Languages/Dragon
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 |
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
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Eorzea: Volume II, page 39-40
- ↑ [Lodestone Post: "A Lesson in Dragonspeak"]
- ↑ [Lodestone Post: "Dragonspeak Dictionary", July 2011]