[Approved] Rakahi Pidgin: Lexicon and Usage Guide

[Pash Raj'oriq]

Rakahi Pidgin: Bi’Qat

Thanks for the approval, Maltruism! Gonna put something important here later. But for now, the pronunciation guide, usage, and words/phrases are all found below. Enjoy.


Special thanks to Djinn for being so enthusiastic, coming up with lots of phrases, and putting them all to good use.

[Pash Raj'oriq]

Rakahi Pidgin: Bi’Qat

Bi’qat (beh-KITH) is a trade language spoken by Biqaj, humans, merchants, and pirates. Bi’qat is not a true language, but rather a pidgin—a collection of jargon, native Biqaj words and phrases mixed with both new and defunct Common. Bi’qat is often employed with colorful metaphors as well as the words below, in typical Biqaj style. The sentence structure of Bi’wat is extremely simple - unless absolutely necessary, most sentences lack any sort of conjugation, and no complex tenses or grammatical structures are used; most adjectives can be used as nouns, and vice versa.

No additional letters are necessary to make a noun plural, as plurality is mostly implied through context.

Non-native speakers of Bi’qat might make the mistake of using Bi’qat words like everyday slang words, pluralizing nouns and using made-up verb tenses. While this is looked down on by Biqaj and taken advantage of by merchants (because you out yourself as a noob), it is perfectly acceptable and encouraged in roleplay to add authenticity to your character.

[Pash Raj'oriq]

Pronunciation Guide

• Q is pronounced like K, and changes the vowel next to it slightly (see examples below).
• J at the end of a word is pronounced like an H; in other places, such as in “rayjim” it is pronounced /ʒ/ (sounds like the g in "beige"). When next to a consonant, it adds emphasis to the letter before it through a hard exhale, so as the word “nji’ir” is pronounced NHE’er.
• Ts is a digraph, like the one on the end of the word "its."
• T at the end of a word becomes "th," but is otherwise a regular hard "T" when found elsewhere in a word.
• Vr is a digraph pronounced like the "fr" in "from," but with more of a v sound.
• ’ is a guttural pause, dividing a word into obvious syllables. 


Usage Example

“I were headed down to the tumble hut with a couple o’ m’ qat. Run into this lyat. She punt on the place, tellin' us it be full o’ Lissira’s poxy. I talk ‘er up an’ we tack it to th’ nearest tavern so we can all just get railed instead.”

This is a really extreme example of usage, but after looking below, maybe you can get the idea. Some example threads where Rakahi pidgin is used can be found here and here.

[Pash Raj'oriq]

Rakahi Pidgin Lexicon

Greetings and Conversation

PIDGIN	PRONUNCIATION	MEANING
Es’jah	ESH-ʒah	“Hello.”
Ve’yalos	ve-YA-lohs	“Goodbye.”
Ry’tsam!	RAI-tsahm	“It’s good to meet you!” or “Well met!” - can be used both for meeting someone for the first time and seeing someone again after a long time.
Qes, Ze	KAS, zeh	“Yes.”, “No.”
Nje’lu?	NHE-lyu	“How are you?”
Ot djal?	ooth DHAL	“Please,” more literally “If you please?” And is also used to indicate “Do you understand?”
Nelo qe.	NE-loh KA	“Thank you;” can be intensified by saying “Nelo nelo qe.”
Eja’yoama.	e-ʒAH-yoh-ah-mah	“I’m sorry.”
Des’penya.	des-PEN-ya	Literally: "No worries," or "Don't fret," it's used in a similar fashion.
Mes'me perto.	mez-MEH PER-toh	"Not even close." or "You've missed the mark." Used to indicate someone is wrong, lacking in their assumptions, or a bad aim.
Mezo!	meh-ZOH	An expression of surprise or disbelief; similar to “whoa!”
Vrelore.	FRE-loh-reh.	“Ah, I see.” or “As you wish.”
Qau’malu.	ko-MA-lu	I love you.
Hasta!	HA-stah!	Enough! Literally: Stop! Used both ways.
Tsu	ts’uh	A sound used to indicate indecisiveness or apathy, similar to “meh.”

