Jackson 1 Codeswitching with Mandoa

Amber Jackson Barnette Intro to Language 6 November 2012 Code -Switching with Mandoa1 I. History Realization of Mandoa: Primers and Novels Mandoa, language of the Mandalorian faction from the Star Wars continuum, began with the score of a Lucasarts game from the Star Wars universe: Republic Commando and was created by the titles composer, Jesse Harlin. This language, still unnamed at the release of the game, was used in the following tracks of the Republic Commando soundtrack, available at the Brothers All website: Gratua Cuun2, Karta Tor3, Dha Werda Verda4, Prologue, RV Alpha, The Ghost Ship, They Must be Asleep, and Vode An5. <http://www.clonecommandos.net/music/index.php> Of these, Vode An became most well-known and is often used as a rallying song for the Mandalorians of what is known as the Modern era, which spans the timeline of all six Star Wars movies and then some. <http://mercs.firespray.net/downloadables/pubs/Codex.pdf>
1 2

Italics denotes use of a Mandoa specific word. Our Vengeance 3 One Heart of Justice 4 Rage of the Shadow Warriors 5 Brothers All

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Once Republic Commando became a success and cult classic among gamers, Karen Travissoften referred to as Karbuir6 among those fluent in Mandoawas commissioned to produce tie-in novels for the Republic Commando game. At this time, a projected six book series was requested by the Lucas camp. After the release of the first book, Hard Contact, the Republic Commando series became beloved by clone and Mandalorian fanatics. The subsequent installations only served to capture the imaginations and hearts of fans even further. Traviss created Mandoa as an independent project to help add dimension to the Mandalorian sect her series focused upon. Due to the reorganization of the Star Wars canon attributed to the Clone Wars computer-animated series, the sixth book was cancelled and an apologetic note with proposed outline for the final novel was posted on Karen Travisss site. <http://www.karentraviss.com/page10/index.html> Further development of the language was continued into the Legacy of the Force series, where the Mandalorian culture was further fleshed out along with the language. In-Universe Mandoa: No Word for Hero To understand Mandalorian language, you must understand Mandalorian psychology. The most notable example of this is that Mandoa has no word for hero. The closest equivalent is mandokarla, which literally means to possess a Mandalorian heart but is commonly translated to mean having the right stuff. While there is no word for hero, there is one for coward, huteen, and at least six more for idiot. These slurs pale in comparison to darmanda7

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Mother Karen (lit. Parent Karen) those who no longer have a soul

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and darbuir8, which is considered the ultimate abuse. <http://www.karentraviss.com/page20/page26/downloads/index.html> Mandalorians live by the Resolnare, the Six Actions of proper conduct. These are duties to: speak the language, wear beskargam9, defend yourself and your family, contribute to your clans welfare, and to heed the call of the Mandalor10when needed. <Order 66> Honor, courage, and strength arent just expected; they are requirements to even be considered Mandoad.11 An interesting feature of Mandoa is that it is purely gender-neutral. Whenever biological gender must be denoted, such as to specify between a father and a mother, the prefixes jagyc12or dalyc13are used. While Mandalorian language did not undergo many changes and was mostly used among their own kind, many different species and cultures were adopted into the various clans. The Mandoade did not care about species, gender, political status, or any other such material concerns. If you had a good head on your shoulders and the guts to back it up, you were respected and viewed as a worthy candidate to join the ranks of Mandalore. Other linguistic features of Mandoa are the lack of normal tense markers, noted only by the prefixes ven14and ru15attached to the verb or verbs in question. Passive voice is considered a non-existent tense. The verb cuyir is the only indicator of this when it is, rarely, used. Plurals are formed by attaching an -e to the end of the words. Grammar is, at best, rough for this

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one who is no longer a parent This is used when a child disowns a parent. armor made from beskar, a highly resilient iron (lit. iron skin) 10 Mandalor is the title given to the de facto leader of the Mandalorians. The suffix alor denotes authority. 11 a child of Mandalore (the planet) 12 male 13 female 14 Future tense marker 15 Past tense marker

