Western Imaguan Creole
| Imaguan Creole | |
|---|---|
| Imakuakeol | |
| Region | File:ImaguaFlag.png Imagua and the Assimas |
Native speakers | 1 million (2011) L2: TBD |
Geatish-based creole
| |
| Latin script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | iak |
Imaguan Creole (imakuakeol) is the most common language spoken in Imagua and the Assimas. Developed during Geatish rule over Imagua and the Assimas, during which time it was attached to Eldmark, Imaguan Creole continued evolving following the end of Geatish 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
While there has been evidence of earlier contact languages during Caldish rule, when Geatland took present-day Imagua and the Assimas and attached them to present-day Eldmark, Geatish-speaking settlers started to flow into the area. This led to the development of a pidgin language between the Geatish 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 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.
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 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, Imaguan Creole was still looked down upon, as it was viewed as being less prestigious than either Estmerish or Etrurian. Well into the 1980s, 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: 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 Imaguan Creole since the 1990s.
Phonology
The phonology of Imaguan Creole is simpler than the phonology of the Geatish language, which served as the lexifier language for Imaguan Creole.
To this end, unlike the Geatish language, which has seventeen vowel phonemes, Imaguan Creole only has eight vowel phonemes, those being /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /a/, /o/, /ʊ/, /ʊ/, /ʏ/, and /œ/, with no vowel lengthening or shortening.
Consonant-wise, the phonology is exactly like that of the Arucian languages spoken in the area, indicating that Imaguan Creole had been vastly simplified compared to Geatish.
Grammar
The grammar of 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 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 Geatish, it would be written as "de fiskar," in Imaguan Creole, it would be written as "hafiska."
Orthography
The most commonly used orthography for writing 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 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 | Geatish | 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 | Geatish | 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 | Geatish | 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 |
Geatish vocabulary
| Creole | Geatish | Estmerish | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| abet | arbete | work | |
| ban | barn | child | |
| bot | båt | boat | |
| buka | bruka | farm | |
| bebi | bebis | baby | |
| buk | bok | book | |
| bul | bror | brother | |
| dak | dag | day | |
| dop | dop | naming, christening, or baptism | Geatish word for naming is namngivning |
| er | ö | island | |
| Elmak | Eldmark | Eldmark | |
| em | hem or hus | home or house | Geatish word for house is hus |
| ha | far | father | |
| ham | hamn | port | |
| hatu | fartyg | ship | |
| hawel | adjö | bye | from Geatish farväl, farewell |
| hes | häst | horse | |
| Hey | Hej | Hello or Hi | |
| hika | kyrka | church | |
| hikoko | kyrkogård | graveyard or cemetery | |
| hukita | förgifta | poison | |
| bek | kulle | hill or mountain | from Geatish berg, meaning mountain |
| kwito | kvitto | receipt | |
| Kud | Gud | God | |
| lud | flod | river or stream | Geatish word for stream is ström |
| makna | marknadsföra or marknad | market or mall | Geatish word for mall is köpcenter |
| mat | måltid | meal or food | from Geatish mat, meaning food |
| sista | syster | sister | |
| skate | skatter | taxes | |
| sku | skog | forest or jungle | Geatish word for jungle is djungel |
| skula | skola | school | |
| stad | huvudstaden | capital city | came from Geatish for city |
| stand | strand | beach | |
| wan | vagn | wagon or carriage | |
| wek | väg | road | |
| yob | jobb | job |
Other loanwords
| Creole | Geatish | 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 weRwizi 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 weRwizi 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 Imaguan Creole come from the Imaguan, while all numbers from three upwards come from Geatish. 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 | Geatish | Estmerish | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| aban | ett | one | from Imaguan aban |
| bian | två | two | from Imaguan bian |
| tele | tre | three | from Geatish tre |
| hula | fyra | four | from Geatish fyra |
| hem | fem | five | from Geatish fem |
| sis | sex | six | from Geatish sex |
| hu | sju | seven | from Geatish sju |
| ota | åtta | eight | from Geatish åtta |
| niyu | nio | nine | from Geatish nio |
| tiyu | tio | ten | from Geatish tio |
| huko | tjugo | twenty | from Geatish tjugo |
| teti | trettio | thirty | from Geatish trettio |
| oti | fyrtio | fourty | from Geatish fyrtio |
| hemti | femtio | fifty | from Geatish femtio |
| sisto | sextio | sixty | from Geatish sextio |
| huti | sjuttio | seventy | from Geatish sjuttio |
| oti | åttio | eighty | from Geatish åttio |
| niti | nittio | ninety | from Geatish nittio |
| unda | hundra | hundred | from Geatish hundra |
| tuse | tusen | thousand | from Geatish tusen |
| milyun | miljon | million | from Geatish miljon |
Common phrases
| Creole | Geatish | 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. | |
| 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! | |
| 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 bafan? | 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? |