Hello, esteemed researcher! If you are reading this, it means you’ve been selected for a tour aboard SCP-6013 to participate in the Rosetta Protocol. Your skills, hard work and natural resistance to disease will make you an invaluable asset to our team. To get you started in the next stage of your Foundation career, my colleagues and I have created a primer for the work ahead.
I strongly encourage you to read through this document in full if this is your first time working with a sentient, Sarkic or intelligent anomaly. It will provide you with an introduction to SCP-6013's communication methods and give you an opportunity to practice interpreting its language in a safe, above-water environment.
By complying with this conscription, you have waived your privileges to participate in any other onsite study of Sarkic anomalies. You also acknowledge that any psychometrics gathered during the course of your time at Site-82 are the property of the Foundation, as per the authority of Site Director Isaiah Kamski and the Greater Scandinavian Site Advisory Board. If you would like to read a full list of the privileges you have rescinded by joining the Rosetta Protocol, you may refer to pages 10 through 28 of this document.
The tone of my writing might strike you as unusual, but the truth is that I've never been one for formalities. I find it's best to keep things personable, especially for something as dry as linguistics. Ms. Greer is a sharp one, yes, but she's wound far too tight for my liking. Luckily for you I don't come apart as easily as she does.
With that in mind, let's begin, shall we?
Soonsaran is comprised primarily of verbs, nouns and adjectives.
- Verbs in Soonsaran behave very predictably. If a Soonsaran word ends with an "a," it is a verb. The noun form of the word "Nälkä" is the only exception to this rule.
- Nouns have the greatest variation. They may end in many different letters and vary widely in length and pronunciation. We believe that nouns constitute most of Soonsaran's "adapted" vocabulary.
- Adjectives have more variability than verbs but not as much as nouns. Soonsaran adjectives tend to be shorter than the words they describe and usually end in a consonant, especially "k," "r" or "t."
- Though some words may be "conjugated" between different forms, as is the case with "wark," "warat" and "warra" (adj. "sculpted/engineered," n. "sculptor/engineer," v. "to sculpt/engineer"), this is not usually the case. Most Soonsaran words have only a slight connection to other words of a different type, even if their meanings are similar.
- Prepositions in Soonsaran are written using the number 7, which is used in other languages to denote a glottal stop. Prepositions in Soonsaran are placed at the end of the phrases in which they appear; for example, appending the preposition "below" to the word "ocean" (batrav) would be written as "ocean below" (batrav7).
- Conjunctions in Soonsaran are written using hyphens (-) to conjoin the affected words. A phrase like "blood and thunder" (eshal and rortir, respectively) would be written as eshal-rortir.
- Complex words and phrases are written by joining the component words together with apostrophes ('). Unlike most words in Soonsaran, their meanings are fixed and do not vary between uses.
- Complex phrases are treated as single words grammatically. To illustrate, we'll use the compound phrase "thought flow" (rotir'tsatsa), the Soonsaran word for brain activity. Writing a glottal stop for a phrase like "with thoughts flow" (rotrir'tsatsa7) would modify the whole phrase (rortir'tsatsa), not just the last word of the compound (tsatsa).
- Certain words in Soonsaran behave modally; that is, they may mean more than one thing at once, or one thing at one time and one thing at another time:
- The word "ith" simultaneously describes SCP-6013 and every living thing that it considers connected to itself. A close approximation would be "I and we," "us," or possibly a "royal We."
- Conversely, the word "heta" describes everything that is not SCP-6013, regardless of number, distance, size or any other determining factors. Imagine it like "all of you" or "everyone else."
- Finally, the word "ia" means either "yes" or "no" at any given time, but never both.
You may reference the tables below at any time to check the meanings of particular words while you work (physical copies of this document will have these tables listed under the Appendices, page 126, sub-heading 2A-2C). If you are translating electronically, each word or phrase will have its appropriate meanings assembled for you already.
For those of you working on paper … you have my sympathies.
A complete table of SCP-6013's vocabulary can be found here. >>
Reference material for Soonsaran's more complex linguistic components has been appended below. Refer to it any time you need to cross-reference compound words, phrases or grammatical concepts during your contact with SCP-6013. The following tables do NOT include pheromone glossaries, biochemical codices or references for any nonverbal means of communication permitted by the Rosetta Protocol. This information can be found on pages 65, 66 and 104.
