anna.the.gentle
New member
Ever wondered what the language of Narnians was? Hehe, just a curious thought. Maybe, maybe, we could learn it someday. 
Narnian Dialect
- Thread starter anna.the.gentle
- Start date
A dialect of English that I refer to as Angalandrian.
There were regional dialects, one of which I use in my Byron on Wells stories is Riparian, or "Riverbanker".
EXAMPLES
I'll be back in a wink.
Best take your scarf, it's a chiller out.
He was babbling nonsense, like he'd jumped off the path.
Fetch me that mallet and shake it up lad, I don't have all day.
There were regional dialects, one of which I use in my Byron on Wells stories is Riparian, or "Riverbanker".
EXAMPLES
I'll be back in a wink.
Best take your scarf, it's a chiller out.
He was babbling nonsense, like he'd jumped off the path.
Fetch me that mallet and shake it up lad, I don't have all day.
anna.the.gentle
New member
Oh, that's really interesting! Thanks.
~Sunnyromance~
New member
They speak enligsh but with an accent. I believe scottish accent would fit perfectly or swedish one
anna.the.gentle
New member
Yeah, me too.They speak enligsh but with an accent. I believe scottish accent would fit perfectly or swedish one
Ooo - this is a very intersting topic in my opinion, as its exactly what my course is on at uni!!
Hmmm... we can be sure that all the guys that came to England would have had an English accent, no doubt about that. Now, its interesting, that when Jadis came to London in MN, she was perfectly understandable to the people of the city. This must mean she had an understandable accent of English, which means that Charn had a form of English as its national language. Interesting to think how that could happen...
In terms of Narnia, it could happen that once you enter Narnia, you speak Narnian but dont realise your not speaking English. However, if not - they would speak English as the first human inhabitants, King Frank and Queen Helen were from London. In that way the accent would have been London Cockney.
However, it was about 1000 years till the Pevensies arrived in LWW, in which time the accent could have changed substantially. (Think English from the Norman Conquest till now!) It would not have changed as much though, because there was no influence of other languages, but I dont think they would have had a Cockney accent anymore.
When the Telmarines arrived before PC, they would have introduced their accent, which would have been a south-western English, or 'pirate' accent and so this would have mixed with the traditional Narnian accent so that the accent that Pevensies heard the second time would have been different from that spoken by the animals, fauns and dryads of LWW.
Anyway, I doubt CS Lewis really thought that much about any of this but it is still interesting for me at least to think about!!
Hmmm... we can be sure that all the guys that came to England would have had an English accent, no doubt about that. Now, its interesting, that when Jadis came to London in MN, she was perfectly understandable to the people of the city. This must mean she had an understandable accent of English, which means that Charn had a form of English as its national language. Interesting to think how that could happen...
In terms of Narnia, it could happen that once you enter Narnia, you speak Narnian but dont realise your not speaking English. However, if not - they would speak English as the first human inhabitants, King Frank and Queen Helen were from London. In that way the accent would have been London Cockney.
However, it was about 1000 years till the Pevensies arrived in LWW, in which time the accent could have changed substantially. (Think English from the Norman Conquest till now!) It would not have changed as much though, because there was no influence of other languages, but I dont think they would have had a Cockney accent anymore.
When the Telmarines arrived before PC, they would have introduced their accent, which would have been a south-western English, or 'pirate' accent and so this would have mixed with the traditional Narnian accent so that the accent that Pevensies heard the second time would have been different from that spoken by the animals, fauns and dryads of LWW.
Anyway, I doubt CS Lewis really thought that much about any of this but it is still interesting for me at least to think about!!
Ooo - this is a very intersting topic in my opinion, as its exactly what my course is on at uni!!
Hmmm... we can be sure that all the guys that came to England would have had an English accent, no doubt about that. Now, its interesting, that when Jadis came to London in MN, she was perfectly understandable to the people of the city. This must mean she had an understandable accent of English, which means that Charn had a form of English as its national language. Interesting to think how that could happen...
In terms of Narnia, it could happen that once you enter Narnia, you speak Narnian but dont realise your not speaking English. However, if not - they would speak English as the first human inhabitants, King Frank and Queen Helen were from London. In that way the accent would have been London Cockney.
However, it was about 1000 years till the Pevensies arrived in LWW, in which time the accent could have changed substantially. (Think English from the Norman Conquest till now!) It would not have changed as much though, because there was no influence of other languages, but I dont think they would have had a Cockney accent anymore.
When the Telmarines arrived before PC, they would have introduced their accent, which would have been a south-western English, or 'pirate' accent and so this would have mixed with the traditional Narnian accent so that the accent that Pevensies heard the second time would have been different from that spoken by the animals, fauns and dryads of LWW.
Anyway, I doubt CS Lewis really thought that much about any of this but it is still interesting for me at least to think about!!
You said it all WHB! Unlike LOTR there isn't another language like elvish. That's ok though.
anna.the.gentle
New member
To me, it's a very educated English. Very interesting.
General Oreius
New member
I read it as different forms of English based on how C.S. Lewis wrote it. In other words, how each creature or character speaks. I'm sure there were other languages, but they weren't presented in the book.
timbalionguy
Well-known member
It says un MN that King Frank laost a lot of his cockney accent as he became king-- this was evident very early on. So, I propose that the first language of Narnia was an English that would have been used in the 'official operation' of Britian, i.e. what is commonly referred to as 'the King's English'.
It's interesting that Aslan used this same English. So did all the talking animals. So did, apparently, the calormines. What changes the Telmarines brought is too tough to call, but the language in the book indicates that it 'morphed' into something fairly close to 'The King's English'.
In any case, I see it as a clear, pure 'English' that any person fluent in any dialect of English would have no trouble understanding at all.
It's interesting that Aslan used this same English. So did all the talking animals. So did, apparently, the calormines. What changes the Telmarines brought is too tough to call, but the language in the book indicates that it 'morphed' into something fairly close to 'The King's English'.
In any case, I see it as a clear, pure 'English' that any person fluent in any dialect of English would have no trouble understanding at all.