Ke ovahi o kii vahi, Mata Nui uamo. inihe ka usmo ia ngie, ke orna hu Matoran, lhe ii arta. In the time before time The Great Spirit descended Out of the Heavens carrying we, The ones called the Matoran To this paradise. --First lines of "The Legend of Mata Nui" =l Preface l= First, I must make a confession. For the past ten (or so) years, my primary hobby has been an obsession with constructing languages: "conlanging". In the words of J.R.R himself, it is the "secret vice". And, as migh
Oe a gauru ur a terenye.
Vemo Mata Nui na lhihke lhia,
K’a kaihe a karnye a terevua.
Oe lhe na veta ovemo.
We were separate, and without purpose
So the Great Spirit gave us the Three Virtues:
Unity, Duty, and Destiny.
And these gifts we embraced.
--from “The Legend of Mata Nui”
=l Intro to Nouns l=
At the most basic level, Matoran and English nouns are, well, nouns. They represent persons, places, things, ideas, etc. Grammatically, however, Matoran nouns exhibit some features
[update 9/17/10: Toa Inika]
I realized that I never actually posted this here...
This is the Simplicity Kit. A kit which you will probably need glasses to see (and, if you don't have glasses yet, you just wait). The goal of this was basically to amuse myself spriting something tiny, easy, simple. That sort of thing. It may not be useful to anyone, but it was very fun. So fun, in fact, that I may just have to find time to update it in future.
Until then, enjoy:
JRRT
All tests are taken. All papers are presented. All finals are over.
Finally. Long sigh of contentment.
=ll=
Today I've been looking through some topics related to how Teridax (henceforth referred to only as Makuta or The Makuta, since that's really what he is now) will be defeated in 2010, reading some of the different speculations and ideas that members have. While I don't usually spend much time reading speculation anymore (it takes a lot of time...which I don't have), this has really
[bump'd, 4/21/11. Because I wanted to. So there.] [Wouldn't you know it: I go to add new material to this, and it tells me I've reached the limit for a blog entry. So be it. I've thus split this "dictionary" into two "volumes" (because "volume" just sounds so much more important). In terms of describing the content of this "update": I've added around 120-130 new entries in all, in addition to modifying and revising older entries. Most of the words have to do with plants, landforms, colors, and
You people have brought many a smile to my face the past few days. After the time invested in the Matoran Dictionary project over the last several years, the sudden boost in exposure and overall positive response—both on BZP (thx news!) and off—means a lot. I’m glad to see so many people delving into it and having fun. In the end, that was the impetus for this project: my own personal enjoyment and enjoyment for other members of the Bionicle fandom. It’s all very satisfying. Heartfelt thanks.
bionicle |n.cmpd.| biological chronicle; lit. "chronicle of biology ('the all-living') [bionicle < boyanikul < boya-nai-akul, from boya "biology" (nominalized from bo-ya "to grow, live", see also bo "elemental plant-life; living, growing"), nai "all", and akul "chronicle; lit. "(that which is) seen/known" (< aku-li, from aku "sight, vision" and the adjectival particle -li)] This has gone too far. ._. JRRT
[There has been some recent interest in my very old, very outdated Matoran Dictionary as of late; due, I think, to the discussions in this very interesting topic. Well, interest breeds motivation, and I've worked up the motivation to work out some significant revisions to the Dictionary, bringing it up-to-date with my most recent conceptions of Matoran etymology, as discussed at length in the "Meaningless Names" series. So enjoy this "Second Edition", if you will.] [update 8/6: It is fi
I've posted a few examples of texts in the Matoran language on this blog so far, and if you lurk elsewhere on the internet, you may have seen quite a few more. Most of these translations make use of a particular model of Matoran grammar, one that has undergone many alterations over the years. At this point, I thought it might be useful/interesting to share that grammar in its current state. So here's a basic overview—a cheatsheet, if you will. Have fun with it. ===========================
[oh a tumblr what] Treatise: Translating the Avohkii : Part 3 : Take a stroll through the previous posts for all the juicy, juicy previous details. For now, here’s where we’re at in the translation process: The bolded parts have been translated as follows: The string ke-whenu-ka consists of the word whenu(a) "hidden/secret underground" modified by two particles: the basic locative particle manifesting as ke- "in/at/on" and the origin particle manifesting as -ka "from, out of". Th
If you’re someone who remembers BZPower back before the archive deletion and downtimes (I confess, I’m getting murky) and roughly prior to '08-'09, you might know me as a different person. I mostly lurked 'round this little forum called Artwork II, which was the place where all the shops and "sprite kits" were safely hidden from the world. Back then, most of my contribution to BZP came in the form of pixel art. Yeah, it was a different time. Well, I haven’t done any pixel art for quite a while
