DothrakiA Constructed Language from Game of Thrones

Creation

l - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhWpNJgT9DIl - First examples used by George R.R. Martin in A Song of Ice anad Fire

book seriesl - Linguist David J. Peterson hired by HBO producers to create the

language for the show, maintaining consistency with the examples used in the book.

l - Peterson also created High Valyrian and Astapori Valyrian for the show, and is providing translations to Martin for the upcoming sixth

l book.l - The language currently has over 3,000 words.l - Dothraki does not have its own writing system, but is represented in

the books by a romanization.

Culturel The Dothraki are a nomadic horse culture. They live in tents in

tribes called a khalasar, ruled by a khal, who gains his status by having many victories in war. They are a warring culture that values strength. They are often viewed as barbarians by the more settled cultures around them.

Phonology

Vowels a i o e, no diphthongs

Morphology

l Syllables can have only one vowell Derivational morphology – productive for verbsl v(i)- -(e)r – durative constructionl e(s)- -(s)a – negativel zi(r)- -(s)e - bad or direl sa(v)- -(s)a – to be covered inl qoy (blood) → saqoyalat (to be covered in blood)

Grammar (verbs)

Stative vs dynamic verbs Hrazef zhikha. Horse sick "The horse is sick." (stative)

Anha haqak. → Anha haqok. “I'm tired.” (stative) "I grow tired." (dynamic)

l - Infinitive formed with -at suffixl - Past tense formed by dropping -at suffix, negation with -ol - Present tense (astat – to say)l Person Singular Plurall First person astak astakil Second person asti astil Third person asta asti

Grammar (nouns)Noun Cases- Nominative/Accusative Jano ost hrazef. — "a dog bit a horse." - Genitive, Ablative, Allative- Doesn't seem to have definiteness distinction

Animacy - distinction between living/moving things and non-living things- animate: son, river, name inanimate: basket- noun declension based on animacy nominative accusative genitive allative ablativesingular animate, stem -C /—/ /-es/ /-i/ /-aan/ /-oon/singular animate, stem -V /—/ /-es/ /-si/ /-saan/ /-soon/plural animate, stem -C /-i/ /-is/ /-i/ /-ea/ /-oa/plural animate, stem -V /-si/ /-es/ /-si/ /-sea/ /-soa/inanimate varies /—/ or /-e/ /-i/ /-aan/ /-oon/

Syntaxl - SVO word order – VSO old word order, can be used for formality

- Zero copula like Arabic Anha lajak.l “I (am a) fighter.”

- Passive and impersonal constructions (nem) Anha nem vastok. "I will be spoken about."

- Question particles (hash, fin) Hash ifak driva? "Is the foreigner dead?"

Fin shafka okki? "Which will you choose?"

Syntax

- Compound sentences work the same as in English (and = ma, so = majin, but = vosma) Anha afichak heffof ma anirrak mae sewafikhoon. "I will fetch a jug and fill it with wine."

- Adverbs come at the end of the sentence or directly after the verb.

Future of Dothraki

Martin has at least 2 more books planned, and the HBOl series is going strongl A Song of Ice and Fire has gained a large fan basel Dothraki has a blog and a dictionary, so fans can learn the language