Linguistics/Phonology in D&D

[Doppleganger]

What do the general "category/group/type" languages sound like in your campaign?
OR
What do you think they should sound like? (or look like using English spellings), in your opinion as a player or DM.



Give an example of how to write a brief sentence like, say:

"The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."

In some of the more difficult languages like:

1) Auran
2) Aquan
3) Ignan
4) Terran
5) Celestial
6) Abyssal
7) Infernal
8) Draconic
9) Druidic
10) Sylvan
11) Undercommon

Using English spellings.

(Please, no need to mention Elf/Dwarf/Orc etc because those more common languages are a bit easier to imagine and examples have already been attempted in various sources)

For example:

Ignan - "Crass ch'klisss kloc Sssosh ch'chikhh"

 

[Henry]

Many people picture Draconic as a series of growls, but I picture draconic as more like Latin - each syllable specifically pronounced, each term perfectly declensed and conjugated, and a very flowing language overall. However, instead of where Latin has about 8 declensions and 6 conjugations, Draconic would have DOZENS, to more accurately define ownership, passage of time, etc.

After all, if dragons are immesely smart and long-lived, they would have likely developed a language that utilized their immense brain-power and egoes.

 

[randomling]

Hm, I'm a student of phonology, so this is an interesting question. I hadn't really thought of this before, though. It might be interesting to see what could be done to make the elemental languages "sound" like the elements they are spoken by.

So Aquan might be full of liquids (l, r, and y sounds) and possibly nasals (m, n, ng). Terran might be primarily made up of stops (p, b, b, t, d, g, k) and back vowels (u as in food, a as in father, o as in caught). I like your idea of Ignan being full of fricatives (hissing sounds like s, f, v, z, sh) and affricatives (ch and j sounds).

I too imagine Draconic being a very formalized language with an extremely complex syntax but also -- considering the different physiology of a dragon -- possibly sounds that humans would find difficult or impossible to produce.

Also, there is a wealth of language sounds that we simply don't use in English. I would imagine that one way of differentiating between "easy" and "difficult" languages would be the inventory of sounds the language uses. So while Common, Elven, Dwarven and the like might only have English sounds, Undercommon or Ignan might use sounds that English speakers don't know how to make.

 

[Carnifex]

1) Auran
2) Aquan
3) Ignan
4) Terran
5) Celestial
6) Abyssal
7) Infernal
8) Draconic
9) Druidic
10) Sylvan
11) Undercommon

Lessee:

1) Would sound like elvish, except more whispery and sibilant, but with intonations that can ebcome very loud if the speaker is excited in some manner.
2) Sibilant and watery
3) Kinda... ashy...
4) Sample sentence - 'rumble. rumble rumble rumble.' Basically growls and very throaty noises.
5) Like some kind of more eloquent and beautiful Latin.
6) Random, confusing, and nasty-sounding.
7)Like some kind of more eloquent yet very, very menacing.
8) A variant latin-sounding one, with extra sibilance added in as well as a certain underlying sense of power to its words.
9)Druidic - like gaelic.
10) Sylvan - either gaelic or elvish.
11) Undercommon - guttural language, mongrol of many others.

There's anotehr language in my campaign, which replaces draconic as the standard 'arcane language', which is an odd mixtrue of harsh, growly guttural sounds and sibilat, hissed intonations.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Manual of the Planes gives descriptions for many of the languages you mention, IIRC.

Although I don't use most D&D languages in my game, I do have quite a lot of languages and slightly more sophisticated rules for them - you can see the details here if you are interested:

http://www.starguild.freeserve.co.uk/frp/kyri_lang.htm

I give notes for the pacing of languages, the sound of them and in some cases the spelling.

Sometimes I use real-world analogies, because it makes it easy for PC's to understand or use... whether that be a french accent for Southlander, Celtic (Irish/Scottish) for Northern, Russian/Klingon for dwarves etc.

 

[Deadguy]

Re: Re: Linguistics/Phonology in D&D

There's anotehr language in my campaign, which replaces draconic as the standard 'arcane language', which is an odd mixtrue of harsh, growly guttural sounds and sibilat, hissed intonations.

Curiously Carnifex, the draconic tongue in my own Shattered World campaign is similar. I can articulate a sample of Haarss'h, as it is called, for my players, which is important as it is the language of 'clerical' magic. Of course, I also note that it can't really be properly pronounced except by those with a three-foot long neck and tongue! [Actually I give a free bennie to higher level Bards here - they speak all languages they know as though the were natives.]

I also made the choice that the language of the cacodaemons (they replace both demons and devils, and have the hideous elements of both groups!), is beautiful to the ear. This tobngue, used as the language of Arcane Magic, is sophisticated and subtle, and looks wholly inappropriate coming from abeing that combines the worst traits of a bat, a gorilla and a boar!

That gives me an idea for Infernal, in a standard D&D campaign. The language should be very subtle, shading into easy nuances that may or may not show your true meaning. Naturally any contract written in Infernal needs a Real Lawyer to decipher the consequences!

 

[Lela]

I have druidic as a quiet language that blends perfectly with the surounding environment, impossible for others to detect. While this does give druids a little extra power (not much really), it's mostly flavor. And it helps explain why no one else can speak it.

Of course, if they're in a city or other non-natural (read non-natureal) area, it comes across as something like the druid making windy noises. This is almost always dissmissed by others as a druid absentmindedly wishing to be back in the forest. Druids are more than willing to let this idea flow free and rarely do they even tell their closest friends otherwise.

 

[Desdichado]

Y'know, I consider myself an amateur linguist with a fair to middlin' knowledge of the subject, but it still never occured to me to try to describe the language itself very much, other than to occasionally call a particular language harsh or gutteral, or another soft and musical, etc. Otherwise, seems like going to a lot of work for detail that there's no real way to introduce to your players.