v50 Steam/Premium information for editors
  • v50 information can now be added to pages in the main namespace. v0.47 information can still be found in the DF2014 namespace. See here for more details on the new versioning policy.
  • Use this page to report any issues related to the migration.
This notice may be cached—the current version can be found here.

Editing DF2014:Dwarven language

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Warning: You are not logged in.
Your IP address will be recorded in this page's edit history.

You are editing a page for an older version of Dwarf Fortress ("Main" is the current version, not "DF2014"). Please make sure you intend to do this. If you are here by mistake, see the current page instead.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.

Latest revision Your text
Line 1: Line 1:
−
{{av}}
+
#REDIRECT [[DF2014:Dwarven language]]
−
{{distinguish|l1 = Khuzdul|wikipedia: Khuzdul}}
 
−
 
 
−
The '''Dwarven language''' is one of the [[language]]s the player will come across. This language is used in-game for the names of the universe, continents, rivers, dwarven governments and settlements, dwarves, [[artifact]]s and [[engraving]]s. However, as of yet, it lacks everything necessary for proper conversation, like grammar or personal pronouns.
 
−
 
 
−
==Alphabet==
 
−
The letters of the Dwarven alphabet are:
 
−
<center>
 
−
{|class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse;"
 
−
|-
 
−
 
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|1||width=2% align="center"|2
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|3||width=2% align="center"|4
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|5||width=2% align="center"|6
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|7||width=2% align="center"|8
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|9||width=2% align="center"|10
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|11||width=2% align="center"|12
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|13||width=2% align="center"|14
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|15||width=2% align="center"|16
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|17||width=2% align="center"|18
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|19||width=2% align="center"|20
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|21||width=2% align="center"|22
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|23||width=2% align="center"|24
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|25||width=2% align="center"|26
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|27||width=2% align="center"|28
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|29||width=2% align="center"|30
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|31||width=2% align="center"|32
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|33||width=2% align="center"|34
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|35||width=2% align="center"|36
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|37||width=2% align="center"|38
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|39||width=2% align="center"|40
 
−
|-
 
−
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" colspan="40" | '''Majuscule forms''' (also called '''uppercase''' or '''capital letters''')
 
−
|-
 
−
|width=2% align="center"|A||width=2% align="center"|À||width=2% align="center"|Á||width=2% align="center"|Â||width=2% align="center"|Ä||width=2% align="center"|Å||width=2% align="center"|B||width=2% align="center"|C||width=2% align="center"|D||width=2% align="center"|E||width=2% align="center"|È||width=2% align="center"|É||width=2% align="center"|Ê||width=2% align="center"|Ë||width=2% align="center"|F||width=2% align="center"|G||width=2% align="center"|H||width=2% align="center"|I||width=2% align="center"|Ì||width=2% align="center"|Í||width=2% align="center"|Î||width=2% align="center"|Ï||width=2% align="center"|K||width=2% align="center"|L||width=2% align="center"|M||width=2% align="center"|N||width=2% align="center"|O||width=2% align="center"|Ò||width=2% align="center"|Ó||width=2% align="center"|Ô||width=2% align="center"|Ö||width=2% align="center"|R||width=2% align="center"|S||width=2% align="center"|T||width=2% align="center"|U||width=2% align="center"|Ù||width=2% align="center"|Ú||width=2% align="center"|Û||width=2% align="center"|V||width=2% align="center"|Z
 
−
|-
 
−
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" colspan="40" | '''Minuscule forms''' (also called '''lowercase''' or '''small letters''')
 
−
|-
 
−
|align="center"|a||align="center"|à||align="center"|á||align="center"|â||align="center"|ä||align="center"|å||align="center"|b||align="center"|c||align="center"|d||align="center"|e||align="center"|è||align="center"|é||align="center"|ê||align="center"|ë||align="center"|f||align="center"|g||align="center"|h||align="center"|i||align="center"|ì||align="center"|í||align="center"|î||align="center"|ï||align="center"|k||align="center"|l||align="center"|m||align="center"|n||align="center"|o||align="center"|ò||align="center"|ó||align="center"|ô||align="center"|ö||align="center"|r||align="center"|s||align="center"|t||align="center"|u||align="center"|ù||align="center"|ú||align="center"|û||align="center"|v||align="center"|z
 
−
|}
 
−
</center>
 
−
 
 
−
Of these 40 letters, 25 are vowels (A, À, Á, Â, Ä, Å, E, È, É, Ê, Ë, I, Ì, Í, Î, Ï, O, Ò, Ó, Ô, Ö, U, Ù, Ú, Û); the 15 others are consonants.
 
−
 
 
−
The letters J, P, Q, W, X, and Y of the [[wikipedia:ISO basic Latin alphabet|ISO basic Latin alphabet]] do not occur in the Dwarven alphabet.
 
−
 
 
−
===Letter frequency===
 
−
 
 
−
This lists the frequency of each letter (and digraph) found in the corpus of Dwarven:
 
−
 
 
−
{| class = "wikitable sortable"
 
−
! No. !! Letter
 
−
! colspan="2"| Frequency
 
−
|-
 
−
|1 || A || 883 || 8.45%
 
−
|-
 
−
|2 || À || 14 || 0.13%
 
−
|-
 
−
|3 || Á || 18 || 0.17%
 
−
|-
 
−
|4 || Â || 35 || 0.33%
 
−
|-
 
−
|5 || Ä || 33 || 0.32%
 
−
|-
 
−
|6 || Å || 31 || 0.30%
 
−
|-
 
−
|7 || B || 308 || 2.95%
 
−
|-
 
−
|8 || C || 54 || 0.52%
 
−
|-
 
−
|9 || D || 425 || 4.07%
 
−
|-
 
−
|10 || E || 697 || 6.67%
 
−
|-
 
−
|11 || È || 16 || 0.15%
 
−
|-
 
−
|12 || É || 14 || 0.13%
 
−
|-
 
−
|13 || Ê || 29 || 0.28%
 
−
|-
 
−
|14 || Ë || 30 || 0.29%
 
−
|-
 
−
|15 || F || 50 || 0.48%
 
−
|-
 
−
|16 || G || 336 || 3.21%
 
−
|-
 
−
|17 || I || 690 || 6.60%
 
−
|-
 
−
|18 || Ì || 16 || 0.15%
 
−
|-
 
−
|19 || Í || 17 || 0.16%
 
−
|-
 
−
|20 || Î || 38 || 0.36%
 
−
|-
 
−
|21 || Ï || 32 || 0.31%
 
−
|-
 
−
|22 || K || 489 || 4.68%
 
−
|-
 
−
|23 || L || 650 || 6.22%
 
−
|-
 
−
|24 || M || 524 || 5.01%
 
−
|-
 
−
|25 || N || 531 || 5.08%
 
−
|-
 
−
|26 || NG || 103 || 0.99%
 
−
|-
 
−
|27 || O || 733 || 7.01%
 
−
|-
 
−
|28 || Ò || 18 || 0.17%
 
−
|-
 
−
|29 || Ó || 20 || 0.19%
 
−
|-
 
−
|30 || Ô || 27 || 0.26%
 
−
|-
 
−
|31 || Ö || 32 || 0.31%
 
−
|-
 
−
|32 || R || 664 || 6.35%
 
−
|-
 
−
|33 || S || 664 || 6.35%
 
−
|-
 
−
|34 || SH || 295 || 2.82%
 
−
|-
 
−
|35 || T || 623 || 5.96%
 
−
|-
 
−
|36 || TH || 318 || 3.04%
 
−
|-
 
−
|37 || U || 619 || 5.92%
 
−
|-
 
−
|38 || Ù || 16 || 0.15%
 
−
|-
 
−
|39 || Ú || 13 || 0.12%
 
−
|-
 
−
|40 || Û || 30 || 0.29%
 
−
|-
 
−
|41 || V || 86 || 0.82%
 
−
|-
 
−
|42 || Z || 232 || 2.22%
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
==Graphemics==
 
−
* [[wikipedia:digraph (orthography)|Digraphs]] ''sh'', ''th'', and ''ng''.
 
−
** ''h'' only occurs in the digraphs ''sh'' and ''th''.
 
−
* Common consonant cluster ''st''.
 
−
* Dwarven has no [[wikipedia:diphthongs|diphthongs]].
 
−
* ''c'', ''f'', and ''v'' are always followed by a vowel.
 
−
* Possible [[wikipedia: syllable structure|syllable structure]] either (C)<sup>2</sup>V(C)<sup>2</sup> or (C)V(C).
 
−
===Diacritic meaning===
 
−
The Dwarven language has five diacritics ([[wikipedia:Grave accent|◌̀]], [[wikipedia:Acute accent|◌́]], [[wikipedia:Circumflex|◌̂]], [[wikipedia:Diaeresis (diacritic)|◌̈]], and [[wikipedia:Ring (diacritic)|◌̊]]) used on five vowels (''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'', and ''u''). The ring accent only appears on ''a'' and the diaeresis accent doesn't appear on ''u''.
 
−
 
 
−
The use of diacritics in Dwarven could mean that vowels have different pronunciations, like in some European languages such as French, German, or Swedish,<br/>
 
−
or that it's a tonal language that indicates pitch, such as Chinese languages, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. The pronunciation of the diacritics is currently unknown.
 
−
 
 
−
{|class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse;"
 
−
! Diacritic
 
−
! Diacritic name
 
−
! Use in other languages
 
−
! Probable Tonal meaning
 
−
|-
 
−
| ◌
 
−
| None
 
−
| -
 
−
| Neutral pitch
 
−
|-
 
−
| ◌̀
 
−
| [[wikipedia:Grave accent|Grave accent]]
 
−
| Low pitch, stressed vowels, open vowels, short vowels.
 
−
| Low pitch
 
−
|-
 
−
| ◌́
 
−
| [[wikipedia:Acute accent|Acute accent]]
 
−
| High pitch, stressed vowels, close vowels, long vowels.
 
−
| High pitch
 
−
|-
 
−
| ◌̂
 
−
| [[wikipedia:Circumflex|Circumflex]]
 
−
| Used to represent falling pitch or long vowels.
 
−
| Falling pitch
 
−
|-
 
−
| ◌̈
 
−
| [[wikipedia:Diaeresis (diacritic)|Diaeresis (diacritic)]]
 
−
| Used to show that a vowel should be read separately (like in ''coöperate''). This is certainly not its use in Dwarven, because there are no diphthongs. It could also indicate a sound change.
 
−
| Mid pitch
 
−
|-
 
−
| ◌̊
 
−
| [[wikipedia:Ring (diacritic)|Ring (diacritic)]]
 
−
| ''Å'' is a completely separate letter from ''A'' in various Nordic alphabets, and this diacritic is only used on ''a'' in Dwarven...
 
−
| Rising pitch <!--probably...-->
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
The coincidence of ''Å'' being a separate letter in the Nordic alphabets and the ring diacritic only being used on A in Dwarven is probably just that, a coincidence. If ''Å'' is distinguished from ''A'' in Dwarven, then it is quite strange that no other accents are ever applied to it.
 
−
 
 
−
General suggestions for the pronunciation of the various languages were developed [https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/7ttsz9/suggested_pronunciation_system_for_dwarf_fortress/|Ring here.]
 
−
 
 
−
==Vocabulary==
 
−
{{main|Template:Noun dictionary|l1=Noun dictionary|Template:Verb dictionary|l2=Verb dictionary|Template:Adjective dictionary|l3=Adjective dictionary|Template:Prefix dictionary|l4=Prefix dictionary}}
 
−
 
 
−
The average word in the Dwarven language is 5.088 letters long. The longest known word is ''ngathsesh'', meaning "[[vomit]]".
 
−
 
 
−
The average word has 1.868 syllables. Generally, words either have one or two syllables.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Notes ===
 
−
Interestingly, the language lacks words like dwarf (possibly ''bistök-udos'', "hairy man", or ''duradudos'', "bearded man"), human (technically they have ''udos'' ("man")), goblin or elf (though one could use ''dák-enur'' ("tree-hug") for that). However, it is not lacking words for "[[pearl]]" (''kovest'') or "pumpkin" (''elbost'') which do not even exist in-universe.
 
−
 
 
−
The letter W does not exist elsewhere in the dwarven language, so it is unlikely that the word "dwarf" is the native moniker of dwarves for themselves. However, "dwarf" might be adopted from the original dwarven word for their own kind, and similarly they might call other races by their respective chosen monikers. "Dwarf" would then be some other language's approximation of the native dwarven pronunciation, whose correct dwarvish spelling could purely hypothetically resemble forms such as "dorf" or "dvôrfum".
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
{{D for Dwarf}}
 
−
Although dwarves are capable of creating massive and powerful fortresses, killing unimaginable beasts and demons, wiping out entire civilizations, and becoming incredibly buff after hours of constant mining, they all develop a glaring weakness known as [[cave adaptation]], which causes dwarves to puke when exposed to the outdoors. It is because of these thousands of disturbances that the vile substance accelerating out of their guts had been given the <s>stupidly long name</s> incredibly intimidating title of "ngathsesh" due to the countless victims it has affected (including the poor bastards that have to clean the damned mess).
 
−
 
 
−
{{gamedata}}
 
−
{{Language}}
 
−
 
 
−
[[Category:Language]]
 
−
[[ru:Dwarven language]]
 

Please note that all contributions to Dwarf Fortress Wiki are considered to be released under the GFDL & MIT (see Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Copyrights for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To protect the wiki against automated edit spam, we kindly ask you to solve the following CAPTCHA:

Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)

Templates used on this page:

This page is a member of 1 hidden category:

Retrieved from "https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Dwarven_language"