Languages¶
"Demons don't 'discuss' in Maw-Speech; they command, threaten, or react." — Introduction to Playing a Demon
The tongues of Terrun are known mostly by name. Common is spoken everywhere, each human people has its dialect of it, and the elves, the demons, the old gods and the druids keep languages of their own; but no grammar, script or sample text survives for any of them except Maw-Speech and a short Old Aesean word list. No language has enough material for a page of its own, so all are gathered here. The languages of spellcraft, from Antusil to Sylvir, are on Arcane Languages.
Common and its dialects¶
Common is the language of every character sheet in the archive: the Proturan scout Aqiran, the Lorsythian soldier Ephra, the Boreal huntress Hyrella and the Fel student Karkazan all speak it before anything else (S002, S004, S005, S009; see Into the Rift). Each human people of the Compendium speaks "a dialect of Common" (S372):
| People | Speech |
|---|---|
| Aesean | "An Aesean sub-dialect of Common, with some words taken from Old Aesean." |
| Curci | A dialect of Common. |
| Danari | A dialect of Common. |
| Korun | A dialect of Common; they "are overwhelmingly illiterate". |
| Naher | A dialect of Common, written in their own runes "similar to the Dwarves"; Ancient Naheric is kept "for rituals, ceremonies", and their accent is "thick & flowing" (S372, S524). |
Old Aesean¶
The Compendium gives the words that Aesean Common keeps from Old Aesean (S372):
| Word | Meaning | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| bec | stream | gate | street, narrow passage |
| bru, bruman | bride and bridegroom | howe | burial mound, tomb |
| carlingue | cabin, small house | londe | grove |
| dale | valley | matenot | companion |
| dam | marsh | nez | cape |
| ey | island | tot | farm |
| flotte | fleet | varou | werewolf, lycan |
| gales | festival, festivities |
The Aesean ranks, from hertug to thrall, are on Social Order.
Elvish¶
Elvish is spoken by elves of every kind in the Fifth Age: Hyrella, a Boreal snow-huntress, speaks Common and Elvish (S005). Sylvan is "a wood elf dialect of Elvish", which the elven prisoner of the Proturan player histories learned from a wood elf in the prisons of Lorsythe (S074). The Boreal Elves keep their tribal records "using a variant of Elvish", in the care of their shamans (S100). Elvish also lingers on old things: a Sancturi-era session prices "old elvish travelling cloak[s]" and a pouch of dust with an "Elvish command word" (S179).
An early draft of the arcane-language rules lists Elvish, Draconian and Undercommon beside the arcane tongues (S303), and Elvish names are on Names.
Other living tongues¶
- Undercommon is spoken by Karkazan, alongside Common, Sharuvian and Elvish (S009).
- Goblin is the language in which the Silek are named: "the name given to them by Bhaal is Silek (which means 'Chosen' in Goblin)" (S025). See Silek.
- Sharuvian is spoken by Karkazan, one of the wingless Exiles of Proturas whose people count Shuruvas, The Divine, "the great enemy of his people"; he carries The Well of Ravas, "an old worn book written in Sharuvian on various sources of Fel energy" (S009).
- Draconian, the speech of the Draconians, is named in the same early list (S303). Their language of spellcraft, Drakkas, is on Arcane Languages.
The demon tongues¶
"Every demon instinctually understands two languages" (S334, the Fourth Age demon rules of 2026):
- Maw-Speech, "hisses, grunts, rumbles & clicks", "a simple guttural language capable only of rudimentary communication". Its sentences run "1-3 words max. [Subject or Command] – [Target] – [Emotion/Emphasis]": "Go now." "Kill man." "Hunger now." "Obey master."
- Abyssal, "mostly a written and telepathic language, but it can be spoken". Demons use Maw-Speech for simple messages close by; for anything complex "they allow their essences to touch and communicate telepathically".
- Telepathic Abyssal is that silent exchange "via direct essence contact". Thoughts pass "directly and efficiently in Abyssal (conversations take roughly ¼ the time as they would in a spoken language)", with emotions and passing thoughts, so that it is "very difficult to lie to a demon".
A demon's form decides what it can say: a mute form speaks only Telepathic Abyssal, a guttural form Maw-Speech and Telepathic Abyssal, and a vocal form "any spoken language" (S334). See Demons.
The Fifth Age documents call the same tongue Demonic. The Proturan scout Aqiran speaks "Common, Demonic" (S002), and the demonological article of 2025 glosses demonic words: Dae'medeis, demonic essence, and Dae'cilia, whose "literal translation ... from demonic is 'Demon's Thread'", the anchor of a demon's power that is commonly called a mortiquery (S019). Abyssal is also a learned tongue of the witches: the alchemy and witchcraft rules make it the prerequisite of Abyssal and Malefica craft (S212); see Witchcraft.
Holy and ancient languages¶
| Language | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| Kalari holy language | The precaution of Aggormaedes, who hid a Kalari artifact with "clues only decipherable by priests of Kalar (using the Kalari holy language and Kalari references)" (S142). See Kalari. |
| Ancient High Kalari | The language of the Book of the Eye, found in the Halls of Methusial the archwizard (S186). See Book of the Eye. |
| Kalari Primal | One of three inscriptions, with Celestial and Acadian, carved on the twelve rough chairs of the Archwizard's Conclave, a circle of stones on a misty hill (S192). |
| Celestial | The tongue of a runestone set on a false hoard of gold in the Rift campaign, which names "Kalar, Arya, Orandos and Khardas" (S008); Ephra, a Lorsythian lieutenant raised on Kalari sermons, has "Celestial (limited)" (S004). |
| Supernal | Named in the entity register only. |
| Druidic | The druids "have their own magical language in which they record all of their magic", given to each acolyte "in the form of a blessing from a High Druid", and "their memory of the language is immediately lost should they ever try or be forced to vocalize it" (S367). See Druids. |
| Gaelic | Named only as the prerequisite of Corporeal Alchemy in the alchemy rules (S212). |
Eldritch caste prefixes¶
The Eldritch carry their rank in the first part of the surname (S147):
| Prefix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Nar | "a member of the ArchConclave. The Eldritch ruling body of Magi." | Phaendar Nar'Vizerai |
| Vaj | "a battle magi or renown magi" | Allannia Vaj'zaelin |
| Xal | "a commander, general or governor" | Luiranar Xal'Vanala |
| Nae | "a knight, watchman, warrior or soldier" | Elnaril Nae'Zorwyn |
| Ral | "a builder, creator or worker" | Olauduin Ral'Zylven |
Their place in Eldritch society is on Social Order.
Writing and literacy¶
Three scripts are named. Naheric Runes are "Irish/Norse-like runes" in the Naher outline (S524) and "runes similar to the Dwarves" in the Compendium (S372). The dwarves' own runes are a magic: Runik, "developed by Khardas to allow the non-magical Dwarven race to practice magic", is on Arcane Languages, and the Khardic runecraft on its Magic page. The Sancturi write their law and taxes into the Sancturi Codex, "an authoritative and divine work" protected from tampering by rune magic, and burn the books they judge heretical (S321).
Literacy is recorded for few peoples. The Korun are "overwhelmingly illiterate" (S372); the Boreal Elves entrust their records to their shamans (S100); and the Imperium's Sages are "trained scholars and bookkeepers" (S321).
Gap
No source gives the grammar, script or a sample of Common, Elvish, Sylvan, Undercommon, Goblin, Sharuvian, Draconian, Celestial, Supernal, any Kalari tongue, Druidic, Gaelic or Ancient Naheric. Who speaks Supernal and Gaelic in the world, and what Undercommon is, are not said.