The Dol'jharian Language
The Exordium universe is an original creation of Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, by Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge, all rights reserved. Mention or discussion of copyrighted characters and terms in this reference work is not intended, nor should be interpreted or construed, as a challenge to those copyrights.
This glossary and discussion is intended as a supplement to increase readers' enjoyment of the Exordium books, not as a substitute for reading the original. If you have not read Exordium, but find the material presented here of interest, please considerpurchasing the Exordium books.
Attested forms are followed by a page reference to their first appearance in the text (volumes are given in Roman numerals, pages in Arabic numerals). Conjectured forms (whether from analogy to known words or by derviation from combined forms) are preceded by an asterisk.
achreash (III:3) -- particle in the name of a designated heir, indicates a sharing of the ancestral spirit as well as physical kinship
achreash-Eusabian (III:3) -- Anaris' name after his investiture in the eglarrh demachi-Dirazh'ul
arrachi (II:95) -- some kind of animal, not identified in the text
Arran ni-paliach ima-Eusabian etta mi dyn-achee. Esarrh du espilchu achrechor corrgha-tu yeilis mi (V:521-2) -- "The paliach of the Eusabians has failed in the face of my power. Here claim I the spoils in your body yielded to me."
Catennach (III:392) -- "the Service of the Lords," the Bori bureaucracy of the Dol'jharian nobility, eunuchs (apparently completely castrated, "smooth to the belly," since they are incapable of sexual performance)
Chor (V:7) -- the god of the Chorei
chorahin (V:344) -- the horror in the walls of the Suneater
Chorei (II:462) -- former people of the island of Chor, telepaths (the Dol'jharians destroyed them by dropping a meteor just offshore of their island, drowning them in the resulting wave)
ch'qath (I:32) -- scavenger lizard, Dol'jharian laborers gamble on the outcome of fights between them in pits, rather like cockfights.
Chupkun immashen enach t'gall (V:121) -- "The sacrifice is accepted Closing words of the eglarhh hre-immash
chuqath (II:95) -- another form of ch'qath
*darakh -- visit, bestow
darakh-kreshch (I:255) -- "annointed," literely "bestow (?)"
Darakh ettu hurreash, Urtigen-dalla. Tsurokh ni-vesh entasz antorrh, epu catenn-mi hreach i-Dol... (II:464) -- "Bestow upon us your presence, great Urtigen. Turn not away your eyes, for through you are we linked to the spirit of Dol..." Invocation of the spirit of Urtigen at the beginning of Anaris' eglarrh demachi-Dirazh'ul, or investiture.
Darakh ettu mispeshi, Urtigen-dalla. Darakh ni-palia entasz pendeschi, pron hemma-mi ortoli ni narhh. (I:254) -- "Visit us with your mercy, great Urtigen. Visit not with vengeance your lineage, take instead this my blood that once was yours." Words of the eglarhh hre-immash, the ritual to lay a hungry ghost.
Darakh-li emmer entasz eg pendeschi palia-mi ni-tsuren kurrhan. Pali-mi kurrhar biomha emreth-te, dira-mi bi omha mizpeshi, hach-ka mi bi tyram-te, dasz te emmer prochar mi-retann epas Morat-jhar (V:545) -- "Forever I visit upon you and your lineage my ever-following vengeance. So will my vengeance haunt all your destinies, my curses all your blessings, my spirit all your dreams, that you may ever anticipate with fear my return from the kingdom of death" Eusabian's curse on the Arkads
dektasz (I:394) -- a Dol'jharian military rank
dhosz-Tathanu (V:211) -- Dol'jharian liturgical drama of ninety-nine Postures and thirty-three Significations, heavily charged with sexual energy and performed only in the period immediately before a Kharuscha-na rahali
dirazh'u (I:36) -- string used in curse-weaving, a magickal practice followed by Dol'jharian nobles
Dol (I:157) -- Vengeance, forefather and principal deity of the Dol'jharians, who gave them Dol'jhar to harden them for the struggles against the demons that drove them from their original paradisical homeworld.
Dol'jhar (I:11) -- planet of the Dol'jharians
dzirkash-juluth (III:2) -- Dol'jharian pennance robe
eglarrh (I:255) -- laying-ritual
eglarrh demachi-Dirazh'ul (II:460) -- Dol'jharian investiture ritual of naming a heir-presumptive as heir-in-fact
eglarhh hre-immash (I:254) -- "the laying of a hungry ghost," Dol'jharian ritual to appease the spirit of a murdered person, must be performed monthly for thirty-three years before the spirit is released to join the honored ancestors in the Halls of Dol, involves candles made from the flesh of the dead one's corpse
ejarhh (II:465) -- "it is done," conclusion of the eglarrh demachi-Dirazh'ul ritual
*emmer -- connotes a sense of gathering and of transformation
emmer mas'hadnital (I:349) -- "the pain that transfigures," Dol'jharian art of torture
emmer te gowen (V:545) -- "You are (inevitable aspect) gathered"
Entili mi dirazh'ult kai panarch (I:296) -- statement of Jerrode Eusabian, unglossed in text
Ephin Hoch'jhan (V:145) -- city of Vi'ya's birth, meaning not glossed
eskillith (V:522) -- a game played with a ball
Esrackh atta-mi (V:267) -- "It is mine!"
