Ta'agra

Ta'agra writing on Elsweyri prayer flags

Ta'agra is the language spoken by the Khajiit. It was created for The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard and is also found sparsely in the Elder Scrolls series, mostly through Khajiit names. Ta'agra was recorded and expanded by the Ta'agra Project, who's work is used for Beyond Skyrim: Elsweyr. Please visit the Ta'agra project's website for further in depth information on the language.

Script

An example of the ta'agra script in two fonts : calligraphed and scratched.

The Ta'agra script was heavily inspired by Arabic, Devanagari (Hindi), and Mongolian scripts. The Ta'agra writing system is written left to right, top to bottom, in a cursive style. Ta'agra does not have upper (majuscule) and lower (minuscule) cases.

In the Ta'agra alphabet (with the exception of "j") each letter makes only one unique sound, classifying it as an alphabetic writing system. In Ta'agra, a single letter is used for "ai", "ay", "ch", "rr", "ss", "sh", and "th" even though these are represented by a pair of letters when written in English.

Letters take on different forms depending on its position in the word (initial, the beginning of a word; medial, within a word; and terminal, ending a word). Some letters have natural breaks in the script (such as "t") and allow a small gap between letters, which is distinguished from a larger space that separates words. These forms of each letter are largely open to personal interpretation and may vary greatly from individual to individual. In fact, artistic modifications and calligraphy are highly praised by the Khajiit and might be considered an expression of the Two Moons Dance.

Ta'agra also includes elemenets of an abugida system. In particular, the vowels for "a", "ai", "ay", and "u" are given equal weight as consonants. The other vowels, however, are expressed more as diacritics. The initial and terminal forms of "e", "i", and "o", are treated as diacritics to the nearest letter. The medial forms of these characters, as well as the character for a glottal stop, are given less weight than a consonant, but nonetheless stand on their own as characters.

Ta'agra place names

• Nequin'al : Anequina
• Pa'alatiin : Pellitine

Phrases

Greetings/Farewells/Blessings

• Jobal kha'jay : "Bright moons", a general well-wishing
• Sala kha'jay : "Radiant moons", a general well-wishing
• Ja'fith khaja : "Warm sands", a general well-wishing
• Dras'kay, trevan : "Hello, friend", formal greeting
• Var an khaja : "Sugar and sands", general well-wishing
• Fede hirsinith : "Swift hunting" (lit. fast hunting), a well-wishing for a successful undertaking
• Kha'jay siirithse jer draqo : "you will find success" (lit. moons will light your path)
• Kha'jay krimir iso jer : "You are a good/lucky/fortunate person" (lit. moons smile upon you)

Exclamation

• Rajhin kodesh! : "Rajhin's shadow!", expresses surprise
• Jaji vaba sheggori! : "That's crazy!" (lit. That is crazy)

Curses

• Mor kha'jay! : "dark moons!", a general curse
• Dran khrassa! : "dull claws!", a general curse
• Ziss : unknown meaning, general curse. The khajiiti F-bomb

Insults

• Jimetiit : "Milk-sop/Milk-drinker" (lit. One-who-milks)
• Mor kha'jay trajir jer! : "Dark moons take you!"
• Khrassozay qojiit: "Clawless coward" (lit.Clawless one-who-fears)
• Isozeva Short-tail (Poorly endowed)
• Fumbadhassa : Slow-paws. (Stupid)
• Varzeva :Sugar-tail. (Clumsy)
• Jetwijijri : "Shaveskin" (lit. Cut-skin), insult to non-khajiit
• Wafiit : Idiot/Moron (lit. one-who-stupids)
• Jekosiit : Sheep-shagger (lit. one-who-sheeps)
• Jer vara ma'i : You are childish