Taurahe

Taurahe is the language spoken by the Tauren from the Warcraft universe. This article is written about ceremonial Taurahe, which is consistent among most tribes.

Phonology
Taurahe has 5 vowels and 23 consonants.

Vowels
There are 4 phonemic vowels, /i e u o a/.


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

! !Front !Central !Back !High !Low
 * e [ɪ]
 * u [ʊ̈˞]
 * o [ʊ]
 * a [ɒ]
 * }
 * a [ɒ]
 * }

Consonants

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

! colspan=2| ! Labial ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar ! Glottal ! colspan=2| Nasal ! rowspan=3| Plosive || Ejective ! Plain !Aspirated ! rowspan=2 | Fricative || Voiceless ! Voiced
 * m [mˠ]
 * n [n]
 * ɲ [ɲ]
 * ŋ [ŋ]
 * p' [pʼ]
 * t' [tʼ]
 * tʃ' [t͡ʃʼ]
 * k' [kʼ]
 * p [p]
 * t [t]
 * rowspan=2 | tʃ [t͡ʃ]
 * k [k]
 * pʰ [pʰ]
 * tʰ [tʰ]
 * rowspan=2 | kʰ [kʰ]
 * f [f]
 * s [s]
 * ʃ [ʃ]
 * h [h]
 * v [v]
 * z [ʐʷ]
 * ʒ [ʒ]
 * l [ɫ]
 * }
 * }

Structure
Phonemically, every syllable is composed of one consonant and one vowel (CV). Words can be any number of syllables.

σ
 * /so/ 'water'
 * /he/ 'star'
 * /mo/ 'greetings

σσ
 * /pa.pa/ 'droplet'
 * /fe.tʰe/ 'hunter'
 * /kʰo.to/ 'kodo'

σσσ
 * /k'u.su.tu/ 'deer'
 * /fe.ʒe.za/ 'wild'

σσσσ
 * /k'a.he.sa.tʰe/ 'rainstorm'
 * /no.sa.tʰo.ka/ 'head'

σσσσσ
 * /la.kʰo.ta.ma.ne/ 'earthquake'

However, sometimes words will end in a syllable that ends in a consonant (CVC). This final C is silent.

σ
 * /pʰoh/ 'wind'
 * /sus/ 'quiet'

σσ+
 * /pu.hel/ 'grass'
 * /t͡ʃʼa.ŋav/ 'snack'

σσσ+
 * /la.vo.zot͡ʃ/ 'wolf'
 * /pe.ŋa.tam/ 'gazelle'

σσσσσ+
 * /na.ʃa.tʰe.ma.tek/ 'face'

Processes
There are many processes that act on these words that change the way they are pronounced from what is expected.

/e/ tensing
If /e/ is this final segment of a word group, it will be advanced and pronounced [i].
 * /pʰa.va.ne/ → [pʰɒ.vɒ.ni] 'tooth'
 * /ʒa.kʰe/ → [ʒɒ.kʰi] 'mist'

Every /e/ in the word group will also become [i] also.
 * /e fe.tʰe/ → [i fi.tʰi] 'hunts (3ps)'
 * /e.t͡ʃe.ne/ → [i.t͡ʃi.ni] 'strong'

Vowel reduction
The vowels /a/ and /e/ can be reduced, unreleased, or eliminated in some environments.


 * 1) /a/ is unreleased when the following conditions are met:
 * 2) It appears in a CV syllable.
 * 3) The syllable is unstressed.


 * /ze.va.zatʰ/ → [ʐʷɪ.v:.ʐʷɒ] 'Zhevra'
 * /pa.la.sa/ → [pɒ.ɫ:.s:] 'body hair'
 * /t'a.lo.ha/ → [t'ɒ.ɫʊ.h:] 'mother'

Similarly, /e/ is deleted if:
 * 1) It appears in a CV syllable.
 * 2) The syllable is unstressed.
 * 3) The onset is a palatal segment (/ɲ t͡ʃʼ t͡ʃ ʃ ʒ/).


 * /e.t͡ʃe/ → [i.t͡ʃ:] 'white'
 * /kʰe.ʒe/ → [kʰi.ʒ:] 'laugh'

Verbs
Verbs are conjugated according to tense, aspect, and mood.
 * Tense
 * Past: The wolf chased the strider.
 * Present: The sun rises over Thunder Bluff.
 * Future: We will celebrate tonight.
 * Aspect
 * Perfective: I stumbled.
 * Imperfective: I will be sleeping when you arrive.
 * Mood
 * Declarative: This roast is delicious.
 * Mirative: Wow! This roast is delicious!
 * Interrogative: Is this roast delicious?
 * Hortative: Would you like to take this letter to my father, please?
 * Optative: I hope you get well soon.
 * Potential: It may rain tomorrow.

Certain combinations may not occur. For example, the hortative, optative, and potential moods can only occur in the future tense.

