# Unknown language: Zam-TEE ORam H'TAYR-fa



## Awen

I have a request for anyone who would have a clue as to the possible language/region this language (if its a language) might belong to. I just had this thought now, and previously my brother and I had not thought to write down what our mother was saying, but we remember this one because she yelled it at us. lol.

Background story:
My mother, who has altzeimers has recently began speaking (mostly mumbling) in some strange language, especially when she is agitated. She likes yelling peculiar exclamations at us like, sharaz and maram, - i should say that the words alter in their pronunciation according to her the situation, but not randomly. 
We don't now if this is a language but we're intrigued because no one knows about my mother's early history. She was an 'orphan' found wandering about a british city when she was a young girl, and she never spoke a word for years but when she did she was speaking perfect english (she still rolls her rs occasionally though when she's not thinking about it, and other things like that). She doesn't remember anything apparantly. Her name is Mari (maa-ree), apparantly she remembers that much, but my mother always said that wasn't her full name, but she can't remember what it was! She definitly looks a bit foreign. 
I'll capitalise the stress
Anyway, one phrase i remember Zam-TEE ORam H'TAYR-fa - the h is strongly pronounced and it sounds like it gets stuck sort of between the h and the following T, it doesn't really sound like a vowel exactly...you can tell i know nothing about languages! (only english and welsh)
The r is rolled quickly, but the TAYR doesn't sound like an R its just me trying to right the long vowel sound, like in air or care. 

I'm not expecting any hope with this but you never know.

Any recommendations with what we might do to get to the bottom of it?


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## robbie_SWE

Awen said:


> I have a request for anyone who would have a clue as to the possible language/region this language (if its a language) might belong to. I just had this thought now, and previously my brother and I had not thought to write down what our mother was saying, but we remember this one because she yelled it at us. lol.
> 
> Background story:
> My mother, who has altzeimers has recently began speaking (mostly mumbling) in some strange language, especially when she is agitated. She likes yelling peculiar exclamations at us like, sharaz and maram, - i should say that the words alter in their pronunciation according to her the situation, but not randomly.
> We don't now if this is a language but we're intrigued because no one knows about my mother's early history. She was an 'orphan' found wandering about a british city when she was a young girl, and she never spoke a word for years but when she did she was speaking perfect english (she still rolls her rs occasionally though when she's not thinking about it, and other things like that). She doesn't remember anything apparantly. Her name is Mari (maa-ree), apparantly she remembers that much, but my mother always said that wasn't her full name, but she can't remember what it was! She definitly looks a bit foreign.
> I'll capitalise the stress
> Anyway, one phrase i remember Zam-TEE ORam H'TAYR-fa - the h is strongly pronounced and it sounds like it gets stuck sort of between the h and the following T, it doesn't really sound like a vowel exactly...you can tell i know nothing about languages! (only english and welsh)
> The r is rolled quickly, but the TAYR doesn't sound like an R its just me trying to right the long vowel sound, like in air or care.
> 
> I'm not expecting any hope with this but you never know.
> 
> Any recommendations with what we might do to get to the bottom of it?


 
A really interesting story (fascinating is a more appropriate word)!

Unfortunately I can say that it isn't Swedish (or any other Scandinavian language for that matter), Romanian (or any other Romance language) or German. The text you wrote seems to correspond with the phonetics present in Arabic or Hebrew. I strongly stress that I neither speak Arabic nor Hebrew, so you should wait for a native to confirm or deny this fact.

I wish you all the luck in the world! 

 robbie


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## Mjolnir

I don't think it's Hebrew...

Zam-TEE - this could be Samti, which means "I put" (in the past), or Zamti, which means "I fasted".

ORam - this is a word, could mean "their light" or "their skin".

H'TAYR-fa - I have no idea...

The combination of the first two doesn't sound too good, and I can't think of a sentence that would begin like that.

Sharaz and maram - can't think of Hebrew words that sound like that.

I, too, wish you all the luck in the world.


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## avok

Can it be a Gypsy language ? (if she bears darker complexions ...)


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## OldAvatar

According to this site, *maram *means _wish _in Arabic.


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## Wynn Mathieson

I'm going to go out on a probably very shaky limb here and suggest that the language is Gaelic -- either Scottish Gaelic [_Gàidhlig_] or the closely related Ulster Irish [_Gaedhlag_].

What led me to this conclusion?

1. *Zam TEE ORam* strongly reminded me of the construction used in the Gaelic languages to convey emotions and feelings (especially those one feels one is a victim of):

_T(h)a ... orm_ (literally "there is ... on me" -- orm is pronounced aw-rum)

E.g. Irish _Tá ocras orm_ / Sc. Gaelic _Tha an t-acras orm_ : There is hunger on me, i.e. I'm hungry

If I'm right about this, and I can only make a guess as to the exact meaning your mother's phrase, it does call to mind both

Tha mi tinn
and
Tha tinneas orm

which both mean "I'm sick / I've an illness" in Scottish Gaelic.

