Taurahe

Taurahe is the language spoken by the Tauren from the Warcraft universe. This article is written about ceremonial Taurahe, which is consistent among most tribes.

Orthography
Taurahe does not have a standard orthography. The spelling of words used on this page is based on the Latin alphabet and some IPA. For the most part, letters do not line up with their English equivalents.
 * {| class = "wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!Grapheme !Example !IPA !English equivalent
 * a || alo || [ɑ̹] || between yawn and yon
 * b || baba || [p] || spin
 * c || cava || [t͡ʃʼ] || (ejective ch)
 * d || dovoleʔ || [t] || steel
 * e || ecene || [ɪ] || pit
 * f || fete || [f] || full
 * g || geleka|| [k] || scoop
 * h || halo || [h] || hallow
 * k || kubeku|| [k'] || (ejective k)
 * l || lavozo || [ɫ] || bull
 * m || maʒama|| [mˠ] || (Irish) mór
 * n || nosatoga || [n] || neat
 * ɲ || ɲece || [ɲ] || canyon
 * ŋ || ŋamas || [ŋ] || bang
 * o || o || [ʊ] || book
 * p || pagaho || [p'] || (ejective p)
 * r || frete|| [ɻ] || bread
 * s || sus || [s] || seat
 * ʃ || ʃeɲel|| [ʃ] || sheet
 * t || takak|| [t'] || (ejective t)
 * u || ululu || [ʊ̈˞] || "yerself"
 * v || vazase || [v] || voice
 * w || kwaŋuseʔ || [w] || tweet
 * y || kyavaza || [j] || fjord
 * z || zevaza|| [ʐʷ] || (Russian) кожа
 * ʒ || ʒage || [ʒ] || measure
 * ʔ || sugoseʔ || [ʔ] || uh-oh
 * }
 * o || o || [ʊ] || book
 * p || pagaho || [p'] || (ejective p)
 * r || frete|| [ɻ] || bread
 * s || sus || [s] || seat
 * ʃ || ʃeɲel|| [ʃ] || sheet
 * t || takak|| [t'] || (ejective t)
 * u || ululu || [ʊ̈˞] || "yerself"
 * v || vazase || [v] || voice
 * w || kwaŋuseʔ || [w] || tweet
 * y || kyavaza || [j] || fjord
 * z || zevaza|| [ʐʷ] || (Russian) кожа
 * ʒ || ʒage || [ʒ] || measure
 * ʔ || sugoseʔ || [ʔ] || uh-oh
 * }
 * v || vazase || [v] || voice
 * w || kwaŋuseʔ || [w] || tweet
 * y || kyavaza || [j] || fjord
 * z || zevaza|| [ʐʷ] || (Russian) кожа
 * ʒ || ʒage || [ʒ] || measure
 * ʔ || sugoseʔ || [ʔ] || uh-oh
 * }
 * z || zevaza|| [ʐʷ] || (Russian) кожа
 * ʒ || ʒage || [ʒ] || measure
 * ʔ || sugoseʔ || [ʔ] || uh-oh
 * }
 * ʔ || sugoseʔ || [ʔ] || uh-oh
 * }

Phonology
Taurahe has 4 vowels and 20 consonants.

Vowels
There are 4 phonemic vowels, /e u o a/.


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! !Front !Central !Back !High !Low
 * e [ɪ]
 * u [ʊ̈˞]
 * o [ʊ]
 * a [ɑ̹]
 * }
 * a [ɑ̹]
 * }

Diphthongs
Diphthongs may appear in stressed syllables. All diphthongs are ascending, and all 12 potential diphthongs are possible.


