Question: The Gorean Alphabet
Answer Call:
The Books tell us that there are 28 characters in the Gorean alphabet of those only the ones shown below are mentioned specifically.
Al-Ka
The expressions ‘Al-Ka’ and ‘Ba-Ta’ are the two first letters of the Gorean alphabet. There were twenty-eight characters in the Gorean alphabet.
Priest Kings of Gor - 94
Ar
“We may suppose,” said Bosk, “as a working hypothesis, that the message is in Gorean. As far as we know, Belisarius, whom we know only by name, and it may be a code name, is Gorean.”
“Yes?” said Samos.
“See,” said Bosk, who was examining the necklace, “The most frequent combination of colors is blue and red.”
“So?” asked Samos.
“In Gorean,” said Bosk, “the most frequently occurring letter is Eta. We might then begin by supposing that the combination of blue and red signifies an Eta.”
“I see,” said Samos.
“The next most frequently occurring letters in Gorean,” said Bosk, “are Tau, Al-Ka, Omnion and Nu. Following these in frequency of occurrence are Ar, Ina, Shu and Homan, and so on.”
“How is this known?” asked Samos.
“It is based upon letter counts,” said Bosk, “over thousands of words in varieties of manuscripts.”
“These matters have been determined by scribes?” asked Samos.
“Yes,” said Bosk.
Slave Girl of Gor - 383
Ba-Ta
The expressions ‘Al-Ka’ and ‘Ba-Ta’ are the two first letters of the Gorean alphabet. There were twenty-eight characters in the Gorean alphabet.
Priest Kings of Gor - 94
Delka
On the chest was a bloody triangle, the “delka,”. That is the fourth letter in the Gorean alphabet, and formed identically to the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, the ‘delta’, to which letter it doubtless owes its origin.
Magicians of Gor - 176
Eta -
“We may suppose,” said Bosk, “as a working hypothesis, that the message is in Gorean. As far as we know, Belisarius, whom we know only by name, and it may be a code name, is Gorean.”
“Yes?” said Samos.
“See,” said Bosk, who was examining the necklace, “The most frequent combination of colors is blue and red.”
“So?” asked Samos.
“In Gorean,” said Bosk, “the most frequently occurring letter is Eta. We might then begin by supposing that the combination of blue and red signifies an Eta.”
“I see,” said Samos.
“The next most frequently occurring letters in Gorean,” said Bosk, “are Tau, Al-Ka, Omnion and Nu. Following these in frequency of occurrence are Ar, Ina, Shu and Homan, and so on.”
“How is this known?” asked Samos.
“It is based upon letter counts,” said Bosk, “over thousands of words in varieties of manuscripts.”
“These matters have been determined by scribes?” asked Samos.
“Yes,” said Bosk.
Slave Girl of Gor - 383
Homan
The brand was the common Kajira mark of Gor, the first letter, about an inch and a half in height and a half inch in width, in cursive script, of the expression ‘Kajira’, which is the most common expression in Gorean for a female slave. It is a simple mark, and rather floral, a staff, with two, upturned, frond-like curls, joined where they touch, the staff on its right. It bears a distant resemblance to the printed letter ‘K’ in several of the Western alphabets of Earth, and I suspect, in spite of several differences, it may owe its origin to that letter. The Gorean alphabet has twenty-eight characters, all of which, I suspect, owe their origin to one or another of the alphabets of Earth. Several show a clear-cut resemblance to Greek letters, for example. ‘Sidge’, on the other hand, could be cuneiform, and ‘Tun’ and ‘Val’ are probably calligraphically drifted from demotic. At least six letters suggest influence by the classical Roman alphabet, and seven do, if we count ‘Kef’, the first letter in ‘Kajira’. ‘Shu’ is represented by a sign which seems clearly oriental in origin and ‘Homan’, I speculate, may derive from Cretan. Many Gorean letters have a variety of pronunciations, depending on their linguistic context.
Explorers of Gor - 9
Ina
“We may suppose,” said Bosk, “as a working hypothesis, that the message is in Gorean. As far as we know, Belisarius, whom we know only by name, and it may be a code name, is Gorean.”
