#Irken language

[inbarfink]

So here is a thing that I noticed going over the sort of weird expressions that Zim uses in canon. When Zim doesn’t know the human term for something, he will make up some bizarre word combination of his own… but he will hardly ever substitute an Irken term for it. You know, when he first comes to Earth, he doesn’t call Human children ‘smeets’, he calls them ‘worm-babies’. He doesn’t assume the Earth is controlled by a Tallest, he just calls President Man ‘the Earth Leader’. 

And that… makes sense, Irk is a spacefaring empire which clearly had contact with other alien civilizations for a very long time. Zim would have some frame of reference to know that, for example, Vortians don’t call their children ‘Smeets’ and therefore he has no reason to assume the distant alien planet he just landed on would use that term either. I mean, yeah, Zim is often irrational - but that’s one point where he is surprisingly reasonable…. Well, until he needs to think up what he assumes the proper inconspicuous earth term would likely be and comes up with the most ludicrous option available.

And sometimes, and especially later on in the series, it’s clear that he does know what the Correct Earth Term is but is just looking for an excuse to insult humanity again by using a derogatory term he made up. 

And, like, you know… yeah, it is actually kinda obvious why he wouldn’t use the Irken term in that context. He thinks Irkens are inherently superior to humanity. Calling human children ‘Smeets’ would be comparing them to Irken children which would be a compliment to the ‘filthy humans’ that he would not be able to stomach. And like, I know a lot of ‘Alien Among Us’ stories get a lot of their comedy from, y’know, cultural differences and assumptions clashing. But I would argue that while IZ does that sometimes, a lot of Invader Zim’s comedy is actually based on Zim’s immediately assuming Earth Culture has to be as alien to Irken Culture as possible, when they are actually not so different. 

But also I want to take a moment to address the one time where Zim does seemingly uses an Irken term for a human, and that’s when he address the McMeaties clerk guy as ‘Burger Lord’ in ‘Germs’4

Which is probably related to the Irken title for a high-ranking frycook being ‘Frylord’.

But that actually makes sense both in the sense of, like... this term is in use on Foodcourtia, and Foodcourtia, although clearly a part of the Irken Empire, is frequented by many different alien species. So due to the planet's importance as a galactic center for fast food, the term ‘Frylord’ and its derivatives have spread beyond the Irken Empire. Or maybe it was an alien term to begin with and it spread into Foodcourtia through its non-Irken customers. Whatever it is, Zim would at least have a reason to think this might be a universal term and not an Irken-specific thing.

And also, this is a rare occasion where Zim is kinda, like, trying to genuinely get on the good graces of a human and is treating human technology (SPACE MEAT) with an unusual amount of respect - and he just doesn’t really have the mental focus to start condescending to him right now. So kinda reflexively using an unusually respectful Irken term for a mere Human Fast Food Worker makes sense considering his emotional state. He’s probably too germ-panicked to remember he’s not supposed to remember his time in Foodcourtia as well. 

Like, yes, I am aware I am probably looking too deeply into the continuity of this one line. “Germs” and “The Frycook of What Came From All That Space” are so far apart in the timeline that the actual writers probably weren’t thinking about this, right? I just think it’s Cool that one can fit this little ‘Burger Lord’ detail so neatly and so consistently into the lore and with Zim’s characterization.

#invader zim #iz #iz analysis #zim #zim iz #iz zim #invader zim iz #invader zim zim #zim invader zim #irken #iz irken #irken empire #invaderzim #irken language

[mrehkka]

Any gesture that uses just the first 2 fingers is vulgar to Irkens. Zim was very confused by humans doing peace signs for photos or using finger quotes when talking

Doing this sign from the forehead means the Irken military in particular bc of the forehead symbol the elite soldiers have

Editing to add: Irkens would be APALLED to see any of these gestures used- Zim has just been on earth long enough that he doesn't care anymore lmao if he does this in other Irkens' presence they would smack his hand down so fast AND ALSO Zim isn't wearing any gloves?? This makes the gesture even worse!

#invader zim #iz zim #Irken lore #Irken language #Irken #my art #Irkens have a thing about hands and feet being covered #feet more so than hands #zim eventually relaxes enough not to wear gloves on earth but going barefoot takes him WAY longer #also also #i give Irkens 3 fingers and a thumb #in the show while zim has 3 fingers total which is one less than humans who have 4 fingers total. So if I give dib 5 I give zim 4 #I'm a nerd #I have so many Irken cultural headcanons. gestures. words. you don't wanna get me started lol #fun fact- the reason this gesture is vulgar is bc it vaguely resembles Irken genitalia #much like how the middle finger is bad supposedly bc it represents human male genitalia #the more you know! #am I gonna get in trouble for this? do I need to tag it as something??

[ask--invaderzim]

What does ZiM think of this old doodle I found of him?

