Languages/Dragon

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Dragonspeak

Ishgard’s recent efforts at reestablishing communication with the dragons has opened the door for a more in-depth study of the creatures' unique and ancient tongue. The following is taken from a dissertation penned by a Sharlayan student after spending several moons in Anyx Trine.

Brevity is the Soul

If I were to describe dragonspeak in one word, it would be “economic”. The dragons (more specifically, the First Brood) have had thousands of summers to trim the fat—whether it be from vocabulary, grammar, syntax, or even pronunciation. Multiple meanings have been consolidated into single terms and redundancies eliminated. Words have been shortened, simplified, or condensed to minimize oratory exertion. Instead of differences in meaning being represented by different words, inflection and breath patterns have become the norm. And then there is the simple fact that the beings who use this language have been doing so with the same partners for countless seasons. It is only expected that after communicating with someone for so long, both parties are, in a sense, able to anticipate what the other will say, further contributing to the abbreviation or omission of obsolete terms, as well as imparting even deeper meaning to words not spoken—the ultimate form of reading between the lines.

Unchanging

Languages such as Eorzean change over time as thousands upon thousands of individuals use and refine them. Those individuals eventually die after a few decades, and the next generation takes up the process of changing the language, moving it in directions the previous may not have even imagined. The path draconic takes, however, is largely dictated by the wyrms of the First Brood. These select few do not fade after a few decades, and while the language is passed down to their progeny, it is ultimately used to speak with the parents—parents who change little themselves. The result is a paradox in the sense that you have a language that exists in a form that can only be mastered by someone who has been exposed to it for thousands of years...making it difficult for any younger dragons to pick it up themselves, coupled with the unfortunate fact that the lifespan of the latter broods, while still significant, pales in comparison to that of the First.

Life and Death

One of the most basic and unique features of draconic is the presence or absence of life in each word. To the dragons, most words (with some exceptions, of course) represent a concept that either contains or is void of life. Words that are deemed to contain life, such as dragon, person, and flesh, will almost always contain a low-frequency nasal sound somewhere in them, whereas words without life, such as escape, sleep, and see, will always contain what can be best described as a wispy, breathy sound similar to lightly clearing ones throat—similar to the glottalic egressive aitch prevalent in Thavnairian. The former is represented in transcribed dragonspeak with an [n], the latter with an [h], to distinguish them from normal “n” and aitch sounds.

  • Dragon - dra[n]
  • Person - arr[n]
  • Flesh - [n]esh
  • Escape - e[h]ek
  • Sleep - so[h]m
  • See - [h]ess

What dragons consider to be life is not always as clear-cut as “living being” versus “inanimate object.” For example, the word for death, mor[n], contains the life-representing [n]. While to us, death represents the absence of life, the dragons look at it as a part of life—something that would not exist without life—and therefore add that [n]. Another example is [n]Joskh, or the word for ask. The dragons believe that life is a journey to search for the reason for existence, and that questions are what bring them closer to that goal. For the dragons, to question is to live. On the other hand, the word for sun, “soo[h],” does not contain an [n] despite being something that is considered by many cultures necessary for the cultivation of life. This is because the dragons—those of the First Brood, at least—believe that the sun is naught more than a sphere of energy providing heat and light from the heavens.

Look to the Past

There is next to no conjugation of verbs in dragonspeak—another sign of extreme efficiency. Where in Eorzean we have different forms to indicate past or present tense, as well as a compound structure to communicate future tense, dragons use the same word for all three—the only difference being the inhaling of breath while saying the verb to indicate future.

For example, let us take the word for eat—ee(h]s. The three forms are as follows:

  • Eat - ee[h]s
  • Ate - ee[h]s
  • Will Eat - [s]ee[h]s

The first two are spoken while breathing out, and pronounced like “east” minus the “t,” with the middle of the word heavily aspirated (like the slight soughing of an autumn wind through slowly decaying leaves). The latter is spoken while breathing in—an action that, when performed by a dragon, creates a slight hissing sound that attaches itself to the front of the word. This is represented by [s] when transliterating.

So why is there seemingly no linguistic difference between past and present tense? The reasoning behind this decision lies in how dragons view time and causality. The dragons believe that the present is a culmination of everything that has occurred in the past, essentially making the two one and the same. To put it simply, when one has lived tens of thousands of years, what is happening now is indistinguishable from something that has happened before.

Order

The basic structure of a sentence is Verb - Object - Subject. Where in Eorzean we would say “The peiste ate the Lalafell,” the dragons would say “Ate Lalafell peiste.” This is one example as to how important action is to the dragons as opposed to the initiator of that action. Who or what ate the Lalafell is (relatively) unimportant. Immediately recognizing that “eating” has occurred readies the dragon to decide on an appropriate action in response.

Adjectives and adverbs will almost always come after the word that they modify, again placing the importance on the action or the object of that action over the words that describe them. The sentence <The greedy peiste> [slowly ate] {the foolish Lalafell} would be constructed in dragonspeak as [Ate slowly] {Lalafell foolish} <peiste greedy>.

You also may notice the lack of articles in the dragonspeak rendition. This is because dragons no longer employ the articles a, an, or the, having come to view them as superfluous and bringing little to a sentence in the way of relevant meaning.

