Western Imaguan Creole: Difference between revisions

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| ''bot'' || ''båt'' || ''boat'' ||
| ''bot'' || ''båt'' || ''boat'' ||
|-
|-
| ''buka'' || ''bruka'' || ''farm'' ||
| ''bebi'' || ''bebis'' || ''baby'' ||
|-
|-
| ''bebi'' || ''bebis'' || ''baby'' ||
| ''bek'' || ''kulle'' || ''hill'' or ''mountain'' || from Blostlandic ''berg'', meaning mountain
|-
| ''bu'' || ''by'' || ''town'' or ''village'' || Blostlandic word for town is ''stad''
|-
|-
| ''buk'' || ''bok'' || ''book'' ||
| ''buk'' || ''bok'' || ''book'' ||
Line 274: Line 276:
| ''hukita'' || ''förgifta'' || ''poison'' ||
| ''hukita'' || ''förgifta'' || ''poison'' ||
|-
|-
| ''bek'' || ''kulle'' || ''hill'' or ''mountain'' || from Blostlandic ''berg'', meaning mountain
| ''kad'' || ''gård'' || ''farm'' || From Blostlandic ''gård'', yard
|-
|-
| ''kwito'' || ''kvitto'' || ''receipt'' ||
| ''kwito'' || ''kvitto'' || ''receipt'' ||

Revision as of 20:14, 2 November 2022

Western Imaguan Creole
Imakuakeol
RegionFile:ImaguaFlag.png Imagua and the Assimas
Native speakers
1 million (2011)
L2: TBD
Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3iak

Western Imaguan Creole (imakuakeol), commonly known as Imaguan Creole is the most common language spoken in Imagua and the Assimas. Developed during Blostlander rule over Imagua and the Assimas, during which time it was attached to Eldmark, Western Imaguan Creole continued evolving following the end of Blostlander rule over the islands, as it passed through control of several countries, including Etruria and Estmere. This left a lot of foreign influences on the language.

It is most closely related to the Vano Creole, spoken on the Eldish island of Vano.

History

File:ImaguanCreoles.png
Map of the distribution of Western and Eastern Imaguan Creoles in 1911 by Edwin Wensley

While there has been evidence of earlier contact languages during Caldish rule, when Blostland took present-day Imagua and the Assimas and attached them to present-day Eldmark, Blostlandic-speaking settlers started to flow into the area. This led to the development of a pidgin language between the Blostlander settlers and the indigenous Arucian population.

By the late seventeenth century, the pidgin started to develop as a creole language, especially by the surviving Arucians, and the halvras population. However, when Estmere conquered Imagua and the Assimas in 1658, the creole began to spread, partially as slaves brought in adopted the creole, as it was the mother tongue used by the majority of the population at that time, but partially because of the continued economic ties to Eldmark, despite the fact that colonizers often tried to block trade with Eldmark.

While other pidgin languages were being formed on the islands, as various colonizers each tried to rule over Imagua and the Assimas, what would become Western Imaguan Creole was incredibly dominant, primarily due to the trade with Eldmark. This allowed the creole to be widely used by both slaves and sailors, which would help fuel its continuing use in Imagua.

In the nineteenth century, as Etruria and Estmere colonized Imagua and the Assimas, they began to implement policies to crack down on the creoles and pidgins, and instead require that they learn Etrurian and Estmerish respectively. This led to a situation of diglossia, which continues to persist to this day, where Western Imaguan Creole became known as a language of low prestige, while Estmerish and Etrurian were seen as the more prestigious languages, being used in media, in education, and by government.

After independence, Western Imaguan Creole was still looked down upon, as it was viewed as being less prestigious than either Estmerish or Etrurian. Well into the 1980s, Western Imaguan Creole was not taught in schools, and policies were made to prohibit its use in schools and in the media.

Since the 1980s, however, this attitude has been changing: Western Imaguan Creole is starting to be used in television interviews, on radio, and is even being used in Nursery and Reception classes, as well as special education classes in both primary and secondary courses, while classes are offered at both the University of Cuanstad and the Università di San Pietro in Western Imaguan Creole since the 1990s.

Phonology

The phonology of Western Imaguan Creole is simpler than the phonology of the Blostlandic language, which served as the lexifier language for Western Imaguan Creole.

Consonants

Consonant-wise, the phonology is exactly like that of the Nati languages, which was spoken as a lingua franca for trade within the West Arucian Sea prior to Euclean colonisation. There are twelve consonant phonemes in Western Imaguan Creole.

