Goa'uld language

The Goa'uld language is a fictional language spoken by the Goa'uld and Jaffa from the television series Stargate SG-1. The Goa'uld language started out as the Unas Language, but it was limited by the vocal abilities of the Unas. As the Goa'uld started to take more human hosts, their language developed and became a primary influence for Ancient Egypt. It is now the lingua franca of the Milky Way galaxy and has retained that status in spite of the fall of the System Lords.

Grammar

The grammar of the Goa'uld language is fairly simple to grasp, the language uses a subject verb object (SVO) word order, as in English.

Pronouns

The pronouns of Goa'uld are fairly simple. At present, it is believed that Goa'uld has no third-person pronoun; instead, one uses the proper noun for that object.

The pronouns are:

• Ta—I
• Lo—you

Plural forms of these are created with the suffix -p, creating tap "we" and lop "you". The proper noun can also be used instead of the pronoun. It is unknown as to whether any special suffixes are used to indicate possession.

Verbs

Verbs in Goa'uld do not inflect for tense or person. Therefore, the Goa'uld verb tal pac can, depending on the situation, mean "to fall", "falling", "fell", "will fall", et cetera. In general, the context of the situation or time phrases in a sentence will indicate when the verb is taking place, as in most forms of Chinese.

Suffix order

Suffixes will be numbered (1), (2), (3) in the order that they belong. Intentionally or unintentionally, this is similar to the Klingon language; if the former, it could be a complex joke (a thing for which SG-1 writers are notorious). For example:
nok "now" with -ia "not" (1) and -k "to be" (2) is nokiak "in the beginning there was". Notice that this is translated as "in the beginning", and not "in the end" or "not now", although it could mean either. The phrase mel nok "after now" is used to mean "later", while nokia is used to mean "earlier".

Kree

The word kree has many meanings, but it is in essence used as a call to attention. It is often used as a generic call to action, being translated as "be prepared", "aim", "let's go", or even (as O'Neill once quipped) "yoo-hoo". Kree can be combined with verbs to indicate action or as an imperative. For example, kree hol means "We are going", "Let's go", and by adding mel "to die, to end" it becomes kree hol mel "We are standing by" or "Wait." It is frequently heard addressed to a particular group, as in, Jaffa, kree! "Listen up, Jaffa!" or "Jaffa, Attention!" It is occasionally heard addressed to other groups, such as Tok'ra, kree! (particularly in Season 2), Tau'ri kree!, Goa'uld kree!, and Shol'vah kree!.

Lo'tar

In Goa'uld, tar is a shortened slang form of tau'ri "Human". Lotar literally translates as "You, human", which is probably how the word originated. Over time it evolved to become a very prestigious position among slaves to the Goa'uld. It is possible that this is a nod to Blizzard Entertainment's Lok'tar, which is said by Orcs in the Warcraft franchise.

Shol'va

This is a pejorative term used by Jaffa and System Lords alike to refer to betrayers of their "god" — it is akin to the term "heretic". Some Jaffa, such as Teal'c, became notoriously famous paradigms of the Shol'va, renouncing his "god" as divine.

Modifying words

In Goa'uld, adverbs come before the verb they modify. Sometimes, a direct object will precede the verb, rather than follow it.

Dual sentence

Goa'uld is a very powerful language because of the dual sentence ability of the language. This allows two separate ideas to be expressed in one sentence. If the ideas have a common word, then it is only said or written once, saving time and effort.

For example: Lo tak meta satak oz means both "You are speaking to the great Oz" and "I am the great Oz". Broken down, this sentence is composed of two segments: lo ... meta satak Oz "You ... are speaking to the great Oz" interpolated with ... tak ... satak Oz "... I am ... the great Oz" — both of these ideas are conveyed simultaneously within the sentence.

Writing

One of the various Goa'uld alphabets seen on Stargate SG-1

The Goa'uld use several different forms of writing, most of which are based on Egyptian hieroglyphics (though the show claims the reverse). There is also a cursive Goa'uld script that appears to have been created from scratch.

The alphabet illustrated has been seen in the series, in a text message sent by the Goa'uld to the SGC. It is the only Goa'uld script in the series that can be translated easily. The alphabet in the series is actually the Nahkt hieroglyphic font, and it was used to write various jokes in different episodes. Another hieroglyph font used in the series was the Meroitic script font. [1]

It was originally believed that Goa'uld is usually written left to right, top to bottom. However, official documents of the Free Jaffa Nation, as seen in the offices of Gerak and other Jaffa High Councillors, show Goa'uld written from top to bottom; as yet, it is unknown whether the columns begin on the right (as Chinese characters traditionally do) or on the left (as with the Mongolian alphabet).

