Ancient and modern Bajoran script. (DS9: "The Reckoning")
The Bajoran language was a group of extant and extinct languages spoken by the Bajorans. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Spoken language[]
The main modern language, referred to in Bajoran as Bajor'la, was a simplified version of the Old High Bajoran, or Bajor'ara, spoken by the Bajora people in ancient times. In the 10th century CE, the Bajora developed Bajor'la to communicate with their conquests. By modern times Bajor'la had completely replaced Old High Bajoran except among the Bajoran religion's clergy. (Bait and Switch: "A Changed World")
Several regional dialects of Bajor'la existed, and native speakers could identify each other's homelands by their pronunciation. (The War of the Masters: "Remembrance of the Fallen")
Written language[]
The Bajoran language was ideographic; that is, each rune represented a single thought rather than a sound. The ideograms had evolved over time, such as in the ancient language used on the Reckoning Tablet discovered in the ruins of B'hala in 2374: each ideogram on the Reckoning Tablet corresponded to two Bajor'la ideograms. (DS9: "The Reckoning")
Examples[]
Established words and phrases[]
- Amoran - banished (DS9: "The Assignment")
- Bajor'ara - ancient Bajora tongue, now extinct outside the priesthood (Bait and Switch: "A Changed World")
- Bajor'la - modern Bajoran language (B&S: "A Changed World")
- Balik(am) - "go away" or "get lost!", written and pronounced like the Filipino word for "go back", which would also fit as a translation as seen on the scene (TNG: "Ensign Ro")
- Bantaca - name for a traditional spire made out of thousands of interlocked stones, marked with the coordinates of the town or city they represent (DS9: "Rapture")
- Bashal - equivalent to humanoid (Bait and Switch: "Flesh and Blood")
- Boryhas - term for ghosts or spirits of the dead (TNG: "The Next Phase")
- Ha'dara - Home of light (VOY: "Flesh and Blood")
- Ha'mara - religious festival to celebrate the arrival of the Emissary of the Prophets (DS9: "Starship Down")
- Insh'alhalan - the Bajorans' name for themselves in ancient times (Bait and Switch: Beat the Drums of War)
- The word seems to be a reference to the Arabic phrase "Insha'Allah", "God willing".
- Itanu - ceremony carried out when a child reaches the age of fourteen (DS9: "Accession")
- Kejal - freedom (VOY: "Flesh and Blood")
- Kosst - to be (DS9: "The Assignment")
- Peldar Joi - greeting used during the Gratitude Festival (DS9: "Fascination")
- phekk - profanity, coincidentally akin to English "fuck" (The War of the Masters: "Past Continuous")
- Shawn - swamp, rhymes with Irish name Seán (DS9: "Let He Who Is Without Sin...")
- Sher hahr kosst - profanity invoking the Pah-wraiths (Bait and Switch: Bait and Switch)
- Sobaru - blue star flower, also a feminine given name (The War of the Masters: "The Only Way to Go")
- Ye'phekk maktal kosst amojan (plural: ye'phekk makteru kosst amojan) - profanity invoking the Pah-wraiths (Bait and Switch: Bait and Switch)
Religious concepts[]
- Duranja - lamp for the dead: candle suspended by chains from four pillars (DS9: "Shakaar")
- D'jarra - ancient Bajoran caste system, abolished during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor by Kai Opaka Sulan (DS9: "Accession"; Bait and Switch: "A Changed World")
- Kosst Amojan - Pah-wraith (DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil")
- Pagh - the life energy or soul of a person (DS9: "Emissary", et al.)
- Pagh'tem'far - a sacred vision granted by the Prophets (DS9: "Rapture")
Sentences[]
- Ilyata kerim al wan bo tava! Mata ke kerim Shad'rakil Yima kossta fasa Bajor'sal Verda sora yal ire ta bo akarr ankaya! - distress signal sent in Old High Bajoran by Colonel Shad Yima, CO of RBS Verda (Bait and Switch: "A Changed World")
- Kendra'tel ahara! - cheer for the Warriors baseball team (Bait and Switch: "All's Fair in Love and War")
- Y'trel bo tava tu san yc'fel, Dahkur'etil va'yaputal! - untranslated rant at a springball foul (Bait and Switch: "Reality Is Fluid")
External links[]
- Bajoran language article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Bajoran language article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.