Always a tough question for a conlanger. Not existence, of course, but the copula, and how to deal with it. First, by way of introduction, the copula in English is our friend “to be”. It performs a few different functions, as in the sentences below: A dog is an animal. (Category Membership) That is Maria.… Continue reading To Be or Not to Be?
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you’re American, today is the day dedicated to feasting on turkey, oeta and asfavirzeth (yams and cranberries). To you all, I wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving! To everyone not celebrating Thanksgiving, have a splendid Thursday! Not much else to share, but I was sending a message on my phone yesterday, and this… Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving!
Qute Responses
Last time I listed some sentences sample sentences featuring the Dothraki Q, and asked for recordings from readers of the Dothraki blog. Here are the results! 1. Qoy qoyi This is the translation of the famous Dothraki phrase “blood of my blood”. The full phrase would actually be Qoy qoyi anhoon, but the anhoon is… Continue reading Qute Responses
Qute Noises
Somewhere over at the forums a question came up about how exactly to pronounce Dothraki Q. It’s a favorite sound of mine, so I thought it’d be nice to dedicate a post to it. I first encountered the sound which in IPA is transliterated as [q] in 1999, when I took my first Arabic class… Continue reading Qute Noises
Manner Adverbs
There have been a few questions about how adverbs work in Dothraki, but the topic is actually larger than one might expect. For that reason, I decided to break it down by category. Those who grew up with English may be surprised (or, at least, I was at first) to learn that there are actually… Continue reading Manner Adverbs
Hajas, Zhey Khal!
I know it’s not the most popular costume this Halloween, but some may have the idea of going trick-or-treating as Khal Drogo. You could probably grab a Conan the Barbarian costume and modify it, sure. That’s cool. Or you could make your own Khal Drogo costume. Authentically. From scratch. Sound impossible? If you’re someone like… Continue reading Hajas, Zhey Khal!