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Maren
Malamenz
Member UncommonPosts: 115
in Reclamation
can't seem to remember and too lazy to go digging through all the forums to find the post, but was it mentioned that the Maren Language was gonna be changed, or was that a suggestion?
....and life goes on
Comments
Not sure, but it would be nice if there was some kind of system to maren in Rec. I don't think there is one in UL, but I'm bad at picking out things like that. It seems more just gibberish (sometimes I wonder if they were drunk or just like to hit random keys when they first started
)
Giving it some sort of alphabet or whatever, might allow those who study the mares to translating it.
I don't like giving things and odd alphabet, if something says something at me, I at least know how to sounds, and the current alphabet would give phonetic meaning to it. Now, given maren CODECIES their own alphabet would be interesting. You may be able to speak the tongue, but can you read the language?
Be interesting if they hired a linguist or somebody to rewrite the language. I mean create not just a replacement for all the words but mixing up the grammar. Hell, with the alphabet, you shouldn't just make it a cipher with ours shift a few phonetic characters around and make things funky!
Of coures all of that would make more work for all the people playing the mares
Because only someone as deranged as me would have a rubber chicken Named Alfredo Sanchez
The maren language in Underlight was a structured language. Used english syntax and just a different vocabulary. But good luck trying to actually pronounce some of the maren words.
I used to be a maren translator when I played Underlight. If someone couldn't understand a Darkmare and actually wanted to know what it was saying, I'd get asked to help out. One you grasped a few key words, getting the gist of what was said gets easier. Eventually I was able to understand a lot of maren speech without looking at my reference papers.
I am curious to know how the maren language will be handled in Reclamation, too. Probably is a little tough, but finding the language used in Underlight on the internet could just make knowing maren too easy. I'd like to see a new language written up so Dreamers would have to go through the translation process again.
"I'm not insane. I just have a vivid imagination!"
I think Maren in UL was a collective fudge project among the GM team. This is just guessing here, but I suspect whenever they needed a new word, they'd make something up and just post it to some master list. The words largely seem to be horrifically mutated english words, or words related to the matter at hand, bok bok for chicken, sounds like the sound a chicken makes. Some word pertaining to time was something akin to "tok". Other words are just nonesense it seems.
It is a language from the ground up when I think about it. Someone really put work into that. It's not the first time someone ripped a language out of their rear.
it was probably all done by hand though. If I was a GM player though on a Darkmare account, I'd be asking for an ingame maren cuecard with word search. 'course I am not that, I suspect they just worked off of a printed sheet or a notebook or something. Just the good old fashioned way...
Because only someone as deranged as me would have a rubber chicken Named Alfredo Sanchez
I believe the only aspect of the "Maren Language" that was complete drivel was the filter that we were able to experience through the use of mediums such as player mares.
If one has collected an accurate version of the maren lexicon they would find that it does make a certain amount of sense, though not much.
I believe that many of the more annoying issues with translation and use of the lexicon occured when different members of the team, namely those driving the darkmares, began to add or otherwise change the lexicon based on their particular needs or goals at the time. We also have ourselves to thank for some of the lexicons perversion. Many players also added to or changed it, somestimes promoting the idea of a particular translation regardless of how inacurate it may have been. We as players are limited by our own talent in the field of languages I suppose, regardless of the intelligence we try to have our characters portray.
As for the suggestion of using a linguist to develop the language for Reclamation, I do not think that is needed. In fact any concerned member of the community could take advantage of numerous world buiding tools on the internet to develop such a language.
I do appologize that at the moment I do not have the information on one of the better programs I know of. But nevertheless I do know that they are out there. The one I am familiar with is able to build a new language based on english, or go so far as to create an entirely new alphabet with pronunciation and all sorts of other bells and whistles.
Perhaps we should consider such an endeavor ourselves considering the current state of the project. Afterall, I do not hold out much hope that the next J.R.R Tolkien is busting his or her buckles to come on board.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
If one searches online for "maren dictionary" one can dig up what a pretty fair sized version. A lot of it seems to be english words slurred. Though, the thing that I found mildly amusing were a few of the words were based off of something derived from the topic it pertained to. An example is "Bok-Bok" which is chicken, it word is obviously onamotopoetic. Another one was "Tok Tok", which, if I recall correctly corresponded to "time goes".
I have located one such lexicon here, http://members.fortunecity.com/poeul/index.htm There are links at the bottom of the page referring to recognized maren and translated maren.
Agian, as you've said, people have pushed their own translations. I have heard a few takes on the word commonly used by the AI mares, "prazah". The most accepted theory on it's meaning, and the one you'll find in Lexicons, is "die". I've heard some people who claimed it meant "peace." And agian, I've always wondered how much free reign the other GM staff had on the language expansion.
It would be convenient for them to port the language over to their newer endevour of a game, but if they intend to use a secondary language, using an entirely near one would force the dreamers to decipher it all over agian. This would return the mystique to the language, at least for a little while.
Because only someone as deranged as me would have a rubber chicken Named Alfredo Sanchez
Well for the most part, alot of the maren words had to be figured out by its use and the context of the statement. Not like the mare is suddenly going to translate for you, so some words were iffy in its meaning.
I don't mind the fact that some Lyrans ended up creating new words for the same meaning. Wasn't there like 3-4 words for dreamer? It wouldn't make alot of sense of the mares didn't have some "chaos" to their language. Consider it slang or something. If mares are created from the chaos of thoughts of the non-dreamers, then maybe the mares pick up local dialects that translate into their maren.
I don't think there was any real logic behind the creation of the words. Probably just used a random word generator or used a sound-like word (like Bok-Bok). Though I would be interested in hearing how the Lyra staff actually developed the language.
"I'm not insane. I just have a vivid imagination!"