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language due to its nature as a primarily spoken language. Copula deletion is common, and assimilation or deletion of phonemes is often used to ease the awkwardness that can arise from speaking a voiced bilabial stop with mandibles, for example. Imperative and interrogative sentences are denoted by the verb markers ke and tion respectively. Negatives are created with the prefix n and can be used to negate any part of speech. Articles are rarely, if ever, used. Descriptors are formed by using the suffixes la or yc, depending on which one is easier to use. To make them superlative or comparative, add ne or shya to its ending. Some of the standard consonant blending in Europe and South America are also prevalent. Mandoa is a language of convenience and expedience. It is rough, hard, and exactly what you would expect from a society praised for its mercenaries. <http://www.karentraviss.com/page20/page26/page25/index.html> In the words of Traviss herself: I'm not an academic linguist, nor do I play one on television, but Mando'a has been beta tested by a few people from fans to LucasArts staff and it seems to work pretty well. It's flexible, and you don't need to get hung up about complex grammar. Well, would you correct the syntax of a guy in armour with a blaster held to your head? Didn't think so... <http://www.karentraviss.com/page20/page26/index.html> II. Code-Switching Code-Switching: A Definition and Explanation Code-switching is defined as the usage of multiple languages in natural speech or writing, while observing each respective languages grammatical guidelines. Languages in the above definition can also imply dialects or language variants.

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<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02500167.2012.716764?journalCode=rcsa20# preview> It is often used to accommodate learners of new languages and to make up for linguistic insufficiencies in vocabulary or grammatical knowledge. It is also used heavily by those who know a heavier amount of one language over another. The amount of code-switching used by an individual is determined by the dominance a given language has at a given time. Dominant language may also be determined by formality and audience. Modes of speaking Mandoa may also change: a lowering of pitch and volume to talk to a small child intimidated by the costume, for example. <http://nhlrc.ucla.edu/events/institute/2011/readings/He%20%20Nilep.pdf> Code-switching must follow the rules of the language spoken at the time, so that the substitution is grammatically correct in context according to the laws of the language used in said substitution. Due to the heavy English influence on the structure of this language, grammar interference is not a problem. <http://iteslj.org/Articles/Skiba-CodeSwitching.html > This is a natural part of the bilingual language acquisition process and is shown to show separation between each language learned. Mental compartmentalization slows the language-tomeaning translation process if more than one language is present in any given sentence. Similarities between the two or more languages used help to ease this lag in comprehension. Code-switching in environs where the native language is used primarily also enhances the speed of concept connection to verbal cues. What is used most frequently, however, also affects this. The more readily accessed each mental language text is, the more readily the translation is available. The more heavily used a word is, the easier it is to connect it to the meaning, despite language barriers. Code-switching is also used in an attempt to encourage greater understanding among varied listeners. All in all, it is a process used to show progress in language development.

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<http://www.tamiu.edu/~rheredia/switch.htm> I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing Though Mandoa is actively used by more than a thousand people that I am personally aware of in my little corner of cyberspace, most of these being fanboys and fangirls of the language, there is little information even in what few linguistic analyses of Star Wars I have found. Even those who should be aware of Mandoa by its more recent exposure on The Clone Wars during the Death Watch arcjudging by the post-broadcast publication dates, remain dreadfully unaware of Mandoa. To my knowledge, apart from myself and a single unknown user mentioned on The Old Republic MMORPG forum, the only linguistically inclined Mando Merc who has tried to fully analyze Mandoa is a fellow Mercs forum user by the handle Ms. Lanna, a German femmando16. Mandoa is the only Star Wars language with a structured grammar, set lexicon, and rules for governing use. Though the lexicon listed on Karbuirs website tops out at just over 1,200 individual words and basic phrases, the Wookieepedia page lends greater insight. Over 40 verbs, 30 descriptors, 170 nouns, 55 phrases, 36 assorted words, a system of numbers that can count up to 999,999, 11 color words, 7 songs, and a description of Mandalorian script. <http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mando'a> However, this pales in comparison to the official lexicon posted on Karen Travisss site. The Wookieepedia pages dictionary is completely accurate, though, and is watched closely for any undue changes. One fan listing, based off the original lexicon but unreliable even at first glance, lists approximately 700 words in its dictionary. <http://swc-kyrgalaarvhett.webs.com/englishtomandoadictionary.htm> However, the fact that the original lexicon
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Term for female Mandalorian.