 * /e/ → /y/ [j]
 * /u/ → /r/ [ɻ]
 * /o/ → /w/ [w]


 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!↱ !e !u !o !a !e !u !o
 * ye
 * yu
 * yo
 * ya
 * re
 * ru
 * ro
 * ra
 * we
 * wu
 * wo
 * wa
 * }

Consonants

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! colspan=2| ! Labial ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar !Glottal ! colspan=2| Nasal ! rowspan=2| Plosive || Ejective ! Plain ! rowspan=2 | Fricative || Consonantal ! Vocalic
 * m [mˠ]
 * n [n]
 * ɲ [ɲ]
 * ŋ [ŋ]
 * p [pʼ]
 * t [tʼ]
 * c [t͡ʃʼ]
 * k [kʼ]
 * b [p]
 * d [t]
 * g [k]
 * g [k]
 * f [f]
 * s [s]
 * ʃ [ʃ]
 * l [ɫ]
 * h [h]
 * v [v]
 * z [ʐʷ]
 * ʒ [ʒ]
 * }
 * }
 * }

The vocalic fricatives are derived from vowels, rather than as voiced variants of the voiceless fricatives or as fricated plosives.
 * /e/ → /y/ → /ʒ/
 * /u/ → /r/ → /z/
 * /o/ → /w/ → /v/

Structure
Phonemically, syllables have a maximum CVC structure, such as /boh/, wind. However, phonetically, syllables are limited to (C)V, and in unstressed positions, moraic C. Stress is intensity-based and always falls on the first syllable of a word.

Processes
If /e/ is this final phoneme of a word, it will be advanced to [i]. If an /e/ appears in the syllable immediately before [i], it will harmonize and also become [i]. This will travel backwards until another vowel appears or until the morpheme boundary.
 * /pavane/ [pʼɑvɑni]
 * /keʒe/ [kʼiʒi]
 * but /peʒes/ [pʼɪʒɪ]

/a/ is deleted when all the following conditions are met:
 * 1) It appears in a CV syllable.
 * 2) The syllable is unstressed and is preceded by a stressed syllable.
 * 3) The C is a continuant.


 * /zevaza/ [ʐʷɪv:ʐʷɑ]
 * /palasa/ [pʼɑɫ:sɑ]
 * /komapa/ [kʼʊm:pʼɑ]
 * but /falal/ [fɑɫɑ]
 * but /pagaho/ [pʼɑkɑhʊ]
 * but /boga/ [pʊkɑ]

Similarly, /e/ is deleted if:
 * 1) It appears in a CV syllable.
 * 2) The syllable is unstressed and is preceded by a syllable with stressed /e/.
 * 3) T C is a continuant. If the C is not a continuant, /e/ is instead devoiced.


 * /eseca/ [ɪsːtʃʼɑ]
 * /pekeʒe/ [pʼikʼi̥ʒi]
 * but /ʃeɲel/ [ʃɪɲɪ]

If the final phoneme of a word is a consonant, it will be deleted. /ʔ/ is found almost exclusively in this environment.
 * /sahal/ [sɑhɑ]
 * /deŋez/ [tɪŋɪ]
 * /hacag/ [hɑtʃʼɑ]
 * /boh/ [pʊ]
 * /vosozeʔ/ [vʊsʊzɪ]
 * /dovoleʔ/ [tʊvʊɫɪ]
 * /doneʔ/ [tʊnɪ]

Verbs
Verbs are conjugated according to tense, aspect, and mood.
 * Tense
 * Past: The wolf chased the strider.
 * Present: The sun rises over Thunder Bluff.
 * Future: We will celebrate tonight.
 * Aspect
 * Perfective: I stumbled.
 * Imperfective: I will be sleeping when you arrive.
 * Mood
 * Declarative: This roast is delicious.
 * Mirative: Wow! This roast is delicious!
 * Interrogative: Is this roast delicious?
 * Hortative: Would you like to take this letter to my father, please?
 * Optative: I hope you get well soon.
 * Potential: It may rain tomorrow.

Certain combinations may not occur. For example, the hortative, optative, and potential moods can only occur in the future tense.

Verbal tags
There are 16 verbal tags.


