-Sounds[edit]
| Vowel | RP | Zandali | |
|---|---|---|---|
| /ɔː/ | /wɔːk/ | /wak/ | walk |
| /ɒ/ | /wɒt/ | /wat/ | what |
| /æ/ | /cæt/ | /kat/ | cat |
| /eɪ/ | /feɪs/ | /fes/ | face |
| /a:/ | /fa:ðə/ | /fada/ | father |
| /eɪ/ | /deɪ/ | /deɪ/ | day |
| /a:/ | /la:f/ | /faf/ | laugh |
/e/-Sounds[edit]
| Vowel | RP | Zandali | |
|---|---|---|---|
| /e/ | /get/ | /get/ | get |
| /ɜ:/ | /sɜ:v/ | /sev/ | serve |
| /ɪ/ | /prɪti/ | /prɪti/ | pretty |
| /i:/ | /ti:/ | /tii/ | tea |
| /e/ | /bred/ | /bred/ | bread |
| /ɪə/ | /nɪə/ | /nɪa/ | near |
| /a:/ | /ha:t/ | /haat/ | heart |
| /eɪ/ | /heɪ/ | /heɪ/ | hey |
| /ɪə/ | /bɪə/ | /bɪa/ | beer |
/i/-Sounds[edit]
| Vowel | RP | Zandali | |
|---|---|---|---|
| /ɪ/ | /bɪt/ | /bɪt/ | bit |
| /aɪ/ | /faɪə/ | /faɪa/ | fire |
| /i:/ | /bi:n/ | /bɪn/ | been |
| /aɪ/ | /taɪ/ | /taɪ/ | tie |
/o/-Sounds[edit]
| Vowel | RP | Zandali | |
|---|---|---|---|
| /ɒ/ | /lɒt/ | /at/ | lot |
| /əʊ/ | /nəʊz/ | /nos/ | nose |
| /ʌ/ | /kʌm/ | /kam/ | come |
| /u:/ | /mu:v/ | /muuv/ | move |
| /ʊ/ | /wʊmən/ | /wuman/ | woman |
| /əʊ/ | /rəʊd/ | /rud/ | road |
| /oʊ/ | /toʊ/ | /to/ | toe |
| /ɔɪ/ | /bɔɪ/ | /boɪ/ | boy |
| /əʊ/ | /səʊl/ | /sol/ | soul |
| /u:/ | /mu:n/ | /muun/ | moon |
/u/-Sounds[edit]
| Vowel | RP | Zandali | |
|---|---|---|---|
| /ʌ/ | /kʌp/ | /kap/ | cup |
| /ju:/ | /ju:/ | /ju/ | you |
| /u:/ | /fru:t/ | /fruut/ | fruit |
| /u:/ | /blu:/ | /bluu/ | blue |
Grammar[edit]
Tenses[edit]
The tense and aspect system of Zandali is similar to the one of Jamaican Patois. In Zandali, there are basically no morphological marked past tense forms corresponding to the English -ed and -t. There are three preverbial particles: "wen", "gon" and "stei". These preverbial particles are no verbs. Like the infinitive in the English language "to be", they cannot stand alone.
- Usage:
- The form of the verb remains unchanged.
- Example: "to walk": "walk", "walking", "walked" in [[English] is just "wak" in Zandali.
- "wen" = "-ed" form or "did". Past Tense
- "gon" = "will". Future (going to and will)
- "stei" = "is __ -ing". Progressive
- Examples:
| Zandali | English | Tense |
|---|---|---|
| /Hi wak/ | /He walks/ | Simple Present |
| /Hi wen wak/ | /He walked/ | Simple Past |
| /Hi gon wak/ | /He will/ is going to walk/ | Future I Simple |
| /Hi stei wak/ | /He is walking/ | Present Progressive |
| /Hi wen stei wak/ | /He was walking/ | Past Progressive |
| /Hi gon stei wak/ | /He will be walking/ | Future I Progressive |
- The auxiliary verb "to have" does not exists in Zandali and as result of that, there are no forms of Perfect tenses (i.e. Present Perfect Progressive).
Pronominal system[edit]
Instead of the four-way distinction of person, number, gender and case, as the pronominal system of Standard English, Zandali does not have the gender or case distinction. There isn't even a distinction between the singular or plural version of "you".
- I, me =/ai/ / /mi/
- you, you (singular) = /ju/
- he, him = /im/
- she, her = /im/
- we, us = /wi/
- you (plural) = /ju/
- they, them = /dem/
The indefinite article "a" and "an"[edit]
The indefinite article "a" / "an" does not exists in Zandali.
Drop of the preposition "to"[edit]
- Usage of "to" for describing a location
- Example: /Ai wak Ogrima/ = I walk to Ogrimmar. (Capitol of the Horde in Azeroth)
- "to" + Infintive
- The "to" is replaced by /fo/ = "for"
- Example: /wan fo du / = "want to do"
- To talk about a reason, just drop "to" and use a comma:
- Example: /Ai niid fo wak Ogrema, get kwest/ = "I need to go to Ogrimmar to get the quest".
