Cardăsda

Cardăsda is the sole official language of the Cardassian Union. Its status within the Union is comparable to that of Mandarin Chinese under Communist rule: while minority languages continue to exist, they have no official status and are referred to as mere "dialects" even though they are linguistically divergent enough to be considered languages in their own right. 

By and large, Cardăsda words and sentences tend to run longer than their Federation Standard counterparts, in part due to a certain degree of grammatical redundancy. Perhaps because Cardassian hearing is slightly weaker than that of many other humanoid races, grammatical information has a tendency to be repeated and emphasized multiple times in a word or sentence. Given this relative deficiency (in the minds of other species), however, foreigners are often taken aback by the rapid clip of Cardăsda speech.

Phonology and transliteration
Native speakers of Federation Standard will find themselves at an advantage when it comes to the vowels of Cardăsda, which differ little from those they are familiar with. The consonants, however, often prove more troublesome--particularly the contrast between aspirated and non-aspirated consonants, many of which have no exact Federation Standard equivalents.


 * Please see the article on Ilojan transliteration for a detailed phonology and explanation of the two transliteration systems seen in the continuity.

Native Cardăsda-speakers are also likely to encounter difficulties with certain Federation Standard consonants, such as "f," "th," and "w," for which there are no Cardăsda equivalents. The other major difficulty tends to be with a number of vowel diphthongs (such as in words like "I," "out," or "toy"), which do not exist in Cardăsda.

Greetings and courtesies

 * Kiba'avzayn: "Good tidings." (Generic greeting acceptable for most situations)

Common words

 * kănar: alcoholic beverage--comes in many varieties that all fall under the name kănar even though they're made of different plants
 * Hăzăkda kănar: the blue variety of kănar, comes from the region of Hăzăk.
 * krilătbre-yezul: the spoon-shaped protrusion on the Cardassian forehead used to sense bioelectric fields. (Literally, "hunter-eye.")
 * lek: Cardassian unit of currency. Can be subdivided into thirtieths.
 * lect: orange
 * ousighukum: "Execute!" (carry out an order, superior-to-subordinate)
 * sesoghoke: "Execute!" (polite version, equal-to-equal)
 * nou: a verb-aspect marker, conveys a sense of timelessness to the action in question. Also used to indicate an act of kindness.
 * ta’cardăst: un-Cardassian. Can carry an insulting connotation depending on context, but is also acceptable neutral terminology.
 * tăspar: an edible egg, usually eaten cooked, but sometimes consumed raw by the destitute

Numbers

 * çec: one
 * bret: two
 * dovay: three
 * kreth: four
 * ghăt: five
 * thet: six
 * rhakam: seven
 * ekou: eight
 * riloç: nine
 * căz: ten

Phrases

 * Bocot kiba’avzayn edek.: "I bring good tidings."
 * Bocot kiba’avzayn çad nou.: "You bring good tidings indeed."
 * Gorhoç edek, Gul.: "I obey, Gul."
 * Serhokt’oçekse sot’oçeks bizad oste ghengu’ulouç nou: "Let the unit that shares a drink together band together."

Letter names

 * Cardăsda letters have names, much as the Norse or Hebrew alphabets of Earth. Federation Standard alphabetical order is used for convenience. (, ))


 * loubăk
 * maçliyd
 * rhăçim

Military ranks

 * Due to the constraints of the Cardăsda language, the continuity uses its own ranking system for the Cardassian Guard.  Please see the Cardassian ranks article for a detailed explanation.''

Cardăsda place-names and other proper nouns

 * Cardăsa Terăm: Cardassia Prime
 * Gălor (pl. Gă’ălour): Galor class cruiser
 * Hăzăk: Region of Cardassia Prime, home to the ethnic minority to which Speros, Macet, and Daro belong.
 * Hidekiy: Hideki class fighter
 * Laghur: Laghur fast-attack vessel

Other races (and related words)

 * terhăn (pl. terhăn-çăs): Human
 * Kardiy (pl. Kardiy-çăs): Cardăsda rendering of the terhăn insult "Cardie."
 * Maciy: Maquis
 * Terhăn Terăm: Earth (literally "Terran Prime")

Interjections and curses

 * Curses are ranked mild, moderate, or severe in obscenity. Mild curses are commonly used in public, whereas moderate ones should not be used in the presence of children, elders, or others given great deference.  Severe curses should be reserved only for extreme situations, as their effect approaches or equals the Federation Standard "F-bomb."  As a rough guide, foreigners should keep their language at least one level of severity below what a native speaker would use.


 * ghentregămst (pl.: ghentregă’ămsthe): Illegitimate son (moderate)
 * skrăgh: excrement (moderate. From Hăzăkda dialect rather than official Cardăsda.)

DMZ borderworld speech
Longtime residents on the Federation side of the Cardassian border, as well as those in the DMZ itself, often exhibit patterns and figures of speech with a heavy Cardăsda influence. This occurs in part due to the age restrictions on Universal Translator use: during their formative years, children receive heavy exposure to written and spoken Cardăsda in addition to Federation Standard, and over the years this has evolved into a unique vernacular dialect.

Especially on worlds settled a long time ago, the syntax of Federation residents now favors (though does not exclusively require) the verb-first construction of Cardăsda. Cardăsda-based figures of speech are also common in these dialects. In many cases, however, DMZ and borderworld residents take any mention of the obvious similarities as a grave insult.

Crewman Mehmet Burakgazi is one example of a Federation citizen who speaks in a very pronounced borderworld dialect.

It is unknown whether this effect has occurred to a similar extent on the Cardassian side of the border, though given the standardizing effect of the rigorous Cardassian educational system, this is doubtful.

Background
The Cardăsda language was born out of the author's desire to disassociate her work from those using the widespread "Kardasi" language. The phonology was projected from canon names and vocabulary, with slight modifications.