Graalen

Historically, the Andorians had spoken in the neighborhood of fifty distinct languages, typically clustered into nine interlocking language groups and divided into hundreds of dialects and variants. AS on most worlds the number of living languages became dramatically smaller as Andoria matured, advanced, and unified. The number of modern languages eventually hovered between eight and eleven and most every Andorian spoke at least a little of what most Federation citizens thought of the "Andorian language," Graalen.

What follows is an introduction focusing on a vocabulary of nouns and verbs.

The Raw Basics

Humans found Andorian very easy to learn - it had nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and a sentence structure that took very little getting used to for those versed in Standard. Because Andorian was a "consonantal root' language, and because the Andorians were very tradition-oriented, the language was remarkably consistent, and it was possible to extrapolate new words once you knew the basics. Here are the basics:

A consonantal root was a basic unit of meaning expressed in the form of a string of consonants. For example, the consonant sounds "ND" and "R", in that order, formed the root of words meaning "world", "planet", or (colloquially) "everything there is". The word 'andoria' literally meant '"The world"', while the word 'andor' means "planet" in a more general sense (Captain Kirk was born on "Earth Andor" -planet Earth). 'Indir' (pronounced "eendeer") was the Andorian word for what humans called terraforming-making worlds (a word never spoken cheerfully; the Andorians found the idea of terraforming distasteful). 'Ondara' was an Andorian term for music, but the literal meaning of the term was "what the world sounds like", which gave an insight into the sometimes-poetic nature of both the language and the Andorians. All of these words (and many others) had the ND-R consonants in common, forming the "core meaning" (root) of an entire family of words.

The added vowels tended to be consistent. The root for "communication" is GR-L. 'Agrol' meant "conversation" or "debate". 'Argola' means "consensus" or "gossip". 'Igril' ("eegreel") was a verb meaning "talk", and 'ograla' means "voice". Graalen was the native name for the Andorian language. The "en" sound at the end was a common suffix that denoted an ephemeral activity (in this case, talking). The written form of Graalen was properly known as Graalek, because the "ek" suffix denotes more physical, permanent activity.

As with any language, the details could vary. Andorians were fond of metaphor, and their language was highly idiomatic. Words like 'ondara' (above) were very common, and colloquial usage could be confusing. The phrase 'Ingrilan atlolla', for example, literally meant "speak to the clan leader". Colloquially, it was used to dismiss somebody that was complaining about something! When an Andorian said 'Igrilan Atlolla' to you, he didn't mean that you should literally go talk to a head of state. He meant that he wanted you to stop doing what he perceived as 'whining'. It was a phrase humans heard frequently from Andorians in a bad mood.

Dual Consonants

Many of the "core concepts" of Andorian were encapsulated in pairs of consonant sounds. There were many thousand identifiable pairs in the language, utlizing many distinct "consonants" (which included sounds that speakers of Standard would define as double and triple consonants, such as the syllable-dividing "ND" in 'Andoria'). Here was a brief sampling of pairs and the "core concepts" they typically represent. Note that there was a good deal of overlap, and more than one way to say just about anything; only a few very common roots are listed here.

CH-K: War, violence, destruction (typically large-scale)
CH-LD: Renewal, replenishment
D-GR: Food, agriculture, eating
D-LD: Plants (particularly woody ones), wood, vines
D-LN: Edible plants, fruits, and vegetables
D-R: Escape, shelter, evasion
D-S: Fear, dread
DH-R: Trade, commerce, bargaining
F-L: F-RK: FL-N: FL-V: H-L: GR-K: GR-L: HL-S: HL-SH: HL-ST: HR-K: HR-S: J-L: J-TH: K-L: K-LN: K-N: K-R: K-SH: K-TH: K-V: L-R: L-S: L-TH: L-X: LN-R: LN-V: LR-N: M-KR: M-R: M-RSH: M-X: MD-N: MT-L: N-R: N-N: ND-L: ND-N: ND-R: ND-S: ND-SH: PR-N: PR-TH: R-L: R-N: R-S: R-TH: S-L: S-N: S-S: SH-L: SH-N: SH-R: SH-S: SHL-S: SHR-S: SK-RK: SK-RSH: T-N: TH-L: TH-R: TH-S: TL-L: TL-N: TL-R: TR-N: V-L: VR-N: Z-N: Z-S:

Vowel Modifiers

Words in Andorian were constructed by separating the consonants with vowels. The only time stops or pauses were used were in the middle of complex consonants which were already "surrounded" by vowel sounds, for emphasis or (occasionally) hairline tonal distinction.

For example, the term Am Tal was not two words but one, amtal ("the business of secrecy") with a significant pause breaking up the complex consonant MT, to indicate an emphasized importance. Such significant pauses were typically transliterated for Standard readers by rendering the word as two separate words, while less significant pauses were indicated by apostrophes. Apostrophes were also used to indicate when two separate words should be "pushed together" and treated like a single (compound) word, as with Lor'Vela (literally "the woman who brought the law") or cor'sala ("the thrill of engaging the enemy"), when such compounds contained an audible pause or tonal shift (not all do).

The following sample of vowel modifier sets use dashes to indicate where the consonant pair was placed in the word. Note that the boldface forms are phonetic, not the common Standard transliterations into the roman alphabet. "EE" was typically transliterated simply as "i", "OO" as "u", "YA" was typically "ia", "K" and "S" were sometimes transliterated using "c", and so on.

-A: (both consonants in the root compressed together, followed by A) The outcome, fate, destination, culmination, or logical outgrowth of the core concept, as in shla'hlast, an Andorian term for an infant, literally "the outcome of love: a living person". Shla by itself means "child" in general. This vowel form was applied to only a few roots in practice, but some of the results (like shla) were very common words.

-A-: A type of person(almost always) associated with the core concept. A shras is a friend. An Inar is an artist. A kav is a liar. Often included in compound words, such as tashrul ("archer", literally "person who injures from a distance")

-A-A-: To experience, gain, or come to understand. Matla, for example, is the name of a philosophical ideal, a literal term comparable to the metaphorical term "illumination" in English Shlasa is "to recover" or "to become healed".

-AA-: An act, system, process, or method. Thus, hraas, meaning "murder".

A-A-: Crafts, arts, services, or other acts relating to the core concept. Thus, while hris means weapon, ahras means "assassination". Amtal means literally "the business of secrecy", and anan is a negative colloquialism for "bootlicking" (or "blue-nosing", as some humans have joked).

A-A-A: A place associated with the core concept. Thus, ashlara, meaning "hospital", and andara, meaning "universe".

A-AA-A: A state of being associated with the core concept, frequently mistaken for A-A-A by those first learning the language. Thus, amaakra, a state of absolute pain and terror.

A-E-: A discipline, study, or pursuit relating to the core concept. In practice, A-E- has a lot of overlap with both A-A- and -AA-, but has slightly more intellectual or "scientific" connotations.

A-EE-: An animal (or sometimes a particularly beastlike Andorian) that exemplifies or is associated with the core concept, such as the atlirith ("aerial predator animal"), the "Andorian eagle".

A-O-: The basic singular noun, an example of the core concept. Thus, andor, meaning "world" or "planet".

-A-OO: A basic verb form. Examples include prathu ("win"), tlanu ("hunt"), and mdanu ("hide").

A-O-A: A very important or significant person or thing. A-O-A is typically used as the basis of titles, as in atlolla, which is literally "the superior leader". This is closely related to A-O- nouns with the added YA suffix (see below).

-E-: A substance or aggregate that relates strongly to the core concept. Shles means "medicine". Keth is translated most commonly as "clan" but in antiquity meant "the stuff of community". Deg (pronounced "deg" with the r trailing softly) means food, but in practice specifically refers to meat.

-E-A (also E-A-): A noun. Usually a person, thing, or event (or a general term that could mean any of these) that causes others to gain or comprehend something related to the core concept. This can be a simple term like grela ("messenger" or "courier") or a more abstract one such as thesa, which is the moment in an adult Andorian's life that he fully comprehends the importance of his keth and family - the revelation which "brings home to home", as a common saying is often translated.

-EE-: A tool, instrument, or ingredient related to the core concept. Thus, hris, meaning "weapon".

