A language study edition
English ↔ Lekh Dothraki
A Dream Within a Dream · A Dothraki language study edition
Study edition · draft rendering built from canon words, not yet reviewed by a Dothraki speaker
Dothraki is the language of the horse lords of Game of Thrones. George R. R. Martin's novels gave it a few dozen words and names; in 2009 the linguist David J. Peterson built them into a full language with its own sounds, grammar and thousands of words. This edition teaches the sounds and grammar and gives every Dothraki word our sources record for the poem.
Part one / The poem
The poem, line by line
Each line of Poe's poem beside a full rendering. Select a numbered line to see the dictionary words behind it.
| Line | English · source | Lekh Dothraki · draft rendering |
|---|---|---|
| Take this kiss upon the brow! | Fichi zoqwa she vish! | |
| And, in parting from you now, | Ma ajjin, kash anha esemrasak yera, | |
| Thus much let me avow — | kijinosi anha astak asqoy: | |
| You are not wrong, who deem | Yer vos ojili, fin dirgi | |
| That my days have been a dream; | ki asshekh anni atthirarido; | |
| Yet if hope has flown away | hash athzalar oveth, | |
| In a night, or in a day, | mra ajjalan, ma mra asshekh, | |
| In a vision, or in none, | mra tihat, ma mra vos, | |
| Is it therefore the less gone? | hash me loy esemras kijinosi? | |
| All that we see or seem | Ei kisha tihaki, | |
| Is but a dream within a dream. | me atthirarido mra atthirarido. | |
| I stand amid the roar | Anha kovarak mra zorat | |
| Of a surf-tormented shore, | she havazh ma qeshah, | |
| And I hold within my hand | ma anha loshak mra qora anni | |
| Grains of the golden sand — | qeshah hoshor — | |
| How few! yet how they creep | Loy! Ma kifinosi mori esemrasi | |
| Through my fingers to the deep, | mra tiri anni she athaozar, | |
| While I weep — while I weep! | kash anha laqak — kash anha laqak! | |
| O God! Can I not grasp | Vojjor! Hash anha vos laz loshat | |
| Them with a tighter clasp? | mora mra qora anni? | |
| O God! can I not save | Vojjor! Hash anha vos laz vijazerolat | |
| One from the pitiless wave? | at she havazh? | |
| Is all that we see or seem | Hash ei kisha tihaki | |
| But a dream within a dream? | me atthirarido mra atthirarido? |
Part two / Learn the language
Meet Lekh Dothraki.
How it is written, how it sounds, how its sentences work, and where it has been.
Letters and sounds
Dothraki is written in Latin letters. Most sound much as in English; these are the ones that differ or need a note. Two letters together, like kh and th, stand for one sound.
| Letter | Sound | Like |
|---|---|---|
| a | /a/ | as in father |
| e | /e/ | as in bet, said clearly |
| i | /i/ | as in machine |
| o | /o/ | as in note, without the glide |
| kh | /x/ | the ch of Scottish loch |
| th | /θ/ | as in thin, never as in this |
| q | /q/ | a k made further back, at the uvula |
| r | /ɾ, r/ | tapped, or trilled when doubled or at a word's edge |
| sh | /ʃ/ | as in ship |
| zh | /ʒ/ | as in measure |
| ch | /tʃ/ | as in church |
| j | /dʒ/ | as in judge |
| w | /w/ | as in way |
| y | /j/ | as in yes |
Dothraki has no letters b, p or u in its native words. Doubled consonants are held longer: ajjalan, night, has a long j.
Built from the books
Peterson kept every word and name Martin had already used, such as khal, khaleesi and arakh, and built the sound system around them.
Stress
Stress falls by rule, usually on the last syllable when it ends in a consonant, otherwise on the first.
Still growing
Peterson kept adding words for later seasons, and Living Language published a Dothraki course in 2014.
How sentences work
Word order
Sentences run subject, verb, object, and adjectives follow the noun they describe.
- qeshah hoshorgolden sand
- anha tihak yeraI see you
No word for “is”
Dothraki has no copula; two nouns side by side make the sentence.
