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. Taurahe has contributed several words to other languages, such as shaman, leather, mana, feral, lava, and totem, to name a few.

Writing and Alphabet
Taurahe doesn't strictly have an alphabet, since Tauren don't write. However, the language can be transliterated using the Latin alphabet, because the sound system of Taurahe is small and fairly easy to pick up for non-native speakers. There are 21 unique sounds in the language, which can be approximated with this alphabet:

a e i o t th d p k f h v g ch sh j m n r l s

Vowels
There are 3 vowels and 2 diphthongs. The three vowels are:
 * a, written < a >, as in lava or father
 * i, written < i > as in leaf or teeth
 * o, written < o > which overlaps with the vowels in cool/coal or moo/mow

The two diphthongs are
 * ai, written < e >, as in hey or table
 * ao, written, as in cow

Consonants
There are 17 consonants.
 * t like talk
 * th like think. I sometimes write this as θ so I don't have to use 2 letters.
 * d, which is pronounced like the sound in though or leather, not like dog
 * p like pink
 * k like king
 * f like feather
 * h, which is pronounced like a harsh, forceful ha at the beginning of words, but weakly when between vowels
 * v as in violet. This letter is sometimes written as b, but always pronounced as v.
 * g, which is pronounced kind of like a mix of g and w
 * ch like cheese
 * sh like sheet
 * j like measure or lesion
 * m like moon
 * n like name
 * r like red
 * l like like
 * s like saw

Stress and Elision
Taurahe has a particular rhythm in which syllables are preferentially pronounced in sets of three. Most content words (nouns, adjectives, verbs) in the language are three syllables in length: hakaji, kolovi, komapa, kathatha. However, some of these words are stressed on the first vowel and some on the second vowel. The distinction is important because it affects the middle vowel: if the first vowel is stressed, the middle vowel can be reduced or deleted. So for example, the words hakaji and kolovi are stressed on their second vowels, but komapa and kathatha are stressed on their first vowels, which means they can be pronounced and written as kompa and kaththa.

Nouns
Nouns are always at least 2 syllables, but they typically aren't more than 5:


 * foho tail
 * θalo woman
 * pehiji child
 * rauchi animal
 * lavo wolf
 * maro short
 * koravi cougar
 * orami bird
 * keliki flower
 * θavi briarthorn
 * alado feather
 * talani stick
 * kala small egg
 * mago fruit
 * rohifa red
 * goma fat
 * niko one
 * sheni bone
 * hakaji arrow
 * kolovi earthenware object
 * taurajo campsite
 * akalake man
 * nosaθoki head
 * shatauhaji many
 * nohika milk

Plural
Every noun also as a plural form

Words that end in final /-a/ or /-i/ or change the final stem to /-ahe/.


 * pehiji > pehijahe child > children
 * ichi > ichahe white
 * kohidi > kohidahe shield > shields
 * tauri > taurahe story > stories
 * koravi > koravahe cougar > cougars
 * sheni > shenahe bone > bones

Words that end in /-o/ change the final stem to /-ino/.
 * alado > aladino feather > feathers
 * maro > marino short
 * θalo > θalino woman > women
 * taurajo > taurajino campsite > campsites

Words that end in a consonant add the suffix /-ahe/.


 * tokan > tokanahe object > objects
 * soham > sohamahe two
 * kahakahim > kahakahimahe strider > striders
 * totem > totemahe totem > totems

There are a few exceptions to the rules.
 * lapo > lapaho stone > stones
 * chi > chake you (singular) > you (plural)

Numerals
Counting in Taurahe is exponential rather than linear. Every number is part of a set of three.


 * niko one
 * soham two
 * komapa three


 * kohide six
 * shatauhaji nine


 * sohamihaji 18
 * kavarantochi 27


 * sohamitochi 54
 * kavarandepi 81

Generally, when counting, the objects will be subitized into a few groups and counted as sets. For example, eleven arrows would be counted as komapa, kohide, shatohihaji ke soham three, six, nine and two. Larger sums would be approximated.

