Non-human language fragments
by Mike Phillipsput this together while naming tribes for the swamps, and thought it might be worth sharing. I'm sure I missed other sources along the way, but I had the B10 clans handy for reference. (You may notice I had re-used a few syllables already)
Gnoll
Sources:
- Galt'kalat - Death's Head (clan name, B10)
- Galt'ssrak - Lizard Head (clan name, mine)
- Lak'takkal - Broken Tree (clan name, mine)
- Kalat'garr - Grim Death (clan name, mine)
Note: I deliberately inverted Galt'kalat to put the modifier after the noun, so Galt is head, etc. So, in a name "[Adjective or possessive] [noun]", the Gnollish should be "[noun][adj/poss]".
Resulting vocabulary:
- Galt - head
- Garr - grim
- Kalat - death, dead
- Lak - tree
- Ssrak - lizard or lizardman (or reptile? would dragon be "great reptile", or Ssrak'XX?)
- Takkal - broken
Goblin
Sources:
- Bree-Yark - "Hey, rube!" (expression, B2)
- Kloss-lunk - Wolfskull (clan name, B10)
- Gnhasska - Red-blade (clan name, B10)
- Jaggadash - Viper (clan name, B10)
- Faz-plak - Yellow-fang (clan name, B10)
- Trakheg - Mosshelm (clan name, mine)
- Gathrek - Boulderscar (clan name, mine)
- Rah-traka - Bloodleaf (clan name, mine)
- Kurag-ka - Kurag's Sword(clan name, mine)
Resulting vocabulary:
- faz - yellow
- gath - boulder, rock
- jaggadash - viper (snake, serpent?)
- ka - blade, sword
- kheg - helm (and possibly armour)
- kloss - wolf
- lunk - skull
- plak - fang (tooth?)
- rah - blood
- rek - scar, wound
- tra - moss
- traka - leaf
Note: I'm not always comfortable with these syllables, because (for instance) the leader of the Red-blade is Gnhass, so it's quite possible that -ka is simply "tribe". If so, then the translation is not a translation, it's just a description of the clan's primary trait. If so, then Wolfskull is also wrong for the same reasons, as Kloss is the name of the leader.
Hobgoblin
Sources:
- Vlackkag - Bloodhead (clan name, B10)
Lizardman
Sources:
- Ss'l'rran'zthra - Slimescale (clan name, mine)
- Sishith'shil - Mossrock (clan name, mine)
- Szilar'liss - Blackclaw (clan name, mine)
- Szilath'zthra - Darkscale (clan name, mine)
- Sstha'nith - Smallfin (clan name, mine)
- Siliss'Tar (town name, mine)
- Thishil'Tar (town name, mine)
Note: The ruin names do not have an explicit translation, but tar obviously maps to town or village (an accident of naming, but it works). Word order is [adj][noun], obviously.
Resulting vocabulary:
- liss - claw
- nith - fin
- ss'l'rran - slime
- sishith - moss
- shil - rock
- sstha - small
- szilar - black
- szilath - dark (night, too?)
- tar - town, village, city
- zthra - scale
Note: shil being "rock" is suggestive that thishil may be a type of rock, perhaps indicating the original construction of that town?
Orcish
Sources:
- Nyy-akk - Dark Web (clan name, B10)
- Pftark - Bald Dog (clan name, B10)
- Glakk-dag - Splintertree (clan name, mine)
- Drak-thur - Dreadaxe (clan name, mine)
- Brok-vag - Bloodfang (clan name, mine)
- Brok-kadar - Redsnout (clan name, mine)
- Daga-kru - Greenleg (clan name, mine)
Resulting vocabulary:
- akk - web
- brok - blood, red
- dag - tree
- daga - green
- drak - dread
- glakk - splinter, splintered, broken
- kadar - snout, nose
- kru - leg
- nyy - dark (black?)
- thur - axe
- vag - fang, tooth
Note: I'm not sure how Pftark would fit in, but I'm tempted to think it's actually a reproduction of the sound of a barking dog (or gnoll), and that the translation of the name is purely poetic license.