Barsoomian The Language Of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars Background Phonology Phonotactics Grammar Word Sets Lexicon Picture Credit: NASA,Viking Project

Background

John Carter was the first human in history to visit Mars. His travels and those of his compatriots have been recorded in Edgar Rice Burrough's 11 volumes about Barsoom, as the natives call the Red Planet. These books include:

1. A Princess Of Mars
2. The Gods Of Mars
3. The Warlord Of Mars
4. Thuvia, Maid Of Mars
5. The Chessmen Of Mars
6. The Mastermind Of Mars
7. Fighting Man Of Mars
8. Swords Of Mars
9. Synthetic Men Of Mars
10. Llana Of Gathol
11. John Carter Of Mars

The following descriptions of the Barsoomian language were recorded by Captain John Carter in A Princess Of Mars:

"This power [telepathy] is wonderfully developed in all Martians, and accounts largely for the simplicity of their language and the relatively few spoken words exchanged even in long conversations. It is the universal language of Mars, through the medium of which the higher and lower animals of this world of paradoxes are able to communicate to a greater or less extent, depending upon the intellectual sphere of the species and the development of the individual."

"The Martian language, as I have said, is extremely simple, and in a week I could make all my wants known and understand nearly everything that was said to me. Likewise, under Sola's tutelage, I developed my telepathic powers so that I shortly could sense practically everything that went on around me."

"'In the name of my first ancestor, then,' she continued, 'where may you be from? You are like unto my people, and yet so unlike. You speak my language, and yet I heard you tell Tars Tarkas that you had but learned it recently. All Barsoomians speak the same tongue from the ice-clad south to the ice-clad north, though their written languages differ. Only in the valley Dor, where the river Iss empties into the lost sea of Korus, is there supposed to be a different language spoken, and, except in the legends of our ancestors, there is no record of a Barsoomian returning up the river Iss.'"

These excerpts, excepting a few others that repeat information shown in these, are all the direct comments we have concerning the nature of Barsoomian. Captain Carter's failure to explore these matters in more depth indicates his lack of linguistic background; he did not realize how unusual Barsoomian was compared to Earth languages. Barsoomian differs in the following main ways:

• The language is closely tied to telepathy. Words can either be telepathically projected or spoken, with the majority of words apparently projected (Carter writes "relatively few spoken words [are] exchanged even in long conversations").
• The language has a strong biological basis (no doubt tied to the telepathic capability), being known across species and races of men. Where on Earth homo sapiens is the only species to develop linguistic capabilities, Barsoomians apparently first developed a language long ago in a primal species; this capability has then evolved while maintaining compability across species. (Little is known about the language of Dor.)
• The language changes slowly. Given that the different races are separated by vast distances and had in many cases become isolated from one another, yet still speak the same language, it is clear that some influence - probably biological - keeps the language from changing at the same pace as the languages of Earth humans. One factor in this conservatism has to be the long lifespans of the races of Martian men, who can live up to a thousand years if not killed in battle. If Earthly humans lived on average a thousand years (compared to the average of 20 years at the time of Christ), Terran languages might have changed 50 times slower than they did (1000 divided by 20 = 50).
• The Barsoomian language can be learned very quickly. While this was no doubt exaggerated for convenience of the narrative, the grammar and vocabulary must be significantly more regular than most Earth languages.
  
  

Phonology And Orthography

Because the only field notes we have for Barsoomian came from a soldier who was untrained in linguistics, we do not have an accurate understanding of how Barsoomian is pronounced. To further complicate things, John Carter's manuscript used hieroglyphics to represent Barsoomian words; Edgar Rice Burroughs, who prepared John Carter's manuscripts for publication, then spelled these words as he heard John Carter pronounce them. For instance, in a footnote discussed the use of the word radium in A Princess Of Mars, Burroughs writes, "In Captain Carter's manuscript it [radium] is mentioned always by the name used in the written language of Helium and is spelled in hieroglyphics, which it would be difficult and useless to reproduce."

