Talamana

Talamana (locally known as Manao Talamana) is a creole language spoken on the Telamon Islands, mainly in regions of Hilo and Aqualia. It is a linguistic blend of Bloxian, Dush, Ro-Portuguese and Telamonian languages, created in 17th century.

History

The first contact between the Eurobloxians and the Telamonians occurred in 1530, when the Ro-Spaniards landed on southern Manakapa. In the following years, as a result of the influence of Dush and Ro-Portuguese sailors on the inhabitants of Aqualia, a new pidgin started to form on Aoleka Island (Labuina Archipelago). Soon, it reached Northeastern Hilo.

Sometimes, history of Talamana is divided into three periods:

  1. Talamana A or King John's Islands Creole (1550s - 1582), the period, when pidgin was forming, based on Dush and Ro-Portuguese.
  2. Talamana B (1582-1640), the time of Ro-Spanish colonization. The Ro-Spanish administration tried to replace Creole with Ro-Spanish, but changed its attitude towards pidgin due to the lack of success of the previous policy.
  3. Talamana C (1640-1708). During this period, differences between Talamana spoken in Aqualia and Talamana spoken in Hilo became more visible.
  4. Talamana D (1708-1941), time of Bloxian influence on the language.
  5. Modern Talamana (since 1941)

Linguistic Features

Grammar

Unlike most Creole languages, Talamana uses VSO (Verb-Subject-Object) word order. In Talamana, a particle might be placed before a verb to indicate past, future, or ongoing action.

Talamana also uses common-neuter

Pronouns

- Singular Dual Plural
1st person au keda hu
2nd person tau tea tu
3rd person common ia iea iu
neuter ē ēa ēu

Examples of Talamana Phrases

No. Talamana Robloxian English Notes
1 Haola What's up? A blend of "What about you?" and a Telamonian greeting.
2 Taa hele au I am going. Uses the particle "taa" to indicate ongoing action.
3 Ue sabe ue ia They (singular) know very well. Uses the particle "ue" to indicate that the person in the sentence is good at doing something. In this example "ue" is also added after the verb.
4 Ko ete hu We will eat. The particle "ko" is used as a future tense marker.
5 Ue lili ē keia This is very small. Uses the particle "ue" (see above on example number 3). Literal meaning: It is very small.
6 Eloha Goodbye!
7 Atalaīta See you soon. Comes from Ro-Spanish "¡hasta la vista!".
8 Kauhanehal Town hall/City hall Portmanteau of Telamonian kauhane ("city") and Bloxian hall.