The dwarven language is a descendant of the Irenni language, though it has undergone significant change over the last 2000 years and bears little resemblance to its mother tongue.
There are three main dialects of dwarven and these are strictly social dialects. The same three dialects are spoken in dwarven communities with little geographic variation.
Common Dwarven
Common Dwarven is spoken by the two lowest social tiers - the Pyrtra (dishonoured) and the Hargos (commoner, clansmen). It is also known as Miner’s Cant and Stone Speech. It is the most widely spoken dialect.Grand Dwarven
Grand Dwarven is spoken by the Korvak (engineers) and Thollis (military). It leans toward technical and organizational concepts. It is more complex than Common Dwarven.Noble Dwarven
This is the most complex and least used language of the dwarves. It is used by the three highest social tiers : the Qen (priests), the Trimell (savants and sorcerers) and the Symul (politicians, judges and lawmakers). It is a very formal language with many morphemes related to philosophy, justice and other large social issues.
Like Karthic, dwarven employs an object/subject/verb sentence pattern and dwarves carry this pattern over into other languages that they may speak as well. Dwarven consists of prolonged vowel sounds, rolling r’s and clipped consonants. It sounds similar to Bathyn, but slower and has a more rhythmic cadence. This is a coincidence as the two languages are completely unrelated.
Dwarven has a stylized, formal set of ideographic, rather than alphabetic, characters. Like the elves, dwarven writing is an art form and some dwarves specialize in dwarven lettering and scribing.
This website was last updated February 29, 2024. Copyright 1990-2024 David M. Roomes.