Ta'agra
!!- Ta'agra, Tamriel, Elsweyr, Khajiit, The Elder Scrolls, and other terms are property of Bethesda Softworks. Original work will be marked with an asterisk (*). This article is an attempt at reconstructing from the pieces of Ta'agra made available to the public by Bethesda Softworks through the Elder Scrolls franchise and to further develop it into a working constructed language. -!!
Ta'agra is the language spoken by most of the Khajiit, inhabitants of Elsweyr.
Contents
Alphabet
| Roman | Ta'agra |
|---|---|
| A | 
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| B | 
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| SH | 
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| D | 
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| E, EI, AY | 
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| F | 
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| G | 
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| H | 
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| I | 
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| J | 
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| K | 
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| L | 
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| M | 
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| N | 
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| O | 
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| P | 
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| Q | 
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| R | 
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| S | 
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| T | 
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| U | 
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| V | 
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| W | 
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| KH | 
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| Y | 
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| Z | 
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| TH | 
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| ' | 
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Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labio-Dental | Dental | Alveolar | Post-Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | Voiceless | p ‹p› | t ‹t› | k ‹k› | q ‹q› | ʔ ‹'› | ||||
| Voiced | b ‹b› | d ‹d› | g ‹g› | |||||||
| Nasal | m ‹m› | n ‹n› | ||||||||
| Fricative | Voiceless | f ‹f› | θ ‹th› | s ‹s› | ʃ ‹sh› | x ‹kh› | h ‹h› | |||
| Voiced | v ‹v› | z ‹z› | ʒ ‹j› | |||||||
| Approximant | w ‹w› | r ‹r› | j ‹y› | |||||||
| Lateral | l ‹l› |
Glottal /h/ may be realized as pharyngeal [ħ]. In word-initial position, /ʒ/ is realized as [dʒ]. Consonants have phonemic length in simple coda position.
Vowels
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a | ||
Vowel length is phonemic.
When diphthongs are formed by affixation, they tend to be separated with a glottal stop ‹ˈ›, though glottal stops may be omitted from the language in casual speech and those diphthongs may be allowed to form. They do not seem to appear in isolated morphemes.
/e:/ may be written ‹ay› or ‹ey›, and /e/ word-finally written ‹ei›, to avoid confusion.
Grammar
Morphology
Nouns
Nouns are inflected for case.
Case
| Case | Prefix |
|---|---|
| Locative | in |
| Dative | wa, da |
| Instrumental | ja |
Ta'agra has no genitive case: genitive constructs are formed simply by preceding a noun with its owner (a pronoun or another noun).
Adjectives are affixed to the beginnings of nouns but, like honorifics, especially archaically, may be hyphenated and suffixed. As free morphemes they are likely treated as verbs.
Verbs
Verbs are inflected for person, aspect (perfective and imperfective), and mood (subjunctive, volitive, potential, energetic).
Person
| Person | Affix |
|---|---|
| 2 | ko- |
| 3 | –ba |
Aspect
| Aspect | Affix |
|---|---|
| Perfective | –kah |
| Imperfective | –r |
Mood
| Mood | Affix |
|---|---|
| Volitive | –kasash |
| Potential | –t |
| Energetic | –zeri |
- The suffix -oh marks negation.
- An attached pronoun may also take the form -iss, meaning "people" (objective).
Derivation
Noun/Verb > Active Person: -iit
Noun/Verb > means: -iitay
Noun > Adjective: -i
Noun > Verb: -ith
Noun > Respected: -ra
Verb > Noun: -'do
Honorifics
Honorifics are attached to names, usually to the beginning with a glottal stop, but sometimes hyphenated and attached to the end.
| Denotation | Honorific |
|---|---|
| Dar | thief, cunning individual |
| Do | warrior |
| Dro | grandfather, respected |
| J, Ji, Ja | bachelor, young adult |
| Jo | wizard |
| M, Ma | child, apprentice |
| Ra, Ri | high status |
| S | adult (default) |
Syntax
Ta'agra has a moderately flexible V2 SOV word order and is by and large pre-specifying (head-final). The language is pro-drop in reference to subject.
Subjunctive is formed with the SVO word order.
Lexicon
Pronouns
Unlike nouns, pronouns reflect number. Note that the 3rd person is likely identical with the first, as Khajiit tend to refer to themselves in third person even when speaking other languages.
