Developing an Asian-American slave language

Caravels of Portugal

Caravels of Portugal

I'm creating and designing a slave creole used by the Amarelos, who are Asian slaves in America. In the ATL, the language is descended from a pidgin language used for communication between Amarelos and their Iberian masters. The language is a mixture of Iberian languages and languages from different parts of Asia.

The POD is that in the 16th century, Spain and Portugal along with Holland unite as the Iberian Union, West Africa is Christianized earlier in the past, enslavement of Africans and Native Americans are banned due to alternate New Laws, colonies go bust from the want of labor, Japan converts to Catholicism, earlier discovery of the Pacific Islands and the subsequent population crash of the Islanders, colonists find an untapped source of laborers in Asia and decide to exploit for slave labor in the Iberian colonies.

Now, I've created the early basics of the language spoken by the Amarelos

Basa Amarelo vocabulary with glossary and origins:
Japanese: Amaterasu (Shinto Kami of the Sun) -> Amateras (Ugama Cathay Joss of the Sun)
Japanese: Samurai (Warrior class) -> Samuri (Warrior)
Japanese: Chimimouryou (Collective term for mountain and river spirits) -> Jimimo-ryo (Wilderness spirits)
Portuguese: Deus (God) -> Joss (Deity, spirit, divinity)
Iban: Manok (Chicken, red junglefowl) -> Manuk (Chicken, flightless edible bird)
Malay: Ilahi (God in Abrahamic sense) -> Elahi (Supreme God)
Malay: Kitab (Book) -> Kitab (Manuscript, codex)
Malay: Hantu (Ghost) -> Antu (Ghost, unclean spirit)
Chinese: Mofa (Sorcery, witchcraft) -> Moufa (Magic)
Korean: Dokkaebi (Goblin) -> Tockepi (Goblin, possesed inanimate object)

I'll need some feedback on developing the Basa Amarelo language. Give me some feedback, suggestions and thoughts on the language.
 

Deleted member 107125

Caravels of Portugal said:
I'm creating and designing a slave creole used by the Amarelos, who are Asian slaves in America. In the ATL, the language is descended from a pidgin language used for communication between Amarelos and their Iberian masters. The language is a mixture of Iberian languages and languages from different parts of Asia.

The POD is that in the 16th century, Spain and Portugal along with Holland unite as the Iberian Union, West Africa is Christianized earlier in the past, enslavement of Africans and Native Americans are banned due to alternate New Laws, colonies go bust from the want of labor, Japan converts to Catholicism, earlier discovery of the Pacific Islands and the subsequent population crash of the Islanders, colonists find an untapped source of laborers in Asia and decide to exploit for slave labor in the Iberian colonies.

Now, I've created the early basics of the language spoken by the Amarelos

Basa Amarelo vocabulary with glossary and origins:
Japanese: Amaterasu (Shinto Kami of the Sun) -> Amateras (Ugama Cathay Joss of the Sun)
Japanese: Samurai (Warrior class) -> Samuri (Warrior)
Japanese: Chimimouryou (Collective term for mountain and river spirits) -> Jimimo-ryo (Wilderness spirits)
Portuguese: Deus (God) -> Joss (Deity, spirit, divinity)
Iban: Manok (Chicken, red junglefowl) -> Manuk (Chicken, flightless edible bird)
Malay: Ilahi (God in Abrahamic sense) -> Elahi (Supreme God)
Malay: Kitab (Book) -> Kitab (Manuscript, codex)
Malay: Hantu (Ghost) -> Antu (Ghost, unclean spirit)
Chinese: Mofa (Sorcery, witchcraft) -> Moufa (Magic)
Korean: Dokkaebi (Goblin) -> Tockepi (Goblin, possesed inanimate object)

I'll need some feedback on developing the Basa Amarelo language. Give me some feedback, suggestions and thoughts on the language.
Click to expand...
Where are these people taken from?
 
Revachah

Revachah

The death rates of malagasy slave ships were absolutely horrendous, the only reason why it was done was because despite the deaths the returns were exceedingly high.

In the case of enslaved chattel Asian slaves you would have a tiny population who likely have a more privileged position in a Euro-Afro-Indio indentured servant society.
 
Caravels of Portugal

Caravels of Portugal

Hindustani Person said:
Where are these people taken from?
Click to expand...

In the ATL, the Kaom Amarelo people originated as chattel slaves from the regions around Asia:
  • Indian Subcontinent
  • Malay Peninsula
  • East Asia
  • Japanese Archipelago
  • The Philippines
  • Borneo
  • Indochina
  • Sunda Islands & the Moluccas

Revachah said:
The death rates of Malagasy slave ships were absolutely horrendous, the only reason why it was done was because despite the deaths the returns were exceedingly high.

In the case of enslaved chattel Asian slaves you would have a tiny population who likely have a more privileged position in a Euro-Afro-Indio indentured servant society.
Click to expand...

In the ATL, the earlier discovery of the Pacific Islands called Milislhas (alternate name for the titular islands. Etymology is thousand islands in Spanish and Portuguese, in reference to the varied and multiple islands) and the subsequent depopulation of the Islanders through introduction of foreign diseases like chickenpox, leprosy and pertussis. The estimated death toll of the calamity had decimated 92% of the Islander population. The discovery of the Milislhas reduces the distance and time of travel from Asia to the Americas. Not only that, the earlier Christianization of West Africa made the West Africans repudiate the idea of slavery because they believe enslaving your own brothers or neighbors is wrong as well with the ban on slavery of Africans and Native Americans by the alternate New Laws.
 

