Taurahe

Taurahe refers to the native languages spoken by the Tauren from the Warcraft universe. There are numerous dialects of Taurahe, as most tribes retain their own version of the language. The most common dialect by far is Bloodhoof Taurahe, the native tongue of High Chieftain Baine. Bloodhoof Taurahe has supplanted ceremonial Taurahe in areas of trade and tribal politics.

Orthography
Taurahe does not have a standard orthography. There is no native script, and the spoken language has variously been transcribed by speakers of Darnassian, Orcish, and Common, so there are several different ways to write out the language. Even within Taurahe itself, there are multiple dialects which do not share all the same pronunciations.

Consonants
There are 18 consonants.
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! !! Labial!! Dental !! Alveolar !! Alveolo-palatal !! Dorsal !Nasal !Plosive !Voiceless Fricative !Voiced Obstruent !Approximant
 * m || n || || ||
 * p || t || || tʃ || k
 * [f] || θ || s || ʃ || h
 * v || ð || || dʒ || ɣ
 * w || l || r || j ||
 * }


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!Spell !English Approximation !Example !Meaning
 * m || meat || mago || fruit
 * n || neat || nosthoki || head
 * p || spot || papa || droplet
 * t || stop || talni || stick
 * tʃ || chop || chagi || snack
 * k || skip || kakami || strider
 * [f] || after || teftha || not
 * θ || thin || thavi || rose
 * s || sore || satachi || basket
 * ʃ || shore || shujimi || mine
 * h || loch || homashi || hide
 * v || vase || vashchi || spirit
 * ð || there || digo || yesterday
 * dʒ || jump || hakaji || arrow
 * ɣ || go || goma || fat
 * w || wash || wosri || meadow
 * l || bull || lapo || stone
 * r || drop || roha || dust
 * j || yes || yake || mist
 * }
 * h || loch || homashi || hide
 * v || vase || vashchi || spirit
 * ð || there || digo || yesterday
 * dʒ || jump || hakaji || arrow
 * ɣ || go || goma || fat
 * w || wash || wosri || meadow
 * l || bull || lapo || stone
 * r || drop || roha || dust
 * j || yes || yake || mist
 * }
 * w || wash || wosri || meadow
 * l || bull || lapo || stone
 * r || drop || roha || dust
 * j || yes || yake || mist
 * }
 * r || drop || roha || dust
 * j || yes || yake || mist
 * }
 * }

Vowels
There are five vowels.
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! !! Front !! Central !! Back
 * High || i || ||
 * Mid || e || ɵ̰ || o
 * Low || || a ||
 * }
 * Low || || a ||
 * }
 * }

Stress
Stress is regular: the next-to-last vowel receives primary stress. Secondary stress occurs on the first syllable of words that are 4 or more syllables.

Nouns and Adjectives
Nouns and adjectives are typically 2 to 4 syllables
 * alke man
 * thalo woman
 * peje child
 * rochi animal
 * lavo wolf
 * korvi cougar
 * ormi bird
 * kelke flower
 * thavi briarthorn
 * aldo feather
 * talne stick
 * kala egg
 * mago fruit
 * tagli quartz
 * ruja brown
 * goma fat
 * niko one
 * sheni bone
 * hakaje arrow
 * kolovi earthenware object
 * taurajo campsite
 * tanayo yesterday
 * nosthoki head
 * shatuhaji many

There are a few different pluralization infixes which must be memorized.


 * infix -in- (and [e] > [i]
 * alke > alkini
 * peje > pejini
 * eche > echini
 * aldo > aldino
 * kude > kudini


 * infix -ah- (and [i] > [e])
 * thalo > thalaho
 * lapo > lapaho
 * tauri > taurahe
 * korvi > korvahe
 * sheni > shenahe


 * infix -ay-
 * tokna > toknaya
 * ruja > rujaya

Adjectives agree with their head nouns in number.
 * ruja korvi red bird
 * rujaya korvahe red birds

Colors
There are only three color terms: eche white, orchi black, and ruja brown. At a basic level, these colors are sufficient.
 * Ke velo orchi ni denayo. The sky is black at night.
 * Ke lahatori orchi. The ocean is black.
 * Ke ormi orchi. The bird is black.

Usually however the specific color is indicated by comparing the object to an object that has a specific, distinct color.
 * Ke ormi orchi ke pomo. The bird is black like smoke.
 * Ke takeme eche ke tagli. The sword is white like amethyst.
 * Ke lapaho rujaya ke you ni taurajo. The stones are red like mud at a campsite.

Numerals
There are six number words: niko, sohma, kompa, done, kude, shatuhaji. While niko, sohma, and kompa refer to 1, 2, and 3, the word done refers to higher amounts that can feasibly be subitized (roughly 4~6), kude refers to amounts just beyond that range (6~7), and shatuhaji serves as the upper limit of countable sums. In practice, shatuhaji is between 2-3x done (8~12). These numbers are only used when the number of an object is relevant, such as arrows in a quiver or garments in a pile of laundry. There is no consideration for the number of stars in the sky or leaves on a tree, and these numbers cannot be used to refer to Tauren.


 * niko one
 * sohma two
 * kompa three
 * done 4~6
 * kude 6~7
 * shatuhaji 8~12

Numbers are considered nouns rather than adjectives.
 * kompa shu'kala three eggs (lit. three of egg)
 * done shu'ruja kude some brown shields (lit. some of brown shield)

Verbs
There are 7 verb forms representing different aspects of the verb.


 * katha harvest (citation form)
 * katha has harvested (present perfect)
 * kathut harvested (past perfect)
 * kafkathadsa has excellently harvested (intensive perfect)
 * kafkatha is harvesting (continuous)
 * gokafkatha starts harvesting (inchoative)
 * kafkathari ''finishes harvesting (cessative
 * kathakathaga has repeatedly harvested (habitual)

For regular verbs, the different forms can be determined based on the citation form of the verb. Other forms use an alternate form of the verb. It has the prefix CVf-, where CV represents the next to stressed syllable of the verb. This has 3 possible forms:
 * Present perfect: same as the citation form
 * Past perfect: replace the final vowel with -ut. The  is just an orthographical marker to indicate that the /u/ is the stressed vowel in the word.
 * 1. If the stressed syllable contains /u/ (as in nuka), CV is /ta/
 * nuka < tafnuka
 * 2. If the stressed syllable is of the form CV or V, (as in ensaki or ore), CV is the same as that syllable.
 * ensaki > sapensaki
 * ore > opore
 * 3. If the stressed syllable is of the form CVC or VC, (as in togma or mayna), CV is the ending C plus /a/.
 * togma > gaftogma
 * mayna > yamayna

Four aspects use this alternate form of the verb as a base. The habitual form uses a third form of the verb. Try to figure it out.
 * Continous: same as alternate form
 * Intensive perfect: infix -ads- before the final vowel.
 * Inchoative: prefix go-
 * Cessative: infix -ar- before final vowel.
 * katha > kathakathaga
 * nuka > nutanukaga
 * ensaki > saki(y)ensakagi
 * ore > ore(w)orage
 * togma > togatogmaga
 * mayna > mayamaynaga