Taurahe

Taurahe (from tawrahe language) is the language spoken by the Tauren from the Warcraft universe. This article is written about ceremonial Taurahe, which is consistent among most tribes. Notes about dialects, specifically the Bloodhoof dialect, will appear in boxes labelled "haso noo tawrahe lawmna pawkahotekem" the Bloodhoof accent.

Phonology
Taurahe has 4 vowels, 4 semivowels, 2 diphthongs, and 12 consonants.

Vowels
There are 4 vowels, /e ø a o/, which correspond to [ɛ œ ɑ ɔ]. Vowels contrast in rounding and backness, but not height, and are generally all open-mid. All vowels can be doubled in length, which may have an effect on the vowel quality. There are also 2 falling diphthongs, /aw/ and /ay/. All vowels/diphthongs can be nasalized with some bilabial coarticulation, written as m following the vowel.
 * {| class="wikitable"

!Haso noo Tawrahe lawmna Pawkahotekem
 * /e/ and /a/ (both oral and nasal) can be reduced to [ɜ] in certain syllables.
 * /e/ and /a/ (both oral and nasal) can be reduced to [ɜ] in certain syllables.


 * σ1: no reduction.
 * /se.hø.do/ knife: [sɛ.hœ.dɔ]
 * /ha.ro.tse/ meat: [χɑ.ɹɔ.tsɛ]
 * σ2: /a/ and /e/ are reduced except when part of a doubled vowel (both σ1σ2 and σ2σ3). /e/ does not reduce if there is no σ3.
 * /sa.ha.lo/ priest: [sɑ.χɜ.ɫɔ]
 * /sa.ma.a/ shaman: [sɑ.mɑ.ɑ]
 * /kø.ye.me/ braid: [qœ.jɜ.mɛ]
 * /fe.e.te/ to hunt: [ɸɛ.ɛ.tɛ]
 * /lase/ to cook: [ɫɑ.sɛ]
 * σ3: /e/ is never reduced, /a/ is always reduced.
 * /sø.ø.sa/ quiet: [sœ.œ.sɜ]
 * /la.po.se/ green: [ɫɑ.pɔ.sɛ]

This rule cannot be applied to compound words, such as pawkahotekem, nostokahapengo scarf, or towateke patient. These word would be evaluated as 12312, 123123, and 1212, respectively.
 * }

Semiconsonants
Each vowel corresponds with a semiconsonant, which is articulated when that vowel appears in the syllable onset. In the Taurahe script, no distinction is made between "e" and "y", "ø" and "r", or "o" and "w". However, due to historical phonological changes, "a" and "l" are treated as distinct despite their relationship parallel to that of the other vowels and semiconsonants.


 * /a/ → /l/ [ɫ]
 * /e/ → /y/ [jˠ]
 * /ø/ → /r/ [ɥˠ ~ ɹˠ]
 * /o/ → /w/ [w]

Consonants
Lastly, there are 12 full consonants, /t d s st ts n p f m k h ng/. The orthography here only roughly corresponds to its English counterpart. /st/, /ts/, and /ng/ function as single phonemes rather than consonant clusters.


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

! ! Labial ! Coronal ! Guttural ! Plosive ! Nasal ! Fricative
 * p
 * t d
 * k
 * m
 * n
 * ng
 * f
 * s st  ts
 * h
 * }


 * {| class="wikitable"

!Haso noo Tawrahe lawmna Pawkahotekem
 * Depending on formality, the coronal fricatives have a lot of free variation. Even in professional speech, /s/ may be realized as [ɕˠ], so /st/ becomes [ɕ͡tˠ] and /ts/ becomes [t͡ɕˠ]. As formality decreases, [ɕ͡tˠ] may further become [ɕ͡θˠ] or [ɕ͡n̥ˠ]. In very informal speech, /st/ can even be heard as [s͡q] or [ɕ͡q], resulting in at least 5 different allophones for /st/.
 * }
 * }

Phonotactics
Words typically contain 1, 2, or 3 syllables. The most common syllable structure is CV, but V may appear in σ1 or in syllables if the vowel matches the preceding one, such as σ3 in /ta.ho.o/ tongue. This is a result of the semiconsonant having fallen out of sequences such as eye, ørø, ala, and owo in certain words.

Stress
Stress is based on intensity. For 2 and 3 syllabic words, stress falls on the first syllable of the word. One syllable words are also stressed, except for pronominal constructions wherein the determiner separates and inverts, wherein the syllables retain their natural stress despite being separated. Thus "haso payesø"  the star, yields "so ha" it.