Burroughs transcribed all words as if they were English words; thus zode, for instance, is probably pronounced with a silent 'e' (to rhyme with lode), but we cannot be sure.

Burroughs used the following vowel symbols: A, AI, E, EE, I, O, OO, U.

He used the following consonant symbols and digraphs: B, C, D, DJ, DW, F, G, K, L, LL, M, N, NG, PT, QU, R, S, SK, ST, SS, T, TH, TZ, V, X. Two digraphs are used only in dialects - LL is used only in Okarian, while SS is used only in the valley Dor.

The exact sounds of all of these symbols are currently unknown. For instance, without further field study, we cannot know whether 'th' was voiced or unvoiced, whether 'dj' was pronounced [dy] or [dzh].

The following consonant clusters may be treated as single consonants in the morphology: DJ, DW, PT, QU, SK and ST. This is still being investigated.

We do not know why John Carter chose to use the letter 'c' instead of 'k'; perhaps this was colored by the knowledge of one of the Barsoomian writing systems. Barsoomian races had many different methods of writing, ranging from pictographs to ideographs and perhaps even to consonantal alphabets. More likely, this was simply an arbitrary decision of John Carter's part. Our analysis of the vocabulary shows no instances where Carter's use of 'c' or 'k' distinguishes two words (e.g., there is no word kalot as distinct from calot). Therefore, we feel that 'c' and 'k' both represent the same underlying sound /k/. (The only words using 'c' are calot and three proper nouns: Bar Comas, Carthoris and Sarkoja.)

Phonotactics

Phonotactics is the sequential arrangements of phonemes that are possible in a language. The Barsoomian system of phonotactics is still under study.

Grammar

Little is known about Barsoomian grammar, though it must have been a comparatively simple grammar for John Carter to have been able to learn it so quickly. The following are all hypotheses about the grammar:

• Barsoomian lacks number distinctions, articles and noun declensions.
• Barsoomian does not conjugate verbs or mark them for tense. For instance, _sak_ is translated both as "jump!" (imperative) and "to jump" (infinitive).
• Sentences follow the SVO order - Subject, Verb, Object.
• Questions have the same sentence form as statements, but end in a question word, such as "who", "what", "when", "why", or "maybe". The sentence "When will we enjoy the death throes of the red one? or does Lorquas Ptomel, Jed, intend holding her for ransom?" would have a literal translation of "We has joy of death pains of red woman when? or Lorquas Ptomel, Jed, put her up for ransom, maybe?"
• The language has a second person pronoun contrast between formal and familiar (translated by Carter as "thee" or "thou"). It is assumed it had pronouns for first, second and third person. If most words are unmarked for part of speech, the language may have had no special forms for possessive pronouns.
  
  

Word Sets

This section looks at word sets such as proper names, numbers and military terms.

Proper Names

Naming practices differ significantly from culture to culture on Barsoom. In many culture's, a father's name is often incorporated into the name of his son, either as the first or second element:

• Mors Kajak, son of Tardos Mors (of Helium)
• Djor Kantos, son of Kantos Kan (of Helium)
• Sab Than, son of Than Khosis (of Zodanga)
• Hal Vas, son of Vas Kor (of Dusar)

Among the green men, once a green Martian kills his first warrior, he takes that warrior's second name as his own. John Carter, when he lived among the green men, earned the name Dotar Sojat by slaying two warriors.

Numerals

"Another subject of interest is that of Barsoomian numbers. Little information is available, our main source being those hormads created by Ras Thavas, who were identified by number (in Synthetic Men of Mars). This has helped in drawing up a table, but unfortunately only five hormads are so designated: Tor-dur-bar = four million eight (SMM/4), Teeaytan-ov = eleven hundred seven (SMM/4), Ay-mad = one man (SMM/11), Il-dur-en = ? million ? (SMM/11), Dur-dan = million ? (SMM/15).

