SAMPLES ======= Notes ----- There are two main areas where samples were given in the Dragon magazine article. At the beginning of the article, a story fragment is given narrating a group of adventurers trying to talk to a dragon; three of the party understand Draconic, and one of these interprets for the rest of the party, but it's fairly obvious that they're not giving an exact translation. For these samples, the interpretation is given here in quotes prior to the Draconic text. Some of the Draconic in the initial sample is left untranslated. For these samples, the Draconic is given here as the first line. On the second page, a list of sample sentences are given with the English and the Draconic translation. These are reproduced more or less verbatim here, though some of them appear to have errors which have been corrected. There was one sample given in the text of the article, with no exact translation; for this, the description of the sentence's meaning is also given in quotes. "She's telling it we want to talk and that we come in peace." Versvesh darastrix charir, yth tuor renthisj martivir. Strong dragon red, we want (to) speak peace. Comments -------- - Adjective tends to follow noun - martivir appears to function as a direct object "He's offering the sword that was stolen, if it agrees to talk with us." Yth majak aridarastrixcaex virlym clax sjek renthisj. We give {the dragon's sword} (that) thief take if (you) speak. Comments -------- - No tense - The subordinate clause lacks any subordinatign conjunction - Implied second person pronoun "It says to give it the sword and leave." Wux irlym pothoc. *Majak* vethicaex ver gethrisj. You enemy stupid. GIVE (me) {my sword} and go. Comments -------- - In the first sentence, there may be an implied copula. - This line is actually said by a dragon, so should carry extra weight. "She's giving it an ultimatum — peace and money, or death." Yth renthisj martivir. Wux thric vargach hurthi, yth majak aurix. Wux vargach, wux loreat. We speak peace. You no battle fortress, we give gold. You battle, you die. Comments -------- - "vargach" is listed as a noun. Either it's also used as a verb (probably meaning "attack"), or this person is not fully fluent in Draconic and is substiting the best word they can thing og. Majak *vethicaex* ver gethrisj. Sjek thric gethrisj, yth *vargach*. Wux *loreat*! Give {MY SWORD} and go. If no go, we BATTLE. You DIE! Comments -------- - No translation given in the source material. - This line is actually said by a dragon, so should carry extra weight. - Support for "vargach" doubling as a verb, but why is it used with a plural pronoun? - On the other hand, the dragon might be recognizing their lack of fluency and simplifying so as to be understood. Would a dragon do such a thing? Wux kurik *okarthel*. Darastrix *loreat*! You slaughter HOME. Dragon DIE! Comments -------- - No translation given in the source material. - Slaughtering a home seems a little odd. Probably another case of non-fluency, substituting the best word they can think of. Mialee, talk to the ugly elf. Mialee, ukris vaecaesin nurh. Mialee, talk (to) elf ugly. Comments -------- - The preposition is implied? Maybe "ukris" actually means "talk to" rather than simply "talk". The elf says the magic sword we want is in the lich's tomb. Vaecaesin ner levex caex levex yth tuor persvek arikaegrowaere. (erroneus use of "ner") Vaecaesin renthisj levex caex levex yth tuor persvek arikaegrowaere. (corrected) Elf speak enchant sword enchant we want in {undead's cave}. Comments -------- - "levex" is said twice; probably for emphasis? - "arikaegrowaere" is clearly a poor translation of "lich's tomb". - The source used "ner" for speak instead of the listed translation, "renthisj". He'll take us to the mountain of the tomb if we pay him. Vaecaesin tuor aurix clax yth ekess ariloexokarthel verthicha. Elf want gold (to) take we to {dead's home} mountain. Comments -------- - The sentence structure of the translation is totally different. - Does Draconic lack third person singular pronouns? An actual noun was substituted here. - "ariloexokarthel" could either be a poor translation of "tomb", or an idiomatic use. The cave is evil and dangerous. We should go. Sauriv waere korth. Yth *gethrisj*. (erroneous use of "sauriv") Malsvir waere korth. Yth *gethrisj*. (corrected) Evil cave danger. We GO. Comments -------- - There seems to be an implied copula in the first sentence. - "korth" is listed as a noun meaning "danger", but