Deleted member 107125

Caravels of Portugal said:
In the ATL, the Kaom Amarelo people originated as chattel slaves from the regions around Asia:
  • Indian Subcontinent
  • Malay Peninsula
  • East Asia
  • Japanese Archipelago
  • The Philippines
  • Borneo
  • Indochina
  • Sunda Islands & the Moluccas


.
Click to expand...

I would love to work with you on this- but I have just one question. How do such different languages combine to form one creole?
 
Caravels of Portugal

Caravels of Portugal

Hindustani Person said:
I would love to work with you on this- but I have just one question. How do such different languages combine to form one creole?
Click to expand...

In order to foster communication between the Iberian-speaking masters and the varied Asian language speaking slaves as well between the slaves, a pidgin had to be formed in order to do that. Proto-Amarelo language was essentially forced to compromise between slaves of many speakers of Asian languages and the Iberian-speaking masters, resulting this pidgin that evolved into a creole.
 

Deleted member 107125

Caravels of Portugal said:
In order to foster communication between the Iberian-speaking masters and the varied Asian language speaking slaves as well between the slaves, a pidgin had to be formed in order to do that. Proto-Amarelo language was essentially forced to compromise between slaves of many speakers of Asian languages and the Iberian-speaking masters, resulting this pidgin that evolved into a creole.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Pretty cool. Could we work on the religion a little more? I had an idea for it.
 
XFE

XFE

Caravels of Portugal said:
Chinese: Mofa (Sorcery, witchcraft) -> Moufa (Magic)
Click to expand...
Very fun thread. Here's my ideas. Most Chinese Americans were from Guangdong Province, and given its proximity to OTL Iberian routes of expansion, that'd likely be the same ITTL. Instead of Mandarin-based Chinese influences, you should use Teochew, Hakka or Cantonese. A few examples here

Teochew:
  • 雅囝 NgiáGià (Pretty boy/Handsome)-->(Gigolo)
  • 打冷 DaaLang (Basket carrier/mugging/late night food)-->(mugging), (dinner)
  • 自己人 Ga Ki Nang (Our own people, Teochew specific)-->(our own people), (Chinese people)
Cantonese:
  • 拜關公 Bai Kwan Kung (Worship Lord Guan Yu, triad initiation ritual)-->(Join the triads)
  • 大圈 Dai Huen (The big city, Guangzhou city)-->(Manila? Some major Iberian colony?)
  • 大佬 Dai Lo (Boss)-->(Master)
  • 老母 Lo Mo (Mother, offensive depending on dialect)-->(Bitch)
Hakka:
  • 行開 Hàng Khôi (Beat it/Fuck off)-->(Fuck off)
 
Last edited:

Deleted member 107125

Some more words-
தொப்பி Toppi (Hat, Tamil)- Topé (hat)

Pān/ Bal/ Bbang (bread, various languages)- Bān (bread)

Anito ( Tagalog, ancestral spirits)- Anitão- ( Ancestral Joss)

Matsu (Chinese sea goddess)- Maśu ( Sea Joss)
 
Caravels of Portugal

Caravels of Portugal

Slavery-related Terminology:
Spainish/Portuguese: Apprendiza (Euphemism for slave) -> Prendiza (Slave)
Japanese: Dorei (Enslavement) -> Dorae (Enslavement)
Malay: Budak (Male child) -> Budak (Boy slave)
Malay: Gadis (Female child) -> Gadis (Girl slave)

Ugama Cathay terminology:
Malay: Syaitan (Demon, devil) -> Saitan (Devil)
 
Caravels of Portugal

Caravels of Portugal

I've developed a basic sentence that displays one of the basic grammar of the Amarelo language.
"Ku vai semba joss-joss anitao di quil kayanga tockepi kab jimimo-ryo duplam utan" (I will pray to the Joss-Joss Anitao at the shrine because goblins and wilder spirits reside in the forest)
 

Deleted member 107125

Caravels of Portugal said:
I've developed a basic sentence that displays one of the basic grammar of the Amarelo language.
"Ku vai semba joss-joss anitao di quil kayanga tockepi kab jimimo-ryo duplam utan" (I will pray to the Joss-Joss Anitao at the shrine because goblins and wilder spirits reside in the forest)
Click to expand...
Awesome.What is the sentence structure like?
 
Shahrasayr

Shahrasayr

Caravels of Portugal said:
I don't know. It's my first time creating a constructed alternate history language. I don't have a PhD in Linguistics.
And oh, if you're interested in developing an Amarelo religion (Ugama Cathay), be sure to visit this thread: What would an Asian-American religion look like?
Click to expand...

At its very core sentence structure and syntax boils down to S,V,O system. Subject, Verbs and Object.

For example in English one would say ‘I ate an apple’ with the words corresponding to each of the three letters. English’s syntax is S-V-O. A lot of modern European languages as well as Mandarin follow this system.

However on the other hand languages like Hindi, Japanese, Greek and a lot of older Indo-European languages follow the S-O-V system or ‘I an apple ate’. These two structures constitute the majority of worlds languages but other combinations are also possible and occurring. Most languages also have a system of declension or agglutination to allow for other orders but the base order is the grammatically correct method.

Is an Iberian language the base for the Amarelo tongue? Or is it one of the Austronesian languages?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top