The Goa'uld have also been known to use various other ancient scripts and languages. Among them are Greek, Chinese characters, Cuneiform, Cretan Linear A and Maya hieroglyphics.

Dictionary

A

• Abidon — the gods are just ("Icon")
• A'roush — village
• Ai'emain — Stand up!, Rise!
• Al'kesh — Goa'uld mid-range bomber ("Exodus")
• Aray Kree — Stay where you are ("There But For the Grace of God")
• Ash'rak — hunter ("In the Line of Duty")

B

• Ba'ja'kakma'te — I greet you, too. Response to Tek'ma'tae (greeting of respect)
• Bashaak — Wooden training staffs used by Jaffa students. Also refers to the training ritual of Jaffa.
• Bi'bo — Do you want? / Take!
• Bonniewae — very good; tasteful
• Bradio — Come on! /Hurry!/ Now go!

C

• Cal mah — Sanctuary

"I demand Cal mah!" - Apophis ("Serpent's Song")

"...know that this place IS sanctuary. This is Cal mah!" ("The Warrior")

• Calmah — has also been translated as "child"

"Calmah has neutralized the sedative." - Shan'auc "[it] means "child"" - Teal'c (Crossroads)

• Chal'tii — Untrained warrior

"I have trained these warriors since they were Chal'tii."- Bra'tac ("The Serpent's Lair")

• Chappa'ai — Stargate

• Chappa'ko — Supergate
• Chell'nak — very cool (direct translation from "The Tok'ra Part 2") or good luck
• Cra — to (I went "cra" the store)

D

• Delmac — crystal

"There should be three delmacs... Crystals. There should be three crystals." -Teal'c ("Deadman Switch")

• Di'bro, das weiafei, doo'wa — People, welcome them, the gods have come!
• Di'dak'dida — You dare?!
• Dis'tra — master

F

• Fi nu — Finish!

G

• Goa'uld — A parasite(symbiote) that takes control of a human body, literally translated as god.
• Gonach — An insult, exact meaning unknown. - Cronus "Fair Game"

H

• Hakor — To banish
• Hak'tyl — Liberation
• Hara kesh — torture device
• Harsesis — the child of two Goa'uld
• Ha'shak — Someone, who is very weak / fool (O'Neill pronounced it "Hassak")
• Ha'taaka — Vile one
• Ha'tak — Goa'uld mothership ("Within the Serpent's Grasp"), also means 'attack'

"Jaffa, ha'tak!" ("Into the Fire")

• Heelk'sha — Gods of the underworld
• Hi'ato — Walk on!
• Hok — Good/Advanced
• Hok'tar — Advanced human, from Hok/Advanced, and Tar/slang for Human/Tau'ri ("Rite of Passage")
• Hol — Execute, engage, go

I

• -ia — not
• I'jaji'biai — May I have that?
• I ra be'bju — Is this for me?
• Intar — Stun weapon used during training ("Rules of Engagement")

J

• Jankin — Search or tell at once
• Joma Secu — Challenge of leadership (The Warrior)
• Ju' — To see
• Ju'iu — See!

K

• -K — to be
• Kalash — One's soul
• Kara Kesh — Goa'uld Hand Device
• Kegalo — Silence!
• Ke'i — Kneel!
• Kek — Death or weakness
• Kel — Hello, Greetings
• Kel no'reem — meditative state
• Kel sha — Hello / I greet you
• Kel mar tokeem — "Revenge by the wearer of the horn"
• Kel'nok shree — I am not
• Khek — Weakness/Death
• Ki'banja'swei — We must hide!
• Kitel — Light
• Korosh-ni — "Turn back." A symbol left by Goa'uld Destroyers for their brethren near the Stargate on planets they have wiped out, leaving the surface radioactive ("There But For the Grace of God")
• Kree — Attention, listen up, concentrate, yoo hoo... loosely translated (translation from "Point of View")
• Kree'ta — Stop that / Go away from there
• Krist'a — Outcast

L

• Lek tol — Goodbye
• Lo — you
• Lok'nel — ancient form of martial arts training ("Affinity")
• Lo'tar — personal attendants to the System Lords, the highest honor a human can attain in their ranks ("Summit")—from Lo, you, and Tar, "human" (see Hok'tar, above); presumably, a System Lord would say that to his personal slave often.