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!colspan=2| !colspan=2|Declarative !colspan=2|Mirative !colspan=2| !Perfective !Imperfective !Perfective !Imperfective !colspan=2|Past !colspan=2|Present !rowspan=2|Future||Declarative !Potential
 * fu
 * fyu
 * fuzaza
 * fyuzaza
 * et
 * tyeʔ
 * tezaza
 * tyezaza
 * cula
 * cyula
 * cuzaza
 * cyuzaza
 * kava
 * kyava
 * kavaza
 * kyavaza
 * }

Nouns
Every noun must have a determiner. The determiner is composed of two parts, the class and the case. Taurahe has five noun classes and fifteen cases, yielding a total of sixty different determiners.

Class
Nouns are classified as animate, magical, or inanimate. Inanimate nouns are further classified into natural and constructed. There is also a class for concepts which do not fit into such classification.


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!Determiner half !Class !Examples miscellaneous uncountables such as water, fire, and weather
 * lu
 * animate creatures or persons
 * lavoro wolf, ʃuhalo Tauren, kodo kodo
 * ha
 * religious, magical, mythological beings
 * ha
 * religious, magical, mythological beings
 * halo Earthmother, valaʃe spirit, asale knowledge, ʒage mist
 * ko
 * natural, inanimate objects
 * aŋazo seed, moca tree, baba drop of water, zovago tail
 * o
 * created, inanimate objects
 * hacag arrow, takak tool, sataʃe basket, vosozeʔ farm
 * miscellaneous uncountables
 * boga love, zavaʃe coldness, tozaheʔ language
 * }
 * miscellaneous uncountables
 * boga love, zavaʃe coldness, tozaheʔ language
 * }
 * }

Case
There are fifteen cases in Taurahe. Three of the cases involve verb arguments.


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!Determiner !Case !Usage
 * ʒa
 * ergative
 * agent of active verbs
 * sa
 * absolutive
 * agent of passive verbs, patient of all verbs
 * na
 * possessive
 * used in conjunction with no to denote ownership
 * }
 * possessive
 * used in conjunction with no to denote ownership
 * }

A possessive construction involves two noun phrases. For example, "the Tauren's dog" involves a Tauren and a dog. "Tauren" is put into the possessive case, luna ʃuhalo, and the possessive adjective no is inserted into the noun phrase for "dog", lusa kaɲak. The word no by itself only means "possessed", so the possessive case specifies whose possession.


 * {| class="wikitable"


 * luna
 * ʃuhalo
 * luʒa
 * no
 * kaɲak


 * fyu
 * myaŋama
 * it.POS
 * Tauren
 * it.ERG
 * POSSESSED
 * dog
 * PST-IMP
 * eat
 * colspan=7|The Tauren's dog was eating.
 * }
 * colspan=7|The Tauren's dog was eating.
 * }

The remaining 12 cases belong to the locatives. Taurahe considers two factors for its locative cases: the location (inside, outside, or on the surface of), and the motion (no motion, towards, away from, or past). These considerations fuse to form 12 distinct role markers.
 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! !Inside !Outside !Surface !no motion !towards !from !past
 * da (inside)
 * go (outside)
 * vu (on)
 * goda (into)
 * gova (towards)
 * zusa (onto)
 * gopa (from)
 * dago (out of)
 * vupa (off of)
 * ʒelo (through)
 * goteɲ (past)
 * vuteɲ (along)
 * }

Pronouns
Pronouns are formed by decomposing the determiner into its two parts, then moving the case before the class. Thus;


 * luʒa kaɲak, "the dog" becomes ʒa lu, "him (i.e. the dog)"
 * kona aŋazo, "of the seed" becomes na ko, "of it (i.e. the seed)"

The first and second person pronouns aŋa and cye function in this way. ʒa aŋa tyeʔ syakada sa cye, "I am chasing you." In these constructions, the case remains unstressed despite it standing as its own word.

Phrase order
The phrase order is verb-subject-object, but there is quite a bit of movement that obscures the order.

Valency

 * Unergative:
 * Unaccusative:
 * Transitive:
 * Passive:
 * Antipassive: