Amalj'aa Language Nonsense

[Ansemaru]

I've actually ferreted out a little bit more tangible information! Unfortunately, it's from the old Lodestone site, and thus only now available through sources that mirrored the updates on that site during the previous iteration of the game. In 1.19, the following description was given for Zahar'ak:

A stronghold erected by the Amalj’aa, its name meaning “like a rock” in their native tongue. Its location was said to be chosen by thaumaturges who, through ancient rituals, divined the position to be auspicious for waging war.

Purely conjecture, but I'm guessing the Zahar bit is Amalj'aa for "rock", while the 'ak is the "like a." So ostensibly Zanr'ak would be "like a Zanr," whatever Zanr actually means in Amalj'aa. Meanwhile, 'aa, 'am, and 'an are different verbs and/or particles? Or maybe it's the other way around- 'ak meaning rock, and Zahar meaning "like a," while Zanr'ak is another term in relation to rock. I'm inclined to lean towards the former, but once again, I'm a complete amateur at linguistics, fictional or otherwise.

And now I'm stuck wondering if Thanalan is actually a name that was taken from the Amalj'aa language and adapted to spoken tongues. It wouldn't be a huge leap to take the apostrophe out of Thanal'an, right? Or I could be overthinking it. After what happened with airship tech and the Ixal, I wouldn't be surprised at any number of things we associate with the "enlightened" races being borrowed or stolen from the beast tribes.