| 'Al-Ka!' said Torm, pointing one long, authoritative finger at the sign. 'Al-Ka,' he said. 'Al-Ka,' I repeated. We looked at one another, and both of us laughed. A tear of amusement formed along the side of his sharp nose, and his pale blue eyes twinkled. I had begun to learn the Gorean alphabet. ---Tarnsman of Gor, p 38 Whereas there was a main common tongue on Gor, with apparently several related dialects or sublanguages, some of the Gorean languages bore in sound little resemblance to anything I had heard before, at least as languages; they resembled rather the cries of birds and the growls of animals; they were sounds I knew could not have been produced by a human throat. ---Tarnsman of Gor, p 39 Occasionally, however, an English word in Gorean, like 'axe' or 'ship', would delight me. Certain other expressions seemed clearly to be of Greek or German origin. If I had been a skilled linguist, I undoubtedly would have discovered hundred of parallels and affinities, grammatical and otherwise, between Gorean and various of the Earth languages. ---Tarnsman of Gor, p 45 Gorean is written, as it is said, as the ox plows. The first line is written left to right, the second, right to left, the third, left to right, and so on. I had once been informed by my friend, Torm, that the whole business was quite simple, the alternate lines, in his opinion, at least, also being written forward, `only in the other direction.' ---Players of Gor, p 243 |
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| al-ka: first letter of the gorean alphabet; corresponds to the earth letter 'A'. ar: a letter of the Gorean alphabet ba-ta: the second letter of the Gorean alphabet; ba-ta corresponds to the earth letter 'B' eta: a letter of the Gorean alphabet; corresponds to the earth letter 'E'. apparently adapted from the Greek alphabet eta is sometimes used as a name for slavegirls. homan: a letter of the Gorean alphabet; derived from the Cretan alphabet ina: a letter of the Gorean alphabet kef: a letter of the Gorean alphabet, analogous with the earth letter 'K'; the first letter of the Gorean words for male and female slaves, and hence often used as a brand nu: a letter of the Gorean alphabet; corresponds to the earth letter 'N' ; apparently adapted from the Greek alphabet omnion: a letter of the Gorean alphabet shu: a letter of the Gorean alphabet; derived from oriental calligraphy; represents the sh sound sidge: a letter of the Gorean alphabet; derived from cuneiform tau: a letter of the Gorean alphabet; corresponds to the earth letter 'T'. val: a letter of the Gorean alphabet; derived from demotic Egyptian |
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