Type
Taurahe has a few different types of verb:

Active verbs involve physical actions.

Lative verbs express movement.

Stative verbs express mental and physical states.

Gerund
The gerund form of every verb locks in its basic meaning, which depends on the verb type.

Gerunds of active verbs always refer to the act of doing that verb.

to eragan - the act of doing something to tekihan - the act of walking to mohiran - the act of eating t' ogran - the act of drinking to erithan - the act of cutting down

Gerunds of lative verbs refer to movement.

to filan - the movement forwards on a plane to rasherikeran - the movement upwards a rope/ladder to salchasan - the movement through the air

Gerunds of stative verbs refer to states or non-active actions.

to jahihan - the state of happiness to bohihiran - the state of sadness to krachan - the state of hunger

Object
There are three types of objects in Taurahe: patients, themes, and locations.

Patient objects are those that are affected by an action.

moja to erithan - the act of cutting down a tree mago to mohiran - the act of eating a fruit

Theme objects are those that are not affected by an action.

bahi moja to raganan - the act of climbing a tree bahi mago to plakteran - the act of touching a fruit bahi sikimba to rasherikeran - the act of climbing upwards on a ladder

Location objects are used to describe the origin, location, or destination of motion.

to taurajo to filan - forward movement towards a campsite to mojache to filan - forward movement towards a forest do taurajo to defohiran - movement away from a campsite do mojache to defohiran - movement away from a forest

Subject
As mentioned, the past form of verbs ends in /-o/ and the non-past form ends in /-a/. The other tense in Taurahe is the future tense, which uses the non-past tense alog with the future marker /l/ after the verb.

morihero fisaki cried   girl The girl cried.

morihera fisaki cries   girl The girl cries.

morihera l  fisaki cries   FUT girl The girl will cry.

Definite/indefinite
Taurahe doesn't have words for indefiniteness ("a(n)") or definiteness ("the"). Instead, these concepts are expressed via word order.

The default version, OSV, implies a definite subject and indefinite object. moja ragano pehijahe tree climbed children The children climbed a tree.

kodo pawana koravi kodo bites cougar The cougar bites a kodo.

It is possible for both subject and object to be definite. In this case, the object moves to the end of the sentence and is preceded by the word a(nt).

wogara korasaki a  tavara eats  deer     OBJ bark The deer eats the bark.

ragano pehijahe a   moja climbed children OBJ tree The children climbed the tree.

If the subject is indefinite and the object is definite, the entire sentence is rephrased. The verb is preceded by the passive particle mowa and the object and subject switch places.

pehijahe mowa ragano n  moja children PASS climbed PL tree Children climbed the tree.

There is no grammatical way in Taurahe to have both the subject and object be indefinit.

Kinship
To make sense of kinship terms in Taurahe, it is useful to understand how Tauren families are organized. Tauren society is strongly patrilineal and patrilocal, meaning that people trace their bloodline through their father and live in their father's household. After marriage, a woman leaves her family and joins her husband with his father. As a result, there is a lot of focus on the paternal bloodline and very little on the maternal bloodline.

Tribe: smahi
 * paternal grandfather: gorata
 * paternal grandmother: agam
 * father: sahakanagi
 * brother: chiro
 * sister: kosidi
 * self: go
 * son/nephew: galo
 * daughter/niece: pisxa
 * grandson: pirogalo
 * granddaughter:piropisxa
 * uncle: kanagi
 * male cousin: chiro
 * female cousin: kosidi
 * aunt/uncle's wife: sxraja


 * mother: agam

These family members are not part of someone's household but they are blood-relatives through the mother. There in incest taboo against these people, and therefore unpaired men and women are strongly discouraged from interacting with these people.


 * maternal grandfather: jagiro
 * maternal grandmother: mathi
 * any male descendant: jagiro
 * any female descendant:mathi

Colors
There are only three color terms: 'iche' white, 'orkwa' black, and 'rofa' red.