Language is the totality of sounds and symbols used to communicate thoughts, facts, and feelings. Linguistics, the science of language, recognizes the development of some 5000 different human languages over the course of human history, two or three thousand of which are still spoken today.
According to the Old Testament book of Genesis, all people originally spoke the same language. When the people of Babel attempted to construct a tower that would ascend all the way to heaven, God prevented them from completing it by making the workers' language incomprehensible to one another and scattering the tower builders around the world.
Language and the capacity for abstract thought probably evolved together as out distant Homo hablis ancestors evolved into modern humans, but we may never know whether the diversity of languages in the world today evolved from a single common language, or if multiple languages arose independently in different parts of the world.
It’s only recently that Anthropological evidence has come together in such a way that we can look at the development of writing from an evolutionary perspective. We have new data now, and new ways of looking at old data.
The Yautja have a complex verbal and written language. The following are Yautja words and their English translation.
| Technology words
| Names
|
|---|
- Awu'asa - full body ensemble
- Gkinmara - video camera
- Ki'cti-pa - double-bladed wrist knife/blades
- Tyioe-ti - escape pod
| - Bakuub - "Straight Spear"
- Cetanu - God of Death
- Dachande - "Different Knife"
- Dahdtoudi - "Little Knife" (feminine)
- Guan-thwei - Nightblood
- Kainde amedha - Hard Meat (Aliens)
- Lou-dte Kalei - "Child Maker" (slang for female)
- Ooman - Human
- Yeyinde - "Brave One"
- Paya - a god, conquering warrior
- Pyode amedha - Soft Meat
|
| Expressions
| Combat Related Words
|
|---|
- C'jit! - "Damn!"
- Dtai'k-dte sa-de nav'g-kon dtain'aun bpide - "The fight begun would not end until the end."
- Dhi'ki-de - final rest, sleep near death, death
- Hma'mi'de - unknown translation
- Ki'cte! - "Enough!"
- M-di H'chak/M-di H'dlak - "No mercy/No Fear"
- Pauk! - expletive
- Payas Leitjin-de - "Remember God's Practice"
- Thin-de le'hasuan 'aloun'myin-del bpi-de gka-de hasou-de paya - "Learn the gifts of all sights, or finish in the dance of the fallen gods."
- U'sl-kwe - final rest
| - Dtai'k-dte - fight
- Hiju - fighting position, the proper position to disembowel another
- Jehdin/Jehdin - hand-to-hand combat; allows Yautja to show off their skills, first fall determining the winner; no weapons are used; both combatants would probably still be alive after the match.
- Kainde amedha chiva - the Hard Meat Trial
- Ka'rik'na - the summoning (of other Yautja)
- Kehrite - battle arena/training hall/dojo
- Kv'var - excercises
- Mesh'in'ga - the battle dreamtime
- Nain-de - type of hunt
- Nain-desintje-da - The Pure Win
- Nain-desintje-de -- The Pure Win (alternate spelling)
- Nan De-Than Gaun - "Kiss of Midnight"
- Tarei hsan - unworthy opponent
- Zazin - totally centered, within one's self
|
| Miscellaneous Words
|
|---|
- Amedha - meat (Kiande amedha / Pyode amedha)
- Bpi-de - end, finish
- C'ntlip - type of drink, effects like that of alcohol
- Ch'hkt-a - hyper active
- Chiva - trial (see Kiande amedha chiva)
- Dai-shui - Yautja musk
- Dto - a type of tree
- Gkei'moun - easy or simple
- Gry'sui-bpe - stampede
- Guan - night
- H'chak - mercy
- H'dlak - fear
- Hulij-Bpe - crazy
- Hult'ah - rear guard or look out, sentry, observer
- Kantra - prayer
- Kiande - hard (see kiande amedha)
- Kwei - tricky or sly
- L'ulij-bpe - Crazy
| - Mei'hswei - bother
- Mi - oil
- Mo - no
- Nan-ku - alive
- Naxa - type of fruit
- N'dui'se - Yautja's musk
- Nihkou'te - tooth or tusk
- Nok - unit of measure (equivalent to 13 inches)
- Pyode - soft
- S'yuit-de - low and demeaning description of something
- Setg'-in - deadly and quick
- Te'dqi - xenomorph secretion
- Thei-de - death/dead/die
- Thwei - blood
- Tjau'ke - hard packed dirt or type of rock
- Ui'stbi - geography
- Zabin - type of insect
- Z'skvy-de - birth of xenomorph from host, eruptive phase
|
| Other
|
|---|
- Dark Warrior - Death, the persona
- Path - individual yautja's course of life
- The Path - course for all yautja as a whole
- Burner - gun, bullets, or laser (not including shoulder-based plasma cannon)
|
"You have to understand the culture of this area. It's the only way you can appreciate the thrill of the hunt. This isn't about sport, it's about trophy-taking. That's why men hunt - to see who bags the biggest prize. And the biggest prize of all is a killer, see? When you kill a killer, his kills belong to you. Numbers. That's what makes the world go round, big numbers."
(Taken from Predator: Race War #0)
|
| Body Language | Vocal Sounds
|
|---|
- head cocked to one side - curiosity or regard
- lower mandibles spread - aggression
- head and eyes lowered - submission
- mandibles flared - anger
- back arched and mandibles flared - rage
- push with one hand at another's shoulder - Challenge
- mandibles click together - regard
- placing one hand on another's shoulder, and shaking - greeting
|
- growl - warning, amusement, or laughter
- hiss - anger
- roar - fury
- bark - anger, outrage, command
- chatter - eagerness, regard
- click - surprise, anticipation, eagerness
- rumble - warning, curiosity, pleasure
|
| Animals
|
|---|
- Chi'imps - from earth; a warrior once heard a human name this species; highly prized because while this species is not very ferocious in battle, it is one of the more intelligent non-sentient beings known
- Ghequo - a viscious animal with a set a jaws able to gnas through dlex; 4 meter long mammal-like carnivore tht evolved wherethe average size of most of the wildlife is between 5-10 meters (it is a mere rodent on this world)
- Kuty'y'ae - six-legged reptilian from the planet Kut'y'ae; fierce in battle, not very bright.
| -
Pifc-nah' - can be found on the snow world of Ywa; not very intelligent, but deadly nonetheless; single horn atop the head, used mainly for sparring with other males of the same species
- Rjet - type of animal
- Rxio-asul - the bright coloring on this crustacean's back is not of artificial means; life on their planet has odd pigmentation when compared to most life in the rest of the galaxy; a pesky foe that chews your feet
- Tarei'hasan - small insect
|
![[Yautja Alphabet]](img/predtext.gif)