The Gorean Language


The Gorean language is almost universal throughout Gor. Although there are regional differences in accent and dialect, just as there are between, say, the United States and Great Britain, only societies living on the fringes of Gor’s gigantic land mass do not speak the planet-wide language. As might be expected, those of the upper-class tend to speak in a more fluent and grammatically correct manner. Barbarians—slaves from the planet Earth—are often taught to slur their speech to make their origin more apparent and thus more exotic (Assassins of Gor), though their accent is usually apparent without such devices. Those of the upper class are often of the opinion that a Barbarian could never speak flawless Gorean (Captive of Gor), though Tarl Cabot and Tiffany Collins are only two examples of Scribe-taught Earthlings whose command of the language was such that their origins were all but undetectable.

Certain expressions in Gorean are quite similar to those in English, most likely because the very first Goreans were probably Earthlings brought to Gor by Priest-Kings during various voyages of acquisition. Thus it is that the word collar is pronounced ko-lar (Slave Girl of Gor) and that certain barbarian names are all but unpronounceable to native Goreans (Nomads of Gor).

As with any language, one does not necessarily have to speak in order to communicate certain emotions and expressions. Goreans also have unique gestures which indicate greeting, applause, respect, and requests for silence, to name but a few.

“Gorean speech is no less complex than that of any of the great natural language communities of the Earth nor are its speakers any the less diverse. It is, incidentally, a beautiful language; it can be as subtle as Greek; as direct as Latin; as expressive as Russian; as rich as English; as forceful as German. To the Goreans it is always, simply, The Language, as though there were no others, and those who do not speak it are regarded immediately as barbarians. This sweet, fierce, liquid speech is the common bond that tends to hold together the Gorean world. It is the common property of the Administrator of Ar, a herdsman beside the Vosk, a peasant from Tor, a scribe from Thentis, a metalworker from Tharna, a physician from Cos, a pirate from Port Kar, a warrior from Ko-ro-ba.”—Priest-Kings, 52


“There are, of course, many languages spoken on Gor, but that language I have called Gorean, in its various dialects, is the lingua franca of the planet. It is spoken most everywhere, except in remote areas. One of these remote areas, of course, is the equatorial interior.”—Explorers, 100


Basic Gorean

Common Gorean Expressions:

Enemy/stranger-
“The words for stranger and enemy in Gorean are the same.”—Nomads, 9

Rarius-
“’Lo, Rask,’ said he, ‘Rarius. Civitatis Trevis.’
“’I am Rask,’ he said, ‘Of the caste of warriors, of the city of Treve.’”—Captive, 266


Mine-
“’Yes,’ I had told her. ‘Yes, Vella, Kajira mira. I am pleased. I am pleased indeed.”—Nomads, 320


No-
“’Ki’ signifies negation…”—Nomads, 3


“I went to the cave, Eta following. I lifted one of the chest's covers. I took from the chest a string of pearls, then one of pieces of gold, then one of rubies. ‘Bina?’ I asked, each time. Eta laughed. ‘Bana,’ she said, ‘Ki Bina. Bana.’ Then, from another box, Eta produced another necklace, one with cheap glass beads, and another with simple, small wooden beads. She indicated the latter two necklaces. ‘Bina,’ she said, pointing to them.”—Slave Girl, 82-3


Where is the..?-
“’Var’ means a turning…”—Nomads, 3


“’Var Ko-lar!’ asked Eta. I pointed to the collar on her throat. ‘Var Ta-Teera?’ asked Eta, smiling. I pointed to the brief rag which I wore. Eta seemed pleased. She had laid out a number of articles. My lessons in Gorean had begun.”—Slave Girl, 83


Directions:

"Accordingly, the main divisions of the map are Ta-Sardar-Var, and the other seven; taking the Sardar as our "north pole" the other directions, clockwise as Earth clocks move (Gorean clock hands move in the opposite direction) would be, first, Ta-Sardar-Var, then, in order, Ror, Rim, Tun, Vask (sometimes spoken of as Verus Var. or the true turning away), Cart, Klim, and Kail, and then again, of course, Ta-Sardar-Var." —Nomads, 3

 

Greetings:

“’Tal!’ I called, lifting my hand, palm inward, in Gorean greeting.”—Nomads, 15

Masculine and Feminine Pronouns:

I am/you are-
“’Ute,’ she said, pointing to herself. Then she pointed at me. ‘La?’ she asked…
“’Ute,’ repeated the short, dark-eyed girl, pointing to herself. Then she again pointed to me. ‘La?’ she inquired…
“’La?’ persisted the dark-eyed girl, pointing at me with her strapped hand. ‘La?’
“’Elinor,” I whispered.
“’El-in-or,” she repeated, smiling.—Captive, 55


“’Lo, Rask,’ said he, ‘Rarius. Civitatis Trevis.’
“’I am Rask,’ he said, ‘Of the caste of warriors, of the city of Treve.’”—Captive, 266
"’La Kajira,’ said Eta, pointing to herself. ‘Tu Kajira,’ she said, pointing to me. ‘La Kajira,’ I said, pointing to myself. ‘Tu Kajira,’ I said, pointing to Eta. I am a slave girl. You are a slave girl.”—Slave Girl, 81


