Draconic 101 (in anticipation of module 4)

dragoness10

Hello. I am Di Apzen Xarzith'dos, and a half silver dragon by heritage. I have been asked before on the speech of dragons, and so for informative purposes I speak on some of the bare bones basics for anyone to know.

*silvery wings ruffle under her cloak*

Dragons have "words", but also incorporate growls, purrs, rumbles, chitters, chirps, teeth clatters, roars, and hisses to convey meaning in speech.

The written form of Draconic can miss these nuances which to dragons is convenient as it means non-dragons may not be able to fully translate any document not meant for them.

Every type of dragon also has it's own dialect so speech from a red dragon differs from that of a copper dragon. Speed in how fast the language is spoken also varies from type to type of dragon. A good example of this is Mercury dragons whom have THE fastest speech of all dragons. One almost needs to be fluent in gnomish before one can attempt Mercury dragon speech.

Draconic is also a base language form of many magic spells in runes and words so "finger wigglers" especially can learn more by learning Draconic.

The best way to learn Draconic is from either a dragon, or a close kin to a dragon. If I am around, and not too tired from the days duties you might ask myself sometime.



// Here are some helpful links:

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Draconic_language

http://www.elftown.com/_Draconic%20language%20and%20script

Also for RP here is a translator :

http://draconic.twilightrealm.com/

orangefiree

Thanks, I've been trying to find a draconic translator actually. Just curious, since all dragon colors have their own language, what color dragon draconic is the translator for?

mrgiggles651

I play on a server that does automatic translation of chat into draconic (or ignan, drow, gnomish, etc) on the fly as appropriate based on the languages the character knows and elects to use via a radial menu. As a result I as the player dont have to know draconic for my character to speak in it.

dragoness10

The Draconic Translator is sort of a general all in one translator. It is not dialect specific.

Many languages have a general translator that does not include region (or group) specific dialects.

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Usage of an in game resource is fine too if you don't want to learn a language. NWN Classic had language widgets that "generated a language" with randomization of letters according to a specific formula for that "language". It was not a real translation of it though.

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Munthreki clax ifyoev makaidic. Darastrixi clax wer yora donoap.

(A sample of translated Common to Draconic - "Humans take short cuts. Dragons take the learned path.")

dragoness10

A bump was requested of this information so here it is.

dragoness10

A question proposed - "How do we know exactly what the chromatics are saying such as Lostmauth, or Chartillifax?"

Possible explanations of the dragons' speech -

1) They are speaking in Common so you understand them, not in Draconic.
2) They use an Autotranslate spell so you know what they are saying.
3) It's that look they give you. You just KNOW the words!
4) Some object in their hordes allows instant translation like an Orb of Speech or something.

Anyhow, enjoy one of these explanations, or come up with something logical yourself.

dragoness10

Somebody was looking for this so here you are, dear mortal. Verilly, it is bumped.