“Yes?” said Samos.
“See,” said Bosk, who was examining the necklace, “The most frequent combination of colors is blue and red.”
“So?” asked Samos.
“In Gorean,” said Bosk, “the most frequently occurring letter is Eta. We might then begin by supposing that the combination of blue and red signifies an Eta.”
“I see,” said Samos.
“The next most frequently occurring letters in Gorean,” said Bosk, “are Tau, Al-Ka, Omnion and Nu. Following these in frequency of occurrence are Ar, Ina, Shu and Homan, and so on.”
“How is this known?” asked Samos.
“It is based upon letter counts,” said Bosk, “over thousands of words in varieties of manuscripts.”
“These matters have been determined by scribes?” asked Samos.
“Yes,” said Bosk.
Slave Girl of Gor - 383
Kef
The brand was the common Kajira mark of Gor, the first letter, about an inch and a half in height and a half inch in width, in cursive script, of the expression ‘Kajira’, which is the most common expression in Gorean for a female slave. It is a simple mark, and rather floral, a staff, with two, upturned, frond-like curls, joined where they touch, the staff on its right. It bears a distant resemblance to the printed letter ‘K’ in several of the Western alphabets of Earth, and I suspect, in spite of several differences, it may owe its origin to that letter. The Gorean alphabet has twenty-eight characters, all of which, I suspect, owe their origin to one or another of the alphabets of Earth. Several show a clear-cut resemblance to Greek letters, for example. ‘Sidge’, on the other hand, could be cuneiform, and ‘Tun’ and ‘Val’ are probably calligraphically drifted from demotic. At least six letters suggest influence by the classical Roman alphabet, and seven do, if we count ‘Kef’, the first letter in ‘Kajira’. ‘Shu’ is represented by a sign which seems clearly oriental in origin and Homan’, I speculate, may derive from Cretan. Many Gorean letters have a variety of pronunciations, depending on their linguistic context.
Explorers of Gor - 9
Nu
“We may suppose,” said Bosk, “as a working hypothesis, that the message is in Gorean. As far as we know, Belisarius, whom we know only by name, and it may be a code name, is Gorean.”
“Yes?” said Samos.
“See,” said Bosk, who was examining the necklace, “The most frequent combination of colors is blue and red.”
“So?” asked Samos.
“In Gorean,” said Bosk, “the most frequently occurring letter is Eta. We might then begin by supposing that the combination of blue and red signifies an Eta.”
“I see,” said Samos.
“The next most frequently occurring letters in Gorean,” said Bosk, “are Tau, Al-Ka, Omnion and Nu. Following these in frequency of occurrence are Ar, Ina, Shu and Homan, and so on.”
“How is this known?” asked Samos.
“It is based upon letter counts,” said Bosk, “over thousands of words in varieties of manuscripts.”
“These matters have been determined by scribes?” asked Samos.
“Yes,” said Bosk.
Slave Girl of Gor - 383
Omnion
“We may suppose,” said Bosk, “as a working hypothesis, that the message is in Gorean. As far as we know, Belisarius, whom we know only by name, and it may be a code name, is Gorean.”
“Yes?” said Samos.
“See,” said Bosk, who was examining the necklace, “The most frequent combination of colors is blue and red.”
“So?” asked Samos.
“In Gorean,” said Bosk, “the most frequently occurring letter is Eta. We might then begin by supposing that the combination of blue and red signifies an Eta.”
“I see,” said Samos.
“The next most frequently occurring letters in Gorean,” said Bosk, “are Tau, Al-Ka, Omnion and Nu. Following these in frequency of occurrence are Ar, Ina, Shu and Homan, and so on.”
“How is this known?” asked Samos.
“It is based upon letter counts,” said Bosk, “over thousands of words in varieties of manuscripts.”
“These matters have been determined by scribes?” asked Samos.
“Yes,” said Bosk.
Slave Girl of Gor - 383
Shu
“We may suppose,” said Bosk, “as a working hypothesis, that the message is in Gorean. As far as we know, Belisarius, whom we know only by name, and it may be a code name, is Gorean.”