M

• Ma'binim — What's that?
• Mai'tac — Damn
• Me'la — To make (meh-lah)
• Mel — To die/to expire/to end
• Meta — to say
• Mid'cha — Pay attention.
• Mi'la — everything (mee-lah)
• Mi'la tu'tu — Is everything all right?
• Mikta — ass (Assumed)

"And you, O'Neill, you're considered... well, you're a pain in the mikta." "Neck?" "No." ("Deadman Switch")

N

• Nafi — Right!
• Nanb'tu'qua — How are you?
• Na'noweia si'taia — "You are here to destroy me"
• Naqahdah — quartzite stone
• Ne'nai — not / do not
• Nema — Priest
• Niush nio — Everyone, look!
• Noc'ri'ton — Help me out of here!
• Nok — now
• Nowe — Here (as in handing something back)

O

• Onac — person, a sentient entity
• Or' — here is a/the (Or'onac shol'va — here is the traitor)
• Orak — unspeakable

"With those orak [i.e. Kull Warriors] at his command, Baal has tipped the balance of power in his favor." ("New Order")

P

• Pa'kree — So what's up now?/What's up?
• Pel'tak — bridge or command center (most commonly one of a Ha'tak vessel) ("Within the Serpent's Grasp")
• Prim — To join/To unite
• Prim'ta — ceremony of implantation or the larval Goa'uld itself, literally "unite with me" (first definition from "Bloodlines")

Q

• Quell'shak — Advise us!

R

• Ra'sapai — Is this yours?
• Rai — star
• Renek — Honor/Bow yourself
• Rhe'u — Stay back!
• Rin'tel'noc — Go away from here!
• Ris'vi he'u — Close the doors

S

• Satak — great/the great

"Tak satak Oz!" ("I am the Great Oz!"--said by Daniel Jackson to buy time while Selmak repaired their ship) ("Tangent")

• Se'biu — Come with us?
• Shak'ti'qua — "What do you think you are doing?"
• Shal'kek — Leave us
• Shal'kek nem'ron — (Passphrase used by members of the Jaffa Resistance to identify each other). Literally means "I die free".
• Sha'lokma'kor — Get them / Kill them
• Shes'ta — Goa'uld currency
• Shi'bio diu — Strangers
• Shol'va — traitor; also heretic, as to betray the Goa'uld is to betray one's gods

"This was the home of shol'va." ("Bloodlines")

• Shor'wai'e! — Hurry up!
• Si'nu [seenoo] — Wait!
• Swai'c — understood?

T

• Ta — I
• Tacunitagaminituron/Tacs — Automatic remote weapon, heat-seeking, small globe shaped device ("Deadman Switch")
• Tak — I am
• Tar — Human (slang)
• Tal'bet — Capitulate! Surrender
• Tal'chak'amel — I won't do that
• Tal'pac — To fall
• Tal'mac — I am / My name is
• Tal mal'tiak mal we'ia — I am honored
• Tal'pac rai — falling star ("A Hundred Days")
• Tal'shak — Come on / Do it
• Tao've'nu — You won't believe it / It's unbelievable
• Tau'ri — humans of Earth, literally "Those of First World" ("The Enemy Within")
• Teal'c — strength ("Past and Present")
• Tek'ma'tae — greeting of respect, master ("The Warrior")
• Tek'ma'tek — "friends well met" a greeting ("The Warrior")
• Terac Shri — oblivion
• Ti'bia — (thats) yours
• Ti'u — yes
• Tok — against ("The Tok'ra Part 1")
• Tok'ra — against Ra/Resistance ("The Tok'ra Part 1")
• Tuat — the underworld
• Tun'cma'le — great/super

U

• Unas — the first Goa'uld's host ("Thor's Hammer")

V

• Vi'toi — Give me that
• Vo'cume — device for recording and transmitting messages ("Rules of Engagement")

Y

• Ya'isid ma'gue — We must leave!
• Ya'ol'wa [Shaol'wa] — What is the matter?
• Yõ — Stop!/Listen!

Z

• Zat'nik'tel/Zat — sidearms used to stun, kill or disintegrate targets ("Within the Serpent's Grasp")
• Za'tarc — a being that is affected by Gou'ald mind control.

See also

• Stargate SG-1
• Goa'uld