"Even here we have three unknowns: il, en and dan. Assuming they are primary numbers, they could be any of the primary numbers two, three, five, six and nine."

- Roy, John Flint. A Guide To Barsoom, pp. 122-124. 1976. New York: Del Rey.

The following table is an expansion of Roy's table, with unattested forms marked and with more hypothetical forms proposed.

Military Titles & Units

The military titles are all attested, but most of the names of military units are conjecture. But if we assume that *u- [< utan and umak] is a prefix meaning "military unit" joined to a number word (tan and mak are both attested), we can interpolate *utee and *udur (where dur is "million", used figuratively). The term dar is assumed to have the following etymology: < *udar < *u- and dar, "ten thousand". The *ujed and *ujeddak terms are pure conjecture.

*unattested

Lexicon

The following lexicon has been adapted from the glossary at the end of Thuvia, Maid Of Mars. We are working on adding additional entries, and will also be providing the etymologies of words, where we can determine them. Unfortunately for those trying to translate texts, most of the lexicon consists of proper nouns.

The lexicon lists the Barsoomian term, an educated guess of its division into syllables, its meaning, and the book it was first mentioned in, using the following abbreviations:

1. A Princess Of Mars (APOM)
2. The Gods Of Mars (TGOM)
3. The Warlord Of Mars (TWOM)
4. Thuvia, Maid Of Mars (TMOM)

The lexicon is currently only up to the first four books of the series and will be expanded.

Lexical Entries

Aaanthor - AA AN THOR

A dead city of ancient Mars. - TMOMg

Aisle of Hope

An aisle leading to the court-room in Helium. - TMOMg

apt - APT

An Arctic monster. A huge, white-furred creature with six limbs, four of which, short and heavy, carry it over the snow and ice; the other two, which grow forward from its shoulders on either side of its long, powerful neck, terminate in white, hairless hands with which it seizes and holds its prey. Its head and mouth are similar in appearance to those of a hippopotamus, except that from the sides of the lower jawbone two mighty horns curve slightly downward toward the front. Its two huge eyes extend in two vast oval patches from the center of the top of the cranium down either side of the head to below the roots of the horns, so that these weapons really grow out from the lower part of the eyes, which are composed of several thousand ocelli each. Each ocellus is furnished with its own lid, and the apt can, at will, close as many of the facets of his huge eyes as he chooses. - TMOM

Astok - AS TOK

Prince of Dusar. - TMOMg

Avenue of Ancestors

A street in Helium. - TMOMg

banth - BANTH

Barsoomian lion. A fierce beast of prey that roams the low hills surrounding the dead seas of ancient Mars. It is almost hairless, having only a great, bristly mane about its thick neck. Its long, lithe body is supported by ten powerful legs, its enormous jaws are equipped with several rows of long needle-like fangs, and its mouth reaches to a point far back of its tiny ears. It has enormous protruding eyes of green. - TGOM

Bar Comas - BAR KOM AS

Jeddak of Warhoon. - APOM

Barsoom - BAR SOOM

Mars - APOM

Black pirates of Barsoom

Men six feet and over in height. Have clear-cut and handsome features; their eyes are well set and large, though a slight narrowness lends them a crafty appearance. The iris is extremely black while the eyeball itself is quite white and clear. Their skin has the appearance of polished ebony. - TMOMg

calot - KA LOT

A dog. About the size of a Shetland pony and has ten short legs. The head bears a slight resemblance to that of a frog, except that the jaws are equipped with three rows of long, sharp tusks. Also used as an insult. - APOM