-E-EE: An adjective. Used when something literally resembles something else (contrast with EE-OO- below).

EE-EE-: Verb. To cause the core concept to happen, or to come into being.

-E-OO: A verb, usually. The basis of a broad group of verbs that all mean, essentially, "to touch" or "to come into contact". These words are typically metaphors (as in lexu, "the touch of ice", or frostbite), but are sometimes more literal. Cheldu, for example, refers to an ancient mystical art form of "healing touches".

EE-OO-: The fundamental comparative adjective. Sharing a metaphorical kinship with, or characteristics of, the core concept. Andorian adjectives are almost always comparative in some way, and are often metaphors (making Andorian a prime language for irony, just as most dialects of Chinese are excellent for puns). Even more commmon are adjectives formed by adding a prefix or suffix (see below).

-EE-YA: Typically a noun, a group of things or people associated with the core concept. The Kethni Vrinia, for example, is the "Clans Council" (Andoria's ruling body). Vrinia in this case is translated "council", but the term is often read as "committee" or "guild" or even "bureaucracy" depending on context.

-O-: Another basic noun, but slightly more specific than A-O-. Thus, tloll meaning "authority figure", but typically used in a military context (it's also a formal Andorian military rank).

-O-A (also O-A-): One of the more elusive common vowel combinations, -O-A indicates a place or a thing in which the core concept can be born, be fed, or otherwise be encouraged or assisted in flourishing. Thus, Andorians use the term thel to mean dirt (or gravel) in a general sense, but the term dogra to mean soil in the sense of fertile, irrigated soil where food can grow. The thora is the approximate Andorian equivalent of "university" - a formal place of wisdom and truth. Thora can also refer to an individual dedicated pursuit of such wisdom.

-OA-: Occasionally, an event associated with the core concept. Hroas, for instance, is the moment of death. Sometimes fused with some of the basic verbs, but -OA- has more passive connotations - it's when something happens; it's not about deliberate action.

O-A-A: Typically refers to a noise or sound associated with the core concept, but many Andorian words broaden the significance of the vowels to mean any signal or sign, not just sound in particular. Often used somewhat poetically, as in ohlasa (explosion, "the sign/sound of fire") and olara, the Andorian term for a sigh ("sound of women").

-O-EE: A noun. Specifically a trait (often a personality trait) associated with the core concept. The concept of prothi, often mistranslated as "overconfidence", is more accurately "the state of sure knowledge that defeat or failure is impossible". The term has no negative or ironic connotations to an Andorian.

-OO-: Noun. A source, cause, or symptom of the root concept.

-OO-A (Also OO-A-): Verb. Generally associated with travel or movement in relation to the core concept. Thus, grula meaning "gesture" or "sign language", and udnar, a word comparable to either "journey" or specifically "pilgrimage".

OO-O-: Noun. Something that contains or preserves the core concept. Most modern usage (such as utlon, "book") is metaphorical.

OO-YEE-A: A relatively modern sound, most words using U-YEE-A are still considered colloquial. This modifier indicates a valuable shortcut, secret, key, or "trick" relating to the core concept, such as udieegra, a trendy term for "the secret to great cooking".

Names

Andorians had two names, their personal name (their 'ezatamor') followed by their 'keth' name (their 'ekathamor'). Many Andorians also enjoyed sporting descriptive epithets and nicknames. Andorian personal names were very often meaningful Fraalen words - but they were just as often words from older (even dead) Andorian languages, with no ties to the language described here. Some Andorian languages used completely different sets of sounds.

Sentences and Grammar

Andorian and Standard were very similar, grammatically. The most frustrating difference lied in Andorian's simplicity! The non-Andorian had to be very careful to pay attention to context. For example, Andorian had no articles - an Andorian did not say "a dagger" or "the dagger"; an Andorian simply said "dagger" (although some nouns carried a kind of "implied article" themselves - see above). Similarly, there was no verb corresponding to "is" or "are" in the present tense, and Andorians typically referred to themselves and each other by name (even the "third person" to refer to themselves) rather than using equivalents of "she" or "I". Apart from these and a few dozen other eccentricities, sentence structure was typically Standard.