Romulan Language Introduction
The Romulan language presented in this section of the Federation Space wiki is the official language used by Opposition Forces.
Overview
Though the Romulan language is often referred to as Rihannsu in English translations, this is incorrect. The word Rihannsu is a noun referring to a group of Romulan people. The actual word used by Romulan speakers to refer to their language is Rihan.
Rihan is the official language of the Romulan Star Empire and is spoken throughout its territory. Various dialects do exist, even on Romulus itself, but in general, all speakers of Rihan can understand each other. Non-native speakers often have trouble with pronunciation, especially the heavy use of aspiration, and it is considered a difficult language to learn.
Romulan words are often formed by combining two or three words into a new construction, much in the way that the Terran language German constructs new words. For example: the Romulan word for "adverb" is rotul'hwuih, formed from rotulai, "to define," and hwuih, "verb."
History of the Language
When the followers of S'Task left the planet Vulcan to begin their journey into the stars, they abandoned the reformed language spoken by Surak and his followers in order to further distance themselves from those they saw as traitors to the old ways. They instead adopted Old High Vulcan as their language. Modern Rihan has developed from that root.
About This Section of the Wiki
Information about the Romulan language used in Federation Space comes mainly from the Catoena ih'Swaet Doaege Rihanai website. This website has been unmaintained since 2006, and attempts to contact its creators have failed. Credits are due to those who put together that site, which is the most comprehensive Romulan language website on the Internet. Fears that this site will someday vanish, as did the Vulcan Language Institute in August 2008, have prompted us to save what work has been done onto the FedSpace wiki for preservation and also for ease of use by players.
New words have been added to the dictionary from the Catoena ih'Swaet Doaege Rihanai website, and more will be added as the need arises to create them. The Romulan language used in Federation Space is not endorsed by any official Star Trek representative and is meant solely for use as entertainment. Much of the original work was taken from the novels of Diane Duane, from Star Trek episodes, and from previous use of the language by other role-playing entities. We hope that visitors to this wiki as well as players will find it useful.
