Basic Caldari for Gallente
Preface
Basic Caldari for Gallente is taken from a post [1] in the EVE-online forums by Herko Kerghans regarding questions about the Caldari Language.
Basic Caldari for Gallente
From Prof. Lakaainen’s “Basic Caldari for Gallente” (which you seem to speak rather well!):
“In traditional Caldari, phrases always follow the verb+person suffix, then tense auxiliar, then direct object, place/mode complement.
For example, the phrase “already seen” (déjà vu), would be:
-Uooti_ (verb “to see") + _ke (first person, singular)
-ta_ (past) + _len (suffix indicating certainty)
-hai [already]
Thus forming “uootike talen hai”, literally “I saw before”.
[Certain Lonetrek regions, in the Minen constellation in particular, there is a tendency to drop middle vowels, thus the phrase usually sounds
“uoot-ke t’aln’ai”.
Speakers of the “pure” accent usually mock this as the “throat infection accent”]
Another example, “We will return” (the exclusive "we", see below), would be
-Haaja_ [verb “return”] + _kin [exclusive we]
-ka_ [future] + _len [suffix indicating certainty]
Thus forming “haajakin kalen”
[In the lonetrek regions, usually pronounced “haaj-kin k’len” or “haak-kin k’len’]
(…)
To indicate “possibility” instead of “certainty”, the _len suffix is replaced with _tien, thus
“Uootikin tatien hai” = “we think we saw before”.
Young Caldari tend to drop the _len particle, thus making certainty a tacit part of their speech; this is generally frowned upon by adults, and considered extremely rude in formal occasions.
(…)
Of particular note are the suffixes indicating the plural forms.
The first notorious difference with Gallente language is that Caldari has two forms of “we”: the “exclusive we”, meaning the speaker but not the listener, and the “inclusive we”, meaning both listener and speaker.
Thus “_kin” means “we, the group the speaker belongs to but not the listener”, whereas “_han” means “we, the speaker and the listener” (and others if case be; indicated by context)
Both depend of context:
-If members of the R&D Division of Lai Dai are having a meeting with members of the Production Division, the R&D members would use the _han suffix when talking among themselves (meaning “all of we, who all belong to the same division”), and the _kin suffix when talking with the opposite division (meaning “we of the R&D division, not you of the Production Division")
-Yet if members of both divisions are in a meeting with Ishukone representatives, they would now use the _han suffix among themselves (now meaning “all of we, who all belong to Lai Dai”), reserving the _kin suffix for when talking with the Ishukone representatives (now meaning “We, Lai Dai, not you Ishukone”).
The second puzzling difference with Gallentean is that there is no plural form of the second or third person. There is no plural “you” or “they”; a group to which the speaker does not belong to must be referred to by name.
Thus, where a Gallente would say “We would like to leave you the interceptors production business, if you agree to leave to us the assault frigate market”, a Caldari would say “We would like to leave… if Viziam agrees to leave…”
(NOTE: in very formal occasions, a Caldari will also prefer to use the name of the group he belongs to, thus “Ishukone would like to leave… if Viziam agrees to leave…” as in sensible matters the exclusive "we" is considered somewhat aggressive)
(…)
Some Gallente have noticed the _kin suffix in the notorious “Haajakin kalen” expression, appearing in various contexts from Raata folklore to pod-pilot myths, and being usually puzzled since the expression is used in toasts among Caldari as if one Caldari was excluding the other in the toast.
If carefully observed, it can be seen that the expression is never said by one member of the group alone; they all pronounce it at the same time. The meaning is “we, all of we that are not you, speaking in one voice, we will return. You will not."