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. There are a few common patterns in spelling that you will see on this page and in other texts.

In most dialects, the distinction between /i/ and /e/ is not rigidly defined. As a result, the spelling of /e/ is variously written as "e", "ei", or "i": /hakaji/ arrow can be "hakaji" or "hakaje", /piji/ "child" can take the forms "piji", "peji", "peje", "peiji", or "peije". /i/ is often respelled "e" next to an "h" including after the digraphs "sh" and "ch".

Unstressed vowels are typically treated in one of three ways depending on the dialect of the speaker who was transcribed. From careful speakers it is possible to discern the quality of the unstressed vowel, and it can be written as it sounds. If the speaker completely reduces the vowel to [e], either "e" or "u" are substituted. In some cases the vowel is dropped altogether, and it can simply be left out. In any case, the transcriber might guess or fill in the missing vowel. Depending on the speaker, the word /'alaki/ man could be heard as "alaki", "aleki", or "alki".

Although Bloodhoof Taurahe no longer makes a distinction, some dialects have short and long vowels. Orthographically, long vowels might be written with a single vowel, a doubled vowel, or a digraph such as "au", "ie", or "ou": /ho:mashi/ hide, skin is written as "hoomashi", "houmashi", or "homashi".

The sound /θ/ can be written as the symbol "θ" or the digraph "th".

Consonants
There are 19 consonants.
 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! !! Labial !! Dental !! Alveolar !! Alveolo-palatal !! Velar !Nasal !Plosive !Voiceless Fricative !Voiced Obstruent !Approximant
 * m ||colspan=4|ŋ
 * p || t || || tʃ || k
 * f || θ || s || ʃ || x
 * v || ð || || dʒ || ɣ
 * w || l || ɹ || j ||
 * }


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

!Phoneme !English Approximation !Example !Meaning
 * m || meat || mago || fruit
 * ŋ || thing || nosthoki || head
 * p || spot || papa || droplet
 * t || stop || talni || stick
 * tʃ || chop || chagi || snack
 * k || skip || kakam || strider
 * f || after || teftha || not
 * θ || thin || thavi || rose
 * s || sore || satachi || basket
 * ʃ || shore || shujimi || mine
 * x || 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
 * ɹ || rope || roha || powder
 * j || yes || yake || mist
 * }
 * x || 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
 * ɹ || rope || roha || powder
 * j || yes || yake || mist
 * }
 * w || wash || wosri || meadow
 * l || bull || lapo || stone
 * ɹ || rope || roha || powder
 * j || yes || yake || mist
 * }
 * ɹ || rope || roha || powder
 * j || yes || yake || mist
 * }
 * }

There are additionally 4 very marginal phonemes: /ɹy/, /ly/, /ŋj/, and /z/. In some dialects, /ɹj/ and /lj/ contrast with /ɹ/ and /l/ before /a/ in very few words, such as /lapo/ stone and /ljapo/ ring. /z/ only appears in the intensive verb form.

Vowels
There are four vowels.
 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! !! Front !! Central !! Back
 * High || i || ||
 * Mid || e || || o
 * Low || || a ||
 * }
 * Low || || a ||
 * }
 * }

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

Plural
Both adjectives and nouns can be singular or plural. There are 3 ways that a word can be pluralized.

Most words /i/ and some that end in /o/ take the infix marker /-ah-/. (Remember that /i/ is often written as "e" next to an "h".) This group is mostly nouns but also some adjectives.


 * alki > alkahe man > men
 * peje > pejahe child > children
 * eche > echahe white
 * kude > kudahe shield > shields
 * lapo > lapaho stone > stones
 * tauri > taurahe story > stories
 * korvi > korvahe cougar > cougars
 * sheni > shenahe bone > bones

Words that end in /a/ or a consonant take the suffix /-ya/. This group includes most adjectives and some nouns.


 * tokan > tokanaya object > objects
 * rufa > rufaya red
 * soham > sohamaya two

Finally, some words take the infix /-in-/. This groups mostly includes nouns that end in /o/ as well as some that end in /a/.
 * kala > kalina egg > eggs
 * aldo > aldino feather > feathers
 * maro > marino short
 * thalo > thalino woman > women

Some words have irregular plurals.
 * kakam > kakama strider > striders
 * totem > totemi totem > totems

Attributive adjectives, those that directly modify a noun, agree in number.
 * ruja korvi li ogra red bird drinks
 * rujaya korvahe li ogra n red birds drink''
 * maro talni an kaθθa θalo ''woman gathers long stick
 * marino talnahe ah kaθθa θalo ''woman gathers long sticks

Strictly speaking, predicative adjectives, those that indirectly modify a noun, should also agree in number, but in casual speech they usually remain singular.
 * sheni an iche s bone is white
 * shenahe an echahe s or shenahe an iche s bones are white

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

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

Numerals
There are six number words: niko, soham, 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
 * soham two
 * kompa three
 * done 4~6
 * kude 6~7
 * shatuhaji 8~12

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

Verbs
Like nouns and adjectives, verbs are 2 to 4 syllables.
 * teke walk
 * tifo see
 * kaththa gather, harvest
 * diloko go
 * lafa eat
 * ograr drink
 * siran think, believe

Plural
If the agent of the verb is plural, then the verb requires a plural particle as well. The plural particle is /n/ and it always appears directly after the verb. While it is written as a separate word, it is pronounced as if it were part of the previous word.
 * piska li i teke. The girl walks.
 * piskaya li i teke n. The girls walk.

