Ga-ray-cha (language)

AKA Graytch. This is the primary language of the Graytch sophont race, who are more accurately also called the Ga-ray-cha.

It is a common secondary language in parts of Gushemege Sector and Ilelish Sector, as the Graytch are active members of the Third Imperium.

The language is very musical and fast. The syllables trip quickly out of Graytch mouths, and even translator chips can find it difficult to follow. Written Graytch is very cursive, though not as ornamental as Aslan Trokh.

Lexicon

Words are typically of three syllables, although some are of two or four. Syllables are of varied consonant-vowel construction, but there are no rules for specific order. Each syllable is separated by a hyphen, representing the slurring from syllable to syllable which is audible in Graytch speech.

Typically, only the first component is capitalised when the word is transcribed into Anglic.

• Beh-ri-han: A type of plant native to Liigash; primitive Graytch used its fibres for sails on rafts.

• Cru-men-rin: The 7-month period of gestation, in which parents-to-be effectively withdraw from society for the duration.

• Ena-lo-mon: A type of plant native to Liigash; it produces large seedpods.

• Fin-li-cur: The above-world, contrasted with the Pla-ro-tar, the below-world. It is associated with the canopy civilization of Liigash, but has become more philosophical than literal. Humans often interpret Fin-li-cur and Pla-ro-tar in religious terms of "heaven and hell" but actually the distinction is more like "developed world" and "underdeveloped world".

• Glo-de-wor: A strategy game with many variants, rather like a three dimensional form of Go.

• Gra-der-vel: The phylum of lifeforms to which Graytch belong.

• Gu-ju: A type of whistle.

• Gun-jel: A harp-like instrument.

• Hal-ta-try: A type of plant native to Liigash; its wood is very light and used for building rafts.

• In-far-ri: A type of plant native to Liigash; its wood is used for building.

• In-so-mai: Literally, "having lost legs"; lame, maimed, or crippled. Humans (possessing only two legs) are naturally in-so-mai.

• Jan-jri: A plant-based food.

• Ke-lit: A type of animal native to Liigash.

• Kra-gri: A type of pole which launches seed-pods as an effective low-tech weapon.

• Ku-an-o: A type of animal native to Liigash.

• Nal-win-ark: The biochemical urge to mate and produce children.

• Pal-pa-sai: The most common Graytch martial art, performed without an opponent.

• Pin-com-cha: The day on which a young Graytch enters school, and the legal record of their entrance. Graytch celebrate this instead of their birthday.

• Pla-ro-tar: The below-world, contrasted with the Fin-li-cur, the above-world. It is associated with the surface of Liigash, but has become more philosophical than literal. Humans often interpret Fin-li-cur and Pla-ro-tar in religious terms of "heaven and hell" but actually the distinction is more like "developed world" and "underdeveloped world".

• Pos-roy-ma: A 6-month period post-birth during which a juvenile Graytch grows rapidly, learning to walk and talk. At the end of the Pos-roy-ma, a shift in biochemical signals causes all family members to feel repulsion for one another, and the domestic unit breaks up.

• Rec-cie-gen: A game, a contest of territory and possession.

• Rig-tu-mar: An historic underclass of Graytch, confined to the forest floor and the instigators of industrial development.

• Stu-van-si: A popular team sport.

• Tal-mo-pai: The legislative council of the Graytch homeworld, with a representative from each of the government agencies.

• Ton-gad-liz: A type of plant, a tree, native to Liigash.

• Vel-fo-cet: An executive council of eight Graytch drawn from the Tal-mo-pai.

• Wha-lin: One of the three prominent animal phyla on the Graytch homeworld; the prominent creatures in the oceans.

• Wor-Tyra: A drug that can boost aggression in Graytch. It is banned on most Graytch worlds for its unpredictable intensity and duration.

• Yu-gu-ra-fi: A type of plant native to Liigash; its wood is quite valuable.

Selected Proper Nouns

• Chen-su-nar
• Ches-ni-chur
• Chu-bar
• Co-bo-tra
• Den-yit-la
• Ech-ta-loss (a name, a Graytch of historical significance)
• Fri-jor-ri
• Fur-vou-del (Fur-vou-del metals corporation)
• Han-ko-chi (Han-ko-chi Corporation)
• Li-toe-vie
• Mok-retinae (corrupted from Mok-ret-i-nae)
• Mor-si-ta
• Nart-roft
• Say-ta-chu (a name, a Graytch of historical significance)
• See-mel-doo (See-mel-doo Corporation, based on 'Twee)
• So-cho
• Thay-tra
• Thi-nu-lar
• U-ma-tran-ji
• Wa-ma-tri
• Wenty-ruu (corrupted from Wen-ti-ruu)
• Yu-su-ran
• Yull-jettii (corrupted from Yull-jett-ii)

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller. Marc Miller's Traveller (Imperium Games, 1996), 147-148.
• Timothy B. Brown. Aliens Archive (Imperium Games, 1996), 37-45.
• David Burden, Stuart Dollar, Andy Lilly, Joseph Walsh. Aliens Volume 1 (Imperium Games, 1998), 183-256.