Taurahe

Taurahe is the language spoken by the Tauren from the Warcraft universe. The article specifically outlines Bloodhoof Taurahe.

=Linguistic Overview=

Basic Phonology
Bloodhoof Taurahe is a cosmopolitan dialect of Taurahe originating in Mulgore. Since the founding of Thunder Bluff, it has become the de facto standard dialect of Taurahe, supplanting ceremonial Taurahe in areas of trade and tribal politics. All modern dialects of Taurahe are mutually intelligible with Bloodhoof Taurahe.

Vowels
There are 3 basic vowels in Taurahe.
 * a - as in bot or bought
 * i - as in beet
 * o - as in boat

There are also 2 compound vowels, formed when two vowels occur adjacently.
 * ai - as in bait or bet
 * oi - similar to butte

Consonants
There are 14 simple consonants.


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

!Type !IPA !English Approximation !Example !Meaning
 * rowspan=3| Nasals|| m || meat || moagi || flesh
 * n || neat || nostoki || head
 * ŋ || thing || gamasi || frog
 * rowspan=4| Plosives|| p || spot || papoi || droplet
 * t || stop || tati || stick
 * tɕ || chop || tyawi || thorn
 * k || skip || kakai || strider
 * rowspan=4|Fricatives||s || sip || sathatyi || basket
 * ɕ || ship || syaini || bone
 * ɻ̝ || rug || rokai || powder
 * h || hello || homasyi || hide
 * rowspan=3|Liquids||ʕ || bull || lapoi || stone
 * j || yes || yaki || mist
 * w || wall || wasytyi || spirit
 * }
 * rowspan=4|Fricatives||s || sip || sathatyi || basket
 * ɕ || ship || syaini || bone
 * ɻ̝ || rug || rokai || powder
 * h || hello || homasyi || hide
 * rowspan=3|Liquids||ʕ || bull || lapoi || stone
 * j || yes || yaki || mist
 * w || wall || wasytyi || spirit
 * }
 * rowspan=3|Liquids||ʕ || bull || lapoi || stone
 * j || yes || yaki || mist
 * w || wall || wasytyi || spirit
 * }
 * w || wall || wasytyi || spirit
 * }

Phonotactics
The maximum syllable structure is consonant+vowel+consonant.

Stress
Stress assignment is regular. Main stress appears on the next-to-last syllable. For words longer than 3 syllables, secondary stress falls on the first syllable and every other syllable thereafter, but not within the last 3 syllables.

Roots and Stems
Just like in English, words in Taurahe are composed of roots and stems. The root of a word gives descriptive meaning, while the stems give additional grammatical meaning. For example, "kal" means dark. Adding the suffix -i yields "kali", darkness. The suffix -ki yields "kalki", to darken.

Nouns
Most nouns are marked by adding -i to the end of the root. The suffix is omitted when the root already ends in an i, and in some roots that end in o.
 * ha hal'mani sky
 * ha kahi rain
 * alsa toli warrior
 * alsa syamai shaman
 * alsa syoi'halo Tauren
 * ko gapmi berry
 * ko pakai blood
 * ko motyi tree
 * ko toki boulder
 * o takaki tool
 * o kotnai shield
 * o kolopmi jar

Class
In some languages, nouns are divided into two classes, such as masculine and feminine. In others, there are 3 classes, perhaps masculine, feminine, and neuter. Taurahe has four such classes. Instead of division by gender, every nouns is classified by how "spirited" it is.
 * 1) Mystical - the most spirited of phenomena, like magic, fire, weather, and celestial bodies.
 * 2) Animate - living persons, animals, and some poetically animate things like trees and mountains
 * 3) Inanimate - natural objects which can be encountered in the environment.
 * 4) Construct - constructed objects not naturally found in the wild

Each class of noun is marked by a different determiner.
 * 1) Mystical - ha
 * 2) Animate - alsa
 * 3) Inanimate - ko
 * 4) Construct - o

First- and second-person
First and second person function grammatically as classes, and have their respective determiners.
 * First person - aga
 * Second person - tya

These can replace alsa, and work similarly to appositives in English.
 * i manyamaki aga toli The warrior (me) is eating.
 * poi gogakiki tyasa akalakai ko noikai. The man (you) drank milk.

Pluralization
Pluralization is marked by the prefix mu-.


 * alsa kotno kodo
 * alsa mukotno kodos


 * o kolopmi jar
 * o mukolopmi jars

Pluralization is implied when nouns are counted.


 * ko syaini bone
 * ko suha syaini two bones
 * ko musyaini bones

Verbs
Verbs have several parts.

=Word List=

Persons

 * akalake man
 * thalu woman
 * phiska boy
 * phisyu girl
 * vasytyi spirit

Animals

 * kori bird
 * kanyinyi dog
 * lava-rotyi wolf
 * kakau strider
 * kotno kodo
 * gamasi frog
 * umai fish
 * tamu deer
 * kuheli snake

Body Parts

 * kopmi hand, arm
 * thalasi leg
 * teke foot, hoof
 * palsi fur
 * alzu wing
 * moagi flesh
 * nosa-thoke head (face-boulder)
 * phake blood
 * homasyi skin
 * syupi tail
 * syeni bone
 * syatuu horn
 * nosi face
 * thephu eye
 * kopma-zake elbow (arm-*joint)
 * thalasa-zake knee (leg-*joint)
 * pala-kati claw (*talon-hook)
 * gomu heart
 * zeni tongue

Plants

 * motyi tree
 * thavi thorn
 * puhi grass
 * tatau, kelu stick
 * khoemi bark
 * tuhi leaf

Water

 * water mani
 * papau droplet
 * solsi bubble
 * zyake mist
 * khahi rain

Classes

 * toli warrior
 * phiti hunter
 * syagma shaman
 * gami druid
 * agsya-teke paladin (sun-warrior)
 * agsya-syagma priest (sun-shaman)

Tools and Weapons

 * takake tool
 * hatyake arrow
 * take sword
 * kutni shield

Food and Drink

 * nyuke milk
 * gavi berry

Astral objects

 * hala-mani sky (light-water)
 * agsyi sun
 * musya moon
 * peke star

Stone

 * rokhe dust
 * lapu stone
 * thoke boulder
 * phoagi mountain

Vessels

 * sathatyi basket
 * kolomi jar
 * pukazi bucket