Belter Creole: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox language
{{Infobox language
| name = Belter Creole
| name = Belter Creole
| altname = Belter
| nativename = lang belta
| nativename = lang belta
| pronunciation = laŋg ˈbælta
| pronunciation = laŋg ˈbælta
Line 9: Line 10:
| created = 2014
| created = 2014
| creator = [[w:Nick Farmer|Nick Farmer]]
| creator = [[w:Nick Farmer|Nick Farmer]]
| posteriori = [[w:Romance languages|Romance languages]], [[w:Slavic languages|Slavic languages]], [[Germanic languages|Germanic languages]], [[w:Japanese language|Japanese]], [[w:Chinese language|Chinese]], [[w:Arabic language|Arabic]], [[w:Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[w:Zulu language|Zulu]]
| familycolor = Constructed language
| familycolor = Constructed language
| fam1 = [[w:Constructed language|Constructed languages]]
| script1 = Latn
| fam2 = [[w:Artistic language|Artistic languages]]
| fam3 = [[w:Fictional language|Fictional languages]]
| script = [[w:Latin script|Latin script]]
| agency = [[w:Nick Farmer|Nick Farmer]]
| agency = [[w:Nick Farmer|Nick Farmer]]
| notice = IPA
| notice = IPA
}}
}}
'''Belter Creole'''(''lang belta''), aka '''Belter''' is a constructed language created by [[w:Nick Farmer|Nick Farmer]] for [[w:The Expanse (TV series)|''The Expanse'']] sci-fi book and TV series. It was made as an English creole, but its lexical base has features of Romance languages, Germanic languages and Slavic languages, as well as languages like Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew and Zulu.
'''Belter Creole'''(''lang belta''), aka '''Belter''' is a constructed language created by [[w:Nick Farmer|Nick Farmer]] for [[w:The Expanse (TV series)|''The Expanse'']] sci-fi book and TV series. It was made as an English creole, but its lexical base has features of Romance languages, Germanic languages and Slavic languages, as well as languages like Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew and Zulu.
Belter has various accents and dialects due to the immense cultural diversity of the Belt's inhabitants. According to Nick Farmer himself, the dialect used in the TV show is the [[w:Ceres|Ceres]] dialect.
==Novel version==
There is a distinction between the language made by Nick Farmer for the TV series and the language created by James S.A. Corey in the ''The Expanse'' novel series. In the novels, the language is presented as more of an English dialect "to give the reader a sense of being excluded from [the] culture". It has no developed phonology, morphology and syntax, and instead mixes vocabulary from various languages spoken on Earth, including English, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Estonian, Esperanto, French, Korean, Chinese, Hungarian, Japanese, Polish, Dutch, Arabic, Catalan, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, Russian and Turkish.
The novel language is also not internally consistent, for example the words ''la''<ref>From Arabic لا(''laa'')</ref>, ''na''<ref>From English ''nah''</ref> and ''ne''<ref>From Serbo-Croatian ''не''(''ne'')</ref> all mean "no", while ''gato''<ref>From Japanese ありがとう(''arigatou'').</ref> and ''aituma''<ref>From Estonian ''aitäh''</ref> both mean "thank you".
<blockquote>''Tu run spin, pow, Schlauch tu way acima and ido.''<br>
Go spinward to the tube station, which will take you back to the docks.</blockquote>
==Phonology==
==Phonology==
===Orthography===
===Orthography===
Although all of Belter Creole's appearances have been written in the [[w:Latin script|Latin script]], Farmer claims that the language can be written in other writing systems as well.
Although all of Belter Creole's appearances(both in and out of the series) have been written in the [[w:Latin script|Latin script]], Farmer claims that the language can be written in other writing systems as well.
====Alphabet====
====Alphabet====
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
Line 140: Line 147:
===Vowels===
===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align=center;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align=center;"
|+ Vowels
|-
!
!
! colspan="2" |[[w:Front vowels|Front]]
! colspan="2" |[[w:Front vowels|Front]]
Line 155: Line 164:
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | [[w:Open front unrounded vowel|a]]
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | [[w:Open front unrounded vowel|a]]
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | [[w:Open back rounded vowel|ɒ]]
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | [[w:Open back rounded vowel|ɒ]]
|}
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align=center;"
|+ Nasalised vowels
|-
!
! colspan="2" |[[w:Front vowels|Front]]
! colspan="2" |[[w:Back vowels|Back]]
|-
! [[w:Close vowels|Close]]
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" |
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" |
|-
! [[w:Near-open vowels|Near-open]]
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | [[w:Near-open front unrounded vowel|æ̃]]
| colspan="2" |
|-
! [[w:Open vowels|Open]]
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | [[w:Open front unrounded vowel|ã]]
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" |
|}
 
