Xukumid Language

The primary mode of communication between members of the Xukumid race is fundamentally similar to human language - it is also sound-based and produced by modulating a tone formed in the respiratory system through manipulation of the shape of the upper respiratory tract.

The sounds produced by the Xukumid are impossible for humans to fully perceive and reproduce, however, due to too great differences in frequency and modulation apparatus. It is effectively impossible for humans and Xukumid to learn each others' langauges. Translation software installed on the dermis platform is therefore required for any inter-species communication.

Contemporary translation software renders any Xukumid dialect perfectly into any human language and vice versa, but certain words specific to their native setting, such as names and cultural concepts, require "foreign" terms when translated (for example, Xukumid, Nin Qorratada and Aduunka). In such cases, the translation software substitutes the word of closest semantic meaning from the human language most similar to Xukumid in terms of grammatical structure. For standard high-Xukumid, this closest equivalent is Somali, a tongue once spoken on Earth's African continent.