Smarkaka, salwa!
Nearly a year ago Primal was released. To celebrate its birthday, I’ll be posting the dialogue to all of the cinematic scenes in Primal, with links to tricky grammatical points. For our first post, we’ll look at the dialogue in Tinsay’s first introductory scene, followed by the mammoth hunt, and Dalsu’s death. I’ve inserted links to the videos posted to Youtube.
Notes will be given in parentheses after each line, if relevant)
CAVE PAINTING
Tinsay:
Winja… masi-hasar… masi-janhas
Wenja… our-blood… our-people
Wenja. Our blood. Our people.
(Since this is a formal setting, Tinsay is using the long forms: masi “our” (instead of mash), gwama “come(s)” (instead of gwam), etc.)
Palhu mansi ‘pa, Winja dwash shala.
Many moons back, Wenja far travels
Many moons ago, many Wenja travel far.
(Here the Wenja are a united people and viewed as a singular group, this is why the verb is shala, not shalarsh. For verbs: http://speakingprimal.blogspot.com/2016/03/wenja-grammar-verbs.html)
Tu sama Winja Urus waydarsh.
Then some Wenja Oros find-they
Then some Wenja find the land of OROS.
(But now the group has split, and so this Winja refers to multiple — not a singular — Wenja, hence waydarsh)
Gwifa-ha plaha, Winjay damsha
Life-with full, Wenja-for home
Full of life. A home for Wenja.
(Two postpositions are used here, -ha “with” [full with life] and -i/-y “for, to”. Note that we’re using -y here because Winja ends in a vowel. For postpositions: http://speakingprimal.blogspot.com/2016/03/wenja-grammar-prepositions_30.html)
Ma baya gwama.
But danger comes
But danger comes.
Udam krawhadan-yawdan.
Udam flesh-eating-fighters
Udam. Flesh-eating warriors.
(Krawhadan is actually an instance of haplology — krawha-hadan > krawhadan. Note, too that hadan and yawdan are agent nouns formed with the suffix -n.)
Izila. Haska puris.
Izila. Masters fire-of
Izila. Masters of fire.
(Here the possessive / genitive postposition -s is add to pur “fire”. Wenja speakers couldn’t say purs, so an -i- was added.)
Winjam hiragwas bararsh!
Wenja-to darkness bring-they
They bring darkness to Wenja!
(If you’re wondering about the word order, Winjam is fronted to emphasize the importance of the Wenja people. Normal word order would be Hiragwas Winjam bararsh.)
Nu lawkas gwama.
Now light comes
Now light comes.
Mash-apashkanti Winja brashtar.
Our-away-being Wenja brothers
Our lost Wenja brothers.
(Tinsay shifts to a short form “mash” to signal his happiness for the arrival of Takkar.)
Bal shayu-ha gwasharsh.
Strong spirit-with walk-they
They walk with a strong spirit.
Urus sansharsh.
Oros seek-they
They seek Oros.
Mas sansharsh…
Us seek-they…
They seek us.
MAMMOTH HUNT
Dalsu:
Takkar.
Mamaf waydamas. Chardu-bi dashimas. Tu hadamas.
Mammoth find-we. Herd-from separate-we. Then eat-we.
We find mamaf. We separate from the herd. Then we eat.
Hay.
Go.
Move.
San hatra palhu sashwalim shalamas. Mamaf gwanmas ha hadamas… shuta marimas.
Without food many suns-for travel-we. Mammoth kill-we so.that eat-we… or die-we.
We travel many suns without food. We kill mammoth to eat – or we die.
(Above we saw the postposition -m to mean “towards/to” in Winjam hiragwas bararsh. Here we see the -m to mean “throughout” or “during”. Also, the conjugation “ha” means “in order to, so “We kill mammoths in order to eat.” or something like that)
Tar. hayka mamaf. U chamsha, Takkar.
There: alone mammoth. IMPERATIVE be.ready, Takkar
There – small mammoth. Be ready, Takkar.
(Literally “hayka mamaf” means “a mammoth by himself” / “a lonely/alone mammoth”.)