Family and Friends

PIDGIN	PRONUNCIATION	MEANING
Biqaj	BEH-ki	Literally one who is free. The Biqaj term for their race.
Biqat	BEH-kith	A Biqaj who has settled in a city
Ki’at	KEH-ath	A merchant or someone who sells things
Gy’at	GYA-ath	an outsider, a non-Biqaj, anyone who isn’t “us”
Qe’at	QA-ath	A warrior, guard, or soldier
Zyqat	ZYAK-ath	A champion for a cause; someone who stands for good or is marked by an Immortal. A term of respect.
Zyem’at	ZY-em-ath	A defiler, someone who breaks the law or is generally not good.
Vja’at	FAH-ath	A magic user, a mage. This term is generally negative, but definitely depends on the opinions of the speaker.
Qat	KETH	A man, a guy, dude.
Lyat	Li-ath	A woman.
Ejat	Eʒ-ath	A tricky person, a thief, a liar.
Biraj	BEH-reh	An upstanding citizen; one who is a good example to follow for the clan.
Siera’ja	SIR-ah-ʒah	A priest or priestess of U’frek.
Siera’ma	SIR-ah-ma	Faith, devotion. The path one follows in a spiritual sense.
Yipat	YE-path	A jack-of-all-trades, someone who has many talents.
Ej'qy	Eʒ-ki	Someone who has been forsaken/shunned/exiled and is without a clan; a traitor worthy of nothing but contempt—a very strong word
Toraqat	TO-ra-qeth	A trustworthy guy.
Toralat	TO-ra-lath	A good woman.
Noch, nochi (pl.)	noh-ch, NOH-che	child, children
Qaunobo	ko-NO-bo	A term of endearment. Also adjective for cute, endearing; ‘bo can be used at the end of a name as a diminutive (i.e. Pa’bo as a term of endearment for Pash)
Da’oat	DAU-ath	Mother
Da’at	DA-ath	Father
Ly’akor	LI-ah-kur	sister, close friend (feminine), used as a term of respect Ly’Navyri (Miss Navyri)
Qa’akor	KE-ah-kur	brother, close friend (masculine), used as a term of respect Qa’Pash (Mister Pash)
Qy’akot	KI-ah-koth	family (literally “clan of the heart”), not necessarily blood-related
Seq’at, Seq’lat	SEK-ath, SEK-lath	cousin (m, f), more loosely “one of us” or not an outsider; can include non-Biqaj but generally refers to those who are “our people” whether related or not
Ly'oat	LI-oh-ath	Daughter
Qu’oat	KE-oh-ath	Son
Qau’ma	KOA-ma	Literally, heart. Refers to a loving relationship, either the love one has for a person or the object of affection.

Descriptors and Things

PIDGIN	PRONUNCIATION	MEANING
Gant	gahnth	adj. big
Ipi	eh-pi	adj. small
Lemmy	LEH-mee	adj. really good
Aoja	AH-uh-ʒah	Favorable, as in favorable circumstances
Djout	DHO-uth	lowlife; petty; also means dirty, filthy
Tsuvet	TSU-fith	cruel or bastardly
Rajo	RAH-ʒoh	Literally: blinding, but used to mean beautiful, lovely.
Alore	ah-LOH-reh	smooth, sexy
Meja	MAY-ʒah	SQaure, even, made right, usually in the form of trade or as a deal of some sort.
Esh’ve	esh-FEH	A story, a tale, but one that refers to spoken word and not music.

The Bad Words and Other Bad Things

PIDGIN	PRONUNCIATION	MEANING
Bija	BEH-ʒah	A slang term for an unmarried Biqaj, typically referred derisively to a sexually promiscuous member of the opposite sex
Jhi'nat	JHE-nith	Derogatory term for "ass", often used by Biqaj when threatening to punish their children.
It'qaj	it-KEH	Literally, the fecal matter of a chicken or other fowl. Used in most places to denote a coward.
Wo Chet!	woah sheth	"Oh no!" or more more literally, "Oh shit!"
Havakda!	ha-FAHK-da	"Away with you!" only much ruder (the equivalent of "Fuck off!")
Chunta!	CHOON-ta	"Dammit!" as in "Chunta! You've got the fishing lines all tangled again."
Vrung!	frung	Human waste. Used as an expletive accordingly.
Vji’at	FEH-ath	Literally: filthy one; used as a mostly derogatory term for those who practice Necromancy. It implies disrespect of the dead, though between magic users, the term is just acceptable slang.
Tia'mja	TEA-meh	Transmutation magic or the one who practices it, can also be used to indicate falsehood or change.
Na’qa	nah—key	to kill, murder
Tumble	—	A prostitute. Also, tumblehut: a brothel
Poxy	—	Diseased or cursed. Generally bad stuff; can be made stronger by mentioning Lissira as the origins.

Other Miscellaneous

PIDGIN	PRONUNCIATION	MEANING
Qau’jave	KO-ʒah-feh	To court, especially a Biqaj pursuing another Biqaj
Crimp	Krimp	From Common, to procure by trickery or coercion. Also: one who crimps.
Furl	Fərl	From Common: to secure, usually a ship’s sail, but also used to describe the act of making somewhere safe. (i.e. “Furl th’ door!”)
Punt	punt	to inform, to tattle
Drift	—	From Common: to leave one’s family, clan, or group
Handsomely	—	From Common: carefully.
Smartly	—	From Common: quickly.
Fair	—	From Common: very.
Close	—	From Common: familiar.
Spitch	—	Twisted from Common (probably spit): worthless junk.
Trawl	—	From Common: to go looking for trouble, usually of the alcoholic or sexual kind
Underway	—	From Common: to get going, usually with haste, as in: “C’mon. Let’s be underway.”
Keel	—	From Common: the backbone of a ship’s hull; used to indicate the condition of someone’s spine. (i.e. much the same as we say things like “even keeled” today: “He’s got a right keel, he does.”)
Tiller	—	From Common: brain, mind, in control. As in, “Who’s at yer tiller?”
Tack	—	From Common: to run very fast, to flee the area. As in, “Let’s tack!”
Rail	—	From Common "gunrail" or "gunnel": to get drunk, to drink. As in, “Screw it, I’m going to go get railed.” Ne'Haer pidgin uses "gunnel'd," implying that one gets drunk enough to throw up over the side of their own ship.

[Maltruism]

Approved by Maltruism

Feel free to add as much as you want.

I have no issue with a "Pidgin" language being used to spice up dialogue anywhere.
I don't really see this as a specific language, requiring any "leveling up", as it will be so affected by dialects as to never be the same from group to group; never being much more coherent than Broken.

I would invite anyone to invent their own disjointed pseudo languages of this type for rp "color" purposes.