Treespeak

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"Matau the Singer! Down talk, up singing! Friend and laughter! In lifedawn years past, was known Matau Kewa Champion! Matau, great Turaga of Le-Koro and soul of the forest people! Gone! Gone! Taken by Makuta's Rahi!"

"The villagers here speak in an odd manner, but I think that I understand what they mean."
Kongu and Takua's thoughts, Mata Nui Online Game
Treespeak
Aspect of Society
Location Le-Metru, Le-Koro (both formerly), Spherus Magna
Purpose Individualized form of communication
Effects Non-speakers experience difficulty in understanding


Chutespeak, and later Treespeak on the island of Mata Nui, is the fast-paced and unusual dialect of the Matoran language spoken by the Le-Matoran of Metru Nui.

Lexicon

Here are some common Chutespeak/Treespeak words:

  • Bad-worse - Even worse
  • Bald-land - Open country
  • Battle-flight - Bird-mounted battle
  • Buzz-flying - Flying with an insect-like drone
  • Bog-foot - Slow
  • Cliff-bound - Trapped on a cliff
  • Cloud-sneaking - Under cover of the clouds
  • Crash-bang - Loud noise
  • Crash-Wreck - Crash or destroy a vehicle
  • Crave-need - Needing something really badly
  • Dark-luck - Bad luck
  • Dark-time - A dangerous or sad time
  • Dark-wet - Dank
  • Dark-serious - Really serious
  • Deep-sleep - A very deep sleep
  • Deep-wood - Deep in the jungle
  • Deep-think- To think about something deeply
  • Down-tree - Lower in the tree or at the base of the tree
  • Ever-quick - Very fast
  • Ever-flee - Flee
  • Ever-forgotten - Forgotten
  • Ever-remembered - Remembered
  • Ever-ugly - Hideous
  • Far-distance - Distance
  • Fast-chase - Chasing at high speeds
  • Fear-dread - Scary
  • Fire-spitter - Ta-Matoran (Often, when used by non-Le or Ta-Matoran, used as an insult to Ta-Matoran)
  • Ground-path - A land-based road or path
  • Happy-cheer - Happy
  • Happy-plan - A good plan
  • Happy-smile - To act friendly
  • Hard-fall - Fall, a fall from great heights
  • Hard-luck - Ill fortuned
  • High-branch - High in the trees
  • High-flying - Airborne
  • High-jump - Leap
  • High-lifting - Elevating
  • High-tree - High in the air as a tree is
  • Huge-big - Very large
  • Jungle-song - The sounds of the birds and beasts of the jungle
  • Know-nothingness - Not knowing anything
  • Late-knowing - Ignorant until too late
  • Leaf-dawn - Springtime in the Le-Koro seasonal calendar
  • Leaf-Runner - A swift traveler through the jungle canopy
  • Life-dawn - Youth
  • Loud-talk - Talking very loudly
  • Low-duck - Crouch
  • Near-close - Very close
  • Oak-New - Brand new
  • Old-bone - Long dead
  • Over-rock - Over the rocks
  • Past-late - Too late
  • Proud-stand - Standing proudly
  • Quick-[?] - To do something quickly (Ex: Quick-think, quick-pull, quick-leap, quick-agree, etc.)
  • Quick-dodge - Difficult to strike
  • Quick-return - Return fast
  • Quick-soaring - Fast-flying, in the air
  • Quiet-sneak - To sneak around silently
  • Rama - Nui-Rama
  • Rapid-quick - Really fast.
  • Sea-bright - As bright as the sea
  • Sea-Craft - Boat
  • Second - Disk-throwing bird-rider, seated behind the pilot
  • Seek-find - Search for
  • Singsong - A positive term. (Tamaru uses it in Mata Nui Online Game in "singsong Le-Koro")
  • Slow-[?] - To do something slowly (Ex: Slow-think, slow-dodge, etc.)
  • Slow-think - Stupid, dumb
  • Smart-plan - Good idea/plan
  • Spirit-blessed - blessed by the Great Spirit
  • Spirit-lift - To help
  • Sun-soaring - Flying above the treetops
  • Swim-speeding - Swimming quickly
  • Terrible-bad- Awful
  • Think-talk - Discuss beforehand
  • Thought-plan - Very well thought out plan
  • Toa-heroes - Toa
  • Toa-villains - Villain heroes
  • Top-leaf - As high as the treetops
  • Tree-bound - Unable to fly
  • Tree-bright - A sentimental term for Le-Koro, seen through the leaves from below with the sun above
  • Tree-launch - Take to the air on bird-back
  • Trouble-Bad - In danger
  • True-shot - Accurate aim
  • Up-tree - Higher in the tree
  • Vines-man - A skilled vine-swinger
  • Water-lady - Ga-Matoran
  • Water-maiden - Another term for Ga-Matoran
  • Way-finder - Navigator
  • Wind-fly - To fly
  • Wind-rider - Bird-Rider
  • Wind-riding - Flying
  • Wind-sprint - Flying fast
  • Wrong-turn - Going the wrong way

Grammar

The Le-Koro Matoran

In Chutespeak/Treespeak, there are a lot of words that can be simply joined with other words. Quick-talk, Quick-fly, Deep-think, Deep-speak, etc. are words that might or might not have been mentioned in any storyline sources but they are in fact Chutespeak/Treespeak words. Many words like those mentioned are just emphasized by prefixes such as quick-, bad-, slow-, etc. There are also suffixes like -bones. So things like "a fast battle" could be translated into words such as Quick-battle. However, not all words can be combined. Chutespeak rarely joins more than two words or words of more than two syllables.

In addition to vocabulary, Chutespeak also has its own syntax. This unique method of forming sentences is found mainly in its Treespeak incarnation in Le-Koro. This original usage avoids using articles and state of being verbs and often replaces prepositional phrases with single words. For example, "Feared you were Rahi but no Rama plays Flute like that, so downtree we come and greet!" Or, "Traveler beware- darktime come! Matau stolen, Lewa gone! Le-Matoran prepare for battleflight!" More recent speakers of Treespeak like Toa Nuva Lewa have had this toned down to make them more comprehensible.

Usage

Chutespeak is spoken almost exclusively by the Le-Matoran of Le-Metru in Metru Nui. Only Turaga Matau, Toa Nuva Lewa, Toa Mahri Kongu, and the Le-Matoran of Metru Nui speak it fluently and properly. Chutespeak phrases such as "firespitter" were sometimes used by Matoran from the other Metru to insult the Ta-Matoran, for example. Toa Metru Onewa was particularly known for his use of Chutespeak as an insult.

Defilak speaks toned-down Chutespeak, despite being native to an island other than Metru Nui. This is because he visited Metru Nui in his job as a Trader, liked the dialect, and began using it himself.

Trivia

  • Characters who use Chutespeak are some of Greg Farshtey's least favorite characters to write about.
  • As the name "Treespeak" did not make sense in Le-Metru, an urban area that lacked trees, a contest was held on BZPower to make a new name. The winning phrase was "Chutespeak".