Carter, John

Warlord of Mars. - TMOMg

Carthoris of Helium - KAR THOR IS

Son of John Carter and Dejah Thoris, his name a combination of theirs. - TGOM

Dak Kova - DAK KOV A

Jed among the Warhoons (later jeddak). - APOM

darseen - DAR SEEN

A chameleon-like reptile, that can change its color. - APOM

dator - DA TOR

Tile for chief or prince of the First Born. - TGOM

Dejah Thoris - DE JAH THOR IS

Princess of Helium, daughter of Mors Kajak of Helium. - APOM

Djor Kantos - DJOR KAN TOS

Son of Kantos Kan; padwar of the Fifth Utan. - TGOM

Dor - DOR

Valley of Heaven, river valley of Iss. - APOM

Dotar Sojat - DO TAR SO JAT

John Carter's Martian name, from the surnames of the first two warrior chieftains he killed. - APOM

Dusar - DU SAR

A Martian kingdom. - TMOMg

dwar - DWAR

A captain, leader of a utan. - TGOM

ersite

A kind of stone. - TMOMg

Father of Therns

High Priest of religious cult. - TMOMg

First Born

Black race; black pirates. - TMOMg

Gate of Jeddaks

A gate in Helium. - TMOMg

Gozava - GO ZA VA

Tars Tarkas' dead wife. - APOM

Gur Tus - GUR TUS

Dwar of the tenth utan. - TGOM

haad - HAAD

Martian mile. - TMOMg

Hal Vas - HAL VAS

Son of Vas Kor the Dusarian noble. - TMOMg

Hastor - HAS TOR

A city of Helium. - TGOM

Hekkador - HEK KA DOR

Holy Hekkador, title of Father of Therns (Matai Shang). - TGOM

Helium - HE LI UM

The empire of the grandfather of Dejah Thoris. A leading nation of red men. - TMOMg

Holy Therns

See thern. - TGOM

Hor Vastus - HOR VAS TUS

Padwar in the navy of Helium. - TMOMg

Hortan Gur - HOR TAN GUR

Jeddak of Torquas. - TMOMg

Horz - HORZ

Deserted city; Barsoomian Greenwich for time. - TMOMg

Illall - ILL ALL

The most remote city of Okar. - TMOM

Iss - ISS

River of Death. A sacred river. - TMOM

Issus - ISS US

Goddess of Death, whose abode is upon the banks of the Lost Sea of Korus. - TMOM

Jav - JAV

A Lotharian. - TMOMg

jed - JED

King. - TMOMg

jeddak - JED DAK

Emperor. - TMOMg

Kab Kadja - KAB KAD JA

Jeddak of the Warhoons of the south. - TMOMg

Kadabra - KA DA BRA

Capitol city of Okar. - TMOMg

kadar - KA DAR

Guard. - TMOMg

Kalksus - KALK SUS

Cruiser; transport under Vas Kor. - TMOMg

Kantos Kan - KAN TOS KAN

Padwar in the Helium navy. - TMOMg

Kaol - KA OL

A Martian kingdom in the eastern hemisphere. Isolated and surrounded by Japan. - TMOM

