Letaale: Difference between revisions

'''Uoriuo''' is a constructed secret language used by ''tahu'', members of the ''Tagahu'', a secretive and technologically advanced male-only military force governing the known parts of the space habitat Oru. Little is known of the designer(s) of the language however its use follows a long tradition. It is taught to all ''kia tahu'' (boys who are raised to be ''tahu'') from a young age, adhering to a strict prescriptive standard. All speakers are male and all are also fluent in [[Guaru]], generally speaking both natively. In informal situations, many Tahu engage in extensive code switching.

''Uoriuo'' [ˈ(ʔ)uoɾiˌuo] is the name given to this language in the Guaru language. It may be a corruption of the word '''''volivo''''' [ˈvolivo]~[ˈwoɾiwo] which is essentially the accusative form of "you" as this may be a word that is heard in interactions with the ''Tagahu''. In Uoriuo itself, the language is most commonly referred to using the root '''''taalejo''''' although this is not the name of the language as such but a root that refers to speaking the language as in '''''naameno''''' ("I speak Uoriuo").

Uoriuo has a simple system of five-vowels qualities, with a long and a short version of each, as in Hawaiian.

The allowable syllable structure of Uoriuo is CV(V). All syllables begin with a consonant and may contain one or two vowels (long vowels and diphthongs count as two). All combinations of consonant and vowel are allowed.  

There is no explicit transitivity in Uoriuo. The direct object of a verb is frequently indicated with a clause containing '''jomijo''', which indicates that something is directly affected by another action.

There are no articles, but the subject of a clause is generally definite and the verb deals with something indefinite. [[Uoriuo#Inversion|''Inversion'']] (swapping the subject and the verb within a clause) is used to achieve this effect. The resulting transformations produce entirely different looking words, such as the change from '''''mogivo''''' (≈ "the banana") to '''''jimujai''''' (≈ "a banana") in the following sentences.

Verbs that don't result in something being directly affected (such as "love", "see") are often present in Uoriuo as passives and the experiencer is indicated as a perceiver.