Speaking Ral Rantha

[Enoki]

The Ral Ranthan language (This goes with the alphabet in cuniform I put in the art section and its derived from Urgantic not Hittite... Why reinvent the wheel?)

In my Traveller universe the Ral Ranthans of the Hinterworlds sector are made out as a cross between Klingons / Mongols and the Mafia or Mob. Their “Empire” is a violent criminal one that provides spies, assassins, mercenaries, and other assorted quasi-legal and illegal services to anyone willing to pay them. They maintain their independence through threats of releasing these criminal agents on anyone who dares interfere with their operations.
As such, I made their language out to be a reflection of their society. It is guttural, abrupt, and laced with insults, profanity, and violence.
This is not an attempt to produce a true linguistic version of the language but rather a working one that can be used within the game for color. What follows are some general rules for its use along with a word list.
Ral Ranthan is primarily a face to face language. It can be used written or in communications via things like radio but it loses some of its meaning when it is if the person communicating does not add in additional terms to explain their thoughts.
The subject of a sentence or conversation is usually implied rather than specifically put into speech. Plural and singular are implied when it should be obvious to the listener. Threats are commonly put in to show the degree of emphasis the speaker means or intends. That is, if you told someone to do something you would include a threat to show your emphasis.


Example:
The phrase in English “Get to work!” The parenthetical items are implied not spoken
In English: Ral Ranthan
(Do your) work or else! Isk vä daha! Mild emphasis
(Do your) work or (get) beaten! Isk vä döymäk! Some emphasis
(Do your) work or die! Isk vä ölüm! Emphatic

Now, in English these might be said as:
Get to work!
Get to work now!
Get to work or you’re fired!
Another common usage of emphasis is to repeat the word.
Example:
Yeni = Fresh
Yeni yeni! = Very fresh, the freshest.
Verbs are optional in speech when they can be inferred or implied by the speaker and understood that way by the listener. There is no real need for a noun - verb agreement in most speech the relationship is often implied instead.
In face to face speech gestures, always done with the palm flat and all fingers extended (using a single finger or just two fingers is considered a demeaning insult) can substitute for verbs or words as well.

Examples:
English: That’s incredible!
Ral Ranthan: (clap hands or throw them up in air) Calalli!
English: Hand me that blade (as an order).
Ral Ranthan: (gesturing with hand) Aqiz vä döymäk!
Some words are gender specific and most referring to individual people are that way. The default for neuter objects is male when this is necessary for such an item.
Examples:
English: You
Ral Ranthan: (male) Sin (female) Siz
English: I / me
Ral Ranthan: (male) män (female) mäz
English: His / hers / its
Ral Ranthan: (male) onun (female) onuz (neuter = its) onun
English: Him / her
Ral Ranthan: (male) ona (female) oza
Plurals are not normally used. This is implied and the word is the same as the singular version.
Example:
English: I have two brothers
Ral Ranthan: (tap chest) iki qardasc
I have is implied in the gesture and the plural is implied by the number given.
Pleasantries are rarely used in Ral Ranthan. One never says please or thank you for examples. Threats used can be real as corporal punishment is very common for any infraction of social rules or for even minor disobedience. Common speech will be filled with threats, insults, and orders growled or barked by the speaker(s).

Typical greetings and pleasantries (such as they exist):
Salamat! Be well!, Be victorious! Answered in kind usually.

(Gesture with hand at other person) Yox ölüm?! (You’re) not dead?!
Appropriate responses might be:
Ilk öldümäk! (I’ll) kill (them) first! (whether this is true or not is irrelevant)
Csaliscmäk! Alt. Säy etmäk! Try (it)! You can try if you like!
(hand gesture) Sin?! You?! This is a humorous answer meaning something like “I’m surprised you aren’t dead!”

When departing:
Dädäbaba gömäk (May your) ancestor(s) watch (over you). Note: Most Ral Ranthan have a deep reverence for their ancestors.
Düscmän diz / äsmäk / csömelmäk! (May your) enemy(s) kneel / tremble / cower
Scanli ölümäk! (To a or your) glorious death! Implies you will be remembered. Also used commonly as a toast.

There is no use of contractions like in English speech or writing. Punctuation is nearly non-existent in written Ral Ranthan.

A word list in a day or two.

 

[savage]

The Ral Ranthan language (This goes with the alphabet in cuniform I put in the art section and its derived from Urgantic not Hittite... Why reinvent the wheel?)

