Atlantean language / Atlan

Started by Ftxavanga Txe′lan, July 26, 2011, 04:56:53 PM

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Ftxavanga Txe′lan

Here's something that I found interesting and wanted to share with you guys. :) I thought maybe there were other fans of myths, archaic languages, mysteries and speculations here. ;D



I'm currently reading a book about the mysteries of Atlantis, and it really got me interested in the matter of this ancient continent believed by some to have existed around 8,000-10,000 B.C., to have been destroyed by water and fire, and to have sank undersea with most of its population.

The book (Atlantis: From Legend to Discovery by Andrew Tomas) was written in 1969, so it is highly outdated - but what I understood from it so far is that Atlantis is still considered a myth by certain people, whereas others claim to detain many evidences demonstrating that it did exist and disappear under water. The book in question gives many, many impressive arguments which hardly leave any room to doubt as to the veracity of Atlantis' existence. And I can't help thinking that if we already detained such an important amount of proofs in the first half of the twentieth century, our knowledge on the matter must be very developed today.

Since I'm highly interested in languages and find Atlantis deeply fascinating, I began a little research on a possible language having been used by the people of Atlantis. Of course, since the existence of the continent alone is doubted, the existence of a true and tangible language in this context seems improbable and eccentric. However, when searching among websites, I found interesting informations and passages hinting to a true and concrete Atlantean language, named Atlan by some people.

"REAL" ATLANTEAN LANGUAGE

The description Gram Mabey makes of Atlan demonstrates, or at least hints at the fact, that such a language is practically learnable, developed and certainly real. Mabey gives a brief account of the verbs, adjectives and nouns of Atlan, among many other tangible informations, on his website. He states that his "source" gave him "his or her own compilation of the story of the Atlantean Empire, along with copious descriptions of the languages of the area and various original documents, reproduced in the original Atlantean with an English translation". This implies the existence of real physical material providing information on the Atlantean language. Apparently, Mabey says, this same source "was given some help with reading the work by an old man who lived in the area where the excavations of Atlantis were taking place".

Quote from: Gram MabeyWe assume that the fall of Atlantis was indeed about 15000 years ago, as our source says, that is, about 13000 BC (or perhaps more recent, as the whole world our writer describes is different to ours in as much as in it, Atlantis is being excavated in North Africa, whereas that is not the case in our actual contemporary world). Whatever the dates, it is inconceivable that this man himself could have survived from that earlier era, but he may be a descendant of a group of Atlanteans who survived the earthquakes and shifting of the earth's crust, as our source describes it, and ended up in North Africa, along with the ruins of their civilisation. Is it possible that knowledge of the language was passed down generation by generation for millennia till it reached this old man living near the modern excavation site?

R. Cedric Leonard, for his part, also acknowledges the existence of a real language from the lost continent of Atlanta, or at least remnants of it found in languages and peoples presumably coming from Atlantis' ancestors. The introduction he makes on the matter here is quite revealing and interesting:

Quote from:  R. Cedric LeonardLinguists have believed for some time now that a language exists today which can be traced back to the Stone Age. Just how far back is uncertain, but at least as far back as the Neolithic Age (Renan, 1873; Ripley, 1899). Whether or not it can be traced further back into the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) remains to be seen. The huge areas once covered by this language and its close relatives are the very same areas which were occupied by Cro-Magnon Man of the Paleolithic Age: a strong indicator that this language was that of Cro-Magnon Man. Since we are looking at a Stone Age language which survived to the present-day, in making our analysis of this remarkable phenomenon it will be helpful to know where the Cro-Magnon people still live today. So, who were the survivors of Atlantis?

The Lexicon of the Lost Age proposes a vision of a true Atlantean language as well, stating that "the primary language of the island of Koste, and therefore of the great city of Atlantis, was Evaskari" and that "today, High Evaskari survives only as a language of lore and religious liturgy. Low Evaskari, however, continues to be spoken throughout formerly Atlantean lands."

Therefore, one can see that there is "tangible" material about an Atlantean language. I don't know if it is of any credit, and some of you might think it isn't, but I found the phenomenon fascinating and thought I should share it with you guys.