kaor

The greeting used principally by red Martians - TGOM

Kar Komak - KAR KO MAK

Odwar of Lotharian bowmen. - TMOMg

karad - KAR AD

Martian degree. - TMOMg

Komal - KO MAL

The Lotharian god; a huge banth. - TMOMg

Korad - KOR AD

A dead city of ancient Mars. - TMOMg

Korus - KOR US

The Lost Sea of Dor. - TMOMg

Kulan Tith - KU LAN TITH

Jeddak of Kaol. - TMOMg

Lakor - LA KOR

A thern. - TWOM

Larok - LAR OK

A Dusarian warrior; artificer. - TMOMg

Lorquas Ptomel - LOR QUAS PTOM EL

Jed among the Tharks. - TMOMg

Lothar - LO THAR

The forgotten city. - TMOMg

Marentina - MAR EN TIN A

A principality of Okar. - TMOMg

Matai Shang - MAT AI SHANG

Father of Therns. - TGOM

Mors Kajak - MORS KA JAK

A jed of lesser Helium, son of Tardos Mors of Helium. - APOM

Notan - NO TAN

Royal Psychologist of Zodanga. - APOM

Nutus - NUT US

Jeddak of Dusar. - TMOMg

Od - OD

Martian foot. - TMOMg

Odwar - O DWAR

A commander, or general. - TMOMg

Okar - O KAR

Land of the yellow men. - TWOM

Omad - O MAD

Man with one name. - TMOMg

Omean - O ME AN

The buried sea. - TGOM

Orluk - OR LUK

A black and yellow striped Arctic monster. Its hide is used for fur. - TWOM

Otz Mountains - OTZ

Mountains near Iss, surrounding the Valley Dor and the Lost Sea of Korus. - TGOM

Padwar - PA DWAR

Lieutenant. - APOM
Panthan - PAN THAN

Panthan - PAN THAN

A soldier of fortune. - TMOMg

Parthak - PAR THAK

The Zodangan prison guard who brought food to John Carter in the pits of Zat Arras. - TGOM

Pedestal of Truth

Within the courtroom of Helium. - TMOMg

Phaidor - PHAI DOR

Daughter of Matai Shang. - TGOM

pimalia - PIM AL I A

Gorgeous flowering plant. - TGOM

Plant men of Barsoom

A race inhabiting the Valley Dor. They are ten or twelve feet in height when standing erect; their arms are very short and fashioned after the manner of an elephant's trunk, being sinuous; the body is hairless and ghoulish blue except for a broad band of white which encircles the protruding, single eye, the pupil, iris and ball of which are dead white. The nose is a ragged, inflamed, circular hole in the centre of the blank face, resembling a fresh bullet wound which has not yet commenced to bleed. There is no mouth in the head. With the exception of the face, the head is covered by a tangled mass of jet-black hair some eight or ten inches in length. Each hair is about the thickness of a large angleworm. The body, legs and feet are of human shape but of monstrous proportions, the feet being fully three feet long and very flat and broad. The method of feeding consists in running their odd hands over the surface of the turf, cropping off the tender vegetation with razor-like talons and sucking it up from two mouths, which lie one in the palm of each hand. They are equipped with a massive tail about six feet long, quite round where it joins the body, but tapering to a flat, thin blade toward the end, which trails at right angles to the ground. - TMOMg

Prince Soran - SOR AN

Overlord of the navy of Ptarth. - TMOMg

Ptarth - PTARTH

A Martian kingdom of red men. - TGOM

Ptor - PTOR

Family name of three Zodangan brothers. - APOM

Sab Than - SAB THAN

Prince of Zodanga. A jed of Zodanga, son of Than Khosis. - APOM

safad - SAF AD

A Martian inch. - TMOMg

sak - SAK

To jump, to leap. - APOM

Salensus Oll - SA LEN SUS OLL

Jeddak of Jeddaks, ruler of Okar. - TWOM

Saran Tal - SAR AN TAL

Carthoris' major-domo. - TMOMg

Sarkoja - SAR KO JA

A green Martian woman. - APOM

Sator Throg - SA TOR THROG

A Holy Thern of the Tenth Cycle. - TGOM

Shador - SHA DOR

An isle on northern shore of Sea of Omean used as a prison. - TGOM

silian - SIL I AN

Slimy reptiles inhabiting the Sea of Korus. - TGOM

sith - SITH

Hornet-like flying monster that dwells in Kaolian jungle. Bald-faced and about the size of a Hereford bull. Has frightful jaws in front and mighty poisoned sting behind. The eyes, of myriad facets, cover three-fourths of the head, permitting the creature to see in all directions at one and the same time. - TWOM

skeel - SKEEL

A Martian polishable hardwood, used for the deck of an airship. - TGOM

Sola - SO LA

A young green Martian woman. Of Thark. - APOM

Solan - SO LAN

An official of the palace. A man of secrets, in Kadabra. - TWOM

sompus - SOM PUS

A kind of tree.? - TMOMg

sorak

A little pet animal among the red Martian women, about the size of a cat. Used as an insult. - APOM

