(Sample words are generated by http://travellermap.com/model2/wordgen.html.)
Anglic, the language of the Third Imperium, is a fusion of Vilani and Solomani.
Solomani is probably some version of English, but still unrecognizable to our ears in the same way that English from 1000 AD is foreign to us today. (From Futurese.)
1000 AD:
Wé cildra biddaþ þé, éalá láréow, þæt þú tǽce ús sprecan rihte, forþám ungelǽrede wé sindon, and gewæmmodlíce we sprecaþ…
2000 AD:
We children beg you, teacher, that you should teach us to speak correctly, because we are ignorant and we speak corruptly…
3000 AD:
*Zᴀ kiad w’-exùn ya tijuh, da ya-gᴀr’-eduketan zᴀ da wa-tᴀgan lidla, kaz ’ban iagnaran an wa-tᴀg kurrap…
Viliani sounds much like Hawaiian or other Polynesian/Pacific Island languages, where glottal slops between multiple vowels are common.
Undimankha
Uumadii
Eshashkiila
Ishiriirni
Ardara
Zhodani sounds like an Eastern European language, probably Polish or one of the Slavic tongues, that has far too many consonants and not nearly enough vowels.
Ievltliellaqpanz
Iarbadrdrepa
Tla
Drtlmeftliadzdinsjdidr
Itlzdonzhi'sheprtiancha
Aslan (speaking of not enough vowels) sounds much like Welsh, only pronounced with a cleft upper lip.
AihteasaheaDroyne is a strange combination of dipthongs and consonant clusters, like a drunk fusion of Chinese and Australian.
Koiyyuleaea
Iyhoi'ahfeor
Oseirlosyu'awau
Hke
TradpoystdrirkfeHivers are mute and thus do not have a spoken language. Their language is therefore translated into that of the listener when speaking. (Note: While Gurvin is listed as the official spoken language of the Hive Federation, I cannot find any representation of the language anywhere within game materials.)
Ayyukyayoestpay
Ssyokayp
Yaxmyostmelm
Yyoidryuxormstoypkad
K'kree sounds like the click languages of African bushmen.
Kagn'Vargr is difficult to classify because, lacking a unified goverment or culture, they also lack a universal language. The most common one is Gvegh, which sounds like Norwegian spoken by a wolf.
Een!!keg
!'gh!'x'rruung
Araar'ngimura
Kik
Kouts
Ongouztsogoghzaek
Kaekfuel
Soghathal
Daer
Do you disagree? (Do Traveller player have bellybuttons?) Leave a comment!
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I'm suddenly feeling less self conscious about knowing more than a few phrases in Klingon...
ReplyDeleteThe image of a harelipped Welshman speaking is embarressingly amusing.
ReplyDeleteOk, so I'm a baaaaaaaaaaaad man.
if you get a translator, be sure it speaks bocce.
ReplyDeletei would like to hear the first one, it probably just looks worse with all the obsolete characters.
ReplyDeleteIa! Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ia! Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ia! Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, it sounds like bad German, spoken with a Polish accent.
ReplyDeleteI always felt like there was a lot of meowing going on in Aslan - lots of vowels, kind of forcing you to stretch your mouth like a yawning cat (or pontificating Welshman, if you like) in order to get the word out.
ReplyDelete