LetsBuild5e:Languages

What languages do people speak?

In the starting region, there is a widely-spoken common tongue, alongside some cultural languages and some primarily racial languages. (Decision: [1])

Eight languages feature prominently in the starting region; the names they have at present are temporary. A sample paragraph in English is provided, which has been translated into each language:

"The king and queen ordered the warriors to defend the town. The good warrior shoots the fierce dragon with his bow and arrows. The bountiful queen will reward the great warrior."

Each language's translation follows, along with pronunciation notes and gradually-growing linguistic information:

Common

This is the language of the largest racial groups across the whole starting region, and is an effective lingua franca. It wasn't always so; Old Imperial used to be more widespread. Common is written using a short curvilinear alphabet; it used to be written boustrophedonically (ie back-and-forth) but is now written left-to-right and punctuated.

This language is pronounced with main stress on the penultimate syllable. The Gs are all hard, and double vowels are generally diphthongs - 'ai' as the vowel in the English word high, and 'ua' as the vowel in the French word roi. All vowels are pronounced; e is the vowel in the English dress if unstressed, and the one in the English face if stressed.

Reno mu rene geros orpet partoge ubaragepti. Gero parno urimairet roxairet harraima mu gasitutua actip. Rene mobu gerot balmet denolop.

Elvish

This is the language of the nation which hugs the shores of the inland sea to the north of the starting area. It is part of a larger family of elvish tongues; the dark elves speak a different dialect to the northerners.

This language is pronounced with main stress on the antepenultimate syllable, moving forward in words with fewer than three syllables. All double consonants are geminated - that is, they are given a longer pronunciation than single instances of the same consonant. E is the vowel in the English dress; ë is a schwa; and é is the vowel in the English face.

Umren tiennal miento lierlio corrariné. Lierril orbë ri en tanté fitoéwé vayerré vorroé piorrië. Umarë vehellë lierloé marroé serronzotië.

Draconic

Said to be one of the oldest languages in the world, Draconic is the language of dragons, and the first tongue of many dragonborn.

This language contains no nasals, and a limited range of vowels. The mark ! indicates a palatal click (and not the alveolar click more usually written thus - the palatal click sign isn't as recognisable). An apostrophe represents a glottal stop. The final syllable is usually stressed.

!k’kethek esst se!ess !kssa!ek sthepthath!k. Essessk kezhith k!th k’pess !ss !kv’vess v’e kethek va’eth p’essi!k. Kethek li’ith ssa!ek p!azheth !hav’thi!k.

Collegiate

This language is the native language of a far-off land where the great bard colleges are based. In the starting region, it is spoken almost exclusively by bards and others who specialise in the arts. The language is written using a wide range of ideographs; the clusters of words that represent entire actions or entities are written in cartouches (shown as hyphenated sets in the transcription below).

This language is tonal. Vowels with acute accents are pronounced with a rising tone, those with grave accents with a falling tone, and unmarked vowels with a level tone. This language has no inherent distinctions of syllable stress, as most words are very short.

Ta-lán-ga a ta-lán-kò lór-te bero ta-bíhan ré-sho. Ta-shá-sho fen ama byà-ziró a za-byà-ting ta-girá-ràng. Ta-kere-pyo-lán-kò pyan-fo ta-tahà-sho.

Dwarvish

This is the language of isolated dwarven communities, and parts of it have passed into wider use. It is an extremely terse language, readily understood on battlefields and down mines.

This language is stressed on its antepenultimate syllables. All the vowels are short. The vowel ö has the same value as in Swedish, similar to a non-rhotic pronunciation of the English fur.

Kegur manet retlak kugrendl vaz ftekur. Fta zold akakit go mözlit tzat mazlidz gragakur rör. Kagur zener bednidz ztob ftak harg.

Old Imperial

This language was developed by half-orcs from a human language which was brought to the area at the last flip. It is structurally distinct from Orcish, but has taken on some of the sound and content of that tongue.

This language is stressed on its antepenultimate syllables. As in Dwarvish, the vowel ö has the same value as in Swedish.

Bazelum ek denengum aniv yugita viktunn dönelk garti. Skilto viktum tuniv vöstir bruga vumum dem etz pör ek irraz. Vytentzo denengum velliv böni vöra viktum.

Orcish

This is the speech of the mountain orcs, who have spoken it in some form since before the world last flipped. It has co-existed with Old Imperial for many generations, and although they are structurally different, they have come to have similar pronunciation and overlapping vocabulary.

As in Draconic, an apostrophe here represents a glottal stop. Aw is pronounced to rhyme with English how. The stress is on the antepenultimate syllable.

Vurwa’arog b’vurzhirog watira vurgbrak ghbirka m’hol. Vban vurbrak atra furg khabist got vafidra b’vagpyaw. Viggr vurzhirog vipirza mob vurbrak.

Old Mystic

Legend has it this language is derived from the True Speech revealed by the gods to an ancient hero.

This language has primary stress on initial syllables, and secondary stress on penultimate syllables in words of at least four syllables. The apostrophe again represents a glottal stop. E is the vowel of English press, except at the ends of words, where it is the vowel of English face.

Jebirotoshih are hakihen b’are kihen swe bilelmunu werido are wul’lau. Zehiposh are bilel mabolol are Shelinegu malonogu ibe wazaheprun ba zahpamunrun hagorun. Betifobesh are kihen rebotof are bilelu rebololu.

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