Draconic

Draconic is the language of dragons, their kin, and other reptilian races.
See also: Draconic Translator

Syntax

Adjectives

Draconic and other word modifiers are said either before or after the word they are modifying.
The single most important modifier is placed before the word, and further emphasis can be put by also listing it after the word.
For example, "bensvelk darastrix aujir" means "the good bronze dragon," and "bensvelk darastrix aujir bensvelk" means "the (especially) good bronze dragon."

Possessive Nouns

Draconic shows possession by using three different prefixes.

• Veth-/Vethi-: Used to indicate possession by the speaker.
• I.E. Vethiwaere ("my cave") = vethi (possessive pronoun) + waere ("cave")
• Er-/Ethe-: Used to indicate a relationship to the speaker.
• I.E. Erothurirl ("my friend") = eri (possessive pronoun) + thurirl ("friend")
• Ar-/Ari-: Used for all other forms of possessiveness.
• This includes possession by another by combining the ar-/ari- prefix, the possessor, and the possessed object.
• I.E. Arimunthrekner ("the human's spear") = ari (possessive prefix) + munthrek ("human") + ner ("spear")
• Notably, negative relationships are sometimes described using the ar-/ari- prefix instead of the er-/ethe- prefix, perhaps to imply less of a relation to the speaker.
• I.E. Arirlym ("the human's spear") = ar (possessive prefix) + irlym ("enemy")

Phonetics

Unique Noises

Draconic is a particularly harsh sounding language with lots of hard speech sounds.
It also includes various hissing-like sounds (sj, ss, and sv) and a noise that sounds like a beast clearing its throat (ach).

Stress

Most words in draconic place stress on the first syllable.
A word's importance can be emphasized by stressing both the first and last syllable of a word. This is shown in written form by putting a symbol similar to an asterisk (*) on both sides of the word.

Vocabulary

Species

Much like in common, the names of the various specific species of dragons, particularly metallic dragons and chromatic dragons, are simply the word for "dragon" ("darastrix") modified by the color descriptor matching its scales. This adjective can be placed before or after the word dragon, much like any modifying phrase. For example, "ulhar darastrix" and "darastrix ulhar" would both mean "blue dragon," but in the latter example, there would probably be another adjective in front of "darastrix" that the speaker felt was more important to emphasize than its species, such as "*vorel* darastrix ulhar" ("[incredibly] beautiful blue dragon").
It is also worth noting that, while "darastrix" is usually translated as "dragon," its meaning is closer to the term "true dragon."

• metal = kovgam
• bronze = aujir
• copper = rach
• gold = aurix
• silver = orn

• color/chromatic = kluchuduun
• black = vutha
• blue = ulhar
• green = achuak
• red = charir
• white = white

• (true) dragon = darastrix
• drake = belikr
• wyvern = chidrag
• dragonborn (lit. "dragon's descendent") = silastrix

Alignment

One quirk of draconic is that the words to describe the subjective quality or desirability of something ("good" or "bad") are the same words used to describe the intrinsic nature of something ("good" or "evil").
Thus, a good-aligned gold dragon would see "malsvir" ("bad") as an insult, but an evil-aligned red dragon might take it as a compliment. However, if the red dragon called the gold dragon "malsvir," the gold dragon would assume the red dragon is complimenting them, but they would probably not be pleased by it.
For neutral-aligned dragons, "nogoorsa" ("neutral") is a compliment, and both "bensvelk" ("good") and "malsvir" could be seen as insults.
The connotation of these words can also be complicated if the speaker is good-aligned but from a typically evil-aligned species, evil-aligned but from a typically neutral-aligned species, etc. Thus, modern draconic uses the phrases "tisvelk" and "thric tisvelk" to make it more clear what they mean.

• bad/evil = malsvir
• neutral = nogoorsa
• good = bensvelk

• subjectively bad or undesirable = tisvelk
• subjectively good or desirable (lit. "not [subjectively] bad") = thric tisvelk

Insults

Draconic insults usually target one's character or one's bloodline.
The pride of a dragon makes even the smallest questioning of their character seem like a grave insult. Some dragons have killed other creatures over something as simple as calling a dragon "pothoc" ("stupid") or "faessi" ("coward"/"cowardly").
Dragon put a lot of importance on simply being a "darastrix" ("[true] dragon"), and the "draconic races" (reptilian races with various levels of legitimate claims to having draconic ancestors) similarly like to boast how closely related they are to the true dragons. Thus, questioning the purity of one's dragon bloodline is usually the biggest insult one can make in draconic.
The words "nou'ara" ("half-breed") and "silajir" ("half-blood") are mostly used as insults towards true dragons, implying their lineage may partially come from some other reptiallian creature. A trend among some non-dragonic/non-reptillian races, particularly elves, orcs, and other races with a disdain for half-breeds, is to use the word as a similar insult.
"Thric darastrix" ("not a dragon") is the worst things you could say to any creature claiming to have even the slightest bit of draconic heritage. A more moderate variation is to call such a creature by the name of a species with a less pure bloodline, such as addressing a dragon as a wyvern or drake. Many dragonborn are particularly offended if they are called kobolds.
Some more reasonably dragons will not be as insulted if a non-dragon (or even some draconic creatures) uses these phrases, especially if they assume that such creatures are simply uneducated and ignorant of their insulting connotation. However, stressing both the first and last syllable of the insulting word—"*thric* darastrix" instead of just "thric darastrix"—leaves no doubt that the speaker intends to insult the person they're talking to.