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is neither linked, included in the file, nor mentioned makes me entirely too suspicious of the validity of this fanon dialect of Mandoa. Quite a few of the entries seemed to merely make distinctions of use that are already common knowledge to those who are familiar with the Republic Commando books. General consensus, however, is that canon Mandoa well exceeds 2000 words, once the songs and conversations are broken down into their component parts. The best fanon dictionary seems to be one with official permission from the Lucas camp to work as a fan site. It appears to have used Karbuirs original spreadsheet as a base. < http://mandoa.org/> An interview on a podcast showed that Traviss used Latinate bases for the sound, a bit of Hungarian structuring, English word order, and the pre-existing lyrics for the Mandoa tracks from Republic Commando to create a beta version of the language before letting a few friends from the Armed Forces take the tongue out for a trial run. She then got feedback and critiques from these and modified the language appropriately. She wanted something easy to work with, quick to teach adoptees, and adaptablesomething that fit a nomadic warrior civilization. < http://archive.org/details/JoelAndersonOntheHorizon> Code-Switching and Aruetiise17 Code-switching in Mandoa plays a very specific role. Most Mandoade can speak Galactic Basicread that as Englishbut use Mandoa in certain ways. The concept of the aruetiise, the outsider, is very big in Mandalorian culture. A Mandalorians business is their own, unless it negatively affects their clan or their planet. A
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outsiders, foreigners, Not Mandoade

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clans business is its own, unless it negatively affects the planet. The Mandalore answers to no one and everyone. Using Mandoa to ensure no sensitive information leaks to outsiders is a standard operating procedure among the Mandoade. The language also has a very distinctive sound, announcing that there is a vod amongst the rabble to any other Mandalorian in the vicinity. Creating a language barrier among comrades is also a good way to build rapport. By using the tongue of the culture, there is a sense of trust and respect built almost immediately between speakers. Its also a way to determine whether or not people are who they claim to be. Using Mandoa is a way to keep communications secure without having to resort to silence. It is often used in this manner with basic code in the novels to ensure that tactics arent leaked and personnel remain uncompromised. As such, let us now take a look at the way Mandoa is used by members of the Mandalorian Mercs community through different media and in various environments. III. Usage Calls, Armor Parties, and Troops As a member of the Mandalorian Mercs Costuming Club since October, 2008, I have seen much of the standard usage of Mandoa in many different environments. Since many of my friends in this society are from different parts of the world, I will focus primarily on United States and Canadian usage in real-life circumstances. I have been actively trooping as an unofficial Mandalorian Mercenary, or Mando Merc,

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under the handle Buurenaar18since June of 2010. I had attended armor parties since April of the same year. As such, I have noticed different forms of Mando communication, dependent on media, setting, and immersion. Phone and video calls are normally fairly standard affairs, very casual. A greeting, a few references to our assorted screen names, and being called ner vod19 are about the only real Mandoa phrases used, aside from ubiquitous swears, unless our armor is discussed. Then, armor terminology and weaponry is spoken of in addition to our normal vocabulary. Very few active phrases are used, aside from standardized greetings. Armor parties are, aside from the more frequent Mando swears from accidentally hitting a hand instead of sheet metal or from not being able to form a specific armor plate properly to ones body, about as casual linguistically as phone conversation with fellow vode. Greetings; heavier references to screen names or teasingly rude nicknames; multitudes of references to weaponry, props, armor pieces, ships, or vehicles; lessened amounts of being referred to as ner vod but loads of references to our leaderTomas Mandalore; and a few joking references to alcohol (normally after someone has cut themselves on metal or hammered a finger instead of their armoring materials) are used. Troops, events where costuming is used as either recreation or for non-profit fundraising, are interesting to a sociolinguistic point-of-view. Before the armor goes on, kitting up, the usage of Mandoa is sparse and limited to a few ner vods or an oya.20 After the buyce, the helmet, goes on, usage of Mandoa goes up exponentially. However, this seems limited to Mandalorian enthusiasts and among others of the group. Lots of members who are not inclined
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Storm my comrade (lit. my brother/sister) 20 Lets hunt! An exclamation of enthusiasm, like Hooah!

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to use Mandoa except sparsely at any other time seem to use it more in armor. In our group, the helmet often makes the kit. Once that T-visor slides over the eyes, everything looks a little different. Its an equivalent effect to a thespian putting on a mask to become a character. Even if a vod calls from a troop, you can tell when theyre in armor or not. Theres less of the stigma toward outsiders that the Mandalorian culture we adopt in gam21exhibited in-universe. In reality, our clans tend to be more insular when out of armor than in. Troops are when we are most in touch with the characters we createmostly due to the fact that we actually perform as bounty hunters at these events and cage people for a jail and bail bounty, all proceeds to charity. Facebook, Forums, and Fanfiction Being a global organization, the Mercs tend to do a lot of communication online. Our forum is organized by region and has shared boards. As such, there are certain trends that we seem to follow. Facebook is a big form of communication for the Mercs, more than Google Plus or Myspace. Most of us have a heavy concentration of Mandalorian Mercenaries and other costumers from varying science-fiction organizations in our friends lists and circles. When we post Star Wars related statuses or costume pictures, we have a tendency to add in a bit of Mandoa to our updates. Also, since it is a good way to censor ourselves, we often curse with it on social media, since few people understand such an obscure fictional language. The Mandalorian Mercenary Costuming Club forum is a very interesting place to throw
21