Complex Words and Phrases
Cirrak'rortir
Temple heart
Unknown, possibly "holy site"
Doxa'siola
Think through
To discern motives or intentions; to outwit, deceive or undermine
Ertir'ohrt
Bitter empty
Artificial matter, especially plastic
Ertir’ohrt’mekht’valasi’ulks’molag
Bitter empty rust leviathan soil king (?)
Warship/aircraft carrier/great machine
Istan'ferrin'huwanz
Fire metal wind
Gun, explosive
Luli'huwanz
Soul death
Suicide
Mayagh'batrav
Sword womb
Unknown, possibly "arsenal"
Ohrt’ulks’rortir
Desolate body thought
Torture, cruelty, malicious intent
Rotir'tsatsa
Thought flow
Consciousness, brain activity
Ulks'bhekter'yool
Stone tooth treason
Drill
Xerxen'noron
Trial killer
Disciple, apostle
Yool'nuterr
Treason priest
Religious slur or epithet
Valk …
Shining [word]
Sacrosanct or holy object, idea or action (i.e. Valksaran, meaning "Shining Words")
…'siola
To [verb] through something
Phrasal verb (i.e. “see through,” “move through,” etc.)
Grammatical Concepts
Preposition (Adposition)
[word]7
Describes the relationship or comparable attributes between a word or phrase and another word or phrase. Only known prepositions are above, below, from, inside, of, outside, until, with and without. Spoken using a glottal stop in the last syllable of the modified word or phrase.
Conjunction
[word]-[word]
Joins words, phrases and clauses. Only uses some coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, so). Denoted by a rapid clicking sound in between the affected words.
Serial Word or Phrase
[word]'[word], with apostrophes repeated for each subsequent word in the phrase ([word]'[word]'[word], etc.)
Joins multiple words together to describe complex actions or concepts. Apostrophes are spoken as brief trilling sounds comparable to a rolled "R."
Affirmative/Negative
ia
Yes and no. No known way to distinguish between each use, but SCP-6013-A claims it can tell the difference.
Plural Suffixes
[word]ti (both [words]),
[word]til (some [words]),
[word]täo (many [words]),
[word]tiäm (all [words])
Suffixes used to pluralize nouns.
Identifying Words (Pronoun Analogues)
ith, heta
Describes subjects relative to SCP-6013; the speaker differentiates between what it considers to be itself (ith) and everything separate from itself (heta). "Ith" is comparable to singular "I" or plural "we" pronouns, while "heta" is comparable to plural "you" or plural "they" pronouns.
You will be granted access to SCP-6013’s correspondences when you complete initial contact procedures. After that, you will begin your translation work. In accordance with the Rosetta Protocol, the results of these attempts will be shared and used to assemble a collaborative consensus of SCP-6013’s spoken words.
You will work with a remote visual interface that displays possible translations for each word or phrase. Those of you reviewing this document electronically will see an example below:
Select the translation that you believe best suits the passage and submit your choices once all entries are complete. If a word has a suggested translation—that is, one agreed upon by site command and your colleagues—it will be CAPITALIZED. Conversely, translations that are grammatically incorrect or especially unlikely will be --surrounded by hyphens.-- Be sure to read every option before making your final choice.
A message from SCP-6013 is written below:
- What is your name, SCP-6013? What do you do?
Ith, Gräpaf Trypori7, nälkä nolaa7. Ia, ith ordtiäm-ordtiäm litca’siola.
Seems intimidating, right? Let’s go through the motions and see for ourselves.
First, we translate the affirmatives/negatives and any identifying words. We also pluralize both appearances of the word “ord” because they have the “all” suffix (tiäm). Each word that we change will be underlined and highlighted in orange.
- What is your name, SCP-6013? What do you do?
I/we, Gräpaf Trypori7, nälkä nolaa7. Yes/no, I/we all ord-all ord litca’siola.
Remember that the pluralizing suffixes (both, some, many, all) will be translated automatically for you.
Then, using the vocabulary available, we identify the verbs, nouns and adjectives in discrete phrases, which are listed below:
- Gräpaf Trypori: In this case SCP-6013 is describing itself with a title. This title indicates its state and function: a terraforming organism buried in the ground. Therefore, out of the possible options, “Harmony Burrows” seems plausible. Whether “Burrow” is singular or plural here is a matter of interpretation, but we believe it to be pluralized, so we will pluralize it.
- nälkä nolaa: There are actually several possible translations for this phrase: “hide power,” for instance. We will use “grow life” (or “life grow” in its original grammar) for this example. Remember that the verb goes after the subjects and objects of the phrase.