Since the release of the Bionicle 2015 media, various people have taken note of the system of symbols or glyphs that consistently appear throughout the island of Okoto. They show up in nearly every one of the story animations--on ruins, statues, the Temple of Time...even the Mask of Creation is covered in them. This has, unsurprisingly, generated questions about whether or not these symbols are purely decorative or if they in fact constitute a functioning writing system, along the lines of the G
[also hey look a tumblr] Treatise: Translating the Avohkii : Part 1 : It has come to my attention that the novelization of the Mask of Light film includes the following passage: This is supposed to be Nokama’s reading of the inscription found on the Avohkii. Interesting, no? Even if the novelization is only semi-canon, this could provide material for expanding our (admittedly completely made-up) knowledge of the Matoran language. Where to begin? I began by seeking out the scene f
[cross-post] Another year, another birthday, and today’s mine. Seems like a good occasion for gift-giving, so here’s one for you all. Several months ago, I posted a link on tumblr to an unfinished Matoran Language translation of the script of Bionicle: Mask of Light. At the time, it was only about 25% complete. Well, some time (and procrastination) has passed since then...and now it’s 100% complete. Link to the document There’s the link to the Google doc, with comments enabled. And just
Ke ovahi o kii vahi,
ne kharra noie ma
ke kraa o karho,
Kii usmo Mata Nui
A avo inihe ka.
In the time before time
The builders of this world
Labored in Darkness,
Before the Great Spirit brought
Light out of the Heavens.
--From "The Legend of the Bionicle"
=l Intro to Verbs l=
Verbs in Matoran are slightly different from Nouns in that they do not rely solely on grammatical particles. There are some areas where particles are used, but overall these are not prevalent.
V
So far: two thumbs way way up.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «First off, I want to say Thank You Greg, for skipping the whole Teridax-is-his-real-name thing. Makuta is Makuta and he is The Makuta. That's how he started out, and by Mata Nui that's how he's going to end!
Secondly, and more importantly, I loved the "You have nothing, Makuta. You are nothing." aside. I as an ancient fan highly appreciate the nod to MNOG.
Also: I think that, for the first time since D'anda
LEARNING MATORAN - LESSON 8 - I. Objective Particles: You have already encountered the subject, basic objective, and possessive particles in previous lessons, but there are many particles that remain to be discussed. The particles discussed in this lesson can also be classified as objective particles, but, in contrast to the basic objective particle, they provide information on the spatial and temporal positioning of a noun, as well as on nature of the action denoted by the verb. Six pa
What do you know: looks like I’m still on a Matoran Language streak these days, despite another interstate relocation (back to my natural habitat in the dry-bare-sandy southwest US...it’s good to be home). This time though, I’m taking a break from those pretentious Lessons in order to play around with a tangent on nameless Kanohi masks, i.e. official (and some unofficial) Kanohi masks that never received official (or unofficial) Matoran names. With a universe as sprawling as that of Bionicle, y
Hi folks. It's been a terribly long count of years (months), but I'm still, here, writing this stuff. I think it helps keep me sane. . .Whatever the case, if you're here to read this new lesson on the Matoran Language, it might do to read up on some of the older stuff. I don't know, maybe like the previous four lessons? Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 And now that that it's all fresh in your mind, move on to Lesson Five: Pronouns I: =l Pronouns I l= Matoran pronouns have much the
...from something bigger.
=ll=
“You have seen him? He is the Makuta. He will destroy us if I do not go.”
Mata Nui turned away. “Goodbye, brave Glatorian. You have shown yourselves worthy of redemption. Remember these things and survive. For my destiny and the destiny of my people lies elsewhere in the universe. I will strive to repair your world, and perhaps then the Great Beings shall return…”
“Goodbye, Great Spirit. We will not forget.”
There was a moment of silence as Mata Nui
[and tumblr too] This post, we're taking a brief detour from other projects to talk about something slightly more mundane: Is there something in the Matoran Language that marks verbs as verbs and distinguishes them from non-verbs? I would like to propose that there is at least one verb-marker expressed as a suffix (or "derivative particle") -ya. What's the evidence? Admittedly, there is only one canon piece of evidence, since we have only one confirmed verb in Matoran: zya "to attack". This
