Taurahe

Taurahe refers to the native languages spoken by the Tauren from the Warcraft universe. There are numerous dialects of Taurahe, as most tribe 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.

=Linguistic Overview=

Orthography
While Taurahe doesn't have a native writing system, the language has been extensively transcribed into both Darnassian and Orcish. As a result, there is no standard orthography or alphabet. The orthography on this page is designed to use the minimal amount of letters.

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.


 * e - formed by the sequence a+i, pronounced as in bet or bait
 * u - formed by the sequence o+i and i+o, pronounced somewhat as in butte

Consonants
There are 12 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 || papo || droplet
 * t || stop || tati || stick
 * tɕ || chop || tyabi || thorn
 * k || skip || kakae || strider
 * rowspan=5|Fricatives||s || sip || sathatyi || basket
 * ɕ || ship || syeni || bone
 * ɻ̝ || newsroom || rokhe || powder
 * h || hello || homasyi || hide
 * ʕ || bull || lapo || stone
 * }
 * k || skip || kakae || strider
 * rowspan=5|Fricatives||s || sip || sathatyi || basket
 * ɕ || ship || syeni || bone
 * ɻ̝ || newsroom || rokhe || powder
 * h || hello || homasyi || hide
 * ʕ || bull || lapo || stone
 * }
 * h || hello || homasyi || hide
 * ʕ || bull || lapo || stone
 * }
 * ʕ || bull || lapo || stone
 * }

There are 9 additional compound consonants. They form when two consonants are adjacent.
 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!Type !IPA !Compound !English Approximation !Example !Meaning
 * rowspan=3| Denasals|| b || p+m (b) || robot|| kolobe || jar
 * d || t+n (d) || rodeo || kodo || kodo
 * g || k+ŋ || regal || tok'gabi || coconut
 * rowspan=3| Aspirates|| f || p+h (f) || refuse || tefo || eye
 * θ || t+h || tooth || sathatyi || basket
 * x || k+h || loch || rokhe || powder
 * rowspan=3|Laterals ||ɬ|| ʕ+s || - || palsi || fur
 * t͡ɬ || t+ʕ || - || ||
 * ɮ || ʕ+r || - || alro || wing
 * }
 * x || k+h || loch || rokhe || powder
 * rowspan=3|Laterals ||ɬ|| ʕ+s || - || palsi || fur
 * t͡ɬ || t+ʕ || - || ||
 * ɮ || ʕ+r || - || alro || wing
 * }
 * t͡ɬ || t+ʕ || - || ||
 * ɮ || ʕ+r || - || alro || wing
 * }
 * }

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
Nouns are marked differently depending on the root.
 * 1) Roots that end in a consonant or the vowel -a add -i.
 * (Remember that the vowels a+i are written as "e")
 * 1) Roots that end in another vowel (i o u e) do not change.


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

!Stem !Noun !Meaning
 * moty || ko motyi || pine tree
 * tok || ko toki || boulder
 * syen || ko syeni || bone
 * paka || ko pake || blood
 * aklaka ||alsa aklake || male
 * kuda || o kude || shield
 * gabi || ko gabi || berry
 * agsyi || ha agsyi || sun
 * lapo||ko lapo|| stone
 * kodo||alsa kodo ||kodo
 * syu || ko syu || tail
 * ume || ko ume || fish
 * }
 * gabi || ko gabi || berry
 * agsyi || ha agsyi || sun
 * lapo||ko lapo|| stone
 * kodo||alsa kodo ||kodo
 * syu || ko syu || tail
 * ume || ko ume || fish
 * }
 * syu || ko syu || tail
 * ume || ko ume || fish
 * }
 * ume || ko ume || fish
 * }

Class
In the section above, each noun is preceded by a word, either ha, alsa, ko, or o. In Taurahe, nouns are divided into four classes based on their spirit, essence, or life-force. Each of the words, called determiners, applies to a different class. These different classes help to distinguish different words, or different meanings of the same root.
 * 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
 * 1) Mystical - ha
 * 2) Animate - alsa
 * 3) Inanimate - ko
 * 4) Construct - o
 * syu tail or child
 * alsa syupi child
 * ko syupi tail
 * pik spark
 * ha piki star
 * ko piki spark

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 maniamaki aga toli The warrior (me) is eating.
 * i gogakiki tyas aklake ko nuke. The man (you) drank milk.

Case
Case refers to the role nouns play in the sentence, such as whether they are the subject or object of the verb. There are 3 cases in Taurahe.

Pluralization
Pluralization is marked by the prefix mu-.


 * alsa kodo kodo
 * alsa mukodo kodos


 * o kolobe jar
 * o mukolobe jars

Pluralization is implied when numbers are used.
 * ko syeni bone
 * ko suha syeni two bones
 * ko koba syeni three bones
 * ko musyeni bones

Verbs
Verbs are formed by many parts. Like nouns, they are built around the root.

Aspect
Verbs have two aspects, which indicate whether an action is viewed as a discrete event or as a continuous one. These are called the perfective and imperfective aspects.

The imperfective aspect can translate as the present participle of the verb. It is marked by the suffix -ki.
 * kah rain
 * kahki is raining
 * tepho eye
 * tephoki is seeing
 * maniama eat
 * maniamaki is eating

The perfective aspect can translate as the perfect construction ("have" + past participle). It is marked by -kiki.
 * kah rain
 * kahkiki has rained
 * tepho eye
 * tephokiki has seen
 * maniama eat
 * maniamakiki has eaten

Tense
Tense is used in conjunction with aspect to talk about the time events occured. There are four tenses: past, present, future, and simultaneous. Tense markers appear before the verb.

The past tense is marked by the word ade. It literally means behind.
 * ade kahki It was raining.
 * ade kahkiki It had rained.

The present tense is marked by the word i.
 * i kahki It is raining.
 * i kahkiki It has rained.

The future tense is marked yb the word ni. It literally means ahead.
 * ni kahki It will be raining.
 * ni kahkiki It will have rained.

The simultaneous tense is used in compound clauses.

=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