On the more "imaginary" side of things, excluding any search for historical truth, it shall be noted that an actual complete Atlantean language has been developed.

DEVELOPED ATLANTEAN LANGUAGE

Just like Karyu Pauwl created Na'vi for the movie AVATAR, Mark Okran (creator of Star Trek's Klingon) developed an Atlantean language and writing system for Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. More can be learnt about this constructed language at the following addresses:

Atlantean Language Institute
Atlantean - Omniglot
Atlantean Language - Disney Wiki
Atlantean Metahistory



Here is an interesting quote from Don Hahn (producer of Atlantis: The Lost Empire) concerning the inspiration and motivation for creating the language of Atlantis that would be spoken in the movie:

Quote from: Don HahnWhat the directors and I wanted to do with the movie was create an Atlantis that was a mother civilization both in terms of its language and its architecture. We wanted to create a civilization that really felt like it was the wellspring of all other civilizations and that's how it's described in a lot of mythology. So, we went around for architecture, for example, and looked at Cambodian ruins and Tibetan, Balinese, Nepalese, Indian architecture and tried to mould that all together into one common language where you could believe Atlantis was a mother civilization because you can see elements of other civilizations in the architecture on the screen. The same is true of the language we created for the screen. Marc Okrand who did the Klingon language for Star Trek came in and helped us develop a spoken dialect for the Atlanteans that was the same thing, kind of a primitive dialect that you could imagine was like the dialects people spoke before the Tower of Babel - a 'root' dialect. I think that was kind of fascinating trying to recreate those core traits of what a civilization might have been.

Syulang

this seems interesting! when I first saw that movie, I wanted to try learning the language, or at least some phrases. I did, bt I've forgotten them.  ::) I also did print out that picture of the atlantean letters, and try and write english words in it.
Oel ayngati kameie ma oeyä aysmukan sì aysmuke ulte Eywa ayngahu livu

munea kifkey, 'awa soaia

Syulang

I found these, if you're interested in them. its the atlantean for 'Atlantis: The Lost Empire'  ;D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantean_language
http://www.langmaker.com/atlanteancorpus.htm
Oel ayngati kameie ma oeyä aysmukan sì aysmuke ulte Eywa ayngahu livu

munea kifkey, 'awa soaia

Ftxavanga Txe′lan

Oh, thanks for those links! :D I didn't know the second one, it's really interesting. :) I haven't watched the movie in years, I think I should see it again. With the dialogue page printed out! hrh ;D

You say you learnt a couple of sentences of the Atlantean language, ma Syulang? :) That's very cool. So Na'vi was not your first conlang experience! :D I wish my brain had the capacity to store and retain informations about a billion languages.. ;D

Syulang

Quote from: Ftxavanga Txe′lan on July 26, 2011, 09:12:10 PM
Oh, thanks for those links! :D I didn't know the second one, it's really interesting. :) I haven't watched the movie in years, I think I should see it again. With the dialogue page printed out! hrh ;D

You say you learnt a couple of sentences of the Atlantean language, ma Syulang? :) That's very cool. So Na'vi was not your first conlang experience! :D I wish my brain had the capacity to store and retain informations about a billion languages.. ;D

You're welcome.  :) yeah i did learn a couple, but I cant remember them anymore. I haven't looked at   that stuff for years. I should pull out the movie and watch it  :)
Oel ayngati kameie ma oeyä aysmukan sì aysmuke ulte Eywa ayngahu livu

munea kifkey, 'awa soaia

Ftxavanga Txe′lan

Well, if someday you decide to go back to it, I'm sure what you have learnt a while ago should come back very quickly and easily! :D

Lance R. Casey

Oh, but there is an Atlantean language -- it's called Adûnaic. ;)

// Lance R. Casey

Ftxavanga Txe′lan

Quote from: Lance R. Casey on July 27, 2011, 06:00:40 AM
Oh, but there is an Atlantean language -- it's called Adûnaic. ;)
:D :D :D *likes this x1000*

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