#this is such a cute drawing omg 🥺🥺🥺🥺 he happy..... doing the ^-^ face............. #invader zim #ask characters #zim #iz fanart #irken language #[ ask: zim ] #iz zim #writing in irken is actually so fun.... had never encountered simplified alphabet before tho XD D #masmelo-yippiee

[spaceboibrainrot]

Stuff I can gather from this part of issue

-squintz is a word probably meaning platonic affection towards smeets

-zhangie is the opposite of squintz probably meaning hate or disgust

-florb... I guess it means like or something???

#invader zim #iz #irken language

[andy-aka-lilcsca]

For those of you who needed to hear this today.

Will give English translation if this post gets a hundred notes, likes reblogs, whatever!

Also, For those of you who can translate this, please don't spoil it! (Mainly talking to @theautumnalcat, @gamebirb, @miniimoose, and @gummy-axolotl, and others who knwo the translation!!)

#irken #irken language #IZ #invader zim #LILCSCA #motivating quotes #get motivated

[b0ylik3r]

do you ever just get the urge to go learn the language of the aliens in your cartoon show just because your favorite character knows it and it brings you closer to the show. cuz i do and it rocks

#irken #iz #invader zim #zim #irken language #hyperfixations are weird #why do i do this #someone needs to dissect me so they can figure out whats wrong with me #wink wink #get it cuz cuz im zim

[knotsoangelic]

loving the idea of Irken, when spoken verbally, sounding like a bunch of trills, chirps and chitters (kinda like how rats communicate, or like how some bugs click). I’ll see fanart of Zim trying to teach dib irken and it’s so funny to me because in my eyes no human mouth would be able to replicate the sounds

#iz #invader zim #iz headcanon #irken language #knotstalk

[8thhousegoth]

BATTLEVOID out April 12th.

The title BATTLEVOID is a metaphor for the psychological consequences of growing up with the unacknowledged trauma of parental alienation and abandonment. Having your mind invaded by technology and control only to discover the true rage and hurt that you were trained to hide all of these years. I made this painting last year, added some butterflies, and recently the calligraphy-stylized Irken text saying BATTLEVOID for my single cover.

Pre-save here.

For more of my music visit here.

#alternative music #witch house #music #darkwave #dark art #goth #irken language #art

[catmaraudersfan]

A thought for my fellow Invader Zim fans:

During the chase scene in the Dark Harvest episode, we hear a chittering-like noise from Zim. Is this Zim speaking Irken? 😲 Have we finally heard what Irken sounds like from CANON? 😍

I know other fans likely thought of this LONG AGO, and I have for a while too, but I wanted to post this revelation somewhere.

#Invader Zim #Zim #Irken language #Dark Harvest

[adhdbisexualramblings]

“Irken as a language consists of chirps with no physical words”

haha complex language go brrr

#Invader Zim #Irken language #I’ve recognized canon made a decision but given its a stupid ass (and not very creative ngl) decision I’ve elected to ignore it

[ligbi]

if I may make a proposal vis a vis the irken font and it's missing characters. since there is a fanon alphabet I filled in the capitals and then picked a few others for the lower case

this seems like the thing that needs to be adopted by a majority so all I can do is *gesture at possible full alphabet*

#irken language #irken text #invader zim #the biggest downside is people who know the fanon alphabet will hate me for using letters they know as different letters #also no numbers......?

[mrehkka]

Re: my previous post about Zim's full name being Zosimo, (edit: the post AFTER this rather)

I have a hc that the Irken language used to not have a Z, but if a word/name is spelled with a S next to a vowel, it made a Z sound (spelled Sim, pronounced like Zim). If it was an S next to a consonant, it made an S sound (like skoodge).

There was some spelling/language reforms at some point and they added the letter Z.

(I came up with this bc of those official dvd Irken subs that didn't include a few letters, but yeah, importantly the Z lmao)

#invader zim #iz zim #Irken #Irken language #Irken lore

[jhonenvasquezatemyson]

Hey what do you think the irken lenguaje sounds like?

Ooh, that's tough! I like to think it sounds like a rapid series of chirps and clicks and high-pitched throat vibrations, like insects chittering but a little squeakier, and a bit like how cats can sometimes chirp at people mixed in. Unsettling, insect-like, kind of cute in a weird way? Yeah. That's my Irken language headcanon I guess! :'D

Throw in some random screeching for good measure. Every couple of chittery syllables/words, just some screeching too.

#ask: answered #darknet-irk #irken language #irken headcanons #irken empire #invader zim #invader zim headcanons #iz headcanon

[spaceboibrainrot]

Irken language has been bothering me because when people talk about cannon Irken they say there's A-T which is lazy but ok, but than you look on the wiki (at the second picture because the first image appears fanmade)

And it has A-T, then U is the same as O and W is the same as H, but there's also just the letter X with its own character. So I went to check if O=U and W=H but on the Irken subtitles I have it's just gibberish

None of the letters seem to go together and make words...

#irken language #invader zim #iz

[stinkykittypet]

"I'm a normal person", I say, writing in a non-canonical language from and early 2000s childrens' cartoon

#invader zim fandom #invader zim #irken language

[jieloksworld]

so I wrote my name in Irken

#invader zim #irken language #irken