- ordtiäm-ordtiäm: This phrase uses the same word twice, so we can assume that it is meant to be read in two different ways. The only combination we can find meaning in is “skin-flesh,” possibly “skin and flesh” as an analog to the phrase “skin and bone.” Pluralized, we have “all skin-all flesh.”
- litca’siola: Literally “see penetrate.” SCP-6013 is describing the act of seeing through something.
Note that the prepositions and conjunctions are written using the glottal stop (7) and the hyphen (-), respectively. They will remain undecided for now.
- What is your name, SCP-6013? What do you do?
I/we, Harmony Burrows7, life grow7. Yes/no, I/we all skin-all flesh see’penetrate.
In order to write the sentence in English, we must determine which prepositions and conjunctions are being used. We also decide whether the “Ia” is affirmative or negative (yes or no).
- Harmony Burrows7: “Harmony Burrow” cannot read as a title unless it is being attributed to something. Therefore, the most likely preposition is “of.”
- grow life7: Several prepositions are possible, but the only meaningful ones are "from," “inside” or possibly “with.”
- skin-flesh: The only conjunction that would be meaningful here is “and.”
- What is your name, SCP-6013? What do you do?
I/we, Harmony Burrows (of), life grow (inside). Yes, I/we all skin (and) all flesh see through.
The last thing to do is swap the subject-object-verb order of Soonsaran for the subject-verb-object order of English. We also move the prepositions to their appropriate places.
- What is your name, SCP-6013? What do you do?
I/we, Harmony of Burrows, grow inside life. Yes, I/we see through all skin and all flesh.
Now, finally, we’ve translated a Soonsaran sentence into English.
Now that we've had a proper introduction to Soonsaran, I will provide you with some practice sentences to help you get better acquainted. The "correct" translations will be provided below if you are viewing this document electronically. For those of you with paper correspondence, you will find the correct answers on page 129, below the site requisition directory.
Epurvett.
Hello.
- What do you do, SCP-6013?
Ith heta7 hyoda.
I/we speak with you/them.
- Where do you live, SCP-6013?
Ith batrav7 nälkä.
I/we live below/inside (the) ocean.
- Who do you obey, SCP-6013?
Ith Kamski-Greer prata.
I/we obey Kamski and Greer.
Finally, I will give you some pointers from my own experience working with Site-82:
- The specifics of Soonsaran speech are less important than its broader themes and attitudes. There is little practical difference between being "inside ocean" and "below ocean," for instance, since both are in the ocean. Though we may make these distinctions, SCP-6013 does not seem to.
- SCP-6013 may use a word multiple times in the same sentence, sometimes even in succession. If it does, it is safe to assume that they have distinct meanings from each other. These include individual definitions within one entry, such as "skin/flesh" for the word "ord" as we saw in our first example. However, also keep in mind that certain words like "valk" and phrasal verbs like "siola" have particular meanings when attached to other words. Saying "see through," "go through" and "dig through," for instance, would all use one meaning for the verb "siola," even if they appear one after the other.
- Complex phrases (those joined by one or more apostrophes) should be treated as nouns unless every component of the phrase is a verb. For example, "litca'siola" (see through) is a verb while "rortir'tsatsa" (thought flow) is not.
- If you are approved for further direct contact work, you may be enlisted into more advanced tiers of the Rosetta Protocol, such as pictography and pheromone study. If you are interested in such an opportunity, contact the Site-82 Biosemiotics Division upon arrival.
- SCP-6013 may gesture to you with interior appendages or biolithic constructs during your work. If it does, remove yourself from the situation, assess your suit integrity and contact your supervisor immediately.
- During initial contact, SCP-6013 may vocalize more enthusiastically and at a greater volume than during other times. Common vocalizations include whistles, clicks, pulse calls, screams and trills. A particularly loud vocalization might sound something like this:
- Despite how it may seem, vocalizations like these are completely normal for SCP-6013. The lights, sounds and other conditions experienced during direct contact can be highly upsetting, however, and it is common to feel a sense of disorientation or unease. You will need to be careful to avoid any moisture, particulate matter or biolith fragments expelled from the walls and ceiling during this process.
Soonsaran appears intimidating at first. Know that familiarizing yourself with its grammar, cadence and inflections is a matter of practice and patience, and that it's normal to take time adjusting. The language is simple in many ways, but its openness can be deceptive. SCP-6013 is a fickle beast! Exercise discretion with your work, and we will all benefit from your ingenuity.
I look forward to seeing what you discover.
—Doctor Isaiah Kamski, Site Director