Atlantean: Difference between revisions

The '''Atlantean language''', (''Dig Adlantisag'') is a [[constructed language]] created by [[Marc Okrand]] for the [[Disney]] film ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]''. The language was intended by the script-writers to be a possible "mother language", and Okrand crafted it to include a vast [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] word stock with its very own grammar, which is at times described as highly [[Agglutinative language|agglutinative]], inspired by [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] and [[North American languages]].

[http://animationarchive.net/Feature%20Films/Atlantis-The%20Lost%20Empire/Production%20Notes Animationarchive.net]{{Dead link|date=May 2012}}</ref> The Atlantean language is therefore based both on historic reconstructions as well as on the elaborate [[fantasy]]/[[science fiction]] of the ''Atlantis: The Lost Empire'' mythos. The fictional principles upon which the Atlantean language was created are: Atlantean is the “[[Tower of Babel]] language”, the “root dialect” from which all languages descended; it has existed without change since sometime before 100,000 B.C., within the First or Second Age of Atlantis until the present.

To accomplish this, Dr. Okrand looked for common characteristics from various world languages and was also heavily inspired by the [[Proto-Indo-European language]]. His main source of words (roots and stems) for the language is Proto-Indo-European,<ref name=prodnotes/> but Okrand combines this with Biblical [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], later Indo-European languages such as [[Latin language|Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]], and a variety of other known or reconstructed ancient languages.<ref>Kalin-Casey, Mary.  “Charting Atlantis the crew behind Disney’s latest animated adventure takes you behind the scenes.”  Features Interviews.  17 January 2007 [http://www.reel.com/reel.asp?node=features/interviews/atlantis Reel.com]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060118045634/http://www.reel.com/reel.asp?node=features%2Finterviews%2Fatlantis |date=January 18, 2006 }}</ref><ref>Murphy, Tab, Platon, David Reyolds, Gary Trousdale, Joss Whedon, Kirk Wise, Bryce Zabel, and Jackie Zabel.  Atlantis the Lost Empire: The Illustrated Script [Abridged Version with Notes from the Filmmakers], 55.</ref><ref name="FilmJournal">{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Henn|url=http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000692578|title=Finding Atlantis|date=June 1, 2001|accessdate=August 30, 2011|work=[[Film Journal International]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116180317/http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000692578|archive-date=January 16, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>