- The only place "to" exists is in /yustu/ = "used to".
Negation[edit]
- /no/,/nat/ and /nomo/ are used as present tense negators with different functions:
- /no/ is used to negating a verb.
- Example: /Ai no stei Ogrema/ = "I' not in Ogrimmar"
- /nat/ is used to negating an adjective or noun
- Example: /Da trolls nat bed/ = "The trolls aren't bad"
- /nomo/ is used to negate "there is" / "there are"
- Example: /Nomo pigz in da faam/ = "No pigs at the farm"
- /neva/ is a negative past participle.[4]
- Example: /Ai neva wak ogrema/ = "I did not walk to Ogrimmar"
Orthography[edit]
Zandali is a fictional language highly influenced by Jamaican Patois. The language only exists during spoken cut scenes of the MMORPG World of Warcraft or in written form as quest texts. Therefore, it is a non-standard language and there is no official way of writing it.
See also[edit]
- African American Vernacular English
- English-based creole languages
- Haitian Creole
- Jamaican English
- Rastafarian vocabulary
References[edit]
- ^ a b Devonish & Harry (2004:456)
- ^ Harry (2006:127)
- ^ Harry (2006:126–127)
- ^ Irvine (2004:43–44)
Bibliography[edit]
- Alleyne, Mervyn C. (1980). Comparative Afro-American: An Historical Comparative Study of English-based Afro-American Dialects of the New World. Koroma.
- Bailey, Beryl, L (1966). Jamaican Creole Syntax. Cambridge UP.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Cassidy, Frederic (1971). Jamaica Talk: Three Hundred Years of English Language in Jamaica. London: MacMillan Caribbean.
- Cassidy, Frederic; Le Page, R. B. (1980). Dictionary of Jamaican English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- DeCamp, David (1961), "Social and geographic factors in Jamaican dialects", in Le Page, R. B. (ed.), Creole Language Studies, London: Macmillan, pp. 61–84
- DeCamp, David (1977), "The Development of Pidgin and Creole Studies", in Valdman, A (ed.), Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, Bloomington: Indiana University Press
- Devonish, H; Harry, Otelamate G. (2004), "Jamaican phonology", in Kortman, B; Shneider E. W. (eds.), A Handbook of Varieties of English, phonology, vol. 1, Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, pp. 441–471
- Gibson, Kean (1988), "The Habitual Category in Guyanese and Jamaican Creoles", American Speech, 63 (3): 195–202, doi:10.2307/454817
- Gordon, Raymond G. Jr. (2005). "Languages of Jamaica". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (online fifteenth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
- Hancock, Ian (1985), "More on Poppy Show", American Speech, 60 (2): 189–192, doi:10.2307/455318
- Harry, Otelemate G. (2006), "Jamaican Creole", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (1): 125–131, doi:10.1017/S002510030600243X
- Ramazani, Jahan; Ellmann, and Robert O'Clair, eds., Richard (2003.). The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, Third Edition. Vol. 2: Contemporary Poetry. Norton. ISBN 0-393-97792-7,.
{{cite book}}:|last2=has generic name (help); Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Irvine, Alison (2004), "A Good Command of the English Language: Phonological Variation in the Jamaican Acrolect", Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 19 (1): 41–76, doi:10.1075/jpcl.19.1.03irv
- Lawton, David (1984), "Grammar of the English-Based Jamaican Proverb", American Speech, 2: 123–130, doi:10.2307/455246
- Meade, R.R. (2001). Acquisition of Jamaican Phonology. Dordrecht: Holland Institute of Linguistics.
- Patrick, Peter L. (1995), "Recent Jamaican Words in Sociolinguistic Context", American Speech, 70 (3): 227–264, doi:10.2307/455899
- Patrick, Peter L. (1999). Urban Jamaican Creole: Variation in the Mesolect. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins.
- Rickford, John R. (1987). Dimensions of a Creole Continuum: History, Texts, Linguistic Analysis of Guyanese. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Winford, Donald (1985), "The Syntax of Fi Complements in Caribbean English Creole", Language, 61 (3): 588–624, doi:10.2307/414387
- Kneale, J. (2003), Secondary Worlds – Reading novels as geographical research, Edward Arnold (Publishers) Limited, pp. 39–51
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- Conley, T. (2006), Cartographic cinema, University of Minnesota Press
External links[edit]
- Speak Jamaican
- The Jamaican Language Unit
- Wiwords.com A cross-referencing West Indian dictionary with substantial Jamaican content
- Langwij Jumieka Bilingual Jamaican/English website utilizing phonetic Cassidy-LePage orthography with history, grammar, idioms, dictionary, translations
- Jamaican Patois phrase list
- WoWWiki
- Official World of Warcraft Homepage (EU)
- Official World of Warcraft Homepage (US)
- Cinematic Trailer: Rise of the Zandalari