Universal

A language that a lot of people speak!

Largely based on English, but with a bunch of new terminology, either evolved over time or borrowed from other languages (as English is wont to do). Would be comprehensible for the most part by a modern English speaker, with some confusion over specific terms. Maintained by the Seersa.

Universal-Specific Words

• Alet (ah LEHT): "friend," but formal, as one would address a stranger. Plural is aletsen. Borrowed from Meridan
• Arii (ah REE): "friend," personal. An endearment. Used only for actual friends. Plural is ariisen. Additional forms include ariihir ("dear brother") and ariishir ("dear sister"). Borrowed from Meridan.
• Dami (DAH mee): "mom," borrowed from Tam-leyan
• Fin (FEEN): a unit of Alliance currency. Singular is deprecated finca, rarely used.
• Hea (HEY ah): abbreviation for Healer-assist.
• Kara (kah RAH): "child". Plural is karasen.
• Rhack: A crude term referring to copulation. About equivalent in acceptability to the modern term. The Pelted use is almost always implying violence; humans more often use it interchangeably with their own term, with the subsequent blurring of meaning (where it can also be used for casual exchanges, or fun).
• Tapa (TAH pah): "dad," in Tam-leyan. Often used among other Pelted species.

Note that these words can be combined: ariikara, ‘young friend’, or ‘ariidami’, ‘friend’s mother’, or tapasen, ‘many fathers’. Contracting or extending them to form pet names isn’t unusual (like Caramia’s ‘dumi-mami’), as is cramming them together with Universal words, like ‘grandmother’ becoming ‘grandma’ where it means ‘Dami.’

Pelted Idioms and Phrases

• "What I know about [topic] could fit into a claw paring."