“Yes?” said Samos.
“See,” said Bosk, who was examining the necklace, “The most frequent combination of colors is blue and red.”
“So?” asked Samos.
“In Gorean,” said Bosk, “the most frequently occurring letter is Eta. We might then begin by supposing that the combination of blue and red signifies an Eta.”
“I see,” said Samos.
“The next most frequently occurring letters in Gorean,” said Bosk, “are Tau, Al-Ka, Omnion and Nu. Following these in frequency of occurrence are Ar, Ina, Shu and Homan, and so on.”
“How is this known?” asked Samos.
“It is based upon letter counts,” said Bosk, “over thousands of words in varieties of manuscripts.”
“These matters have been determined by scribes?” asked Samos.
“Yes,” said Bosk.
Slave Girl of Gor - 383
Tau
“We may suppose,” said Bosk, “as a working hypothesis, that the message is in Gorean. As far as we know, Belisarius, whom we know only by name, and it may be a code name, is Gorean.”
“Yes?” said Samos.
“See,” said Bosk, who was examining the necklace, “The most frequent combination of colors is blue and red.”
“So?” asked Samos.
“In Gorean,” said Bosk, “the most frequently occurring letter is Eta. We might then begin by supposing that the combination of blue and red signifies an Eta.”
“I see,” said Samos.
“The next most frequently occurring letters in Gorean,” said Bosk, “are Tau, Al-Ka, Omnion and Nu. Following these in frequency of occurrence are Ar, Ina, Shu and Homan, and so on.”
“How is this known?” asked Samos.
“It is based upon letter counts,” said Bosk, “over thousands of words in varieties of manuscripts.”
“These matters have been determined by scribes?” asked Samos.
“Yes,” said Bosk.
Slave Girl of Gor - 383
Tun
The brand was the common Kajira mark of Gor, the first letter, about an inch and a half in height and a half inch in width, in cursive script, of the expression ‘Kajira’, which is the most common expression in Gorean for a female slave. It is a simple mark, and rather floral, a staff, with two, upturned, frond-like curls, joined where they touch, the staff on its right. It bears a distant resemblance to the printed letter ‘K’ in several of the Western alphabets of Earth, and I suspect, in spite of several differences, it may owe its origin to that letter. The Gorean alphabet has twenty-eight characters, all of which, I suspect, owe their origin to one or another of the alphabets of Earth. Several show a clear-cut resemblance to Greek letters, for example. ‘Sidge’, on the other hand, could be cuneiform, and ‘Tun’ and ‘Val’ are probably calligraphically drifted from demotic. At least six letters suggest influence by the classical Roman alphabet, and seven do, if we count ‘Kef’, the first letter in ‘Kajira’. ‘Shu’ is represented by a sign which seems clearly oriental in origin and Homan’, I speculate, may derive from Cretan. Many Gorean letters have a variety of pronunciations, depending on their linguistic context.
Explorers of Gor - 9
Val
The brand was the common Kajira mark of Gor, the first letter, about an inch and a half in height and a half inch in width, in cursive script, of the expression ‘Kajira’, which is the most common expression in Gorean for a female slave. It is a simple mark, and rather floral, a staff, with two, upturned, frond-like curls, joined where they touch, the staff on its right. It bears a distant resemblance to the printed letter ‘K’ in several of the Western alphabets of Earth, and I suspect, in spite of several differences, it may owe its origin to that letter. The Gorean alphabet has twenty-eight characters, all of which, I suspect, owe their origin to one or another of the alphabets of Earth. Several show a clear-cut resemblance to Greek letters, for example. ‘Sidge’, on the other hand, could be cuneiform, and ‘Tun’ and ‘Val’ are probably calligraphically drifted from demotic. At least six letters suggest influence by the classical Roman alphabet, and seven do, if we count ‘Kef’, the first letter in ‘Kajira’. ‘Shu’ is represented by a sign which seems clearly oriental in origin and Homan’, I speculate, may derive from Cretan. Many Gorean letters have a variety of pronunciations, depending on their linguistic context.
Explorers of Gor - 9
Mon May 04, 2009 5:32 pm