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k
Voiced b d
Fricative s h
Nasal m n
Trill r
Approximant w l j

Vowels

Unlike the Blostlandic language, which has seventeen vowel phonemes, Western Imaguan Creole only has six vowel phonemes, those being /a/, /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /o/, /ʊ/, and /ʏ/, with no vowel lengthening or shortening. This is as many as the Nati language, which has six phonemes.

Front Central Back
Unrounded Rounded
Close ɪ ʏ ʊ
Close-mid o
Open-mid ɛ
Open a

Grammar

The grammar of Western Imaguan Creole is largely based off the native Arucian languages spoken by the indigenous Arucians. Thus, the grammar follows the Arucian verb-subject-object (VSO) order.

However, it is substantially simpler than the Arucian languages. While the Arucian languages, such as Nadi and Imaguan had up to seven possessive prefixes, there are four possessive prefixes in the Western Imaguan Creole, those being da- for my, ba- for your, wa- for our, and de- for either his or him, her, or their.

For verbs, all verbs are in the simple present tense, and with the simplification from the old Arucian languages, it has resulted in there being only na- for I, ba- for the singular you, ha- for he, she, they, or them, and wi- for we and the plural you.

An example is the sentence meaning "they are fishing." While in Blostlandic, it would be written as "de fiskar," in Western Imaguan Creole, it would be written as "hafiska."

Orthography

The most commonly used orthography for writing Western Imaguan Creole was one based off the Estmerish language, devised by Edwin Wensley in 1911. While he wanted to create an orthography that was "as similar to Estmerish as possible" in order to get children to learn Estmerish more easily, he also wanted to make it simple so that "one can understand what sounds go to which letter," if only for the benefit of colonial officials.

While there were some orthographies developed around the same time, most notably the orthography developed by Ulberto Perro in 1906, with the aim of Etrurifying the language, after the end of the Solarian War, the Wensley orthography became the de-facto standard for writing Western Imaguan Creole, and by the 1970s, linguist Addolorata Viale reported that "with the exception of diary entries of some old people in the Assimas, Creole is written with the Wensley orthography everywhere."

Vocabulary

Estmerish loanwords

Creole Blostlandic Estmerish Etymology
bas buss bus from Estmerish bus
Esme Östmer Estmere from Estmerish Estmere
komputa dator computer from Estmerish computer
lit hiss lift or elevator from Estmerish lift
masin maskin machine from Estmerish machine
napi blöja diaper or nappy from Estmerish nappy
peni penny pence or penny from Estmerish penny
siling shilling shilling from Estmerish shilling
tali spårvagn streetcar or trolley from Estmerish trolley
tasi taxi taxi from Estmerish taxi
tiwi tv television from Estmerish TV

Etrurian loanwords

Creole Blostlandic Estmerish Etymology
abika fabrik factory from Etrurian fabbrica
ako äreport triumphal arch from Etrurian arco, meaning arch
esta fest party or feast from Etrurian festa
Etuia Etruska Etruria from Etrurian Etruria
mamo marmor marble from Etrurian marmo
otostada motorväg motorway from Etrurian autostrada
lepublika republik republic from Etrurian repubblica
sitadin medborgare citizen from Etrurian cittadino or citidina
uniwesita universitet university from Etrurian università
wila plantage plantation from Etrurian villa, meaning manor

Indigenous vocabulary

Creole Blostlandic Estmerish Etymology
adanalu flygande fisk flying fish from Imaguan adanaru, meaning flying fish
pepiti orkan hurricane from Imaguan pepeito, meaning hurricane or wind
hewe orm snake from Imaguan hewe, meaning snake
Imakua Imagua Imagua from Nadi Imagua, meaning little middle place
kuweki papegoja parrot from Imaguan kureweki, meaning parrot
minkun potatis potato from Imaguan minkon, meaning potato
muna hydda hut from Imaguan muna, meaning house
wato brand fire from Imaguan wato, meaning fire
wupu att gömma to hide from Imaguan wupu, meaning mountain
woli mor mother from Imaguan woryi, meaning woman