sorapus - SOR A PUS

A Martian hardwood used for ship cabins; has large succulent fruits. - TGOM

Sorav - SOR AV

An officer of Salensus Oll. Commander of the forces of the palace of Kadabra. - TWOM

tal - TAL

A Martian second. One 200th of a xat (unit of measuring time). - TGOM

Tal Hajus - TAL HA JUS

Jeddak of Thark. - APOM

Talu - TAL U

Rebel Prince of Marentina. - TWOM

Tan Gama - TAN GA MA

Warhoon warrior. - TGOM

Tardos Mors - TAR DOS MORS

Grandfather of Dejah Thoris and Jeddak of Helium. - APOM

Tario - TAR I O

Jeddak of Lothar. - TMOMg

Tars Tarkas - TARS TAR KAS

A green man, chieftain of the Tharks. - APOM

Temple of Reward

In Helium. - TMOMg

Tenth Cycle

A sphere, or plane of eminence, among the Holy Therns. - TMOMg

Thabis - THA BIS

Issus' chief. An old woman. - TGOM

Than Khosis - THAN KO SIS

Jeddak of Zodanga - APOM

Thark - THARK

City and name of a green Martian horde. - APOM

thern - THERN

A priest of the cult of Issus. Typically known as Holy Therns. - TGOM

thoat - THOAT

A steed of the green Martians. Ten feet high at the shoulder, with four legs on either side; a broad, flat tail, larger at the tip than at the root which it holds straight out behind while running; a mouth splitting its head from snout to the long, massive neck. It is entirely devoid of hair and is of a dark slate colour and exceedingly smooth and glossy. It has a white belly and the legs are shaded from slate at the shoulders and hips to a vivid yellow at the feet. The feet are heavily padded and nailless. (See A PRINCESS OF MARS.) - APOM

Thor Ban - THOR BAN

Jed among the green men of Torquas. - TMOMg

thorian - THOR I AN

Chief of the lesser Therns. - TGOM

Throne of Righteousness

In the court-room of Helium. - TMOMg

Throxus - THROX US

Mightiest of the five oceans. - TMOMg

Thurds - THURD

A green horde inimical to Torquas. - TMOMg

Thuria - THUR I A

The nearer moon. - TGOM

Thurid - THUR ID

A black dator. - TGOM

Thuvan Dihn - THU VAN DIHN

Jeddak of Ptarth. - TWOM

Thuvia - THU VI A

Princess of Ptarth. - TGOM

Torith - TOR ITH

Officer of the guards of the First Born at submarine pool. - TGOM

Torkar Bar - TOR KAR BAR

Kaolian noble; dwar of the Kaolian Road. - TWOM

Torquas - TOR QUAS

A green horde. - TMOMg

Turjun - TUR JUN

Carthoris' alias. - TMOMg

utan - U TAN

A company of one hundred men (military). - TGOM

Vas Kor - VAS KOR

A Dusarian noble. - TMOMg

Warhoon - WAR HOON

A community of green men; enemy of Thark. - APOM

Woola - WOOL A

A Barsoomian calot. - TMOMg

xat - XAT

A Martian minute; one fiftieth of a zode (unit of measuring time). - TGOM

Xavarian - XA VAR I AN

A Helium warship. - TGOM

Xodar - XO DAR

Dator among the First Born. - TGOM

Yersted - YER STED

A First Born, commander of the submarine. - TGOM

Zad - ZAD

Tharkian warrior. - APOM

Zat Arras - ZAT AR RAS

Jed of Zodanga. - TGOM

Zithad - ZITH AD

Dator of the guards of Issus. - TGOM

zitidar - ZIT I DAR

A heavy (mastodonian) draft animal of the green men. - APOM

Zodanga - ZO DAN GA

Martian city of red men. Capitol of Helium's chief enemies among the red men. - APOM

zode - ZODE

A Martian hour; one tenth of a Martian day (unit of measuring time). - TGOM