Languages/Sahagin

See also: Languages and Sahagin

To the untrained ear, Sahaginspeak can seem naught more than an incoherent cacophony of sputtering and gurgling—the same as it does to the trained ear. This is because the Sahagin tongue is not meant to be spoken or heard in the same manner as Eorzean. The Sahagin, being sea-dwelling creatures, spend most of their adult lives underwater, and thus have developed a language that better suits that environment. Their burbling and hissing cause unique vibrations in the water which are detected by sensitive patches of skin under the Sahagin’s arms and translated into words. The stronger the burble, the more far-reaching the resulting vibrations, or the Sahagin equivalent to a shout. It should be noted that the Sahagin—especially the youth, which spend a great deal of their development out of water—are not solely restricted to communication beneath the waves, as they have been observed utilizing a second form of brusque sibilant barks when on land. This second tongue, however, does not appear to be extensive, and is believed to be used only to relay simple commands. The pronounced amplification of these grunts can be attributed to the underdevelopment of the Sahagin’s auditory organs.

The word Shposhae—the name of a cavern in lower La Noscea—is an example of a Sahagin word meant to be uttered underwater, yet spoken above, then transliterated by someone unversed in the beast tribe’s tongue.