Blostlandic vocabulary

Creole Blostlandic Estmerish Notes
abet arbete work
ban barn child
bot båt boat
bebi bebis baby
bek kulle hill or mountain from Blostlandic berg, meaning mountain
bu by town or village Blostlandic word for town is stad
buk bok book
bul bror brother
dak dag day
dop dop naming, christening, or baptism Blostlandic word for naming is namngivning
er ö island
Elmak Eldmark Eldmark
em hem or hus home or house Blostlandic word for house is hus
ha far father
ham hamn port
hatu fartyg ship
hawel adjö bye from Blostlandic farväl, farewell
hes häst horse
Hey Hej Hello or Hi
hika kyrka church
hikoko kyrkogård graveyard or cemetery
hukita förgifta poison
kad gård farm From Blostlandic gård, yard
kwito kvitto receipt
Kud Gud God
lud flod river or stream Blostlandic word for stream is ström
makna marknadsföra or marknad market or mall Blostlandic word for mall is köpcenter
mat måltid meal or food from Blostlandic mat, meaning food
sista syster sister
skate skatter taxes
sku skog forest or jungle Blostlandic word for jungle is djungel
skula skola school
stad huvudstaden capital city came from Blostlandic for city
stand strand beach
wan vagn wagon or carriage
wek väg road
yob jobb job

Other loanwords

Creole Blostlandic Estmerish Etymology
bat låda box from Gaullican boîte
ekan skärm screen from Gaullican écran
he chef boss from Gaullican chef
kala vän friend from Ghaillish cara
Kalika Galia Gaullica from Solarian Gaullia via Gaullican
Kitian Östland Caldia from Ghaillish Glítteann
kitambi branding branding from Rwizi chitambi, meaning stamp
kowsa koiatska Coian from Ziba gauza zebiumhi via Estmerish gowsa
latin badrum bathroom from Gaullican latrine
met slavägare slave owner from Gaullican maître, meaning "master"
nekikepe förvisning banishment from Rwizi nechikepe, meaning "to sail"
watu bil car from Gaullican voiture
ue att slå to beat up from Gaullican fouet, meaning whip

Numbers

The numbers for one and two in Western Imaguan Creole come from the Imaguan, while all numbers from three upwards come from Blostlandic. From ten upwards, it is organized, with the word for ten, twenty, et cetera being placed prior to the number. Thus, eleven is tiyu-aban. From one hundred upwards, the word unda is placed before the number, so 159 would be unda-hemti-niyu. From the thousands, tuse is placed before the numbers: thus, 2019 would be bian-tuse-tiyu-niyu, and so on.

Creole Blostlandic Estmerish Etymology
aban ett one from Imaguan aban
bian två two from Imaguan bian
tele tre three from Blostlandic tre
hula fyra four from Blostlandic fyra
hem fem five from Blostlandic fem
sis sex six from Blostlandic sex
hu sju seven from Blostlandic sju
ota åtta eight from Blostlandic åtta
niyu nio nine from Blostlandic nio
tiyu tio ten from Blostlandic tio
huko tjugo twenty from Blostlandic tjugo
teti trettio thirty from Blostlandic trettio
oti fyrtio fourty from Blostlandic fyrtio
hemti femtio fifty from Blostlandic femtio
sisto sextio sixty from Blostlandic sextio
huti sjuttio seventy from Blostlandic sjuttio
oti åttio eighty from Blostlandic åttio
niti nittio ninety from Blostlandic nittio
unda hundra hundred from Blostlandic hundra
tuse tusen thousand from Blostlandic tusen
milyun miljon million from Blostlandic miljon

Common phrases

Creole Blostlandic Estmerish Notes
Abet naha. Jag jobbar här. I work here.
Ba insi na. Jag älskar dig. I love you.
Bahunkik? Är du hungrig? Are you hungry?
...bapata? Pratar du...? Do you speak...?
Bo naha. Jag bor här. I live here.
Dahan... Jag är från... I am from...
Danam... Mitt namn är... My name is...
Dapata... Jag talar... I speak...
Du bama? Hur mår du? How are you? Commonly shortened to Bama?
Dekosta wad? Vad kostar det? How much is it?
Hodyu! God Jul! Merry Christmas!
Kalad niya! Gott nytt år! Happy New Year!
Keol nepata. Jag talar inte kreolsk. I do not speak creole.
Koti namakna. Jag ska gå till marknaden. I'm going to the market.
Kosta tiyu silingi. Det kostar tio shilling. It costs ten shillings
Lont a...? Hur långt är...? How far is...?
Tuka bati? Tyckte du om din vistelse? Did you enjoy your stay?
Wa bahan? Var kommer du ifrån? Where are you from?
Wa latin o? Var är badrummet? Where is the bathroom?
Wad banam? Vad heter du? What is your name? Commonly shortened to Banam?