Tense
Taurahe has 3 absolute tenses, present, past, and future.

Strictly, the present tense is indicated by the particle /i/ before the verb.
 * galo li i ograr peiji. The boy drinks juice.
 * piskaya li i teke n. The girls walk.
 * ormi an i tifo go. I see the bird.

However, the /i/ is often omitted or reduced to a very minor glide.
 * galo li yograr peiji.
 * piskaya li teke n.
 * ormi an ytifo go.

The future tense is indicated by the particle /ori/ instead of /i/.
 * galo li ori ograr peiji. The boy will drink juice.
 * piskaya li ori teke n. The girls will walk.
 * ormi an ori tifo go. I will see the bird.

The past tense is indicated by the particle /tega/. This particle appears after the verb instead of before.
 * galo li ograr tega peiji. The boy drank juice.
 * piskaya li teke n tega. The girls walked.
 * ormi an tifo tega go. I saw the bird.

/tega/ is typically pronounced as [teʕ], where the /ga/ syllable is realized somewhat like a pause during the time the syllable would otherwise be pronounced. However, in very rapid casual speech, it can completely merge with the verb. In pronunciation, the rime of the last syllable of the verb is replaced with a stressed [ɵt] before a vowel or [ɵʔ] otherwise.


 * aldo an tifo n tega ormi we saw the bird can be written as "aldo an tifut ormi" if the speaker pronounces this sentence as [alðo aŋ ti.'fɵt oɻmi]
 * li ograr tega he drank can be written as "li ogrut" if the speaker pronounces this sentence as [li o.'grɵʔ].

There are also 2 relative tenses, which involve both a pre-particle and the post-particle /tega/.

The pluperfect tense is used to refer to things that happened in the past in the context of the past. It requires the preparticle /f/ and the post-particle /tega/.
 * galo li f ograr tega peiji. The boy had drunk juice.
 * piskaya li f teke n tega. The girls had walked.
 * ormi an f tifo tega go. I had seen the bird.

The future perfect tense refers to things that, in the context of the future, have happened. It uses the preparticle /ori/ along with the post-particle /tega/
 * galo li ori ograr tega peiji. The boy will have drunk juice.
 * piskaya li ori teke n tega. The girls will have walked.
 * ormi an ori tifo tega go. I will have seen the bird.

Aspect
In addition to tenses, verbs can occupy one of several aspects which refer to how the action is viewed.

The perfective is the form of the verb that has been used so far. It just refers to an event that started, happened, and finished without regard to how time moved during the event.

There is also another form of the verb that is used to indicate the three imperfective aspects that focus on the temporal structure of the event itself. This verb form is created by the prefix CVf, where CV is the onset and nucleus of the first syllable of the perfective form.
 * teke > tefteke
 * siran > sifsiran
 * ograr > ofograr
 * kaθθa > kafkaθθa

The continuous aspect uses the imperfective form of the verb to indicate events viewed internally.
 * pijahe li latakut ke toftorgele n tega alkahe ki θalino. ''The children played while the men and women were working.

The inchoative aspect uses the imperfective form along with the pre-particle /go/ to focus on the start of an event.
 * li go kafkaθθa n tega kelkini. They started gathering flowers.

The cessative aspect uses the imperfective form with the pre-particle /chiri/ to focus on the end of an event.
 * li chiri tefteke n. They stop walking.

There are two other aspects that are dialectal but may be encountered. The habitual aspect refers to events that occur over and over. This aspect has a reduplicated form which takes the form PERF PERF/-ga/, where PERF is the perfective form of the verb.
 * kodaho li lafa lafaga. The kodos eat and eat.

The intensive aspect is subjectively used to highlight the intensity of an event. It uses the imperfective form plus the suffix /-za/. The marginal phoneme /z/ only appears in this verb form, and /z/ represents a buzzing sound, typically [z] or [ʐ] but also [ɮ] and even [ʙ].
 * toki an hafhachakaza kanagi ji. ''My uncle hurls, heaves, catapults the boulder.

Topic-comment
Taurahe is a topic-prominent language, which means that the first phrase in the sentence is usually the subject of conversation, and the rest of the sentence is what is being said about the topic.