Be it humbler to say "Greetings" than to say "Tal"?
John Norman teaches us that "Tal" is Gorean for "Greetings".
The misnomer is that the word was solely used by frees. There are certain things that slaves may not use, such as titles, when greeting or speaking to frees.
The girls stood straight, proud under the gaze of a warrior. "Tal, Master," said many of them, as I rode slowly by. --Tribesmen of Gor, p. 344
We had seen no other human beings since our escape. We had slept by day in Ka-la-na thickets, and moved southwestward by night. Ute had not wished to build fires, but I had insisted upon it. We could not eat our catches raw. "Tal," cried Ute, greeting me as a free person.
-- Captive of Gor, p 237
Now, look at that last quote and this is where it gets confusing, I suppose, by the statement that Ute had greeted Elinor as a free person. However, if you look at the quote carefully, you will see why. Ute never referred to Elinor as "Mistress" but rather greeted her as an equal with the single word as frees do among each other.
The use of the word "Tal" is one of those Gorean words that John Norman didn't stay in consistency with throughout his books, often replacing the Gorean word with the English word. But that was done to bring to new readers that definition of the GOREAN word "TAL" versus the ENGLISH word "GREETINGS"
Tal, Kajirae!" cried one of the men, waving.
-- Captive of Gor, pp. 86-87
"Tal, Master," they said to me.
"Tal, Slave Girls," I said to them.
-- Tribesmen of Gor, p. 345
"Tal, El-in-or," smiled Ute
Captive of Gor, p. 245
