Edgar Burroughs: Tarzan the Terrible

And then they turned once more toward the north and with light hearts and brave hearts took up their long journey toward the land that is best of all—home.

From conversations with Lord Greystoke and from his notes, there have been gleaned a number of interesting items relative to the language and customs of the inhabitants of Pal-ul-don that are not brought out in the story. For the benefit of those who may care to delve into the derivation of the proper names used in the text, and thus obtain some slight insight into the language of the race, there is appended an incomplete glossary taken from some of Lord Greystoke's notes.

A point of particular interest hinges upon the fact that the names of all male hairless pithecanthropi begin with a consonant, have an even number of syllables, and end with a consonant, while the names of the females of the same species begin with a vowel, have an odd number of syllables, and end with a vowel. On the contrary, the names of the male hairy black pithecanthropi while having an even number of syllables begin with a vowel and end with a consonant; while the females of this species have an odd number of syllables in their names which begin always with a consonant and end with a vowel.

A. Light.

ab. Boy.

Ab-on.

Acting gund of Kor-ul-ja.

Ad. Three.

Adad. Six.

Adadad. Nine.

Adaden. Seven.

Aden. Four.

Adenaden. Eight.

Adenen. Five.

A-lur. City of light.

An. Spear.

An-un. Father of Pan-at-lee.

As. The sun.

At. Tail.

Bal. Gold or golden.

Bar. Battle.

Ben. Great.

Bu. Moon.

Bu-lot (moon face). Son of chief Mo-sar.

Bu-lur (moon city). The city of the Waz-ho-don.

Dak. Fat.

Dak-at (fat tail). Chief of a Ho-don village.

Dak-lot. One of Ko-tan's palace warriors.

Dan. Rock.

Den. Tree.

Don. Man.

Dor. Son.

Dor-ul-Otho (son of god). Tarzan.

E. Where.

Ed. Seventy.

El. Grace or graceful.

En. One.

Enen. Two.

Es. Rough.

Es-sat (rough skin). Chief of Om –at's tribe of hairy blacks.

Et. Eighty.

Fur. Thirty.

Ged. Forty.

Go. Clear.

Gryf. "Triceratops. A genus of huge herbivorous dinosaurs of the group Ceratopsia. The skull had two large horns above the eyes, a median horn on the nose, a horny beak, and a great bony hood or transverse crest over the neck. Their toes, five in front and three behind, were provided with hoofs, and the tail was large and strong."

Webster's Dict. The gryf of Pal-ul-don is similar except that it is omnivorous, has strong, powerfully armed jaws and talons instead of hoofs.

Coloration: face yellow with blue bands encircling the eyes; hood red on top, yellow underneath; belly yellow; body a dirty slate blue; legs same. Bony protuberances yellow except along the spine-these are red. Tail conforms with body and belly. Horns, ivory.

Gund. Chief.

Guru. Terrible.

Het. Fifty.

Ho. White.

Ho-don. The hairless white men of Pal-ul-don.

Id. Silver.

Id-an. One of Pan-at-lee's two brothers.

In. Dark.

In-sad. Kor-ul-ja warrior accompanying Tarzan, Om –at, and Ta-den in search of Pan-at-lee.

In-tan. Kor-ul-lul left to guard Tarzan.

Ja. Lion.

Jad. The

Jad-bal-lul. The golden lake.

Jad-ben-lul. The big lake.

Jad-ben-Otho. The Great God.

Jad-guru-don. The terrible man.

Jad-in-lul. The dark lake.

Ja-don (the lion-man). Chief of a Ho-don village and father of Ta-den.

Jad Pele ul

Jad-ben-Otho. The valley of the Great God.

Ja-lur (lion city). Ja-don's capital.

Jar. Strange.

Jar-don. Name given Korak by Om –at.

Jato. Saber-tooth hybrid.

Ko. Mighty.

Kor. Gorge.

Kor-ul-gryf. Gorge of the gryf.

Kor-ul-ja. Name of Es-sat's gorge and tribe.

Kor-ul-lul. Name of another Waz-don gorge and tribe.

Ko-tan. King of the Ho-don.

Lav. Run or running.

Lee. Doe.

Lo. Star.

Lot. Face.

Lu. Fierce.

Lu-don (fierce man). High priest of A-lur.

Lul. Water.

Lur. City.

Ma. Child.

Mo. Short.

Mo-sar (short nose). Chief and pretender.

Mu. Strong.

No. Brook.

O. Like or similar.

Od. Ninety.

O-dan. Kor-ul-ja warrior accompanying Tarzan, Om –at,

and Ta-den in search of Pan-at-lee.

Og. Sixty.

O-lo-a (like-star-light). Ko-tan's daughter

Om. Long.

Om –at (long tail). A black.

On. Ten.

Otho. God.

Pal. Place; land; country.

Pal-e-don-so

(place where men eat). Banquet hall.

Pal-ul-don

(land of man). Name of the country.

Pal-ul-ja. Place of lions.

Pan. Soft.

Pan-at-lee. Om –at's sweetheart.

Pan-sat (soft skin). A priest.

Pastar. Father.

Pastar-ul-ved. Father of Mountains.

Pele. Valley.

Ro. Flower.

Sad. Forest.

San. One hundred

Sar. Nose.

Sat. Skin.

So. Eat.

Sod. Eaten.

Sog. Eating.

Son. Ate.

Ta. Tall.

Ta-den (tall tree). A white.

Tan. Warrior.

Tarzan-jad-guru. Tarzan the Terrible.

To. Purple.

Ton. Twenty.

Tor. Beast.

Tor-o-don. Beastlike man.

Tu. Bright.

Tu-lur (bright city). Mo-sar's city.

Ul. Of.

Un. Eye.

Ut. Corn.

Ved. Mountain

Waz. Black.

Waz-don. The hairy black men of Pal-ul-don.

Waz-ho-don (black white men). A mixed race.

Xot. One thousand.

Yo. Friend.

Za. Girl.

I have used the Pal-ul-don word for gorge with the English plural, which is not the correct native plural form. The latter, it seems to me, is awkward for us and so I have generally ignored it throughout my manuscript, permitting, for example, Kor-ul-ja to answer for both singular and plural. However, for the benefit of those who may be interested in such things I may say that the plurals are formed simply for all words in the Pal-ul-don language by doubling the initial letter of the word, as k'kor, gorges, pronounced as though written kakor, the a having the sound of a in sofa. Lions, d' don.