| Person | Word |
|---|---|
| 1s | ahziss |
| 1p | ahzirr |
| 2s | jer |
| 2p | baliji |
Open Class
| English | Ta'agra |
|---|---|
| After | iko |
| be Alike | aratataami |
| All | hat |
| And | an |
| Anyhow | ashlik |
| Be | va (negative: naba) |
| Becoming (n) | vabazeri |
| Beneath, Under | vasa |
| be Brave | shurh |
| Brother | liter |
| Camel | slarjei |
| Cause | ka |
| Chieftain* | t'har |
| Concerned | orikah |
| Copy, Mimic | yajira |
| Concept | zrini |
| Contradict | vano |
| Clan* | shir |
| Clan Mother* | shir-fado |
| Day | tohei |
| Desert (n) | khaj |
| Disappearance | dek |
| Do, Go | khi |
| End | dar |
| Every | pal |
| Everything | skra'iv |
| Excuse | wakay |
| Family | epako |
| Far | valah |
| Farmer | famer |
| Father* | ahnurr |
| Fix | eks |
| Foolish | thjiz |
| Footpad | rajhin |
| Force (n) | zeri |
| Full | teko'i |
| Game | zahb |
| Girl | iiliten |
| Give | durrarr |
| Go | khi |
| Good | do' |
| Grandfather | dro |
| Have | rabi |
| Heavy | hokoh |
| Important | irat |
| Joking, Without regret | fusozay |
| Keep | sri |
| Kill | var dar |
| King* | aran |
| Knight | pelin |
| Know | kor |
| Laugh, Smile | krin |
| Live, Life, Sugar, Flow | var |
| Mane | rid |
| Mane (leader) | rid-t'har |
| Martyr | ri'sallidad |
| Mention (v) | bek |
| Mercenary | renriji |
| Moon | kha'jay |
| Mother* | fado |
| Name | nak |
| Necessary, Necessity | maaszi |
| Night | tenurr |
| Oneself | no |
| Owe | velk |
| Passage | avek |
| Plant, Tree | shanjijri |
| Poor | po |
| Port | teport |
| Price | ra |
| Prince* | ja'aran |
| Rain (n) | rawl |
| Rain (v) | rawlith |
| Return to | derad |
| Root, Tuber | shanvasajijri |
| Run away | lhajiito |
| Search for | akudarr |
| Seem | boshei |
| Sellsword (perjorative) | jihatt |
| Shawl | budi |
| Shudder | oodurr |
| Sibling | aaliter |
| Sister | roliter |
| Sit | shijoh |
| Smile | krimir |
| Steal | dar |
| Speak, Tell | pur |
| Take away | traajir |
| Take by force | traajija |
| Tell the truth | thzina ualizz |
| That (one) | jajo |
| This (one) | jaji |
| Tower | fasiiri |
| Virgin | ma |
| Walk | iit |
| Water | khe |
| What kind | kakadarr |
| When | q'zi |
| Why | kador |
| Wife | rotok |
| Wish to be | vakasash |
| Wonderful | ajo |
| World | nirni |
| Worry | mok, woori |
| Writing utensil | durrarr |
| Yellow | zwintho |
| Young | ja' |
Samples
Official
Ahzirr Traajijazeri
Q'zi no vano thzina ualizz
When self contradict tell the truth
When I contradict myself, I am telling the truth.
Vaba Do'Shurh'do
Be-3s good-be^brave
It is good to be brave.
Vaba Maaszi Lhajiito
Be-3s necessary run^away.
It is necessary to run away.
Fusozay Var Var
Without^regret life live
Enjoy life.
Fusozay Var Dar
Without^regret life end
Kill without qualm.
Ahzirr Durrarriss
1p give-PRO
We give freely to the people.
Ahzirr Traajijazeri
1p take^forcibly-EMP
We justly take by force.
Jobasha
Zwinthodurrarr rabi.
yellow-writing^utensil have
I have a yellow writing utensil.
Ahziss liter ajo'iiliten rabiba.
1s brother wonderful-girl have-3
My brother has a wonderful girl.
Ahziss aaliter vakasash.
1s sibling be-DES
I wish I was my brother.
S'ratha (Hammerfell Intro)
Krimir, Cyrus.
Smile, Cyrus.
Etofor wakay jer akudarr.
here excuse 2s search^for
Here's the excuse you've been looking for.
Baliji hat aratataami.
2p all be^the^same
You're all the same.
Shijoh.
Sit.
Renrij in'tenurr,
mercenary LOC-night
Ruffians in the night,
Hokoh wo'Imperialjah,
heavy DAT-Imperial-coin
Heavy with Imperial coin,
Iko pofamer rotok velk.
after poor-farmer wife owe
After some poor farmer who owes [the kingdom] his wife.
An trajir.
and take^away
And takes away.
S'rathra kor koderadoh Hammerfell,
S'rathra know 2-return^to-NEG Hammerfell,
S'rathra knows you will not return to Hammerfell,
Boshei irat.
seem important
[But this] seems important.
S'rathra woorikah
S'rathra worry-PST
S'rathra was concerned.
Mokoh Duadeen.
worry^about-NEG Duadeen
Don't worry about Duadeen.
S'rathra eks.
S'rathra fix.
S'rathra eks skra'iv.
S'rathra fix everything.
Roliter dek ka oodurr.
Sister disappearance invoke shudder
[Your] sister's disappearance draws a shudder.
Teport teko'i
port full
The port is full [of them].
S'rathra nak avek wo'ra valah khi
S'rathra name passage DAT-price far go
S'rathra's name goes far towards the price of passage.
Sri Duadeen jah.
keep Duadeen coin
Keep Duadeen's money.
Epako jah ashlik.
family coin anyhow
It is family coin after all.
Pur S'rathra kador aaliter bekoh.
tell S'rathra why sibling mention-NEG
Tell S'rathra why [you] don't mention your sibling.
Kakadarr
What kind?
Unattested
Raj pal tohei da'khe iit.
Raj every day DAT-water walk
Every day I walk for water.
