Taurahe

Bloodhoof 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. Bloodhoof Taurahe is by far the most common dialect, and the native tongue of High Chieftain Baine. Bloodhoof Taurahe has supplanted ceremonial Taurahe in areas of trade and tribal politics. The language 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 22 unique sounds in the language, which can be approximated with this alphabet:

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

Vowels

There are 5 vowels and 2 diphthongs. The three vowels are:

a, as in lava or father
i, as in leaf or teeth
o, which overlaps with the vowels in cool/coal or moo/mow
e, which is between bet and bait
u, as in dude or yew

The two diphthongs are

ai, as in hey or table
au, as in cow

Consonants

There are 17 consonants.

t like talk
th like think.
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 usually 3 syllables, never less than 2, but generally not more than 5:

fuhi (tail)
thalo (woman)
pehiji (child)
rochi (animal)
lavo (wolf)
maro (short)
koravi (cougar)
urami (bird)
keliki (flower)
thavi (briarthorn)
alado (feather)
talani (stick)
kala (small egg)
mago (fruit)
nuka (milk)
goma (fat)
niko (one)
sheni (bone)
hakaji (arrow)
kolovi (earthenware object)
taurajo (campsite)
akalake (man)
nosatoki (head)
shatuhaji (many)

Plural

Every noun also as a plural form

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

pehiji (child) > pehijahe (children)
tauri (story) > taurahe (stories)
koravi (cougar) > koravahe (cougars)

Words that end in /-o/ change the final stem to /-ino/.

alado (feather) > aladino (feathers)
thalo (woman) > thalino (women)
taurajo (campsite) > taurajino (campsites)

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

tokan (object) > tokanahe (objects)
kahakahim (strider) > kahakahimahe (striders)
totem (totem) > totemahe (totems)

There are a few exceptions to the rules.

lapo (stone) > lapaho (stones)
chi (you) > chake (y'all)

Numerals

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

niko (one)
soham (two)
komapa (three)

kude 6
shatuhaji 9

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, shatuhaji ke soham (three, six, nine and two). Larger sums would be approximated.

Verbs

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' ogaran (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 salachasan (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)
to fohan (the state of obligation)

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.

bahe moja to raganan (the act of climbing a tree)
bahe mago to paulakan (the act of holdng a fruit)
bahe sikimba to rashirikeran (the act of climbing upwards on a rope)

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)
dehi taurajo to defuhihan (movement away from a campsite)
dehi mojache to defuhihan (movement away from a forest)

Verbal grammar

Subject

Using gerund phrases as verbs simply involves changing the particles in the sentence, and stating the subject.

For example,

mago to mohiran + pehijahe (eating a fruit + children)

To assemble these two concepts grammatically, simply drop the "to" and the final "-n" on the verb:

Mago mohira pehijahe. (The children eat a fruit.)

Other examples:

to muriran + fisaki (crying + girl)
Murira fisaki. (The girl cries.)

to yana + go (stretching + I)
Yana go. (I stretch.)

to fithihan + ji kanagi (hunting + my uncle)
Fithiha ji kanagi. (My uncle hunts.)

bahi e krachi to servaran + Halo (thinking about hunger + Halo)
Bahi e krachi servara Halo. (Halo thinks about hunger.)

bahi korasakorahe to fithihan + anahiche chirino (hunting for deer + our brothers)
Bahi korasakorahe fithiha anahiche chirino. (Our brothers hunt for deer.)

dehi erabi to defuhihan + rochahe (moving away from a mountain + animals)
Dehi erabi defuhiha rochahe. (The animals move away from a mountain.)

Tense

Taurahe has 3 verbal tense: past, present, and future. The present tense has already been covered. The future tense form of the verb is similar to the present tense. Instead of dropping the -n from the end of the verb, the -an becomes -aule.

Using some of the examples above:

Yana go. (I stretch.)
Yanaule go. (I will stretch.)

Bahi e korachi servara Halo. (Halo thinks about his hunger.)
Bahi e korachi servaraule Halo. (Halo will think about his hunger.)

There are two ways to form the past tense of the verb.

Type I:

The gerund particle changes from to to fu.

kodo to paunan + koravi (biting a kodo + cougar)
Kodo fu paunan koravi. (The cougar bit a kodo.)

to fithihan + ji kanagi (hunting + my uncle)
Fu fithihan ji kanagi. (My uncle hunted.)

Type II:

Similar to the present and future forms, except the final vowel changes from -an to -o.

to kodo paunan + koravi (biting a kodo + cougar)
Kodo pauno koravi. (The cougar bit a kodo.)

to fithihan + ji kanagi (hunting + my uncle)
Fithiha ji kanagi. (My uncle hunted.)

Interrogative

Forming questions in Taurahe is relatively easy. To ask a yes-no question, the subject (and object, if there is one) are preceded by the interrogative particle /wa/.

Kei chi korachi. (You are hungry.)
Wa kei go korachi? (Are you hungry?)

Moja eritho ji sahakanagi. (My father cut down a tree.)
Wa moja wa eritho ji sahakanagi? (Did my father cut down a tree?)

The interrogative particle immediately precedes the object or verb, therefore sometimes between the object/verb and their other particles.

Bahi e galo fu tefuhan chi. (You saw their sister.)
Bahi e wa galo fu wa tefuhan chi. (Did you see their sister?)

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, OVS, implies a definite subject and indefinite object.

bahi  moja ragano  pehijahe
THEME tree climbed children
The children climbed a tree.

kodo pauna 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. Patient objects are there preceded by the word "a(nt)"

mohira korasakori a       tavara
eats   deer       PAT-OBJ bark
The deer eats the bark.

ragano  pehijahe bahi      moja
climbed children THEME-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 /mu/ and the object and subject switch places.

bahi      pehijahe mu   ragano  moja
THEME-OBJ children PASS climbed tree
Children climbed the tree.

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

Lexicon

Possessives

Unlike English, Taurahe has a linguistic as well as social limitation on what can be owned. Within the language, body parts, family members, and thoughts and ideas are the only things that can be considered as belonging to someone. Furthermore, these words are always tied to a possessive. It is not possible to just say "father"; you must include whose father you mean. This is indicated simply by a particle:

ji my
chi your
anahiche our
chakiche your (plural)
e their

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: e samihi

paternal grandfather: e gorata
paternal grandmother: e agam
- father: e sahakanagi
  - brother: e chiro
  - sister: e kosidi
  - self: go
    - son/nephew: e galo
    - daughter/niece: e pisaka
      - grandson: e pirogalo
      - granddaughter:piropisaka
- uncle: e kanagi
  - male cousin: e chiro
  - female cousin: e kosidi
- aunt/uncle's wife: e skaraja

mother: e 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: e jagiro
maternal grandmother: e mathi
- any male descendant: e jagiro
- any female descendant: e mathi

Colors

There are only three color terms:

iche white
saubita black
rohifa red