Kajira is the term for female slave or "slave-girl" in John Norman

John Norman

John Frederick Lange, Jr. , better known under his pen name John Norman, is a professor of philosophy and an author. He is best known for his Gor novel series.-Biography:...

's Gor

Gor

Gor , the Counter-Earth, is the alternate-world setting for a series of 30 novels by John Norman that combine philosophy, erotica and science fiction...

novels. Slaves in the Gorean

Gorean

The Gorean philosophy is a philosophy espoused in the science fiction novels by John Norman. A number of fans of Norman's work have attempted to live their lives according to this philosophy...

 lifestyle will refer to themselves as kajirae. The phrase "la kajira" is said to mean "I am a slave-girl." in the Gorean language, the most widely-spoken lingua franca in the known regions of the planet Gor (this is one of the few complete Gorean-language sentences given in the Gor novels).

The word is usually seen in the feminine form "kajira" (pl.

Plural

In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...

 "kajirae"), as most slaves in the Gorean lifestyle are female; the masculine forms are "kajirus" and "kajiri" (following the rules of Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 nominative adjective morphology, as seen also with words such as "alumnus"/"alumna", etc.). The construction "kajiras" is incorrect, but is occasionally seen in third-party writing.

There exist various techniques in Gorean culture to teach Gorean slaves corresponding conduct. Slave tasks may include not only sexual slavery, but also the ability to maintain a household, possess artistic skills, wear an appealing outfit and address the master in certain manner. Gorean slave women are branded, which means they are marked with certain signs burned into the flesh on being enslaved. To mark a slave as a particular owner's property, a collar with the owner's name is placed upon the slave (male and female slaves are collared.).

External links

• Branding of kajirae
• Dictionary of Gorean terms