Mine-
“’Yes,’ I had told her. ‘Yes, Vella, Kajira mira. I am pleased. I am pleased indeed.”—Nomads, 320


Pronunciations:

“Kamchak had never been able to pronounce her name, which he regarded as of barbarian length and complexity.
‘E-liz-a-beth-card-vella’ he would try to say, adding the ‘a’ sound because it is a common ending of feminine names on Gor. He could never, like most native speakers of Gorean, properly handle the ‘w’ sound, for it is extremely rare in Gorean, existing only in certain unusual words of obviously barbarian origin. The ‘w’ sound, incidentally, is a complex one, and, like many such sounds, is best learned only during the brief years of childhood when a child's linguistic flexibility is at a maximum...” –Nomads of Gor, 173-4


"’I will give you a name,’ I said.
“She looked at me.
"’Alyena,’ I told her. The “l” sound in this name is rolled, one of two common "l" sounds in Gorean. An English transliteration, though not a perfect one, would be rather along the lines of “Ahl-yieh-ain-nah,” where the “ain” is pronounced such that it would rhyme with the English expression “rain.” The accent falls on the first and third syllable. It is a melodic name.’ “—Tribesmen, 54


Slave Expressions:

“’She must learn Gorean,’ said Kamchak to me. ‘Teach her “La Kajira”.’
“’You must learn Gorean,’ I told the girl.
“She tried to protest, but I would not permit it.
“’Say “La Kajira”,’ I told her.
“She looked at me helplessly. Then she repeated, ‘La Kajira.’
“…Elizabeth Cardwell had learned her first Gorean.
“’What does it mean?’ she asked.
“’It means,’ I told her, ‘I am a slave girl.’ “—Nomads, 40


“Kajira is perhaps the most common expression for a female slave. Another frequently heard expression is Sa-Fora, a compound word, meaning, rather literally, Chain Daughter, or Daughter of the Chain...A male slave, or Kajirus, of the Wagon Peoples, and there are few, save for the work chains…”—Nomads, 29-30


"’La Kajira,’ said Eta, pointing to herself. ‘Tu Kajira,’ she said, pointing to me. ‘La Kajira,’ I said, pointing to myself. ‘Tu Kajira,’ I said, pointing to Eta. I am a slave girl. You are a slave girl.
“Eta smiled. She pointed to her brand. ‘Kan-lara,’ she said. She pointed to my brand. ‘Kan-lara Dina,’ she said. I repeated these words.
“‘Ko-lar,’ she said, indicating her collar. ‘It is the same word in English,’ I cried. She did not understand my outburst. Gorean, as I would learn, is rich in words borrowed from Earth languages; how rich it is I am not a skilled enough philologist to conjecture. It may well be that almost all Gorean expressions may be traced to one or another Earth language. Yet, the language is fluid, rich and expressive. Borrowed expressions, as in linguistic borrowing generally, take on the coloration of the borrowing language; in time the borrowings become naturalized, so to speak, being fully incorporated into the borrowing language; at this point they are, for all practical purposes, words within the borrowing language. How many, in English, for example, think of expressions such as “automobile,” “corral,” and “lariat” as being foreign words?
"’Collar!’ I said. Eta frowned.’Ko-lar,’ she repeated, again indicating the neck band of steel fashioned on her throat.
‘Ko-lar,’ I said, carefully following her pronunciation. Eta accepted this.
“Eta pulled at the bit of rag she wore. "Ta-Teera," she said.
“I looked down at the scrap of rag, outrageously brief, so scandalous, so shameful, fit only for a slave girl, which I wore. I smiled. I had been placed in a Ta-Teera. ‘Ta-Teera,’ I said. I wore the Ta-Teera.
“’Var Ko-lar!’ asked Eta. I pointed to the collar on her throat.
‘Var Ta-Teera?’ asked Eta, smiling. I pointed to the brief rag which I wore. Eta seemed pleased. She had laid out a number of articles. My lessons in Gorean had begun.
“Suddenly, stammering, I said, ‘Eta—var-var Bina?’
“Eta looked at me, surprised.
"’Var Bina, Eta?’ I asked.
“Eta lightly lifted herself to her feet and went to the cave. In a few moments, she emerged. She carried, in her hands, several strings of beads, simple necklaces, with small, wooden, colored beads. They were not valuable. She held the necklaces up for me to see. Then, with her finger, moving them on their string, she indicated the tiny, colored wooden beads. ‘Da Bina,’ she said, smiling. Then she lifted a necklace, looking at it. ‘Bina,’ she said. I then understood that “Bina” was the expression for beads, or for a necklace of beads. The necklaces and beads which Eta produced for me were delights of color and appeal; yet they were simple and surely of little value.
“I went to the cave, Eta following. I lifted one of the chest's covers. I took from the chest a string of pearls, then one of pieces of gold, then one of rubies. ‘Bina?’ I asked, each time. Eta laughed. ‘Bana,’ she said, ‘Ki Bina. Bana.’ Then, from another box, Eta produced another necklace, one with cheap glass beads, and another with simple, small wooden beads. She indicated the latter two necklaces. ‘Bina,’ she said, pointing to them. Bina, I then understood, were lesser beads, cheap beads, beads of little value, save for their aesthetic charm. Indeed, I would later learn that bina were sometimes spoken of, derisively, as Kajira bana. The most exact translation of “bina” would probably be 'slave beads.' They were valueless, save for being a cheap adornment sometimes permitted imbonded wenches.
“Eta lifted up a stout whip, with a long handle, which might be wielded with two hands, and five dangling, soft, wide lashing surfaces, each about a yard long. ‘Kurt,’ she said. I shrank back. ‘Kurt,’ I repeated. She lifted up some loops of chain; there were linked ankle rings and linked wrist rings, and a lock collar, all connected by a length of gleaming chain running from the collar. It was rather lovely. It was too small for a man. I knew, however, it would fit me, perfectly, ‘Sirik,’ said Eta. ‘Sirik,’ I repeated.”--Slave Girl, 81-83


