Taurahe

Taurahe is the language spoken by the Tauren from the Warcraft universe. The article outlines Bloodhoof Taurahe, spoken by the phakateke tribe in Mulgore.

=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

Consonants
There are 11 simple consonants.


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

!Type !IPA !English Approximation !Example !Meaning
 * rowspan=3| Nasals|| m || meat || mwagi || flesh
 * n || neat || nostoki || head
 * ŋ || thing || gamasi || frog
 * rowspan=3| Plosives|| p || spot || papoy || droplet
 * t || stop || tati || stick
 * k || skip || kakay || strider
 * rowspan=2|Fricatives||s || sit || sathatyi || basket
 * h || hello || homasyi || hide
 * rowspan=3|Liquids||ʕ || bull || lapu || stone
 * j || yes || yaki || mist
 * w || wall || wasti || spirit
 * }
 * rowspan=2|Fricatives||s || sit || sathatyi || basket
 * h || hello || homasyi || hide
 * rowspan=3|Liquids||ʕ || bull || lapu || stone
 * j || yes || yaki || mist
 * w || wall || wasti || spirit
 * }
 * j || yes || yaki || mist
 * w || wall || wasti || spirit
 * }
 * w || wall || wasti || 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.

Nouns
Nouns refer to persons, animals, places, things, and ideas. Here are some examples:


 * People
 * syuhalo Tauren
 * thalu woman
 * aklake man
 * vasytyi spirit
 * Animals
 * kakau strider (bird)
 * lavozotyi wolf
 * umai small fish
 * Places
 * phoagi mountain
 * unafi refuge
 * luni hill
 * Things
 * motyi tree
 * hatyake arrow
 * nyuke milk
 * thephu eye
 * Ideas
 * asli knowledge
 * phashu chore

→Most nouns end in either -i or -u, although some end in other vowels.

Class
Every noun falls into one of 5 categories, or classes, ranked by how "spirited" they are.

The most spirited class is has mulzeasli the unknowables. This category contains magical objects as well as astrological phenomena, weather, and fire. All of the unknowables are preceded by the word has, hazyi, or han.
 * has vasytyi the spirit
 * has Halo the Earthmother
 * has musya the moon
 * has agtyi the sun
 * has phuu the wind

The next most spirited class is elsas mukhugti the sentient beings. This includes all animals as well as an assortment of things related to the spirits. They are marked by elsas, elszyi, or elsan.
 * elsas aklake the man
 * elsas thalu the woman
 * elsas khoto the kodo
 * elsas kulsi the snake
 * elsas totaimi the totem
 * elsas motyi the tree

The next class is kos mualizyi the natural things. This includes non-magical, non-living objects that can occur without intervention from elsas khugti a sentient being. They are preceded by kos, kozyi, or kon.
 * kos nyuke the milk
 * kos syeni the bone
 * kos lapu the stone
 * kos zakhi the dust
 * kos thavi the briarthorn
 * kos luni the hill
 * kos moagi the fruit or the meat

Related are os mutakake the tools. These are anything that is created by elsas mukhugtiobjects such as tools, clothing, and such implements, as well as buildings and such constructions. They are preceded by os, ozyi, or on.
 * os hatyake the arrow
 * os khaslu the soap
 * os hapegu the garment made of a loop of cloth
 * os phani the bag
 * os sathatyi the basket
 * os kuti the shield

The final class of nouns fall outside the spiritual spectrum. These are abstract nouns derived from verbs, or gerunds. They are preceded by as, zyi, or an.
 * as asli the act of knowing; the knowledge
 * as tyavi the act of throwing; the launch
 * as puke the act of loving; the love
 * as phitti the act of hunting; the hunt
 * as manymi the act of eating
 * as phasu ''the act of doing chores; the chore

In summary:
 * ha-: magical phenomena, weather, fire
 * els-: living creatures
 * ko-: natural objects and phenomena
 * o-: constructed objects
 * a-: gerunds

First- and second-person
There are two additional forms which are used for first- and second-person constructions. The forms agas, agzyi, and agan are used for the first-person and tyis, tyizyi, and tyin for the second-person.

Case
As mentioned in the previous section, each noun corresponds to one class, but can be marked by 3 different words, such as elsas syuhalo, elszyi syuhalo, elsan syuhalo. The choice depends on the noun's case. There are three core argument cases: absolutive, ergative, and genitive.

The absolutive case is marked by the -zyi determiners (hazyi, elszyi, kozyi, ozyi, azyi). It is used to mark the subject of a verb.
 * i lasphek elszyi thalu. The woman stretched.
 * i tumek elszyi kanyinyi. The dog slept.
 * i kaizye elzyi syuphi. The child laughs.
 * i papak hazyi khahi. It rained.
 * i tompe n'ag ozyi nyo kuzu. My heart beats.
 * i nasytemte tyizyi phiska. You, my child, stood up.

In the previous examples, there was only one noun in the sentence. In sentences with two nouns, the ergative case appears. It is marked by the -s determiners (has, elsas, kos, os, as). In such situations, the absolutive case is used for the object of the verb instead.


 * i manymek elsas lavozotyi kozyi moagi. The wolf ate the meat.
 * i phitte elsas aklake elszyi kustu. The man hunts the deer.

The genitive case is indicated by the -n determiners. (han, elsan, kon, on, an). It marks a possessive relationship.
 * elsan syuhalo of the Tauren

The genitive noun phrase must appear before the noun phrase which it modifies. The adjective nyo, which means its, refers back to the genitive phrase.


 * i elsan syuhalo os nyo kaizu It is the Tauren's book.
 * i zapzate elsas lavozotyi n'els kozyi nyo magazi. The wolf scratches its mouth.

Pronouns
Pronouns are formed by inverting the class-case form of the determiner to become case-class. They are simply inserted in place of the noun phrase.
 * {| class="wikitable"

! || Erg || Abs || Gen
 * lzeasli || sa'ha || zyi'ha || na'ha
 * khugti || s'els || zy'els || n'els
 * alizyi || sa'ko || zye'ko || na'ko
 * takake || s'o || zy'o || n'o
 * zyezunti || s'a || zy'a || n'a
 * ag || s'ag || zy'ag || n'ag
 * tyi || syi'tyi || zyi'tyi || nyi'tyi
 * }
 * zyezunti || s'a || zy'a || n'a
 * ag || s'ag || zy'ag || n'ag
 * tyi || syi'tyi || zyi'tyi || nyi'tyi
 * }
 * tyi || syi'tyi || zyi'tyi || nyi'tyi
 * }
 * }


 * i tyumek elszyi kozai. The cat was sleeping.
 * i tyumek zy'els. It was sleeping.
 * i tyumek zy'ag. I was sleeping.

Pluralization
Pluralization is marked by the prefix mu-.


 * elsas khoto kodo
 * elsas mukhoto kodos


 * elsas syuphi child
 * elsas musyuphi children

=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