Deciphering Pearl
▲
0▲ 0 ▼ 0
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 16 Jul 2019, 14:03.
[comments] lumpearlfanlang
4. Deciphering Pearl
?
?
5. Relative Clauses
?
?
6. Verb Basics
?
?
The Pearl language in the movie "Valerian and the City of 1000 Planets" only had a few minutes of screen time, but it was breathtakingly beautiful, just like the Pearls themselves. When I saw this movie in theaters, I had hoped that more about their unique language would be made public. Unfortunately, that never happened. I had heard that that director Luc Besson apparently wrote a 600 page document describing all of the fascinating aliens in the movie, so it is disappointing that more about the Pearl language never surfaced. So, I'll piece together what I can of this lovely language.
This article is me thinking out loud. It's just brainstorming and also a list of all the
Pearl words that were discernible in the movie "Valerian and the City of 1000 Planets." Only 4 lines had direct translations in the form of subtitles, one other had an indirect translation, a few could be deduced easily from context, and the rest remain a mystery. The transcription/transliteration is my own invention [except in the case of names] Names:
-Lïho-minaa
-Haban-limaï
-Aloï
-Tsûuri
-Mâatri
-Mül
-Melo
Phrases with translations
-Ak te mï tï a, qaxanï Lïho: Give this pearl to my daughter, Princess Lïho
-Habaï ne sï natena, se paï tanïmena: Let us give back to nature that which she gave to us.
-Ma steno: It's broken.
-Dada: dad
-Melï ma na: thank you
Apparent greetings:
-yolaï ne: perhaps "good morning to you."
-yoloï ne: perhaps "good morning to you all" in a plural sense
-melaï ne: perhaps "hello."
-meloï ne: "we are pleased to welcome you here," doubtless a loose translation
Other words and phrases
Some phrases have a somewhat obvious meaning:
-Leja! Lïho utters this to the cute little Mul Converter, leaving him to wait for her. I'm thinking this one means "Wait!"
-During the disaster scene, we hear the phrase "Ofta!" over and over again. I think this means "Hurry!"
-During this scene we also here a Pearl say, "Mala mala" and the emperor responds by approaching. This one must mean "Come" or perhaps "over here."
-The emperor says, "Me vala" and the response is for people to shut the door. This one must mean, "Shut the door."
Some phrases and words require deduction:
-me: door?
-Makto pela: could mean something like "What's going on?"
Others I'm not sure yet what they could mean:
-sena me yoïta
-ïta sena: I'm thinking it might mean something like "Look up."
-multe yoïta
-moïlï
-june
-alaxa
-Yavalana kale
-ma sten: this could just be another way of saying ma steno "it's broken."
-Ak te meloï ta: this was spoken during the disaster scene. I think it may mean something along the lines of "Find my daughter."
Thoughts:
1. "Ak te" is by far the most-uttered phrase. I think it means "my daughter" because of how often it was spoken by Lïho's parents at the moment of her death. It appears also in one of the sentences that actually have translations.
2. I've noticed a pattern with some words that might be imperatives or commands:
-Leja! "Wait!"
-Bala! "Stop!"
-Vala! "Shut!"
-Mala! "Come!"
-Ofta! "Hurry!"
-A! "Give!" [this one might be an irregular verb.]
They all end in -a.
3. These 2 observations lead me to the belief that Pearl might have an OSV word order.
4. If imperatives end in -a, this could be evidence that verbs' endings change to agree with the subject.
5. Reduplication might be an element in this language. In the movie, we hear phrases such as:
-dada
-mala mala
-ïta sena ïta sena
-and a few others
6. /oe/ and /ɹ/ might be allophones
--------------------------------------------------------------
Wondering about the greetings...
yolaï ne & melaï ne
yoloï ne & meloï ne
Because of the context in how these are said, I think yo might mean I; me might mean we; laï might mean you [sing]; and loï might mean you [plural].
But that then leaves the phrase melï mana. What does it mean and is it related to the others? Supposedly it means "thank you." Greetings are often idiomatic, so maybe I'm on the wrong track.
✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
Comments