“In brief, the word sa-fora means ‘Chain Daughter’ or ‘Daughter of the Chain.’ The word kajira, on the other hand, is by far the most common expression in Gorean for what I am, which is, as you have doubtless surmised, a female slave. Yes, slave. The male form is kajirus. The plural of the first word is kajirae, and of the second kajiri. As kajira is the most common expression in Gorean for a slave who is female, I suppose, it might, in English be most simply, and most accurately translated, as ‘slave girl.’ In a collar, you see, understandably, all women are ‘girls.’ “-Witness, 101-2


Dialects

Barbarians:

“I was pleased with how well, in the past months, Elizabeth had done with the language. Of course, Kamchak had rented three Turian girls, slaves, to train her; they had done so, binding her wrists and leading her about the wagons, teaching her the words for things, beating her with switches when she made mistakes; Elizabeth had learned quickly.”—Nomads, 60


“Tuka, in the matter of teaching Elizabeth the language, had been especially cruel. Elizabeth, bound, could not resist and did she try, Tuka’s companions, the others of her wagon, would leap upon her with their switches flailing.”—Nomads, 69


“She turned her eyes on Elizabeth, whom she seemed to see then for the first time. ’Your accent,’ said Aphris, slowly. ‘You are barbarian.’ She said it with a kind of horror.”—Nomads, 135.


“’I will speak high-caste Gorean,’ I told Inge.
“’But you are a barbarian,’ said Inge."—Captive, 71


Lower Classes:

“Once I noted, speaking to Inge, that Ute, regularly, made certain grammatical errors.
“’Yes,” said Inge, matter-of-factly, ‘she is of the Leather Workers.’

Nomads:

“I knew [the Wagon Peoples] spoke a dialect of Gorean, and I hoped I would be able to understand them.”—Nomads, 9


“’Do you speak Gorean?’ I called…
“The man behind me called out, speaking Gorean with a harsh accent.”—Nomads, 15


“I repeated the name slowly, trying to sound it out. It is pronounced in four syllables, divided thus: Ku-tai-tu-chik.”--Nomads, 32

Slave speech

Third person:

Although slaves quite often speak in first person, third person speech may be employed as a training device. It is also used voluntarily by slaves who find themselves in positions of great vulnerability, such as when begging for forgiveness, the granting of a request, or slave rape.

“’Does Phyllis remember the lash?’ asked Flaminius.
“The girl's eyes widened with fear. ‘Yes,’ she said.
“’Then say so,’ said Flaminius.
“I whispered in Gorean to Ho-Tu, as though I could not understand what was transpiring. ‘What is he doing with them?’
“Ho-Tu shrugged. ‘He is teaching them they are slaves,’ he said.
"’I remember the lash,’ said Phyllis.
"’Phyllis remembers the lash,’ corrected Flaminius.
"’I am not a child!’ she cried.
"’You are a slave,’ said Flaminius.
"’No,’ she said. ‘No!’
"’I see,’ said Flaminius, sadly, ‘it will be necessary to beat you.’
"’Phyllis remembers the lash,’ said the girl numbly.”—Assassin, 131


"’Do you want Darlene branded?’ she asked.
"’No,’ I said, ‘of course not!’ I was surprised that she had spoken of herself as she did, using her name.
“This is not uncommon, of course, among Gorean female slaves.”--Fighting Slave, 147


"’Master,’ she whispered.
"’Yes?’ I said.
"’May I be taught to dance?’ she asked.
"’Who is '”I”?’ I questioned.
"’Alyena, your slave girl, Master,’ she whispered, ‘begs to be taught to dance.’
"’Perhaps she will be taught,’ I said.
"’She is grateful,’ said the girl.”—Tribesmen, 91

 

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