etarr (V:121) -- go (imperative)
genz (IV:396) -- title of respect
gyarrh'ka (I:254) -- particle in "Urtigen gyarrh'ka Eusabian, the name of Jerrode Eusabian's father, perhaps "father of"
hachka (I:149) -- "spirit," specifically, the virtues inherited from one's ancestors
hekaath (V:545) -- "unbreakable bond"
...hemma eg shtal... (II:464) -- bit of the eglarrh demachi-Dirazh'ul ritual, not glossed in text
Hoch D'ocha (I:25) -- Jerrode Eusabian's tower
Hurreachu i-Dol (III:2) -- "the Unknowable-Presence-Indwelling of Dol," the Chamber of Mysteries, ritual chamber aboard the battleship Fist of Dol'jhar
Jhar D'ocha (I:34) -- the Kingdom of Vengeance, realm of Jerrode Eusabian
Jhar Emyn (I:149) -- location of the towers of Hoch D'ocha
Jhar Epoim (V:192) -- clan whose leader contested Jerrode Eusabian and lost
Jharg'at Choreid (V:4) -- the capital of the Chorei
ji-rahal (II:399) -- conditional son, this term is alluded to earlier(II:97), but the form not given.
Juvaszt kim Karusch-na bo-synarrach, gri tusz ni-synnarrh perro-ti! (II:443) -- gross insult equating Juvaszt's performance in the Dol'jharian mating ritual with masturbation
kah-jillalch (V:20) -- scapegoats
kalleath (V:254) -- sharp ritual knife of a Dol'jharian priest
Ka nimichh duuni ni-pelanj marhh (II:90) -- "The shade of my enemy holds no power over me"
karra (I:27) -- demon
karra-fires (I:33) -- ritual fires
Kharuscha-na rahali (II:172) -- "Star-tides of Progeny" the period in which Dol'jharians of the upper classes who desire heirs ambush potential sexual partners for a ritualized struggle to ensure strong offspring
kipango (V:122) -- the karra that looked both forward and backward, and could spring on enemies from either direction
kyvernat (I:421) -- ship's captain
Mekhli-chur (II:441) -- apparently the beginning of an oath, not glossed
mizpeshi (I:254) -- mercy
nar-pelkun turish (I:434) -- "unsheathed will"
*ni- -- negative particle: no, not, non-, un-
Ni-Dolchu karra bi-stest j'cha (II:89) -- "Dol-forsaken lurking demon-spawn"
Ni retorr (V:522) -- do not retreat
nivi-kcha (V:394) -- "weakling," specifically one weakened by self-abuse (masturbation)
Okhash emmer ti ocha-mi (V:191) -- "The fires of my vengeance will burn forever"
*orr -- hour
orr narhach'pelkun turish (I:35) -- "the Hour of the Unsheathing of the Will (the hour before dawn, as observed by the Dol'jharian nobility)
paliach (I:11) -- vengeance, practiced as an art form by the lords of Dol'jhar
Pali-mi kreuuchar bi pali-te, dira-mi bi dira-te, hach-ka mi bi hreach-te (II:465) -- "Be my vengeance entwined with yours, my curses with yours, my spirit with yours." Ritual words from the eglarrh demachi-Dirazh'ul
*pelkun -- sheath
peshakh (I:150) -- slender, razor-sharp knife worn in a wrist sheath
pesz ko'- (I:28) -- form of address indicating the least possible difference (used by Barrodagh to Evodh)
pesz mas'hadni (I:27) -- Dol'jharian physician-torturer
prachan (II:319) -- the "fear-face," an expression used by Dol'jharian nobles to terrorize their subordinates into instant obedience
prikoschi (I:149) -- a term of contempt, not glossed, but from context seems to be "weakling," one who will submit to sex without a struggle
radach- (I:349) -- particle in the name Evodh radach'Enar, unglossed
*rahal- -- "son of"
rahal'Jerrodi (I:147) -- Anaris' second name, which identifies him as a son of Jerrode Eusabian
*retor -- retreat
senxlo (I:397) -- variant form of senzlo
senz lo'- (I:316) -- honorific
senzlo'- (I:32) -- honorific
serach (I:27) -- "presumed equal" courtesy title
som-turi (IV:150) -- Dol'jharian discipline of visualizing the desired goal to prepare oneself to obtain it
*tarka -- those
tarka ni-retor (I:147) -- "those who do not retreat," Jerrode Eusabian's elite forces, the Tarkans
Tel urdug paliachai, em ni arben ettisen (I:266) -- Eusabian's comment that the completion of the paliach was at hand, not glossed in text
terev ha'zhad (V:6) -- "the intimacies"
*turish -- the will
*tusz -- sex, penis
tusz ni-synarrh (I:366) -- "lonely hand-sex," extremely vulgar Dol'jharian term for masturbation
tuszpi (II:94) -- penis (diminutive)
zhi'leath (I:317) -- serrated sword carried by the Tarkans
Last updated October 19, 2012