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.

Phonology
Taurahe has 4 vowels and 23 consonants.

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


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

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

Consonants

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

! colspan=2| ! Labial ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar ! Glottal ! colspan=2| Nasal ! rowspan=3| Plosive || Ejective ! Plain !Aspirated ! rowspan=2 | Fricative || Voiceless ! Voiced
 * m [mˠ]
 * n [n]
 * ɲ [ɲ]
 * ŋ [ŋ]
 * p' [pʼ]
 * t' [tʼ]
 * tʃ' [t͡ʃʼ]
 * k' [kʼ]
 * p [p]
 * t [t]
 * rowspan=2 | tʃ [t͡ʃ]
 * k [k]
 * pʰ [pʰ]
 * tʰ [tʰ]
 * rowspan=2 | kʰ [kʰ]
 * f [f]
 * s [s]
 * ʃ [ʃ]
 * h [h]
 * v [v]
 * z [ʐʷ]
 * ʒ [ʒ]
 * l [ɫ]
 * }
 * }

Structure
Phonemically, every syllable is composed of one consonant and one vowel (CV). Words can be any number of syllables.

σ
 * /so/ water
 * /he/ star
 * /mo/ greetings

σσ
 * /pa.pa/ droplet
 * /fe.tʰe/ hunter
 * /kʰo.to/ kodo

σσσ
 * /k'u.su.tu/ deer
 * /fe.ʒe.za/ wild

σσσσ
 * /k'a.he.sa.tʰe/ rainstorm
 * /no.sa.tʰo.ka/ head

σσσσσ
 * /la.kʰo.ta.ma.ne/ earthquake

However, sometimes words will end in a syllable that ends in a consonant (CVC). This final C is silent.

σ
 * /pʰoh/ wind
 * /sus/ quiet

σσ+
 * /pu.hel/ grass
 * /t͡ʃʼa.ŋav/ snack
 * /ma.nas/ mana

σσσ+
 * /la.vo.zot͡ʃ/ wolf
 * /pe.ŋa.tam/ gazelle

σσσσσ+
 * /na.ʃa.tʰe.ma.tek/ face

Stress
Stress is regular. Words are broken into trochees, firstly on the left edge of the word, then grouping every pair of syllables from the right edge.
 * (á.lo) path
 * (mó.ʃa) pine tree
 * (fá.lal) clothes


 * (ŋá.mu)lu druid
 * (kʰé.t͡ʃe)t͡ʃo tug
 * (k'á.ŋu)se


 * (nó.sa)(tʰó.ka) head
 * (ká.sa)(tʰé.ŋo) nose


 * (ʒá.no)ze(tʰé.kʰe) orderly
 * (lá.kʰo)ta(má.ne) earthquake

Pronunciation
There are many processes that act on these words that change the way they are pronounced from what is expected.

/e/ tensing
If /e/ is this final segment of a word group, it will be advanced and pronounced [i].
 * /pʰa.va.ne/ → [pʰɒ.vɒ.ni] 'tooth'
 * /ʒa.kʰe/ → [ʒɒ.kʰi] 'mist'

Every /e/ in the word group will also become [i] also.
 * /e fe.tʰe/ → [i fi.tʰi] 'hunts (3ps)'
 * /e.t͡ʃe.ne/ → [i.t͡ʃi.ni] 'strong'

Vowel reduction
The vowels /a/ and /e/ can be reduced, unreleased, or eliminated in some environments.


 * 1) /a/ is unreleased when the following conditions are met:
 * 2) It appears in a CV syllable.
 * 3) The syllable is unstressed.

Similarly, /e/ is deleted if:
 * /ze.va.zatʰ/ → [ʐʷɪ.v:.ʐʷɒ] 'Zhevra'
 * /pa.la.sa/ → [pɒ.ɫ:.s:] 'body hair'
 * /t'a.lo.ha/ → [t'ɒ.ɫʊ.h:] 'mother'
 * [pʰɒ.vɒ.ni] → [pʰɒ.v:.ni] 'tooth'
 * 1) It appears in a CV syllable.
 * 2) The syllable is unstressed.
 * 3) The onset is a palatal segment (/ɲ t͡ʃʼ t͡ʃ ʃ ʒ/).


 * /e.t͡ʃe/ → [i.t͡ʃ:] 'white'
 * /kʰe.ʒe/ → [kʰi.ʒ:] 'laugh'
 * [i.t͡ʃi.ni] → [i.t͡ʃ:.ni] 'strong'

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.


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

!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
 * fuz
 * fyuz
 * fuzaza
 * fyuzaza
 * e
 * tyez
 * tezaza
 * tyezaza
 * t͡ʃula
 * t͡ʃyula
 * t͡ʃulaza
 * t͡ʃyulaza
 * kava
 * kyava
 * kavaza
 * kyavaza
 * }

Verbal tags appear before the verb.


 * /tʰefo/ see


 * /e tʰefo ʒ: aŋa/ I see
 * /kava tʰefo ʒ: aŋa/ I may see
 * /fyuz tʰyefo ʒ: aŋa/ I was seeing

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.


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

!Determiner half !Class !Examples miscellaneous uncountables such as water, fire, and weather
 * lu
 * animate creatures or persons
 * lavozot͡ʃ wolf, ʃuhalo Tauren, kʰoto kodo
 * ha
 * religious, magical, mythological beings
 * ha
 * religious, magical, mythological beings
 * halo Earthmother, valaʃe spirit, asaletʰ knowledge, ʒakʰe mist
 * ko
 * natural, inanimate objects
 * aŋazo seed, mot͡ʃat͡ʃ tree, papa drop of water, zovako tail
 * o
 * created, inanimate objects
 * hat͡ʃak arrow, t'akʰakʰ tool, satʰaʃe basket, vosozek farm
 * miscellaneous uncountables
 * zavaʃ coldness, t'ozaheɲ language, p'ikʰ speed
 * }
 * miscellaneous uncountables
 * zavaʃ coldness, t'ozaheɲ language, p'ikʰ speed
 * }
 * }

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


 * {| class="wikitable"

!Determiner !Case !Usage
 * ʒ:
 * ergative
 * agent of active verbs
 * s:
 * absolutive
 * agent of passive verbs, patient of all verbs
 * n:
 * 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, lun: ʃuhalo, and the possessive adjective no is inserted into the noun phrase for "dog", luʒ: k'aɲaɲa. The word no by itself only means "possessed", so the possessive case specifies whose possession.


 * {| class="wikitable"


 * lun:
 * ʃuhalo
 * luʒ:
 * no
 * k'aɲaɲa
 * 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.
 * }

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


 * /luʒ: kaɲaɲa/, the dog becomes /ʒ: lu/, him (i.e. the dog)
 * /kon: aŋazo/, of the seed becomes /n: ko/, of it (i.e. the seed)

The first and second person pronouns /aŋa/ and /t͡ʃye/ function in this way. /ʒ: aŋa tyez syakada s: t͡ʃye/, I am chasing you.

Pluralization
Plurals are formed by reduplication of the first 2 syllables of the word. If a word has fewer than 2 full syllables, a paragogic /a/ is placed into the structure of the word.


 * aŋazo seed: aŋa aŋazo seeds
 * homaʃe hide: homa homaʃe 'hides''
 * pʰoh wind: pʰoha pʰoh winds

Adjectives
Adjectives are actively formed by the suffix /-e/.
 * vofaŋ combat; vofaŋe belligerent
 * p'ekʰ speed; p'ekʰe fast
 * peʒes ear; peʒese good-listener

Numbers
Taurahe uses an octal number system (based on 6 fingers and 2 horns).