Similarities

Astute observers may have already picked up on the fact that some dragonspeak words appear similar to their Eorzean counterparts. Some scholars have even gone as far as claiming these similarities to Eorzean suggest that Eorzean languages may have a root in dragonspeak.

DRACONIC EORZEAN EORZEAN
r[h]ei Pray
ta[h]i Tie
wor[h] War

[1]

Known Words

The following is an abridged collection of dragonspeak words currently known to the people of Seventh Astral Era Eorzea.[2][3]

Verbs

English Dragonspeak
(word) (word)
answer tosk[h]
ask [n]oskh
be [n]
bring to[h]m
call o[h]l
change e[h]skdy[h]r
come ko[h]m
curse k[h]ur
decide/intend/choose sai[h]
die mor[n]
differ dy[h]r
disturb/destroy dys[h]
eat ee[h]s
escape e[h]sk
fall/drop fa[h]l
fight/war wor[h]
fly fo[h]l
follow olo[h]
force/drive/push oos[h]
gaze/witness/see [h]ess
get/receive/hold seet[h]
give up/surrender/sacrifice ee[h]l
give/inflict se[h]th
go ko[h]l
happen/occur/befall [h]aff
have a[h]l
hide an[h]ess
kill e[h]k mor[n]
know ahle[h]
leave/discard/forget do[h]
lie eil[n]
listen/hear/learn losk[h]
make liquid e[h]k
mix kis[h]
must/need [s]ma[h]
pillage/steal e[h]sk y a[n]
point/face f[h]ei
pray r[h]ei
presume/believe/think/plan lee[h]s
regret k[h]ash
render/make/turn e[h]sk
return fe[h]sk
revive [n]ehsk
seek ko[h]l [h]ess
shake sha[h]
sleep so[h]m
speak osk[h]
stand ta[h]n
stay sei[h]
tie/bind ta[h]i
tire so[h]
use/wield oo[h]s
wait w[h]ei
wake ro[h]s

Nouns

Dragonspeak English Grammar
age/time a[h]im
Allag Ala[n]
anger/hate ga[h]r
apology so[h]r
army sor[n]
Ascian as[h]a[n]
beast (wild beast) [n]eest
betrayal eil[n]
blood loo[n]
bone ohl
bottom t[h]om
chicken/bird fou[n]
circle/fate ak[h]
crystal t[h]arl
death mor[n]
doing do
dragon dra[n]
dragoon dra[h]or[h]
dream [h]ess y so[h]m
egg for[h][n]esh
Elezen [N]ell
end e[n]d
extinction alamor[n]
eye [h]ess[n]esh
fire fa[n]
firmament/sky/heavens we[h]s
flesh [n]esh
god es[h] e[h]d
gold go[h]l
hand ei[n]
holy see [n]ishka
Ishgard [n]ish
journey nee[h]
kin ki[n]
knowledge ohle[h]
land/Hydaelyn le[h]s
leader [n]ehd
loneliness/madness lo[h]s
love e[h]sk
man err[n]
Meracydia mera[h]
method/way w[h]ei
moon mo[h]
name e[h]m
pain a[n]g
peace slumber
person arr[n]
piece ee[h]s
power/strength stra[h]
punishment scor[h]
redemption asa[h]
root/center oo[h]r
savior [n]arr
Shiva Shee[n]
sin si[n]
sleep/slumber/calm so[h]m
song a[h]m
spirit es[h]
start sta[h]r
steel/blade l[h]ei
storm stoh
summer ma[h]r
sun soo[h]
Thordan Thor[n]
top/first e[h]d
tree gro[n]
truth s[h]is
vengeance sja[h]s
wall/shield/conviction s[h]all
want/desire wa[n]
water wa[h]
will es[h] y [n]esh
woman herr[n]

Adjectives

English Dragonspeak
after/later fta[h]r
again k[h]ei
ancient fa[h]
arrogant gah[n]
not now for[h]
blind an[h]ess
born or[n]
calm a[h]lm
confused koo[h]
corrupted/rotten te[n]
covered k[h]ad
deep dee[h]
during fee[h]r
eager/zealous e[h]ll
easy ee[h]z
empty/hole/alone e[h]s
enchanted tar[h]
eternal afa[h]
few yuu[h]
final f[h]ail
good oo[h]d
greedy war[n]
half a[h]f
high/up ai[h]
inside dai[h]
large/great/many la[h]r
light lye
little/weak my[h]k
lost/forsaken no[n]
low/down lo[h]
new nuu[h]
promised al
quiet le[n]s
red rhe
right ais
sad k[h]ai
slow so[h]l
strong ong
stupid/foolish/young ya[h]
too/beyond tou
wicked/treacherous eil
wrong nais

Others

English Dragonspeak Notes
1st Person (I/We) a[n]
2nd/3rd Person (You) i[n]
It a[h]
on y
of y
negative n/no If the verb already starts with an "n" sound, the negative becomes "no"
empasize order na Used at the end of an order (ie. Eat your vegetables!) for emphasis.
to/for ool
from oom
with ith
Yes ess
No no
why/how w[h]a[h]
what/where ta[h]
now/still a
though kal
But ka
because k[h]as
all/always ala
as is/like/(even) if ahs
one wa[h]
two to[h]
three thra[h]
four fto[h]
five [h]ai
six e[h]ch
seven se[h]n
eight e[h]i
nine nha[h]
ten te[h]
hundred ha[h]
thousand tha[h]

References