it's supposedly functioning as an adjective. Is this idiomatic, or is it just an incorrect translation due to insufficient vocab list? - "should" seems to have been translated to the fireburst emphasis on the word for "go". Shut up you stupid coward! Get in there! Thric ner, *pothoc* wux faessi. *Gethrisj* persvek. (erroneous use of "ner") Thric renthisj, *pothoc* wux faessi. *Gethrisj* persvek. (corrected) No speak, STUPID you coward. GO in. Comments -------- - The source used "ner" for speak instead of the listed translation, "renthisj". - However, "thric ner" could maybe be an idiom instead? Tordek, hit the orc with your axe. Vargach ghik mrith ariTordekgarunt. Battle orc with {Tordek's axe} Comments -------- - The source did not capitalize Tordek's name in the Draconic. - Here again we see "vargach", the noun for "battle", being used as a verb. A red dragon! Scram! Charir *darastrix*! *Osvith*! Red DRAGON! FLEE! Comments -------- - Nothing particular to remark on here, except maybe the lack of an article. Krusk is dead. He died with much bravery. Krusk loex. Loreat mrith *sveargith*. Krusk dead. Die with BRAVERY. Comments -------- - In the first sentence we see an implied copula. - Second sentence shows a lack of tense and an implied pronoun. - The word "much" is translated not with "throden" but with fireburst emphasis. Yeah, bad luck for him. Axun, malsvir ariKruskhaurauch. Yes, evil {Krusk's fate}. Comments -------- - Sentence structure has completely changed. - Translating "luck" as "haurach" may be just an approximation; is there a separate word for "luck"? Check out all this gold! Tomorrow we'll be kings! Ocuir throden *aurix*. Earenk yth *maekrix*. See many GOLD. Tomorrow we LEADER. Comments -------- - Presumably "throden" would be better translated as "much" here. - The second sentence falls into the trap of trying to literally translate an idiom. A better translation would use a word meaning "rich" in place of "maekrix". - The second sentence has tense, of sorts! I am not a thief! *Thric* virlym. NO thief. Comments -------- - Both the pronoun and the copula are implied here. - The Draconic seems like it could be ambiguous in some contexts... The secrets of the dragon's treasure are in this scroll. Ardarastrixrasvim irthos persvek sjir. (erroneous use of ar-) Aridarastrixrasvim irthos persvek sjir. (corrected) {Dragon's treasure} secret in (this) scroll. Comments -------- - This shows that only a single possessive can be tacked onto a noun. - The use of ar- instead of ari- might indicate it functions as an adjective, rather than being erroneous. Dragon's blood flows in a sorcerer. Aridarastrixiejir gethrisj persvek vorastrix. {Dragon's blood} go in sorcerer. Comments -------- - Presumably Draconic would have a better translation for "flow". Please don't disembowel the dwarf. Martivir thric gixustratt tundar. Peace no disembowel dwarf. Comments -------- - It appears that the word "martivir", meaning "peace", is also used for polite requests. This could be a poor translation, but seems like a reasonable idiom. "A speaker of Draconic who wanted to say a big, black, evil dragon was approaching, but wanted the fact that it was evil more than anything else..." Malsvir darastrix turalisj vutha (malasvir) gethrisj leirith. ("malsvir" misspelled) Malsvir darastrix turalisj vutha (malsvir) gethrisj leirith. (corrected) Evil dragon big black (evil) go near. Comments -------- - Is "gethrisj leirith" an idiom for "approaching", or a poor translation? - Note how one adjective precedes the noun and all others follow it. - The second instance of "malsvir" is mentioned as being optional; it implies additional emphasis. CONCLUSIONS =========== - There seems to be no inflection whatsoever. - Pronouns are a bit unclear. There's a first-person plural and a second-person singular, but no first-person singular or third-person. Second-person plural is likely the same as singular? - There seems to be no copula; instead, it's implied. - "ar(i)-X-Y" appears to mean "X's Y", while "ar(i)-X" means "my X". - "e(r|the)-X" also means "my X" but is only used for relatives and friends. - "veth(i)-X" also means "my X" but is only used for material possessions. - Adjectives generally go after the noun, but a maximum of one may be moved before for added emphasis. - Is "ar(i)-X-Y-Z" allowed, meaning "X's Y's Z"? (ie, "the Z of X's Y") - probably not. - There doesn't seem to have been a whole lot of work put into this language; consider it just a prototype?