Forming a sentence
Sentences are composed of phrases, discrete noun and verb phrases which move together. The phrase order is VSO, but there is quite a bit of movement that obscures the order. There is a strong tendency to separate the noun phrases via topicalization.

Noun Phrases
Noun phrases are composed of four pieces of information: the class, the role, any adjectives if applicable, and finally the noun itself.

Classes
Taurahe has six noun classes. They are not arbitrary and are typically intuitive. The majority of nouns fall into one of the first four classes, since the final two are very limited in breadth. Each of these class words can stand alone to mean him, her, it, or are sometimes untranslatable.


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

!Class !What sorts of things fall into this class? !Examples
 * law
 * living creatures, animals, persons
 * kaynakay tamed wolf, yamehe tribe, ngamolø druid
 * ko
 * natural objects
 * angaro seed, mawsa/motsa tree, papa drop of water
 * o
 * constructed objects
 * hatsaka arrow, totem totem pole, statse basket
 * ha
 * mythology and weather, other intangibles
 * walaste spirit, sawla water, asale knowledge, retsawm pressure, tawrahe language, yomapa cloud
 * am
 * body parts
 * pawne tooth, hastasta facial hair, sowako tail
 * tsaw
 * locations
 * korawfa mountain, wosore cultivated field, kakare village
 * }
 * pawne tooth, hastasta facial hair, sowako tail
 * tsaw
 * locations
 * korawfa mountain, wosore cultivated field, kakare village
 * }
 * }

Roles
The second part of the determiner is the thematic role. This typically tells how it relates to the verb phrase. The two most common roles are yo and so. Yo is only used to set up the subject of active verbs. So is used as the subject of stative verbs, and for other arguments relating directly to the verb. This is explained in the verb phrases section. Na is explained in the referents section.


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


 * Te
 * payrem
 * lawso
 * taloha
 * e
 * nomke
 * law
 * yo
 * lawmso
 * royomam
 * soom.
 * PRS
 * want
 * it.STV
 * mother
 * REL
 * find
 * it
 * ACT
 * it.pl.STV
 * REFER-STV.pl
 * child.pl
 * colspan="9"|The mother wants to find her children.
 * }
 * colspan="9"|The mother wants to find her children.
 * }


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


 * Lawyo
 * masaranatse
 * fø
 * sekada
 * lawso
 * resolo
 * feete.
 * it.ACT
 * Mazzranache
 * PST
 * chase
 * it.STV
 * gentle
 * hunter
 * colspan=7| Mazzranache chased the gentle hunter.
 * }
 * colspan=7| Mazzranache chased the gentle hunter.
 * }

Referents
There are three adjectives known as referents: mada, royoma, and noo. Each one acts as a possessive (his, her, its, their, our) for the corresponding noun phrase. Mada refers to the yo phrase, royoma to a nearby so phrase, and noo to a nearby na phrase.


 * {| class="wikitable"


 * lawna
 * soohalo
 * amso
 * noo
 * nostoka
 * it.POS
 * Tauren
 * it.STV
 * REFER-POS
 * face
 * colspan=5|The Tauren's face.
 * }
 * colspan=5|The Tauren's face.
 * }

In this example, noo acts as the word "its", where "it" refers to soohalo, the head noun of the noun phrase lawna soohalo, "the Tauren".

Locatives
While the most important roles have already been covered, the majority of roles are actually the locative roles, which describe movement and location. Taurahe considers two factors: the location (inside, outside, or on the surface of), and the motion (no motion, towards, away from, or past). These considerations fuse to form 12 distinct role markers.
 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! !Inside d- !Outside f- !Surface k- !no motion -a !towards -ay !from -o !past -aw
 * da (inside)
 * fa (outside)
 * ka (on)
 * day (into)
 * fay (towards)
 * kay (onto)
 * do (from)
 * fo (out of)
 * ko (off of)
 * daw (through)
 * faw (past)
 * kaw (along)
 * }

Pronominal Phrases
Class tags can stand on their own, acting as English pronouns, if they are preceded by the appropriate case tag. The two words anga "I" and tsay "you" are also used in this way.


