Trokh
Although the Trokh language is spoken by nearly all Aslan, few non-Aslan can claim to have mastered it. Difficult to pronounce, split into gender-specific dialects, and weighty with formalisms, it causes foreign speakers to open themselves to embarrassing blunders in conversation.
The Trokh language can be traced back to Kusyu (Dark Nebula 1919), where it developed into its present form about 4,000 years ago. Since then, Trokh has changed little. In fact, some scholars insist it has decreased in the number of words it contains and is more formalized. Whatever the case, Trokh remains almost entirely free of offshoots, local dialects, or corruptions.
The complexities of Trokh pronunciation hamper foreign speakers. One human "expert" wrote: "The tongue spoken by the Aslan is both attractive and repellent to the Anglic ear, combining sonorous and melodic vowel sounds with throaty snarls and animal growls, all accompanied by a fair amount of spitting when spoken at any volume."
Proper pronunciation of vowels has often proved the most difficult aspect of the language for humans, as some are pronounced while inhaling rather than exhaling. A Trokh speaker can talk faster than a human. He doesn't need to pause for breath in the midst of his speech. Instead, the language itself paces the speaker's breathing, necessitating rapid movement of the diaphragm to change the direction of breath. Indeed, the word trokh means "belly," referring to the motion of the Aslan stomach when speaking.
Trokh is a formal language, with highly regulated rules of expression. Novice speakers lack the option of putting together words to create more complex statements. There are so many formalisms in Trokh that the student must simply learn them all by rote, if he expects to be understood without being challenged.
Additionally, Trokh is three languages at once: a base language of shared, neutral gender terms, along with two separate languages for males and females, each having different emphases of vocabulary. While a typical male will understand many words of the female dialect, it would be a grave dishonor for him to utter one, and vice versa.
Perhaps easier to grasp than spoken Trokh are its written forms. Many humans have come into contact with yoyeaokhtef –the ornamental designs along the edges of Aslan ships, buildings, and devices. To the Aslan eye, these are not random abstracts, but a combination of poetry, drama, and calligraphy, exciting the mind, the eye, and the ear. Yoyeaokhtef patterns are composed of multiple, blended tao-Trokh ideographs. To Aslan, the result is akin to grand opera in its combination of visual, aural, and dramatic elements.
For more basic purposes, textbooks or shopping lists, for instance, Aslan use the tleftuawaoirlouheei, or "female script," which denotes individual sounds with discrete symbols. A typical Aslan tank will have its control panel labeled with ornate, male-oriented yoyeaokhtef. The tank computer's software, however, will have been entered by a female technician with a keyboard configured for the female tleftuawaoirlouheei.
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