===Prosody===
===Prosody===
====Stress====
====Stress====
In Belter, different than usual stress is indicated with an acute accent on a vowel, e.g. ''ámolof''([ˈamolof]), meaning "love". Vowels that can appear with acute accents are ⟨á⟩, ⟨é⟩, ⟨ó⟩ and ⟨ú⟩, although in general stress is placed on the [[w:Stress (linguistics)|penultimate]] syllable of a word.
In Belter, different than usual stress is indicated with an acute accent on a vowel, e.g. ''ámolof''([ˈamolof]), meaning "love". Vowels that can appear with acute accents are ⟨á⟩, ⟨é⟩, ⟨ó⟩ and ⟨ú⟩, although in general stress is placed on the [[w:Stress (linguistics)|penultimate]] syllable of a word.
===Phonotactics===
===Phonotactics===
<!-- Explain the consonant clusters and vowel clusters that are permissible for use in the language. For example, "st" is an allowed consonant cluster in English while onset "ng" isn't. -->
===Morphophonology===
===Morphophonology===
==Morphology==
==Morphology==
<!-- How do the words in your language look? How do you derive words from others? Do you have cases? Are verbs inflected? Do nouns differ from adjectives? Do adjectives differ from verbs? Etc. -->
<small>''See also: [[Belter Creole/Swadesh list]].''</small>
 
===Particles===
<!-- Here are some example subcategories:
There are two Belter particles: indefinite ''wa'' and definite ''da.''
 
===Pronouns===
Nouns
====Personal pronouns====
Adjectives
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
Verbs
! !! Singular !! Plural
Adverbs
|-
Particles
! First
Derivational morphology
| ''mi'' || ''milowda''
 
|-
-->
! Second
 
| ''to'' || ''tolowda''
|-
! Third
| ''im'' || ''imalowda/imim''
|}
==Syntax==
==Syntax==
In Belter, questions are formed by adding ''ke'' at the end of a statement, e.g. ''To showxa lang belta''(You speak Belter) and ''To showxa lang belta, ke?''(Do you speak Belter?). Additionally, ''keyá'' means "isn't it", so if one wanted to say "You speak Belter, right?" it would be ''Tu showxa lang belta, keyá?''
In Belter, questions are formed by adding ''ke'' at the end of a statement, e.g. ''To showxa lang belta''(You speak Belter) and ''To showxa lang belta, ke?''(Do you speak Belter?). Additionally, ''keyá'' means "isn't it", so if one wanted to say "You speak Belter, right?" it would be ''To showxa lang belta, keyá?''


Belter also uses the [[w:Zero copula|zero copula]] feature, e.g. ''mi nadzhush'' means "I am tired", although a literal translation would simply be "I tired".
Belter also uses the [[w:Zero copula|zero copula]] feature, e.g. ''mi nadzhush'' means "I am tired", although a literal translation would simply be "I tired".