2. As for *H'TAYR-fa*, this made me think of  

cha déarfá 
("cha" pronounced like "huh" but beginning with the "ch" of Scottish _loch_)

which means AFAIK (I may well have the exact spelling wrong) "you wouldn't say" in Ulster Irish.

3. So, putting the two parts together gives, perhaps: "*I'm sick, wouldn't you say?*"

4. Your mother's name suggests the Scottish Gaelic *Màiri *(pronounced "mah-ree") -- the Irish version, Máire, on the other hand, is pronounced "maw-ruh".

and finally,

5. *maram* puts me in mind of the Gaelic _m'anam_ (literally "my soul"): an affectionate exclamation to a child.

Hoping that these guesses might be of some help to you,

All the best,

Wynn


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## Tegs

I speak Irish (called "Gaeilge"), which is spoken in all of Ireland, not just the region of Ulster, as is suggested in the previous post  Anyhow, unfortunately, this doesn't sound like Irish to me at all. It doesn't sound like any Celtic language to be honest, but I can't say anything about Scottish Gaelic ("Gàidhlig") since I don't speak it. Sorry that I can't be of any more help, but you can rule out both Irish and Welsh as possible answers


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## alasdair4445

Awen said:


> I have a request for anyone who would have a clue as to the possible language/region this language (if its a language) might belong to. I just had this thought now, and previously my brother and I had not thought to write down what our mother was saying, but we remember this one because she yelled it at us. lol.
> 
> Background story:
> My mother, who has altzeimers has recently began speaking (mostly mumbling) in some strange language, especially when she is agitated. She likes yelling peculiar exclamations at us like, sharaz and maram, - i should say that the words alter in their pronunciation according to her the situation, but not randomly.
> We don't now if this is a language but we're intrigued because no one knows about my mother's early history. She was an 'orphan' found wandering about a british city when she was a young girl, and she never spoke a word for years but when she did she was speaking perfect english (she still rolls her rs occasionally though when she's not thinking about it, and other things like that). She doesn't remember anything apparantly. Her name is Mari (maa-ree), apparantly she remembers that much, but my mother always said that wasn't her full name, but she can't remember what it was! She definitly looks a bit foreign.
> I'll capitalise the stress
> Anyway, one phrase i remember Zam-TEE ORam H'TAYR-fa - the h is strongly pronounced and it sounds like it gets stuck sort of between the h and the following T, it doesn't really sound like a vowel exactly...you can tell i know nothing about languages! (only english and welsh)
> The r is rolled quickly, but the TAYR doesn't sound like an R its just me trying to right the long vowel sound, like in air or care.
> 
> I'm not expecting any hope with this but you never know.
> 
> Any recommendations with what we might do to get to the bottom of it?



I'm sure this is Scottish Gaelic.
Zam-TEE ORam H'TAYR-fa
'S am tinn orm - Lit. the illness is on me - I am ill
tinn is pronounced something like "ching" in English but the double n is not pronounced strongly and is very nasal, so it might not even be audible if you weren't used to it. Proper adult speech would be *Is an tinneas orm* but you say she was a very young girl at the time so the grammar might not be correct. tinn - ill , tinneas - illness. 

H'TAYR-fa
This is a bit more difficult but H' is likely the normal present tense verb "tha" - "is" in English. It is pronounced *ha* and the *a* can be indistinct. I can't find a word for TAYR but could -*fa* actually be -*sa* ? This is used commonly in Gaelic for emphasising a word e.g. orm - on me , orm-sa - on _me_ .
Very tentatively, it could be Tha d' aighear-sa - You are _glad_.


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## CapnPrep

_Is an tinneas orm _does not look like proper adult Scottish Gaelic to me…


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## alasdair4445

CapnPrep said:


> _Is an tinneas orm _does not look like proper adult Scottish Gaelic to me…


It is an emphatic sentence. If you were just making a comment you would say "Tha an tinneas orm" but if you trying to make it clear that you were really ill you would say "Is an tinneas orm" (this is rather formal) or more colloquially " 'S 'n tinneas orm "


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## jmx

A point to take into account is that Awen, the starter of this thread, has started others like this one: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1054712

He or she says:





> don't know how you would spell it but what language is this from? I'm not a language expert by any means so i'm just describing it the best i can!
> Not sure of the speakers ethnicity, could be indian or south american...hm, i'm not good with ethnicities either.
> 
> larima sari ato
> 
> sounds like...
> larry muh sarry aa'tow - the comma is a change in pitch or stress on the first syllable which makes the word sound 'choppy'


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