# Unknown language: Nautron respoc lorni virch



## Faethin

I shall be extremely grateful to the one who can help me out with this one.

Near the beggining of chapter XV of Jules Verne's _20,000 Leagues Under The Sea_, Professor Aronnax tells of a phrase the Nautilus' second officer pronounced almost every day, while scanning the horizon every morning, during their stay on board the ship.

_Nautron respoc lorni virch_

Not even the professor is able to decypher the meaning of this, assuming that it meant simply "Nothing on sight"; this owing to the fact that, the only time in which the phrase was replaced by some other equally incomprehensible sentence, Captain Nemo apparently detected something in the horizon which the professor never learnt of.

It does sound like "Nothing on sight", especially with the first and last words, both wich have a likeness to words commonly used in romanic languages such as the Italian _niente_, 'nothing'or the Spanish _vista_, 'sight'.

SPOILER!

Since captain Nemo is actually Indian, (and a very educated man overall), and considering its resemblance to the latin languages mentioned above, could this phrase be sanskrit?

Thanks in advance!


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## Outsider

Pregunta interesante, aunque mi sospecha sea que se trata de una lengua inventada.


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## Encolpius

If I didn't know it is a constructed language I'd say it is Catalan.


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## Outsider

I doubt you'll find Catalan words ending in "-rch".


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## Encolpius

Outsider said:


> I doubt you'll find Catalan words ending in "-rch".



Maybe ancient 13th centrury Catalan.


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## Agró

Invented language (source):

Cuando el profesor Aronnax y sus compañeros embarcaron en el Nautilus se encontraron frente a dos hombres calzados con botas de mar de piel de foca y vestidos con ropas de un tejido especial que los dejaban en completa libertad de movimientos. Uno de ellos se dirigió a su compañero en una lengua desconocida para el profesor. «Era un idioma armonioso, flexible, sonoro, y cuyas vocales parecían estar sometidas a una acentuación variadísima», nos cuenta. Más adelante, el viejo y admirado Verne nos regala unas palabras de esta maravillosa lengua: _Nautron respoc lorni virch_ (_20.000 leguas de viaje submarino_, Julio Verne).
  El Capitán Nemo había creado un mundo propio, al margen del resto del mundo. Era una sociedad perfecta (aunque, al parecer, compuesta sólo por hombres), con su propia lengua, igualmente perfecta.


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## Schlabberlatz

It's possible that it's based on French. The international Jules Verne Forum is down http://jv.gilead.org.il/forum/2006/02/0087.html
but Google still shows a fragment of the thread:


> Feb 27, 2006 — _nautron respoc lorni virch_ = _Rien_ (_nautron_) _ne répond_ (_respoc_) à la _vision_ (_virch_) de _nos lorgnettes_ (_lorni_) (ou ce que _nos lorgnettes voient_ ...
> nautron respoc lorni virch - Google Search


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## Perseas

The morpheme nau(t)- as in Nautilus and maybe in Nautron refers to "ship, sailor" in Greek.


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## Winho

These words sound like Sanskrit or an Indo-Aryanic language. I will begin with the word 'Virch.' In Sanskrit and other Indian langauges, it means 'year'. This makes it easier to decipher the phrase 'Nautron Respoc Lorni Virch.' Nau is nine (9), Tron (3). The meanings of Respoc and Lorni are unclear. But it seems that the First Officer of the Nautilus was counting days and years. Possibly the time they've been at sea. "93 days and Respoc Lorni" Years". Jules Verne writes that on one particular day, the first officer changed the phrase. This could indicate the end of a year or even a month. The Indian calendar is much different from others.


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## Penyafort

Outsider said:


> I doubt you'll find Catalan words ending in "-rch".


Yes, one should go back to pre-Fabran spelling (before 1913), when final [k] was written as ch, as in the medieval poet Ausiàs Ma*rch*, which nowadays would simply be written Marc.


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## merquiades

Penyafort said:


> Yes, one should go back to pre-Fabran spelling (before 1913), when final [k] was written as ch, as in the medieval poet Ausiàs Ma*rch*, which nowadays would simply be written Marc.


It would be so nice to go back to those days.  "Ch" representing /k/ is pleasant.  The language may be better with no Fabra.
_Nautron respoc lorni virch_ with "ch" as "k" could totally sound Catalan with "lorni" being some subjunctive verb.


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## Penyafort

merquiades said:


> It would be so nice to go back to those days.  "Ch" representing /k/ is pleasant.  The language may be better with no Fabra.
> _Nautron respoc lorni virch_ with "ch" as "k" could totally sound Catalan with "lorni" being some subjunctive verb.



Well, it would if we wrote _Nau tron res poc l'orni Virch_. "Throneship, may Virk adorn it little or nothing."


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## merquiades

Penyafort said:


> Well, it would if we wrote _Nau tron res poc l'orni Virch_. "Throneship, may Virk adorn it little or nothing."


Brilliant, you just might have solved the Jules Verne enigma.  That fits. 
I guess it should be _poch _


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## djmc

To me it seems obvious that Jules Verne Was just inventing and it would be pointless to equate the words with anything else. What languages did Verne know anyway? The most one can say is that the collocation of letters is not unpronounceable.


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