Unas language

The Unas Language from the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 is a simplistic constructed language that lends itself to quick, sharp sentences. It is spoken by the Unas, a primitive and strong clan-based race of humanoid aliens. All Unas words and sentences are said with animal emphasis (and as such all Unas words are fully capitalised), and are often repeated many times, either for strength or because the Unas is emotionally intense or feels its point is not being understood.

The Unas language is remarkably similar in certain respects to the Goa'uld language, suggesting to some a relationship.

Unas Syntax
The syntax of the Unas language is the same as that of English: subject-verb-object. There are no known tenses in the Unas Language.

Pronouns
The Unas language possess only one pronoun, KO, meaning 'we'. In all other instances, one either uses the proper noun, or excludes it entirely. For instance the sentence AKANA KEKA CHAKA (Akana kills Chaka) uses the proper nouns Akana and Chaka, with the verb KEKA (to kill).

The pronoun KO (we) is used very differently to its English counterpart. KO acts as a suffix, much like the suffix -men in Chinese. The above sentence AKANA KEKA CHAKA (Akana kills Chaka) has an entirely different meaning when KO is added; AKANA KO KEKA CHAKA (All the Unas named AKANA kill Chaka). However, KO can be eliminated entirely in some instances of extreme emphasis; KO CHA (we will stay).

Unas Dictionary
To date only a very small portion of the Unas language has been translated.

A
A: and A: particle, all (see KO(2)) AKANA: a name A KA NAY: as one tribe A CHA'KA: general greeting/hello/etc. A KA: thank you ASEK: shirt

B
BERNAR: retreat BERNAR KA CHA: break off attack and retreat

K
KA: no

KA CHA: only (me, him KA CHA/me and him only)

KADA: naqahdah

KA NAY: friend

KEKA: danger

KEKATA: staff weapon

KEL: why

KEL: how

KEL KO TAR: who is he/can we trust him

KEL KA: how many

KEL KA NAYA: how many tribes

KETA: retaliate

KO: we/us

KO: all together (UNAS KO KEKA/all the unas fight)

KO: share/give

(KO) CHA: to stay

KO KA CHA: relocate, move

(KO) NO NAY: away from your home

KOR: iron

KOR ASEK: refers to the alpha male - his name, actually (iron shirt)

L
LOTA: wait

M
MAK TAL: a sacrifice MAKA: sorry, apologies MA KAN NOK: stop fighting immediately MOO TA: marked for death/going to die

N
NAK: enemy NAN: feed/eat NAY A: tribe NO NA: home

O
ONAC: the Goa'uld

S
SOSEKA: a large number, 20 (two tens) SHA: yes/I agree SHA NAT: to free (from a prison/danger) SHESH: I don't know, I don't understand SHEISH: an exclamation for alarm SHO: this SKA NAT: stop fighting SKA NAT: save lives SKA NAT TE: alliance, to preserve life.

T
TA: speak, negotiate TA: say, how do I say ("TA relocate?") TATAK: attack TAR: who TAK: trick, deception TAR MAN KAN KO: do you wish to help us TE: particle used for introduction (TE KOR ASEK/I am Iron Shirt) TE: particle (Chinese "a") TOK: against/resistance TONOK: that (referring to the most recent object) TONOK SHESH: that is unclear TONOK TOK ONAC: to fight the Goa'uld

U
'UMAN: humans/Tau'ri (derived from "human") 'UMAN TA TOK: will the humans attack UNAS NAY A TOK: all the tribes will fight

Z
ZO: particle (Chinese "a") ZO: will

Notable Phrases
KEL KO KEKA: why did you attack us? DAN'AL CHO'EE'CHE, 'UMAN KO KEKA UNAS: while you Dan'al (Daniel Jackson) spoke peace, the humans killed Unas. A TOK 'UMAN: a human that is different than the rest, a better human KA CHA: away from harm SHA NAT KA KEKA: to help one escape from impending doom (eg, "I was helping you escape the executioner.") KA KEK: you don't have to kill KA NAN TOK: Get out of my way! SHO EYAY JAY: this thing is good (as in moral) UNAS KO TOK ONAC: the Unas fight the Goa'uld MAK TAL KO KAKEKA 'UMAN ONAC NAYA, ONAC KEKATA KEKA MAKTAL: The sacrifices fight the human hosts, but the goa'uld's staff weapons kill the sacrifices. A CHA'KA AKANA, CHO'EE'CHE: hello, Akana. Please, sit. AKANA, CHAKA KA CHA KA KEKA 'UMAN MAKTAL: Akana and Chaka don't kill the human sacrifices.

KA KEKA ONAC
From "Enemy Mine", although literally translated "not kill the Goa'uld", context suggests it should be understood "take the weapons of the Goa'uld", or "disarm the Goa'uld".

KEKATA
Mafdet theorizes that KEKATA simply means weapon, and applies to all weapons of any description, whereas I have translated it to mean solely the Jaffa Staff Weapon; If we break it apart, we see KA TA or don't speak; thus it can be assumed that something that silences someone for good kills them, a weapon. This debate will remain open however, for there is yet no translation for KE.

Also may be composed of KEKA meaning danger and TA meaning speak.

SESEKA
A large number, or twenty. Although the second translation is never given, it can be assumed to mean approximately that number, as the size of the army in "Enemy Mine" is approximately 300 Unas, which is twenty times KOR ASEK's tribe of between seven and fifteen. Elsewhere it has been speculated that SESEKA means "forty-four" or "four and four tens". This is still a plausible number with the lower end of the estimated tribe size.

BERNAR KA CHA
This can be translated both "retreat only" and "retreat, and don't hurt". In this case, the multiple meanings of KA CHA lead to the same meaning; however, in some other cases, they do not. Presumably, KA CHA means "only", because if it is only a couple of people, then they must trust each other, and therefore KA CHA "not hurt" each other.

Relation to Goa'uld
The Goa'uld language has numerous similarities with Unas, leading some to believe that the former was derived from the latter. Whether or not this is true, there are some similarities, not least of which is the subject-verb-object word order. There are also vocabulary similarities, as follows:


 * KEKA/Khek: "Kill" or "death" in both Goa'uld and Unas.
 * ONAC: In Goa'uld, "onac" means "sentient being". In Unas, it means "Goa'uld".
 * TOK: In Unas "tok" means "against" while the Tok'ra are the Goa'uld against Ra.

Lingua unas