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


 * Lawyo
 * doole
 * te
 * feete
 * lawmso
 * kaakam.
 * Yo
 * law
 * te
 * mem
 * maama
 * so
 * lawm.
 * it.AGT
 * warrior
 * PRS
 * hunt
 * it.PL.PAT
 * strider.PL
 * AGT
 * it
 * REL
 * and
 * eat
 * PAT.PL
 * it.PL
 * colspan=13|The warrior hunts the striders, and he eats them.
 * }
 * colspan=13|The warrior hunts the striders, and he eats them.
 * }

Verb Phrases
Perhaps the most important part of the sentence is the verb phrase, and every proper sentence will have at least one. Like noun phrases, the verb phrase follows a pattern: tense marker, any adverbs as desired, and the verb proper.

Tense markers
The tense markers are short, standalone words that indicate the tense of the verb. The past tense refers to events that happened a relatively long time ago. Events in the present are happening as the phrase is being said, as well as generic truths or habits. The remote future contrasts with the predictive future in that they refer to certain and uncertain events, respectively.


 * past - fø
 * present - te
 * remote - tsøla
 * predictive - kowa


 * Lawyo folawa fø maama koso angaro. The bird ate the seed.
 * Lawyo soo te ketsetsø amso mada pawne.  The child is yanking out his tooth.
 * Yo anga tsøla lase oso harotse. I will definitely cook this meat.
 * So tsay so tsay kowa tefoo haso kahee. You all will maybe see snow.

Active versus Stative
Verbs are either active or stative. Active verbs typical involve voluntary effort, such as running, hunting, or eating. Stative verbs involve less voluntary actions, such as sleeping, being seen, falling in love, or having a quality.

Valency
Every verb must have at least one argument, which is typically the subject, or the object in passive constructions.

Monovalent verbs have a single argument. The verb type, active or stative, is important now because it determines whether the argument uses yo or so. Active verbs use yo. Stative verbs use so.


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


 * Te
 * omse
 * lawyo
 * laworo.
 * PRS
 * hide
 * it.ACT
 * wolf
 * colspan=4|The wolf is hiding.
 * }
 * colspan=4|The wolf is hiding.
 * }


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


 * Te
 * tsootsa
 * lawso
 * køsødø
 * tsawda
 * dengoke.
 * PRS
 * sleep
 * it.STV
 * deer
 * it.in.STATIC
 * night
 * colspan=6|The deer sleeps at night.
 * }
 * colspan=6|The deer sleeps at night.
 * }

In passive sentences, in which the subject is deleted, the object phrase (which will always be a so phrase) moves before the verb.


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


 * Koso
 * stawko
 * te
 * maama.
 * it.STV
 * wheat
 * PRS
 * eat
 * colspan=4|The wheat is being eaten.
 * }
 * colspan=4|The wheat is being eaten.
 * }

Multivalent verbs take two or more arguments: active verbs take one yo and so, while stative verbs take multiple so. In simple sentences containing multivalent verbs, the subject will move before the verb.


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


 * Lawyo
 * laworo
 * fø
 * sekada
 * lawso
 * køsødø.
 * it.ACT
 * wolf
 * RCT
 * chase
 * it.STV
 * deer.
 * colspan=6|The wolf chased the deer.
 * }
 * colspan=6|The wolf chased the deer.
 * }

The following example illustrates the semantic value of fronting the subject phrase.


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


 * Te
 * pooka
 * so
 * anga
 * so
 * tsay.
 * PRS
 * love
 * STV
 * me
 * STV
 * you.
 * }
 * }

This ungrammatical sentence states, "Love me you". The verb pooka is stative thus uses so for both parties regardless of who loves whom. In a grammatical sentence, one of the noun phrases would move before the verb, identifying is as the subject (as does lawyo laworo in the preceding example). Leaving both noun phrases anga and tsay after the verb phrase implies that both are the subject, since no movement takes place if the verb has no object (like Te omse lawyo laworo.). This leaves us with a sentence "we love...". However, pooka must always take an object. To fix the sentence, we can do several things:
 * Move one of the noun phrases to the front, marking it as the subject and the other one as the object.
 * So anga te pooka so tsay: I love you.
 * So tsay te pooka so anga: You love me.
 * Move both noun phrases to the front. We are left with no subject so the sentence becomes passive. While multivalent verbs must have an explicit object, they are allowed to have a null subject.
 * So anga so tsay te pooka: We are loved.
 * Or simply insert a different subject.
 * Lawso royoma pøøse te pooka so anga so tsay.: My/your/our friend loves us.

 Kowa søkose hayo paw amkay noo sohopo na tsay!