Verbal tags
There are 16 verbal tags.


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

!colspan=2| !colspan=2|Declarative !colspan=2|Mirative !colspan=2| !Perfective !Imperfective !Perfective !Imperfective !colspan=2|Past !colspan=2|Present !rowspan=2|Future||Declarative !Potential
 * fuz
 * fyuz
 * fu.za.za
 * fyu.za.za
 * e
 * tyez
 * te.za.za
 * tye.za.za
 * t͡ʃu.la
 * t͡ʃyu.la
 * t͡ʃu.la.za
 * t͡ʃyu.la.za
 * ka.va
 * kya.va
 * ka.va.za
 * kya.va.za
 * }

Verbal tags appear before the verb.


 * /tʰe.fo/ 'see'


 * /e tʰe.fo a.ŋa/ 'I see'
 * /ka.va tʰe.fo a.ŋa/ 'I may see'
 * /fyuz tʰye.fo a.ŋa/ 'I was seeing'

Nouns
Every noun must have a determiner. The determiner is composed of two parts, the class and the case. Taurahe has five noun classes and fifteen cases, yielding a total of sixty different determiners.

Class
Nouns are classified as animate, magical, or inanimate. Inanimate nouns are further classified into natural and constructed. There is also a class for concepts which do not fit into such classification.


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

!Determiner half !Class !Examples miscellaneous uncountables such as water, fire, and weather
 * lu
 * animate creatures or persons
 * lavozot͡ʃ wolf, ʃuhalo Tauren, kʰoto kodo
 * ha
 * religious, magical, mythological beings
 * ha
 * religious, magical, mythological beings
 * halo Earthmother, valaʃe spirit, asaletʰ knowledge, ʒakʰe mist
 * ko
 * natural, inanimate objects
 * aŋazo seed, mot͡ʃa tree, papa drop of water, zovako tail
 * o
 * created, inanimate objects
 * hat͡ʃak arrow, t'akʰakʰ tool, satʰaʃe basket, vosozek farm
 * miscellaneous uncountables
 * zavaʃ coldness, t'ozaheɲ language, p'ikʰ speed
 * }
 * miscellaneous uncountables
 * zavaʃ coldness, t'ozaheɲ language, p'ikʰ speed
 * }
 * }

Case
There are fifteen cases in Taurahe. Three of the cases involve verb arguments.


 * {| class="wikitable"

!Determiner !Case !Usage
 * ʒa
 * ergative
 * agent of active verbs
 * sa
 * absolutive
 * agent of passive verbs, patient of all verbs
 * na
 * possessive
 * used in conjunction with no to denote ownership
 * }
 * possessive
 * used in conjunction with no to denote ownership
 * }

A possessive construction involves two noun phrases. For example, "the Tauren's dog" involves a Tauren and a dog. "Tauren" is put into the possessive case, luna ʃuhalo, and the possessive adjective no is inserted into the noun phrase for "dog", lusa kaɲak. The word no by itself only means "possessed", so the possessive case specifies whose possession.


 * {| class="wikitable"


 * luna
 * ʃuhalo
 * luʒa
 * no
 * kaɲak


 * fyu
 * myaŋama
 * it.POS
 * Tauren
 * it.ERG
 * POSSESSED
 * dog
 * PST-IMP
 * eat
 * colspan=7|The Tauren's dog was eating.
 * }
 * colspan=7|The Tauren's dog was eating.
 * }

The remaining 12 cases belong to the locatives. Taurahe considers two factors for its locative cases: 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 !Outside !Surface !no motion !towards !from !past
 * da (inside)
 * go (outside)
 * vu (on)
 * goda (into)
 * gova (towards)
 * zusa (onto)
 * gopa (from)
 * dago (out of)
 * vupa (off of)
 * ʒelo (through)
 * goteɲ (past)
 * vuteɲ (along)
 * }

Pronouns
Pronouns are formed by decomposing the determiner into its two parts, then moving the case before the class. Thus;


 * luʒa kaɲaɲa, "the dog" becomes ʒa lu, "him (i.e. the dog)"
 * kona aŋazo, "of the seed" becomes na ko, "of it (i.e. the seed)"

The first and second person pronouns aŋa and cye function in this way. ʒa aŋa tyeʔ syakada sa cye, "I am chasing you." In these constructions, the case remains unstressed despite it standing as its own word.

Pluralization
Plurals are formed by reduplication of the first 2 syllables of the word. If a word has fewer than 2 full syllables, a paragogic /a/ is placed into the structure of the word.


 * aŋazo seed: aŋa aŋazo seeds
 * homaʃe hide: homa homaʃe 'hides''
 * pʰoh wind: pʰoha pʰoh winds

Phrase order
The phrase order is verb-subject-object, but there is quite a bit of movement that obscures the order.

Valency

 * Unergative:
 * Unaccusative:
 * Transitive:
 * Passive:
 * Antipassive: