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Thieves’ : A primer for the language of larceny

by Aurelio Locsin

INTRODUCTION As with , modifiers may be doubled. This indicates an This work is made possible through the efforts of several increase in quality or intensity. For example, sio kal means “big linguists, many of whom have lost their lives in their attempts to box”; siosio kal means “very big box”; and siosio kalkal means learn as much as they could about Thieves’ Cant. Although this “very big boxes.” primer and the accompanying are admit- tedly incomplete, this is believed to be the most extensive NUMBERS compilation to date of the language. Many numbers, including 0 through 10 and some higher numbers, are included in the accompanying dictionary as se- AND parate entries. To create other numbers, simply “add” two or in Cant are sounded the same way as in these more “number ” together. For example, “seventeen” is English words: “a” as in bad; “” as in bed; “i” as in bid; “o” as in imboula, or “10” (imbo) plus “7” (ula); and “seventy” is ulaimbo, lone; “u” as in suit; and “y” as in sly. Optionally, for easier which translates as “seven tens.” pronunciation by those accustomed to English, “i” can be Ordinal numbers, to show the order of an item in a succes- sounded like the “e” in see when the “i” appears in the middle or sion of items, are formed by adding the “nk” to the at the end of a , and the “y” is shortened to sound cardinal number (or “ink,” if the number ends in a ). like an “i” if the resulting or word is easier to pronounce Thus, bi (one) + nk = bink (first); lim (five) + ink = limink (fifth). that way. Fractions are formed by adding the “ob” (which literal- Vowel combinations such as “ai” or “oe” are pronounced by ly means “opposite”) to the appropriate number: ob + la (two) = sounding each vowel separately. For instance, the Cant word obla (one half); ob + lim (five) = oblim (one fifth). “laimbo” (twenty) is pronounced la-im-bo and not laym-bo. In speaking the language, all words in Cant are stressed PRONOUNS primarily on the first syllable. Many words of four or more Pronouns are words used to represent nouns. The following will be secondarily stressed on the other odd-num- pronouns exist in Cant: bered syllables if such accenting makes the word more easily First person singular, o (l, me); second person singular, distinguished or easier to pronounce. e (you); third person singular, i (he, she, it, him, her). There is no specific Cant , because Cant is only First person plural (including the person spoken to), rarely encountered in written form. For the purpose of this oeo (us, we and you); second person plural, oe (you); introduction to the language, the written conventions of the third person plural, ii (they, them). are used to “spell” the Cant words. Note that First person plural (excluding the person spoken to), many letters of the English alphabet have no in oo (us, we but not you). Cant; “c” and “d” are two noteworthy examples. The word oo is a pronoun form peculiar to Cant, used when the speaker means “us” or “we” to include everyone but the NOUNS person(s) being spoken to. It has been observed that this pro- Nouns are words that represent things: inanimate objects, is most often employed in discussions pertaining to the living things, or . Articles (a, an, the in English) do not division of treasure. exist in Cant. All Cant nouns are given in the singular form, and When a pronoun is used with a , it is generally attached to plural forms of those nouns are produced by simply doubling the end of the verb form: ken means “to steal”; keno is “I steal”; the word. Example: kene is “you steal,” and so forth. When a pronoun precedes a verb (sometimes done for clarity English Cant Literal translation or emphasis) or stands by itself, a “t” is placed before the simple box kal (a, the) box form of the pronoun: Ti ken kal means “He steals (is stealing) boxes kalkal (the) box-box the box”; keni kal means essentially the same thing, but with less emphasis placed on the “he” and more emphasis on what MODIFIERS “he” is doing. Modifiers are words that describe other words. In English, A relative pronoun introduces a that describes a noun. these words are called and adverbs. Those types do In English, these are words such as “which,” “who,” and “that.” not exist as such in Cant. Instead, any modifier can modify The Cant language has only two relative pronouns: nita, used to either a noun or a verb, depending on its location within the refer to persons, and om, used for animals or objects. Examples: and with respect to the words around it. In the exam- Cant: Sen ark nita tyn tif. ples below, note the location of the modifiers and how their Literal translation: Run man who has helmet. placement affects the of the sentences, even though English: The man who has the helmet is running. both example sentences contain the same words: English: The fast man runs slowly. Cant: Sen simar om tyn tif. Cant: Obok sen koma ark. Literal translation: Run that has helmet. Literal translation: Slowness run speed man. English: The dog that has the helmet is running.

English: The slow man runs quickly. Cant: Koma sen obok ark. Word order is extremely rigid in Cant, since only by its posi- Literal translation: Speed run slowness man. tion in a sentence can the function or relationship of a word be

D RAGON 35 determined. The following word-order rules apply to , and/or pronouns: Mone kawabi translates as “You are a cleric.” , and complete sentences. Mon is never used to express the possession of a quality or Standard word order: location. Instead, tyn (to have) and bilin (to stand) are used, time+verb++place+indirect +direct object respectively, for these purposes: Tyni sio literally translates as (Note: Nouns used to modify or explain other nouns always “Have-he tallness,” and its English equivalent is “He is tall.” Ly precede the word they modify.) lakat bilini translates literally as “In book stand-it,” and its Cant: Labne kene kal. English equivalent is “It is in the book.” Literal translation: Yesterday steal-you box. English: You stole the box yesterday. NEGATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS Question word order: Cant uses the single word hibni to express negation. The question particle+question word+standard word order word negates an entire sentence when it is placed at the begin- (The question particle ste serves as a verbal ning: Hibni bano literally means “No go-I” or “Not go-I,” and its and is always used to introduce an interrogative sentence.) English equivalent is “I am not going.” Cant: Ste tehel labne ken kal. To negate individual parts of a sentence, hibni is placed Literal translation: ? Who yesterday steal box before the word it negates: Keno urtel moky hibni kanab means English: Who stole the box yesterday? “I am stealing the diamond but not the chest.” Command word order: Hibni may also be used to negate an entire clause by placing subject+verb+time+place+manner+indirect obj.+direct obj. it at the beginning of the clause: Labne bano moky hibni burono Cant: Te ken kal! means “I went yesterday but I didn’t stay.” Literal translation: You steal box! English: Steal a box! PREPOSITIONS Prepositions are words that show relationships between ob- AND TENSES jects. Unless specified otherwise, Cant prepositions are used The basic (infinitive) form of a verb in Cant ends in the letter as in English. “n.” (Note that some words that end in “n” are not verbs.) The Ro (of) is used to show possession only: lakat ro ark means basic form does not change, except for the possible addition of “(the) book of (the) man,” or “the man’s book.” a trailing pronoun. Tenses are indicated by placing a time Ka (on) is used with horizontal surfaces, while li (on) is used expression at the front of the sentence. Indefinite past and with vertical surfaces, such as a wall, upon which things are future can be indicated by using the word for future (kar) or hung or affixed: Bilin lakat ka ruba means “The book is on the past (bir) in front of the sentence. Verbs used without accom- table”; Bilin likob li liki ro obark means “The necklace is on the panying time indicators are in the present tense. Examples: woman’s neck.” Cant: Labne bano. Literal translation: Yesterday go-I. WORD FORMATION English: I went yesterday. New words may be formed in Cant by combining two or more simpler words, trimming letters from one word or another if Cant: Kar bano. such a shortening does not cause misinterpretation and makes Literal translation: Future go-I. the resulting word easier to pronounce: hunar (death) + hin English: I will go. (indefinite future) (room) = hunarhin (crypt), which is shortened to hunahin. Forming a noun from a verb is usually done by simply drop- Modal auxiliaries: These are verbs used with other verbs to ping the final “n,” and possibly the vowel that precedes it, from form expressions of mood, such as the words “can,” “may,” the verb form: hunaran (to die) becomes hunar (death); asefan “might,” and “should” in English. Modal auxiliaries in Cant are (to drink) becomes asefa (drink). placed before the main verb. The opposite of a word can be formed by attaching the prefix The Cant word sib (may) expresses permission to do some- ob to the front of the word: ob + ark (man) = obark (woman); ob thing. Miban (must) expresses compulsion; it may also be used + ine (day) = obine (night). like the word “should” would be used in English. Beben (can) expresses the ability to do something. Kutin (might) is used differently from sib (may). Kutin ex- presses conditional action: something that can be done if Assembling the dictionary something else is done first. Example: Cant: Kutin bano beti mublini. Each of the four-page segments following this page can be Literal translation: Might go-I if rain-it. removed from the center of the magazine and folded and English: I might go if it rains. trimmed to produce a pair of pocket-sized translation diction- Takin (would) is not necessarily related to will or desire. It is aries for Thieves’ Cant. Pages 37,38,43, and 44 will make the used to express determination to do something in a conditional Cant-to-English volume of the dictionary, and pages 39 through 42 comprise the English-to-Cant volume. sentence. Example: Remove each four-page section from the magazine by care- Cant: Beti tyni barbo, takin bano. fully bending the staples out; then re-close the staples to keep Literal translation: If have-he boat, would go-l. the remainder of the magazine bound together. To construct English: If he had a boat, I would go. the English-to-Cant volume, for example, hold that four-page sheet in front of you so that page 40 is right side up on your left. The verb Mon: This word is loosely equivalent to the verb “is” Fold the top of the sheet down, using the line across the middle or “to be” in English. Its primary use is as a helping verb in of pages 39 and 42 as a guide, to meet the bottom of the sheet. passive sentences. Passive sentences differ from active sen- Then fold the right-hand half of this strip across to meet the tences in that in the former, the action is performed on the left-hand part. This produces a four-sheet thickness of paper subject. In the latter, the subject performs the action. Examples: which is half the size of a regular magazine page. The third and final fold brings the left-hand edge of this sheet Labne keno fuid translates as “I stole the crown yesterday.” over to meet the right-hand edge, using the vertical line be- This is an active sentence. The subject (I) is doing the stealing. tween page 16 and page 1 of the dictionary as a guide. Trim the Labne mon keno fuid translates as “The crown was stolen bottom, right-hand, and top edges of the dictionary to the yesterday.” This is a passive sentence. The person or thing proper size, and put two or three staples along the crease to responsible for the action is not indicated; instead, the sen- bind all the dictionary pages in place. tence indicates that the action was performed on the crown. Mon is also used to denote equivalency between two nouns

36 OCTOBER 1982

D RAGON 45 Language rules leave lots of room for creativity in your campaign

by A. D. Rogan

Language is one of those “grey areas” “speak” or “language” for this level of and Trollish, and 60% of them can learn in the AD&D™ game , partially , which is almost surely Orcish and/or Hobgoblin. Of course, the carved into the rules and partially left to non-verbal or sub-verbal. Naturalists nixies (who are only an example; there the discretion and invention of the DM. have written many books on animal are lots to choose from) have no align- That the DM was hard pressed to keep communication, but one does not need ment , being neutral, but they still even one jump ahead of the players in to go into this topic in great depth for seem short-changed. the free-wheeling early days of D&D® game purposes. This “short-changing” will be explored play was shown by author Lee Gold in “Speaking” to animals is a matter of further later, but for our immediate con- the excellent “Languages,” from , facial expression, and body lan- sideration: How come all of these low an early edition of DRAGON™ Magazine guage. The communication with and/or average monsters speak and reprinted in the Best of The Dragon® between semi- intelligent creatures must each other’s languages? Because they anthology. Lee told of incidents such as be very similar, though these latter types always seem to be making common players who opted to learn “Wall” might comprehend a few simple words. cause against the good guys? Surely in order to wrest secrets from the very True speech begins among beings of not, and even if it were so, the troops walls of the DM’s dungeons. Sure, it was low intelligence. Monsters on this level would not need to communicate so free- worth a try; after all, if they have ears. . . . have their own language, and perhaps a ly with one another. Multi-lingual lead- Thankfully, we AD&D referees do not smattering of Common. At least, that is ers or interpreters would suffice. have to put up with that sort of thing. Or one way to interpret the Monster Manu- These languages — Orcish, Goblin, do we? While the Great Tomes — the al, on the basis of the that “Mi- Hobgoblin, Gnollish, Kobold, Ogrish, Players Handbook, Monster Manual, notaurs have their own language and are and Trollish —are obviously related and Dungeon Masters Guide, FIEND FOLIO™ 25% likely to speak common as well.” probably fairly simple. They may have Tome, and the DEITIES & DEMIGODS™ However, there are apparent exceptions evolved from an early common language Cyclopedia — refer constantly to lan- to the general rule about low intelligence as the monsters evolved from a common guage use, both oral and written, even and language. Ogres, for instance, while stock. Or, all these species may have the most conscientious DM will search in of low intelligence, are real chatterboxes: learned language from one source — my vain for a consistent of speech they speak their own tongue, the lan- choice is the Drow — and developed use and in The Rules. guage of chaotic evil, Orcish, Trollish, that are separate but nearly This is no wonder, for the subject is and “the of stone giants.” (By the enough related for even sub-average in- complex, and a full treatment might fail way, “stone giant” would seem to be a telligence to learn. This theory accounts to interest any but specialists. On a prac- misprint for “hill giant.“) Hill giants, while for the otherwise baffling fact that elves tical gaming level, I have attempted to no less intelligent than ogres, can speak know all these languages. Furthermore, deal with language and literacy under only their own dialect and their align- Elvish must have influenced modern three broad headings: non-humanoid, ment tongue, unless they are in the lucky Gnomish, Halfling, and even Dwarvish, humanoid (with special emphasis on 50% who can manage Ogrish. Creatures though these languages originated else- characters), and magical. of low intelligence don’t have written where. It simplifies the “literacy prob- Excluding the use of magic, the real languages, and individuals of those types lem” considerably if one assumes that the joker in the language pack, it is probably never achieve literacy. written forms of these languages have not possible to communicate at all with Several monsters are defined as low to their bases in the Elvish alphabet. See non- intelligent beings, nor to assume average (low), or simply average (low) Chart A for one suggestion of how these that they communicate between them- intelligence. Ironically, many of these languages interrelate. selves. It is possible to communicate creatures speak more languages than When we arrive at average intelligence with animal ; gnomes, for creature types with higher intelligence. (8-10), we are dealing with creatures instance, “can speak with burrowing The very intelligent nixies speak only who can learn other languages and can mammals” and couatl speak “most ser- their own language and Common, while learn to read and write if they are physi- pent and avian languages,” according to stupid little orcs can babble on in Orcish, cally equipped to do so — no blink the books. This implies that animals can lawful evil, Goblin, Ogrish, and Hobgob- or pegasi, please, although this point will also communicate with one another. But . Gnolls, also low average in intelli- be examined more deeply later. Most it is not really useful to use terms like gence, all speak Gnollish, chaotic evil, , characters or otherwise, have

46 OCTOBER 1982 ‘Do not allow unlimited communication between an unprepared party and just anyone they happen to meet. . . . Even a comprehend languages spell doesn’t confer the ability to ask intelligent questions.’

at least an 8 intelligence. Since charac- she is spoke” in one lake may be incom- seems a formidable task, but it need be ters may learn extra languages, up to prehensible in another. The accent of a no harder than making political and cul- seven with an intelligence of 18, in addi- birch-tree dryad may sound odd to an tural divisions. All the inhabitants of a tion to whatever alignment tongue they oak-tree dryad. Keep this in when, are likely to speak the same lan- have and the language they might know say, a druid character takes a course in guage, allowing for and possible by virtue of their race, it seems only fair Dryadian and expects to be understood scattered pockets of immigrants or abo- to grant additional languages to mon- all over your map. riginal inhabitants. Neighboring coun- sters with equal intelligence, at least for On the other hand, the languages of tries may have a common language, or a the humanoid monsters. While there is, more mobile creatures will be more con- separate but very similar one. A strong perhaps, no very good for the sistent throughout a wider area. The empire might have only one language, if very intelligent Giant Owl and Dragon study of Triton might be a better invest- only for official use. All nobles and most Turtle to learn other tongues than their ment of a character’s time and gold merchants and tradesmen would know own, why should the Nymph — which pieces. the imperial tongue. There may be a qualifies for four or five extra languages If the speech of fabulous races is so court language used, as Persian was by Players Handbook standards — have diverse, surely the tongues of man are throughout the medieval Arab world, by not even Common, according to the just as various. DM’s can assign lan- diplomats, scholars, and poets. Undoubt- Monster Manual? Extending and expand- guage families to large-scale areas of edly every world has, as does ours, an- ing upon the Middle Elfin language sec- settlement and define separate tique languages, some known only to tion of Chart A, we can add two new languages and/or dialects for smaller savants, some entirely lost save for a few language families, Aquatic and Sylvan areas. mysterious inscriptions. (see Chart B). Keep in mind a few thoughts on the If this sounds complicated, bear in Our nymph, then, could speak not growth and change of language: Lan- mind that the average party of adventur- only her own tongue and perhaps Com- guage changes quickly under the stimu- ers isn’t going to have to tackle the Tow- mon but also Merspeech, Triton, Sea El- lus of conquest, migration, trade, or war. er of Babel. Assume that they will man- vish, and possibly Dolphinese or Hippo- A conquest may impose a dual language age to communicate somehow with most campian, if she is a sea nymph. A lake or system on an area, with the victors of the humans they meet, if only in halt- river nymph’s additional languages might speaking one tongue and the conquered ing Common. Do not, however, allow un- be Common, Nixie, Dryadian, and Wood another. This was the case in England limited communication between an un- Elvish. after the Norman Conquest. Gradually prepared party and just anyone they The languages of creatures who don’t the two tongues blend into a new lan- happen to meet. Let them learn the get around much may vary widely from guage; in England the process took speech of the country, find someone locale to locale, with widely differing ac- about 300 years and the new language, who speaks theirs, or hire an interpreter. cents, dialects, and even actual different Middle English, was quite different from Even a comprehend languages spell languages, as similar and yet as dissimi- its parents, French and Anglo-Saxon. doesn’t confer the ability to ask intelli- lar as Spanish and Portuguese. Nixie “as Assigning language to an entire world gent questions.

D RAGON 47 The Players Handbook allows a hu- has no alphabet of its own; something ists, but there is no historical justifica- man character only Common and his/her “written in Common” usually employs tion at all for including druids. All that we alignment language. Thieves and druids the Elvish characters. Use discretion in know about the true druids and their cul- have a technical jargon, presumably to assigning Common to “monsters,” hu- ture indicates that they were anti-literate compensate for their lack of an align- man and otherwise. The more isolated a and that the bulk of a druid’s education ment tongue. To be more realistic, let us monster, the less likely it is to speak was devoted to memorizing an astonish- assign to each human character up to Common. This view of Common is much ingly large body of knowledge. Oral tra- four base “languages”: birth, alignment, more limited than that of the Players dition was the educational norm through- jargon, and Common. Handbook. I find extra languages and out the world for a very long time; we The birth language is the one that the semi-languages more credible than a have forgotten that it was often more ac- character learned “at his mother’s knee.” universal tongue. curate and more enduring than the writ- The character will always retain this lan- Non-human and half-human charac- ten word. guage, and the birth language may pos- ters are allowed a much greater number Of course, one just cannot play the sibly accent any other tongue he or she of languages by The Rules. These sub- game this realistically. What about all learns. The character can more easily stitute for the human birth language, those scrolls? What about the thief’s learn a language related to the birth though a semi-human may add his or her precious ability to read languages? And tongue. A DM can use the birth language human parent’s birth tongue. These what, oh what, about the poor bard — a in various ways. What if a brig- characters also have an alignment lan- compound of fighter, thief, and druid? and chief recognizes a captive as a good guage, the jargon of their , and Unless one is sternly devoted to histori- ol’ down-home boy by his accent? Con- Common. The Players Handbook speci- cal simulation (and if you are, you will be trariwise, what if he recognizes the fies how many additional languages a much happier with Chivalry & Sorcery tongue of the invaders who burned out non-human or half-human character than with trying to re-work such enor- his little farm and drove him into an out- may acquire. If the character wants to mous chunks of the AD&D rules), there law’s life? Enjoy. learn a tongue closely related to one he is no need to be fanatical. Do, however, An alignment language is defined by or she has naturally, the DM might relax consider how your game can be played the DMG as “a special of , sig- the rule. Allow, too, for a non-human to with a good deal more accuracy. nals, gestures, and words” for limited know a branch of his or her racial lan- Take skills alone. The ability communication only — in other words, guage without penalty. All dwarves can to read is primarily a function of intelli- probably not even a proper language per and do speak Old Dwarven, although gence. Since the magic-user class must se, but (when spoken) more like a set of only among themselves and only on be literate, we, could assume that the special , emphases, and tech- special occasions. minimum intelligence score for that nical uses of an ordinary language. True Creatures with average intelligence class, 9, must be the minimum required if neutrals don’t have an alignment “lan- and up may be literate. May, because a character (of whatever class) may learn guage.” The four basic alignment “lan- literacy in a typical campaign is probably to read. guage families” are, of course, lawful, too widespread to simulate anything like Literacy is not, however, a black-and- chaotic, good, and evil, and the specific an accurate pre-industrial model. We in white . Let us say, therefore, “languages” are combinations of these. America and are accustomed to that a magic-user reads on at least a It is most unlikely that alignment “lan- practically universal literacy, but we “high school” level — that is, the level on guages” are ever written, though each ought to remember that this is not the which a high school student ought to be family and each specific combination norm for many of our contemporaries able to read, not (sadly) the level on has recognizable across lan- around the globe, and certainly was not which some American high school grad- guage barriers. for our ancestors. Even our literate uates actually do read. Assume then that Jargon is a class language or dialect predecessors probably didn’t read or a character with an intelligence of 6 or and may contain some elements of write with any remarkable facility. Well better can read, but not particularly well alignment as well. When a couple of fight- into this century, children might attend and in only one language. (Indeed, with ers get into a discussion of the finer school only when chores at home or an intelligence under 8, a character can’t points (as it were) of swordplay, they are work outside the home didn’t interfere, learn a at all). speaking jargon. The language used as a and they might quit school altogether at Clerics must be special cases occa- vehicle for jargon often is a perfectly or- about the third or fourth grade. sionally. A pious but not overly bright dinary one in which individual words In medieval times, of course, the liter- cleric may be presumed to achieve read- take a specific meaning for the certain acy rate was much, much lower. We ing ability because of his or her superior purposes of a particular class. For ex- learn in school (though the history books wisdom. In other words, the gods will ample, “” in the jargon of (real are rather too simplistic) how the Church pull him or her through. (Don’t you wish world) engineers has a different mean- preserved learning through the Dark the gods had been as kind to you when ing from “stress” defined by psycholo- Ages. Actually, not all religions were you were in the first grade?) gists. This is simple jargon; its sophisti- fully literate; many secular people were Reading skills also should be a func- cated cousin, complex jargon, is either literate, especially in the upper (and, as tion of class. Fighters, by and large, will (like Thieves’ Cant) so full of slang, ob- time went by, the middle) class. Oddly not bother to learn. Note that paladins scure words, and special as to enough, women were more likely than and rangers cannot use scrolls. The thief seem a separate language, or (like Drui- men to acquire reading and writing skills begins to read languages only at 4th lev- dic jargon) a truly distinct tongue. among the laity; perhaps these skills el (the assassin at 6th), and then only Common presents a problem when were perceived as unmanly — the pro- languages which he or she knows. The one is trying to construct a realistic vince of celibate churchmen. The growth ability is imperfect at first; I like to im- model of a world’s languages; it’s just too of trade increased interest in literacy, agine the night classes down at the common. It should be a practical linga especially among the mercantile classes. Thieves’ Guild Local where ambitious franca in which a player can get direc- Merchants naturally wanted to keep burglars struggle to improve their skills. tions to “there and back again,” buy a track of their own accounts. Monks must be illiterate, since they can- drink, and strike a bargain. Common In a realistic AD&D scenario, there- not use scrolls and do not have the abili- isn’t a language for , philosophy, fore, practically all fighters (and mem- ty to read languages along with their lovemaking, or cursing. In my world, it is bers of the fighter sub-classes) ought to other thieving skills. Whether or not a an amalgam of two or three major human be illiterate. Magic-users and clerics class can use scrolls is generally a good tongues and modern Elvish. Common must be literate. This includes illusion- guide as to whether members of that

48 O CTOBER 1982 class can read, and it is a clear touch- matter how clever, faces insurmountable text that the DEITIES & DEMIGODS stone for writing ability. difficulties. Physical problems similar to book limits “spirit” to creatures with “at Sages are literate, of course. They may this, while not as great for other crea- least an intelligence rating of Low” and even have more than the maximum num- tures, still make it unlikely that any of that this is the minimum rating for true ber of languages allowed to characters them will be literate. What then about the language as well. and are most likely to know ancient literate character polymorphed into mon- The most important languages given tongues. Astrologers, alchemists, and strous form? In The Voyage of the “Dawn by the gods are the of other learned professionals are surely lit- Treader”, C. S. Lewis addresses this Magic and Miracle. Each erate also, and each profession has a problem when Eustace is transformed exists in two forms — -U Magic and jargon of its own. Engineers and mer- into a dragon. The boy is an awful brat Illusionist Magic, and Clerical Miracle chants may or may not be literate, and but intelligent enough and well educat- and Druidical Miracle. Metalanguages other classes and types of NPCs proba- ed. Unable to explain his predicament to are used for spells, and are distinct from bly are not. Scribes and public letter wri- his companions — he’s not a talking the arcane or ritual tongues which are ters are found in most settlements, al- dragon — Eustace attempts to write his the jargons of these classes. A magic- though a backwoods hamlet may have to story in the sand. He fails because a user, for example, keeps his or her spell rely on its local cleric. dragon’s muscles and nerves aren’t book in an arcane language, but inscribes If each human character starts with as trained for — perhaps aren’t even capa- a scroll in M-U Magic. Druids chat many as four languages and a non- ble of — the task. There’s no reason to among themselves in Druidic jargon but human with perhaps nine or ten, then suppose that such a character couldn’t speak with plants in their form of Mira- what about multi-classed characters, read, given the skill in the first place and cle. The transcendent of meta- those who add skills requiring new jar- a friend to turn the pages. Bahamut and languages is made abundantly clear in gon, or those who switch from one class his gold dragons have spell books, but their various uses. Magic/Miracle can be to another? The multi-classed character then they can polymorph into human read even by illiterates, as with a protec- is a special headache since he or she is form whenever they like. tion scroll. The metalanguage disappears non-human or semi-human anyway. Af- The mention of Bahamut introduces from a scroll when it is used. The spoken ter allowing the basic jargon and meta- us to the realm of supra-genius and god- syllables of Magic or Miracle alter the language, where applicable, for one like intelligence. Beings on these levels whole fabric of . class, the necessary jargon(s) and are likely to be beyond speech. Among Metalanguages must be the only lan- metalanguage(s) for the extra class() themselves, they may communicate in a guages recognizable as such from out- against the number of extra languages manner incomprehensible to lesser in- side the Material Plane. Extra- that the character is entitled to learn. tellects Their communication with low- planar communication is almost unima- (The concept of metalanguage is dis- er intelligences may, of course, be by ginable, although some have tried to cussed later.) If he or she can then learn telepathy. A pair of authors, Madeline describe it — such as in this passage no other language, so be it. If he or she L’Engle in her Time trilogy and T. H. from the historical/fantasy novel The exceeds his or her limit with these ne- White in The Master, indicate that tele- Deadly Gift by Norah Loft. The elisions cessary languages, one might allow the pathic supra-geniuses have difficulty are the author’s as her character search- player to get away with it or, more plaus- expressing themselves in human speech, es for words to describe her out-of-body ibly, ask him or her to delete one or more which is an inadequate vehicle for their . racial languages, depending upon the thoughts. Both stories have characters character’s intelligence. Similarly, for the who, when forced to speak to non-tele- “. . . [T]here were voices . . . and character who changes classes, if his or paths, express themselves in quotations light was something you could her intelligence score is not sufficient to from poets or philosophers as the most touch and handle, and colour . . . permit him or her to learn the new compact mode of communication avail- colour was something you could tongue, too bad. A possible compromise able to both parties. taste. . . and time was. . . you could is to assume that the character forgets Language, however, originated at the see it. It sounds all confused, but the jargon of his or her previous class. As god-like intelligence level and was given that is how it was, and I understood for characters who plan to become pa- by the gods to humankind (or elvenkind it . . . then.” ladins, rangers, or bards, they must al- or whatever). Thus, Chart B refers to low for adding the languages and meta- Treant as a Titantic language. Some Let us hope that players can “under- languages that they will need to know other languages derived from the titans stand it” on other planes when they are when the need arises. Fortunately, the are shown in Chart C. there. intelligence minimums for these classes Other languages coming directly from Creatively used, language can provide assure that they can add languages. An the god-like intelligence level are the var- deadly traps, comic misunderstandings, important exception is that Fighter Jar- ious dragon tongues and the intelligent more exciting encounters, and more gon is extremely simple and is not animals’ languages. In fact, divine inter- realistic role-playing adventures for DM counted as a separate language in any of vention provides a rationale for animals and players alike. And that’s the name of these cases. having language at all. Say that dol- the game. The question which next arises is phins, for instance, were granted speech whether non-humanoid but intelligent by Bacchus when they rescued him at monsters can read or write. A naga, no sea. It is interesting to note in this con-

CHART C

D RAGON 49 Fantasy : Playing the percentages

by Collins

THIEF: ’Ere now! Wot’s ’at? notes that it exists only in its four dia- of high enough level to employ spells. FIGHTER: Oh, no! It’s that illusionist lects. A speaker of the Common Tongue Rangers: There is no tongue associat- again, with about three zillion goblins! speaks one of these dialects, not some- ed with rangers, but in my campaign PALADIN: Whist, father! Pray for us! thing called “Common.” many of them speak Old Common, which Montjoie-St. Denis! By setting out the relatedness of cer- is a tongue now used only by isolated THIEF: ’S dark as a bloomin’ coal scut- tain languages, you engage in saying hill-folk. It is for them a language of lore. tle in ’ere — ’ow about a light spell, why your cultural milieu is as it is. Why Of course, they will acquire a smattering parson? do the people in A speak X, while those in of spell-casting tongues when they reach CLERIC: Oremus. Salve, Domine! Soli B speak Y? Settle these facts to your a high enough level to cast spells. te gloria. Fiat lux. Amen! satisfaction while setting up your cam- Magic-users: The “True Speech.” ILLUSIONIST: Me genoito! En de nux! paign, and then you are ready to intro- Illusionists: Phantasmaic. FIGHTER: Hey! who turned out the duce the following concepts. Thieves: Thieves’ cant. lights? Monks: There is no particularly monk- ELF: Fear not! Aure entuluva! Character languages ish language in the rules, but in order to BARD: Eala, aethelingas! Every player character has a primary justify their cultural presence in my HENCHMAN: Doon wi’ th’ Sassenachs! language in which he is 100% fluent, this Northern European-type milieu, I have THIEF: Them ain’t Saxons, ye barmy being his birth tongue. them know some Quiltien, an Oriental bilgebrain! These ’ere be goblins, can’t In addition, he may have one or more tongue spoken by their masters and you ’ear? secondary languages, due to cultural therefore revered as a language of GOBLINS: Gobble, gobble. conditions, such as growing up in a instruction. CLERIC: “Gobble, gobble?” border area where mix, or from Bards: Old High Kehlic, which they MAGIC-USER: Oy, veh! being a demi-human growing up in a so- use as a language of lore and spell- ciety that employs several languages. casting. Now, that’s what AD&D™ or D&D® In addition, certain character classes Fighters and assassins: Members of playing sessions ought to sound like have tongues which they employ in the these classes do not start out with any (sort of). But of course, they don’t. Ac- pursuit of their profession. class-related secondary languages. cents and characteristic speech Also, all player characters use align- add a lot to role playing. But we can’t all ment tongues to one degree or another, Fluency be linguists — least of all the poor DM, either as a language of devotion or 1) All characters are 100% fluent in who must play hundreds of speaking theology or as a jargon of those who their primary language(s). creatures. grow up among like-minded persons. 2) Player characters begin proficiency Nevertheless, language differences And, the player character will have a in alignment tongues at 2% times their can add a lot to a game, especially in degree of fluency in languages/dialects intelligence ability score, and progress terms of the challenge of communicat- closely related to his primary language thereafter according to the following ing with people (and monsters) who or other languages in which he is fluent. formula, to a maximum of 75%: speak other tongues and dialects. But a For example, a student learning Old Eng- .5% x (intelligence + wisdom) set of rules to facilitate this could easily lish already knows English, and if he also per level gained beyond 1st become either overly technical or just knows another Germanic language, then To progress beyond 75% fluency in an plain cumbersome in use. The intent of his task of deciphering be- alignment tongue, special study is re- this article is to suggest a set of proce- comes immeasurably easier. quired as described below. As an exam- dures that work well while avoiding the ple of how to apply the above rules and above-mentioned pitfalls. Class secondary languages formula, consider a 5th-level neutral evil To begin with, every DM needs to un- Clerics: In my campaign, most good player character with an intelligence of 8 derstand the linguistic situation in his human clerics speak Kirkish as a lan- and a wisdom of 10. To start with, his campaign milieu. What human languages guage of devotion and spell-casting. But fluency in his alignment tongue is 2% x 8, and dialects are there? What is the in any case, all clerics of character races or 16%. To take his second through fifth “common” tongue and how widely is it use a special tongue for spell casting. levels into account, use the above formu- spoken? What demi-human tongues are Half-orcs use the Black Speech, while la: .5% x 18 x 4 = 36%. Adding his initial in evidence? For my campaign, I defined half-elves use Grey Elven. Clerics not fluency of 16% and his progress toward these relationships. “Common” speech belonging to the predominant religion mastery through five levels of adventur- evolved in the manner described by the adhere to others which also use special ing, he is now 52% fluent (16 + 36) in the accompanying chart. tongues. language of Neutral Evil. Once he attains In the chart, asterisks denote extinct Druids: Members of this class speak 75%, he cannot improve fluency any languages; dotted lines, distant descent; Druidic, which in my campaign is called more unless he gets his theological act solid lines, immediate descent; arrows, Old High Kehlic. All their spells are cast together and does some serious study- patterns of heavy influence or borrow- in this language. ing (see below). ing, whether of or grammar; Paladins: They may or may not have a 3) Player characters begin proficiency and wavy lines, dialects. Putting the special language as a language of devo- in class-related secondary languages at “Common Tongue” in parentheses de- tion, but will certainly acquire one when 5% times their intelligence, and progress

50 OCTOBER 1982 thereafter at the rate of 3% per level to a it will not for bards and druids. Note that and devices to understand languages maximum of 75%. To progress in fluency fluency for assassins learning alignment operate at 100% fluency — but many of thereafter, special study is required, as or class tongues can only be gained by these are merely unconscious transla- described below. Why does this formula close association with speakers of that tors, and do not confer any real under- differ from the formula for alignment- tongue (see below). DM’s note: Having standing of the language upon the user. language fluency? Because alignment an assassin “brush up” his Lawful Good The spell Read Magic differs from the tongues are rarely worked at, but you by masquerading as a paladin or cleric in ability to read the “True Speech” em- use a class-related secondary language a holy is a dangerous and ex- ployed by magic-users only by raising every day. Therefore, you advance in it citing way to have to learn the fine points fluency to 100% for the spell’s duration. more quickly as you rise in level. As an of the patois. A thief’s Read Languages ability ap- example, consider a 3rd-level cleric with 5b) All characters endeavoring to learn plies only to languages unknown to the an intelligence of 12. He is 66% fluent in a new language (other than a secondary thief, or in which he is not as fluent as his his spell-casting tongue (5% x 12, plus language, class-related language, align- Read Languages ability. In any case, no 3% for each additional level = 66%). ment tongue, or bardic/druidic language knowledge of the language is bestowed 4) A player character may begin with acquisitions), have the option of doing permanently. The thief is just hazarding certain secondary languages, because book-study alone or in a class in order to a guess as to what the says. of having grown up around them or be- grasp the basics of the language. Study- 7) Fluency scores and ratings are as- cause of his or her racial background. ing alone will gain an increase in fluency signed for each character and each lan- For these, percentile dice are rolled, and of 1% times the character’s intelligence guage known by that character accord- numbers above 90% are ignored. To per six months of study, to a maximum of ing to the list below. (Note that player progress in fluency thereafter, special 30% by study. Studying under a tutor (or characters do not know their scores, study is required, as described below. in a class) will double the rate of acquisi- only their ratings.) For example, an elf has a lot of language tion (1% x intelligence per 3 months of A fluency of 100% (00) is only possible potential, as described in the Players study), again to a maximum gain of 30% for a primary language (birth tongue); a Handbook. Applying this method of lan- by study. Study can be undertaken at fluency score of 91-99% indicates a Sec- guage fluency, we have a high elf who any time, but cannot increase fluency ond Language (different from a second- begins his career with the following beyond 75%. To gain fluency beyond ary language); 76-90% is Very Fluent; smattering of tongues he picked up in this point is beyond book-learning; only 61-75% is Fluent; 41-60% is Conversant; his childhood and adolescence: experience will do. 21-40% indicates the character is ac- High elven, 100% fluent; grey elven, 5c) The main way of acquiring new quainted with the language; a score of 58% (23% + 25% +10%; see sections 8 & 9 languages or increasing fluency in ones 01-20% means the character can recog- below); gnomish, 77%; halfling, 7%; gob- a player character already knows is by nize the language when it is seen or lin, 4%; hobgoblin, 48%; orcish, 34%; living in close association with speakers spoken. gnoll, 16%; Common, 62%. of that language and employing that 8) One’s degree of fluency also helps As the player of this character, asking tongue daily. Fluency in acquiring lan- in getting along in dialects, and in learn- yourself why he knows what languages guages through close association comes ing new languages related to one al- he does, and how well he knows them, at a rate of 1% times the learner’s intelli- ready known (see table below). The col- will help you flesh out the character, by gence per month until the speaker is 60% umn on the left applies to one’s fluency considering the background of his up- fluent, whereupon the gain is 5% per rating in a known language, while the bringing. The above figures show that month of close association until a maxi- columns to the right refer to the bonus this character has had considerable ex- mum of 90% is reached. Note that “close one has in getting along in another lan- perience with gnomes, orcs, and hob- association” assumes daily use of the guage encountered. goblins (or at least with speakers of tongue being acquired, to the exclusion those languages), but not with halflings of most other speech. Living in an en- Language encountered is: and goblins. Why? clave speaking Language A among a Fluency Parent Dialect 5) Acquiring new languages: community of speakers of Language B rating or sisterof Related 5a) A player character may endeavor will not help toward acquiring the latter. is: tongue same language to learn as many new languages as his How many American soldiers in Europe Primary +25% +44% +16% intelligence or race permits. In addition, or elsewhere make the effort to really Second +20% +36% +12% bards, druids, and assassins gain the learn the local language? Very Fluent+15% +24% +8% ability to learn new languages. Bards 6) Languages acquired via spells are at Fluent +10% +16% +4% and druids begin their proficiency in 100% fluency for the spell’s duration. Conversant +5% +8% +2% their new tongues at 5% times their intel- Note, however, that the language ac- ligence, and to progress thereafter must quired will be of the textbook These bonuses apply in the following study as described below. Assassins be- (flawless and non-idiomatic), and not situations: gin at 1% times their intelligence, but for necessarily of the dialect or among a) The degree to which you will under- them, book-study will gain them increase which you find yourself, unless this is so stand a speaker of an otherwise un- of proficiency as described below, which specified and the spell allows it. Spells known tongue. b) The initial bonus given in acquiring a new language. After two months of either book-learning or learning by close asking yourself why he knows what languages he does, and how well he knows them, will help you flesh out the character . . .

D RAGON 51 association, this bonus is automatically 10) All of the foregoing matters be- If he blows it more than 3 times in the first added onto a character’s fluency score. cause being understood or being correct 7 attempts, he must roll every time he Note, however, that simply knowing an- in the use of language is very important uses that spell until he gets it right 3 other language cannot at any time in- in the conduct of the game. For instance: times in a row, or until he rises a level, at crease fluency in a language beyond a) For spell casters, spell casting (at which time he needs to only succeed 75%. Beyond this, only personal effort least for player characters) is always once, and the disability disappears. and study will work. done in a specialty tongue, never in “Getting it right” means rolling your 9) The “Common Tongue,” or secon- “Common.” Therefore, if you blow your fluency score or less with d%. (Note: The dary language of most elves and many spell, it could be because you haven’t DM does the rolling; see 7) above.) Pen- sylvan creatures, is High Elvish. Elves mastered your spell-casting language. alties for not “getting it right” are as have a 10% bonus in all elvish secondary The first time you use a new spell, you follows: languages; 30% of all high elves know must roll d% to see if you get it right. If a Missing the d% roll by 1-10% indicates Grey Elven as a secondary language, player character rolls his fluency score a minor blooper; the spell gets off, but and 30% know Wood Elven. The 10% bo- correctly 4 times out of his first 7 at- not perfectly. The character knows he nus also applies to elvish languages and tempts, he need no longer roll; he has has blown it. With luck, the spell will dialects in situations such as 8) above. mastered the inflections and vocabulary. work out more or less as intended.

Old Dwarvish is still new to scholars of language lore

by Clyde Heaton

Students of comparative barkeep if he had been seen there. The point where complex, abstract subjects have long been frustrated by dwarves, publican hastened to point him out, but had to be spoken of; it speaks adequate- that secretive lot of undersized human- he was nowhere to be seen. His col- ly of what one does or has, but not well of oids of unknown origin; indeed, almost league said he might have slipped out what one feels or thinks. It is written with everything about them is a mystery. the back door, and the two gentlemen an alphabet of twenty letters, represent- Their homes, mines, and ancient ruins quickly departed in search of the errant ing consonant and vowel sounds very abound in all the worlds we have dreamed academician. But neither he nor they similar to the Common tongue. The or discovered; their tombs and temples have been seen since. sounds remain the same, but the runes are covered with runes (which, due to When I returned to my rooms that used vary from to tribe. The com- the dwarves’ regrettable resistance to night, I found that Boru had been there. mon letters not used in dwarvish are C, F, magic, are largely undecipherable), and He left his notes on dwarvish lore and a H, Q, Wand Y. The rest are pronounced their diminutive, sturdy forms are found short note asking that the work be put to as harsh or sounds and assem- in all humanoid careers (except, of good use. Hereafter follow his notes. bled into syllables of two, three or four course, those requiring the study of letters. magic). Yet, despite their omnipresence, OLD DWARVISH DECIPHERED The number of letters in a syllable we know almost nothing about them. by Boru O’Bonker gives a clue to its meaning. A two-letter They are great linguists, speaking many syllable always starts with a vowel. If it tongues, but are never heard speaking For many years, I have studied the lit- ends in a consonant, it is a verb. If the Dwarvish. If pressed about the history or tle folk of many lands and worlds, being syllable has two , it represents origins of their race, they change the aided by my own short stature and quick possession or tense (see the following subject; if asked about their personal wits. examples), and is always placed before lives, they grow truculent. Indeed, most In this work, an effort is made to pass the word it modifies: non-dwarves can’t even tell a female on the knowledge I have gained from my Ai (did) = past tense dwarf from a male! study of the runes and songs of the Aa (does) = present tense At last, a breakthrough has been made. mountain dwarves of Sa-Marin, written Au (will) = future tense Boru O’Bonker, that illustrious pursuer and sung entirely in Old Dwarvish. Auai (will have done) = future perfect of knowledge, has learned something of In common usage, dwarves of today (a special case) Old Dwarvish, the ancient ceremonial speak a hodgepodge of the old tongue Ua (possessive) = my/mine tongue and script of the dwarf priests and other languages with which they Ui (possessive) = your/yours and gleemen. come in contact every day. The use of Ue (possessive) = her/his/theirs Boru has not been able to publish his Old Dwarvish is restricted to ceremonial A three-letter syllable always consists work; in fact, we are not even sure where and traditional uses. This is the language of two separated by a vowel he is at this time. He was last seen in the used for heroic lays, historical epics, and and represents a noun or modifier. If the Purple Mug Tavern, deep in discussion epitaphs. It is found in contemporary vowel is repeated, forming a four-letter with one of his colleagues. He was just speech only incidentally. syllable, it denotes a plural; bar means getting to the point of his remarks when Its lack of common use is explained by “tree” and baar means “trees.” a pair of very short, heavily armed gen- the fact that Old Dwarvish is a primitive, The first syllable of a Dwarvish word is tlemen entered the establishment. They often cumbersome tongue. It served well the subject of what would be a in professed interest in him, asking the until dwarvish evolved to the Common; the remaining syllables modi-

52 OCTOBER 1982 Missing by 11-20% is a significant must roll 22 or less for his charm attempt subtracted from the reaction score of the blooper; the spell fizzles and is useless, to be successful (81-73 = 8; 30-8 = 22). other party, which makes an immediate just as if it had not been attempted. The bard rolls a 29 (Just made it — or so reaction check. Thus, if you were 80% Missing by 21% or more is a major he thinks!), and gets the surprise of his fluent in language X and the DM rolls an blooper; the spell backfires. life when the uncharmed beggar goes 89, a reaction check is taken at -9%. Note b) A bard attempting to charm while for his throat. that for this purpose, charisma as a fac- using a secondary tongue must roll his c) Misreading a potion label, a map, or tor in determining reaction is eliminated; fluency score or less every time he at- a scroll can lead to interesting situations. you having looked very stupid in blun- tempts the charm. If he blows it, the dif- d) Dithering/dickering, etc., with speak- dering like you did. ference is subtracted from his charm ers of another language can lead to in- percentage. Example: A 5th-level bard is teresting results. (A friend of mine tried Verstehst du? Then you are ready to attempting to charm another person in to order a meal in Ecuador and ordered a add malaprops and Freudian slips to the that person’s language. The bard’s charm waitress instead.) Every time the player other challenges of playing an AD&D or percentage is 30%, and his fluency score character attempts to get a major point D&D adventure. And may it spice up in his target’s tongue is 73% (a rating of across, d% are rolled. If this score is less your game. Remember: Communication Fluent). The DM rolls an 81, so the bard than his fluency score, the is is at the heart of role-playing.

Ak ...... cut Din ...... wisdom, wise Mur ...... safe, shelter Ruk ...... foe, enemy Ad ...... fight Dog ...... skill, craft Mar ...... great Sar ... high, a high place An ...... tell Gun...... fortress Maz...... I, me Sut .... magic, unknown Ar ...... work, make Ij ...... conquer Non...... never Tal...... long Az ...... beget In ...... think, reason Pan ...... tales, history Tur ...... fat Bak ...... cutter Jun ...... home Pog ..... building, house Uk ...... plant, cultivate Bar ...... tree, wood Kad...... stone Ob...... buy Un ...... live, dwell Buk ...... land, country Kaz ...... dwarf Og ...... build Ur ...... strike, forge Bur ...... strong Kur ...... oath, promise On ...... sell Zak ...... axe Dur.. ... big, heavy, iron Lan ...... memory Rut ...... pride Zin ...... silver Dul ...... flight, escape Lur ....bravery, courage Rul ...... fear Zog ...... oak Dum ... mine, excavation Luk ...... fierce, terrible Raz ...... father, parent Zon ...... gold fy this subject and each other. As an ex- Another example: The sentence “The of poetry and song. Their is ample, the Common phrase “a big oak fat dwarvish woodcutter cut down my rhythmic, usually percussive, with only a tree” would be a three-syllable word in big oak tree with an axe” would be reor- few tones. The lyrics do not rhyme, ex- dwarvish, organized as “tree-big-oak” ganized and translated as follows: cept by chance. Instead, the lines match (in dwarvish, bardurzog). Dwarf-fat-cutter-wood my in number of words and number of sylla- Dwarves, by their nature, are realists tree-oak-big did cut-down-axe. bles per word, and are chanted to rhyth- and materialists. They have difficulty re- /Kaz-tur-bak-bar ua mic music, the deep of the dwar- lating to planes and energies beyond the bar-zog-dur ai ak-ton-zak/ vish gleeman blending with his instru- physical, which both protects and insu- Once reorganized and translated, the ment to produce an oddly beautiful lates them even as it limits them. In keep- sentence would be properly written as: sound. ing with dwarves’ emphasis on the mate- /Kazturbakbar ua It was in a dark, somber setting that I rial aspect of the world, nouns always barzogdur ai aktonzak/ first heard this lay, The Building of the come first in Old Dwarvish grammar. This example illustrates or suggests Mountain Keep: The first word is always the subject of a some of the general characteristics of /Kaazlantal paanlurmak aa anrut/ sentence, the second word is the object, the language, namely these: /Kaazruldul bukzonmur ai ulman/ and the verb comes last, preceded by a 1. Tense or possession is shown by the /Ua raazdin junzonbur ai ogdog/ tense indicator. syllable preceding the word. /Ua raazlur ruklukbur au ulnon/ Hence, the sentence “The dwarf cut 2. Modifying syllables apply only to /Kaazlukbur kurmarluk aa urrut/ the tree” would be reorganized as “Dwarf the word they appear in, pertaining eith- /Maazdogdin gunbursar aa ogdog/ tree did cut,” and translated into Dwar- er to the first syllable of the word or to the This was translated for me by a young vish as follows: syllable preceding the modifier, as in dwarf maid who thought I was a dwarf Dwarf tree did cut. “dwarf-fat-cutter-wood.” The syllable from an isolated tribe that had lost the /Kaz bar ai ak/ “wood” modifies “cutter” as well as (indi- old tongue. Some of the nuances are The slash marks before and after the rectly) “dwarf.” lost, but the sense of the first verse of the sentence are the only punctuation used, 3. The length of a word is limited only lay is intact. very similar to ancient Anglo-Saxon by the complexity of a concept or the “Dwarves tell the tales with pride practice. Articles and most prepositions longwindedness of a speaker. How the fleeing tribe found safety here are not used. 4. There is often a structural relation- And in their wisdom built their homes Old Dwarvish does not use complex ship between nouns and verbs; “cutter” Swearing never again to flee a foe sentences; the above example is a very (bak) and “axe” (zak) have the verb “to So we build in skill a fortress strong.” simple one, but the grammar will always cut” (ak) as a common . While this This verse gave me the key I needed to be the same. More complicated or more does not apply directly to grammar, it my study of Old Dwarvish. If my identity detailed concepts are expressed by add- may help in translating an inscription us- and race are not discovered by the ones I ing modifying syllables to the basic ing unfamiliar words. This was a great am studying, I can continue and possibly noun and verb syllables. In actual prac- help in my first real expos- complete my knowledge of the tongue. tice, certain stylized sentences have come ure to Dwarvish music, The Building of The small vocabulary I have positively to have meaning in the abstract beyond the Mountain Keep. deciphered (see above) is appended to the literal meaning of the words, through Dwarves’ traditional songs are entirely this writing, in hopes that it will help oth- long usage in songs and tales. independent of the rules of other forms ers involved in the same work.

D RAGON 53