Latest revision as of 14:57, 29 February 2024

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Belter Creole
Belter
lang belta
Pronunciation[laŋg ˈbælta]
Created byNick Farmer
Date2014
SettingThe Expanse
Native toThe Belt
SourcesRomance languages, Slavic languages, Germanic languages, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Zulu
Official status
Regulated byNick Farmer
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Belter Creole(lang belta), aka Belter is a constructed language created by Nick Farmer for The Expanse sci-fi book and TV series. It was made as an English creole, but its lexical base has features of Romance languages, Germanic languages and Slavic languages, as well as languages like Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew and Zulu.

Belter has various accents and dialects due to the immense cultural diversity of the Belt's inhabitants. According to Nick Farmer himself, the dialect used in the TV show is the Ceres dialect.

Novel version

There is a distinction between the language made by Nick Farmer for the TV series and the language created by James S.A. Corey in the The Expanse novel series. In the novels, the language is presented as more of an English dialect "to give the reader a sense of being excluded from [the] culture". It has no developed phonology, morphology and syntax, and instead mixes vocabulary from various languages spoken on Earth, including English, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Estonian, Esperanto, French, Korean, Chinese, Hungarian, Japanese, Polish, Dutch, Arabic, Catalan, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, Russian and Turkish.

The novel language is also not internally consistent, for example the words la[1], na[2] and ne[3] all mean "no", while gato[4] and aituma[5] both mean "thank you".

Tu run spin, pow, Schlauch tu way acima and ido.
Go spinward to the tube station, which will take you back to the docks.

Phonology

Orthography

Although all of Belter Creole's appearances(both in and out of the series) have been written in the Latin script, Farmer claims that the language can be written in other writing systems as well.

Alphabet

Nick Farmer's alphabet
Majuscule A B C D E F G I K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z
Minuscule a b c d e f g i k l m n o p r s t u v w x y z

Consonants

Labial Labiodental Dental/
alveolar 		Post-
alveolar/
palatal 		Velar Labial-velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive p b t d  k ɡ
Fricative s z f v ʃ x
Approximant j w
Lateral l
Flap ɾ

Digraphs: t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ.

Vowels

Vowels
Front Back
Close i u
Near-open æ
Open a ɒ
Nasalised vowels
Front Back
Close
Near-open æ̃
Open ã

Prosody

Stress

In Belter, different than usual stress is indicated with an acute accent on a vowel, e.g. ámolof([ˈamolof]), meaning "love". Vowels that can appear with acute accents are ⟨á⟩, ⟨é⟩, ⟨ó⟩ and ⟨ú⟩, although in general stress is placed on the penultimate syllable of a word.

Phonotactics

Morphophonology

Morphology

See also: Belter Creole/Swadesh list.

Particles

There are two Belter particles: indefinite wa and definite da.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Singular Plural
First mi milowda
Second to tolowda
Third im imalowda/imim

Syntax

In Belter, questions are formed by adding ke at the end of a statement, e.g. To showxa lang belta(You speak Belter) and To showxa lang belta, ke?(Do you speak Belter?). Additionally, keyá means "isn't it", so if one wanted to say "You speak Belter, right?" it would be To showxa lang belta, keyá?

Belter also uses the zero copula feature, e.g. mi nadzhush means "I am tired", although a literal translation would simply be "I tired".

Constituent order

Belter uses a SVO(subject-verb-object) sentence structure, e.g. To showxa lang belta(You speak Belter). In that sentence, To is the subject, showxa is the verb, and lang belta is the object.

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Article 1 of the UDHR in Belter Creole:

Kowl mang fong beref im im ferí unte eka [...]. Imalowda pensa unte sensa we gut unte we mal. Unte im mogut fo manting du wit sif asilik beratna unte sésata.

English translation:

All human beings are born free and equal [...]. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Other resources

  1. ^ From Arabic لا(laa)
  2. ^ From English nah
  3. ^ From Serbo-Croatian не(ne)
  4. ^ From Japanese ありがとう(arigatou).
  5. ^ From Estonian aitäh
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