Nu mash-wantar pur-ha shitawgarsh.
Now our-hunters fire-with frighten-they
Now our hunters frighten with fire.
U hay, hay!
IMPERATIVE go, go!
Go, go!
Takkar:
Su wan, brashtar.
Good hunt, brother
Good hunt, brother.
Dalsu:
Su wan.
Good hunt.
Good hunt.
Takkar:
U shlawdra gwash.
IMPERATIVE free walk
Walk free.
Wenja red-shirts:
Tigri, tigri!
Tiger, tiger!
Tiger, tiger!
May dram! May dram!
Don’t run! Don’t run!
Don’t run! Don’t run!
(Everyone here “my drum!” in this line, but it just means “don’t run”. May is the basic way to give a negative command.)
Apa! Apa! Apa tash!
Back! Back! Back stay!
Stay! Stay! Stay back!
Dalsu:
Takkar!
May shanchita, Takkar.
Don’t stop-you, Takkar
Don’t stop, Takkar.
(Dalsu is saying “May shanchita” (with the -ta pronoun) here instead of the more common “May shanchi”, to draw attention to Takkar’s journey. Something like “YOU don’t stop, Takkar.”)
U Urus wayda. U mash-apashkanti Winja brashtar waydaaaaaaaa.
IMPERATIVE Oros find. IMPERATIVE our-away-being Wenja brother find
Find Oros. Find our lost Wenja brothers.
Wow, that's really cool. These will be very helpful for me. For us…
I'm about to make a Hungarian localization for the game with my team. (Making game localizations is our hobby.) Having these explanations for almost all of the dialogues in the game will be very helpful, since I'm willing to make a translation that represents the differencies between the languages in the game so the player can experience the game as authentic as it can be. Well, at least as much as I can do. 🙂
By the way, will you make posts about the Izila grammar, as well? As I know, there are differencies between the two – the Izila is more advanced, right?
Thanks again for the post and for the whole site. It helps us a lot, besides, it's very interesting.
"May shanchita" = "Don't you stop"
More contributions from Southern vernacular? Ala "I use myself an arrow"?
U Winja gwayfa! I'm playing through FCP right now, and this helps to explain my "mis-hearings", like "may shanchita". Gwar-gwarshta, Dachayan Byrd!
Gwarshta Wenjapati
My pleasure. I believe I'll request that name for my tombstone.
Yes, I am planning to discuss Izila at some point. Glad that this is helping you with your localization — just let me know if you have any specific questions.
Of course! Enjoy the re-play, Dansurka!
Not sure I'm following you here — which Southern vernacular are you referring to, Izila or Southern American English?
Galbába, gwarshta!
I'm looking forward to it.
😁😂😁
Haha! Southern American English Vernacular, WP.
I've been looking for a title for you. (Pulls out flint sword, Byrd falls to one knee) "I dub thee Winjapati, with all due credit to SohailH!"
Awesome, perfect nickname for you. Thanks for site, im going to learn Winja as a spiritual of connecting with Higher Power. I say : Dashka mim Shakwiti. I hope that is correct for God Help Me.
Awesome 🙂 For "God help me" you'd want either "Um Dashka sakwi" or "Um Sukli sakwi" if you want to equate the supreme god of the Izila with God in this case. Note that the Wenja don't really have a theology per se, but rather revere all of nature. Smarkaka!
Smarkaka Winjapati. Right after the scene where Dalsu dies Takkar says "Urus shanti, ma tigri shantir."
It seems evident here that shantir is the comparative form of shanti, but does suffixing an r form all comparatives or only some? Also a word or two on superlatives would be appreciated, I'm not even sure if they show up in the game or if redupplication is used in lieu of a suffix.
Samparway, gwarshta.
Great ear. Comparatives are actually super rare in the game, so you won't hear them often. "Shantir" does mean "closer" but shan-shanti would mean "very close" or "super close" or even "the closest". I don't think we included the *-sto- suffix to indicate the superlative in the game, but I'll try to see if I can come up with an instance.