In my Traveller universe the Ral Ranthans of the Hinterworlds sector are made out as a cross between Klingons / Mongols and the Mafia or Mob. Their “Empire” is a violent criminal one that provides spies, assassins, mercenaries, and other assorted quasi-legal and illegal services to anyone willing to pay them. They maintain their independence through threats of releasing these criminal agents on anyone who dares interfere with their operations.

Ok cool. What value do you get out of it in Role Play? Are you providing players with cool details or forcing them to figure out linguistic puzzles?
I was always concerned it would slow game play.

 

[robject]

Sounds to me like a great way to throw in a bit of color, as some brute of a taskmaster barks out his commands in Ral and Anglic, one after the other. Or, when talking to a local thug in a bar, an occasional phrase comes out in Ral first, but usually in Anglic.

(Thumps chest loudly) "Iki qardasc. Have TWO brothers."

 

[Enoki]

Ok cool. What value do you get out of it in Role Play? Are you providing players with cool details or forcing them to figure out linguistic puzzles?
I was always concerned it would slow game play.

I originally did it for a novel I've written. It adds lots of color in that. In a game you might have it go something like this:

Ref: The other ship is hailing you in Ral Ranthan. Dayandirmäk vä ölmäk! This shows on your translator on the comm system as Ral Ranthan for Stop or die! They're locking their weapons on you!

The (NPC in crew or as passenger present) says "Holy $4!+! Ral Ranthans! They are NOT to be messed with! You better stop the ship or we're gonna die!"

What's your move?

Now, if the players know that Ral Ranthans normally threaten people like this they might try to defuse the situation. If they don't...

Using the language adds color, that's all. If the players are near Ral Ranthan space you could provide them the "cheat sheets" with the language etc. to use if they run into any. It's a bit of fun. After all, there are people that learned Klingon... You never know, you might have a player that really gets into other languages and actually learns to speak it!

As you can see, this language with its common threats could lead to lots of unnecessary and gratiutious violence in bars, space encouters, and even just otherwise friendly discussions.

I don't see this as any different than Darrian or Vegan or any other language that has been put out canon or not. Darrian is semi-canon for example with some words as canon and the formation of more given in a module for the refree to make up as he goes.

 

[Enoki]

Sounds to me like a great way to throw in a bit of color, as some brute of a taskmaster barks out his commands in Ral and Anglic, one after the other. Or, when talking to a local thug in a bar, an occasional phrase comes out in Ral first, but usually in Anglic.

(Thumps chest loudly) "Iki qardasc. Have TWO brothers."

It would be Have TWO brother!" (remember, no plural so he wouldn't use it)

Then he demands you drink an od su (something akin to Everclear crossed with paint thinner and a fusion reactor) with him.

"Od su! Yaxsci! Yaxsci! (Od su, excellent!) Drink! Calalli good!"

 

[savage]

cool.

I originally did it for a novel I've written. It adds lots of color in that. In a game you might have it go something like this:
...

I get it. Cool. Awesome. I like it. I just never had time for the languages...

 

[Darkwing]

Easy solution: use less-commonly-known real world languages, like Esperanto, Swahili, Manx, etc. You can look up a translator program and type in a bunch of stock phrases, make a cheat sheet, and, if you have internet up during the game, even get on-the-fly translation.
I've never done it that way, just used my own knowledge, but that was good enough. In a fantasy game, I used German for the dwarven tongue, and a Welsh dictionary for elven. The party didn't know what to make of it when they heard Russian!

Bonus: if any players speak it, you can really demonstrate the use of languages in a universe that lacks "common". It's fun when you're holding a conversation in another language, and the rest of the group has to watch and wait for the translation, as opposed to hearing "well, only Ageki understands the Vargr corsair..." and then they hear what he says, and assume they can act as if they already got the translation.

Also on language, I like having a number of pidgins and creoles, and usually ban "common", *especially* in a fantasy game. And I do not allow fantasy games to refer to "humans". In that milieu, they were, and would have been, Men. Maybe, in some worlds, Sons of Adam. Human is too modern and clinical to really fit.
In SF games, I usually have a sheaf of related languages, such as , say "Standard Imperial Galanglic", and supplement with Terranglic, Denglic, etc. as dialects. Adds flavor. Most folks learn the local version in daily use, plus the official Imperial version in school, and they default to each other at a modest negative. But they allow me to shade meanings, make the players have to stop and think: "did he just say what we thought we heard him say? Or is that just the way they talk, and it doesn't mean what I thought it did?". Words can have a totally different meaning if spoken by different people, in different contexts.
Whenever a new player disputes this, I point out that the phrases "a fag" and "Gay Nineties" were a little different than the same words a century later.