Taurahe/Lessons

he tekio chi shuhalo

walk with the Earthmother

Alphabet and Pronunciation
The sounds of Taurahe fortunately overlap a lot with the sounds of English. The chart to the right gives the entire rundown of every sound in Taurahe. Because Tauren haven't historically kept written records, there is no official alphabet or spelling system, so the letters have been especially chosen to match the English pronunciation as best as possible. The only unfamiliar letter may be <θ>, which is just the "th" sound. Sometimes, harder words will be spelled out in [ ] as a courtesy.


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!Phoneme !English Approximation !Example !Meaning
 * m || meat || mago || fruit
 * ŋ || thing || nosθoki || head
 * p || spot || papa || droplet
 * t || stop || talne || stick
 * tʃ || chop || chagi || snack
 * k || skip || kakam || strider
 * f || after || tefθa || not
 * θ || thin || θavi || rose
 * s || sore || sθachi || basket
 * ʃ || shore || shujimi || mine
 * x || loch || homashi || hide
 * v || vase || vashshi || spirit
 * ð || there || digo || yesterday
 * dʒ || jump || hakaji || arrow
 * ɣ || go || goma || fat
 * l || bull || lapo || stone
 * ɹ || rope || roha || powder
 * a || father || alo || path
 * i || fleece || iche || white
 * e || face || e || that
 * o || goat || ormi || bird
 * au || cow || auli || water
 * }
 * v || vase || vashshi || spirit
 * ð || there || digo || yesterday
 * dʒ || jump || hakaji || arrow
 * ɣ || go || goma || fat
 * l || bull || lapo || stone
 * ɹ || rope || roha || powder
 * a || father || alo || path
 * i || fleece || iche || white
 * e || face || e || that
 * o || goat || ormi || bird
 * au || cow || auli || water
 * }
 * a || father || alo || path
 * i || fleece || iche || white
 * e || face || e || that
 * o || goat || ormi || bird
 * au || cow || auli || water
 * }
 * o || goat || ormi || bird
 * au || cow || auli || water
 * }
 * }

Introductions
The simplest way to greet someone is to say "hau". It is just a generic expression like "hello" or "hey". You may hear Tauren use the word "moo" to greet each other. It is a familiar term that you should probably not use until a Tauren uses it to greet you first.
 * hau - hello

This phrase is useful for introduction yourself. It just means I am something. You can fill in your name, for example, or perhaps your class:
 * kei ma go ... s. - I am ...

The four traditional classes, for which Tauren have simple words, are:
 * shaman - shaman
 * sfiti - hunter
 * modoli - warrior
 * garan - druid

Tauren may also be:
 * anshimoteke - paladin (sun walker) [AN shi mo TE ke]
 * motifo - priest (seer)
 * sxerarimodoli - death knight (death warrior) [SKHE ra ri mo DO li]
 * monk - monk [MO nakh]

But you may be:
 * meijishaman - mage (magic shaman)
 * kalamosfiti - demon hunter [ka LA mo SFI ti]
 * rog - rogue
 * meijiwarlok - warlock

Copula
'kei ma go ... s' means I am, but 'kei ma' can be used to link a lot of different ideas. It is the equivalent of be in English. Be careful about the last one. Calling someone 'karaugwa' means they literally have a sweet flavor.
 * kei ma kodo grava s. - The kodo is big.
 * kei ma mago karaugwa s. - The fruit is sweet.
 * kei ma chi sfiti s. - You are a hunter.
 * kei ma chi karaugwa s!? - You are sweet!?

Probably the most useful application of 'kei ma' for a beginner is 'wa kei ma wa tokan?'
 * wa kei ma wa koji tokan? - What is that thing?


 * wa kei ma wa koji tokan? - What is that thing?
 * kei ma lapo. - It's a lapo.
 * wa kei ma wa lapo? - What is a lapo?
 * kai ma toki sxola e akondiro hrimiyauli. - It is a smooth stone, shaped by river water.
 * kei ma pli pli tichino. - That's a lot of words.
 * a. - Yeah.