But what does that mean exacty? That is actully spelled out in the texts, but makes very little sense to me.
It means that if you want to make up a word that might belong to that language, you adjust your random generation tables to produce syllables with vowels and consonants in those proportions. The Alien modules had tables that allowed you to generate words with the proper frequencies.
Here's a word generator I made up myself. It's for the language of the
Sindalian Empire. Non-canonical, but it shows the principles. (Incidentally, anyone who wants to use this table for legitimate Traveller purposes, up to and including official products, have my permission to do so).
Code:
SINDALIAN WORD GENERATOR
========================
Word length: 1-6 syllables, but mostly 2-5. Throw 1D with 1 counting as 3
and 6 counting as 4 half the time (i.e. if you get a 1 or a 6, throw a second
time with a 50% chance of converting them to 3s and 4s).
BASIC ALTERNATE
White Die White Die
Red Red
Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 VC VC CV CV CV CV 1 V VC CV CV CV CV
2 CV CV CV CV CV CV 2 CV CV CV CV CV CV
3 CV CV CV CV CV CV 3 CV CV CV CV CV CV
4 CV CV CVC CVC CVC CVC 4 CV CV CVC CVC CVC CVC
5 CVC CVC CVC CCV CCV CVC 5 CVC CVC CVC CVC CVC CVC
6 CVC CVC CVC CVC CVC CVC 6 CVC CVC CVC CVC CVC CVC
Initial syllable Second and subsequent syllable
INITIAL CONSONANT VOWEL FINAL CONSONANT
1: White Die 1: White Die 1: White Die
Red Red Red
Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 B B B B B B 1 A A A A A A 1 D D D D D D
2 B B B B B B 2 A A A A A A 2 D D D D D D
3 B B B B B B 3 A A A A A A 3 D D D D D D
4 BR BR BR BR C C 4 A A A A A A 4 K K K K K K
5 C C C C C C 5 A A A A A A 5 K K K L L L
6 C C C C C C 6 A A A A A A 6 L L L L L L
2: White Die 2: White Die 2: White Die
Red Red Red
Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 C C C C D D 1 A A A A A A 1 L L L L L L
2 D D D D D D 2 A A A A A A 2 L L L L L L
3 F F F F G G 3 A A A A A A 3 L L L L L L
4 G G G G G G 4 A A A A A A 4 L L L L L L
5 G G G G G G 5 A A A A A A 5 L L L M M M
6 G G G H H H 6 A A A A A A 6 M M M M M M
3: White Die 3: White Die 3: White Die
Red Red Red
Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 H H HR HR HR HR 1 E E E E E E 1 N N N N N N
2 K K K K KR KR 2 E E E E E E 2 N N N N N N
3 KR KR KR J J J 3 E E E E E E 3 N N N N N N
4 J L L L L L 4 E E E E E E 4 N N N N N N
5 L L L L L L 5 E E E E E E 5 N N N N N N
6 L L L L L L 6 E E E E E E 6 N N N N N N
4: White Die 4: White Die 4: White Die
Red Red Red
Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 L L L M M M 1 E E E E E E 1 N N N N N N
2 M N N N N N 2 I I I I I I 2 N N N N N N
3 N N N N N N 3 I I I I I I 3 N N N N N N
4 N P P P P P 4 I I I I I I 4 N N N N N N
5 P P P P P P 5 I I I IA IA IA 5 N N N N N N
6 P P P P P P 6 IA IA IA IO IO IO 6 N N N N N N
5: White Die 5: White Die 5: White Die
Red Red Red
Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 P R R R R R 1 IO IO IO IO IO IO 1 N N N N N N
2 R R R R R R 2 IO IO IO O O O 2 N N N R R R
3 R R R R R R 3 O O O O O O 3 R R R R R R
4 R R R R R R 4 O O O O O O 4 R R R R R R
5 R R R R R R 5 O O O O O O 5 R R R R R R
6 R S S S S S 6 O O O O O O 6 R R R R R R
6: White Die 6: White Die 6: White Die
Red Red Red
Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 S S S S S S 1 O O O O O O 1 R R R R R R
2 S SH SH SH SH SH 2 O O O O O O 2 R R R S S S
3 T T T T T TR 3 O O O U U U 3 S S S S S S
4 TR TR TR TR TR V 4 U U U U U U 4 S S S S S S
5 V V V V V V 5 U U U U U U 5 S S S S S S
6 V V Z Z Z Z 6 Y Y Y Y Y Y 6 S S S S S S
Example: Roll 1D for word length. Result is a 6, so you roll again, with a score of 1-3 resulting in a four-syllable word:
X-X-X-X
For the initial syllable you roll two distinct dice (referred to as the red die and the white die here) and consult the basic table. A 1 on the white die and a 4 on the red die:
CV-X-X-X
For the three subsequent syllables you do the same but consult the alternate syllable table. A 3/4, a 6/2, and a 2/4:
CV-CVC-CV-CV.
For the individual letters you roll three distinct dice (I use a green die for the third) and consult the initial consonant table if it's a consonant before that syllable's vowel, the vowel table if it's a vowel, and the final consonant table if it's a consonant after that syllable's vovel. Green = 3, white = 3, red = 5 results in an 'L'. 3/4/5 means an 'E'.
Le-CVC-CV-CV.
The throws for the next syllable are 6/1/2, 6/6/6, and 1/2/6:
Le-syl-CV-CV
The throws for the two last syllables are: 6/3/1, 6/2/1, 3/3/4, and 2/6/5:
Le-syl-so-la.
Final result: Lesylsola. Would you like another serving of stewed lesylsola roots? Or are you going hunting in the Lesylsola Mountains today? Are you taking your pump-action .53 Lesylsola on the hunt? Are you hunting the savage and cunning lesylsola? Or are you going to stay home and vote for Krias Lesylsola, The People's Choice?
Some words will sound wrong to you. You can either decide that it's a feature of the language or you can toss the word and make up another one instead.
Hans