Standard shortened form of beskargam (lit. skin)

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around Mandoa. The reaction could be anything from a fluent Ni Mandoad _____22 to an adamant declaration that you should speak English. I have also found that the international members have a higher tendency to adopt Mandoa more fluently than their American counterparts. This could be due to the higher exposure to secondary or tertiary language acquisition found in other countries or simply a way to communicate with others using a fairly among our membersuniversal tongue. Others range widely, though there is a fairly standard set of vocabulary shared among members: swears, titles, clan status, armor components, weapons, endearments, condemnations, exclamations, and greetings. More fluent members tend to have a wider range of vocabulary: numbers, emotions, physical state, agreement, disagreement, negation, description of outsiders, and description. Those who are the most fluent of our group can generate entire sentences on the fly and improvise words from the existing lexicon, as most of the current words in the Mandoa dictionary were created by stringing together concepts and descriptions. Whole conversations in Mandoa, while rare in even the canon materials, have been recorded amongst fan groups on the forums. One couple even got married in full gam using the Mandalorian wedding vows. Fanfiction, normally in the form of character histories, is the richest form of Mandoa communication by sheer volume and sophistication of syntax and prescriptively correct language. Thought out, probably with the lexicon file and grammar file open in other windows,

these passages are pure grammatically correct Mandoa for the most part. Others that have less Mandoa in them use a higher level of code-switching. Republic Commando Series
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I am the Mandalorian (insert name here).

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The Republic Commando series is technically two series in one, referred to by the first series name. The first part of this is the Republic Commando series, consisting of Hard Contact, Triple Zero, True Colors, and Order 66. The second part is the sole Imperial Commando novel, 501st. These books follow Republic Commando Squads Omega and Delta, as well as their respective sergeants Kal Skirata and Walon Vau, Jedi Knights Bardan Jusik and Etain TurMukan. The clone Commandos in this series were taught Mandoa by their training sergeants. Jango Fett, the clone template, was also a Mandalorian, though one in self-enforced exile. From Skirata, Vau, andto a lesser degreeFett, these clones grew up in an environment where Galactic Basic and Mandoa were constantly being code-switched. The other Rep Com squad featured in this series, Null Squad, was more exposed to this than any of the rest, as Kal Skirata raised them himself. It was only natural that these troopers picked up the habit of mincing languages. Commands, statements of rapport, intel, weapon and armor terminology, some food words, endearments, and a heavy amount of banter are where Mandoa sees the most use throughout the series. Mandoa is shown to be an insular social language. That is what most speakers of the Mandalorian language tend to mimic in their own speech patterns while codeswitching in the Mando Mercs. There is a tendency to try to reinforce bonds between vode and to express that you see someone as either mandokarla or vod is a statement of highest respect and loyalty amongst our ranks. Reinforcing the fact that each has the others backs is one of the major benefits of this

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united language. It also helps with international dialog when speakers of many different dialects or languages meet at a convention or event. Knowing how to proceed in the Mandalorian tongue helps coordinate our actions while working the Bounty Hunts even if we are from different corners of the globe. Its easier than trying to pick up pieces of five or ten different languages in a span of minutesand a lot more dignified than playing charades with each other in full armorwhich is often impossible for the people who wear heavy armor. IV. Oya, Manda! Code-switching in Mandoa, while confusing to people outside of the Mandalorian Mercenaries Costume Club, is also quite useful at times. It is a bond we share, no matter what our native language. It is natural that, with a partial language such as ours, we must code-switch to communicate what has either not been invented yet or is not in our working vocabulary. Oya!

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Works Cited: <http://www.clonecommandos.net/music/index.php> <http://mercs.firespray.net/downloadables/pubs/Codex.pdf> <http://www.karentraviss.com/page10/index.html> <http://www.karentraviss.com/page20/page26/downloads/index.html> <Order 66> <http://www.karentraviss.com/page20/page26/page25/index.html> <http://www.karentraviss.com/page20/page26/index.html> <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02500167.2012.716764?journalCode=rcsa20#pre view> <http://www.tamiu.edu/~rheredia/switch.htm> <http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mando'a> < http://mandoa.org/> . < http://archive.org/details/JoelAndersonOntheHorizon> <http://nhlrc.ucla.edu/events/institute/2011/readings/He%20-%20Nilep.pdf> <http://iteslj.org/Articles/Skiba-CodeSwitching.html>

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