- me atthiraridoit [is] a dream
No articles
There is no “a” or “the”; context decides.
- vojjora god, the god
Five cases
Nouns change form for subject, object, owner, motion to and motion from.
- anha / anna / anniI / me / my
Verbs by person
Verbs end in -at in the dictionary and take endings for who acts.
- tihatto see
- tihakI see
Saying no
A verb is negated with vos or vo before it.
- vosnot, no
Everyday words
A short history
- 1996
A Game of Thrones gives Dothraki its first words and names.
- 2009
The Language Creation Society runs a contest for HBO; David J. Peterson's Dothraki wins.
- 2011
Game of Thrones airs, with dialogue in Dothraki.
- 2011
By September the lexicon reaches 3,163 words.
- 2014
Living Language publishes a Dothraki course written by Peterson.
Practice with every word
Every word of the poem
All 85 different words in Poe's poem, in the order they first appear. Each card shows the Dothraki form a published source gives, a note on how the language handles the word, or an honest blank where no source has it yet.
Which words
51 of 85 words have a published Dothraki form here, and 12 more have a grammar note. The rest are open for a speaker to fill in.
- Read the English word and try to recall the Dothraki form.
- Reveal it and say it slowly, letter by letter, using the alphabet above.
- Find the word in the poem and look at its line's study note.
- Ask a speaker or the language program about the words still open.
See the full word list (85 words)
| Take | fichat | to take, to bring · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| this | jin | this · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| kiss | zoqwa; zoqwat | a kiss; to kiss · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| upon | Not yet in our sources. | |
| the | Dothraki has no articles; a noun stands alone. | |
| brow | vish | forehead · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| And | ma | and, with · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| in | mra | in, inside · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| parting | esemrasalat | to leave, to go out · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| from | Motion away is shown by the ablative case, not a separate word. | |
| you | yer; yera | you; you as object · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| now | ajjin | now · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| Thus | kijinosi | thus, in this way · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| much | Not yet in our sources. | |
| let | Requests are made with the imperative form of the verb. | |
| me | anna | me (object form of anha) · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| avow | astat asqoy | to swear a vow · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| are | Dothraki has no verb “to be”; the words simply stand together. | |
| not | vos; vo | not, no · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| wrong | ojil; ojilat | wrong; to be wrong · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| who | fin | who · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| deem | dirgat | to think · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| That | haz | that · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| my | anni | my (owner form of anha) · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| days | asshekh | day · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| have | There is no helper verb “have”; the past is shown by the verb's own form. | |
| been | Dothraki has no verb “to be”; time is shown on other verbs. | |
| a | Dothraki has no articles; a noun stands alone. | |
| dream | atthirarido; thirat atthiraride | a dream; to dream, literally to live a wooden life · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| Yet | Not yet in our sources. | |
| if | hash | if; also opens a yes-or-no question · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| hope | athzalar; zalat | hope; to hope for · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| has | There is no helper verb “has”; the past is shown by the verb's own form. | |
| flown | ovethat | to fly · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| away | Not yet in our sources. | |
| night | ajjalan | night · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| or | Not yet in our sources. | |
| day | asshekh | day · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| vision | Not yet in our sources. | |
| none | Not yet in our sources. | |
| Is | Dothraki has no verb “to be”; me atthirarido is “it [is] a dream”. | |
| it | me | he, she, it · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| therefore | Not yet in our sources. | |
| less | Not yet in our sources. | |
| gone | Not yet in our sources. | |
| All | ei | all · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| we | kisha | we · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| see | tihat | to see · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| seem | Not yet in our sources. | |
| but | Not yet in our sources. | |
| within | mra | in, inside · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| I | anha | I · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| stand | kovarat | to stand · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| amid | Not yet in our sources. | |
| roar | zorat | to roar · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| Of | Ownership is shown by the genitive case, as in anni, my. | |
| surf-tormented | Not yet in our sources. | |
| shore | havazh | sea (the nearest word in our sources) · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| hold | loshat | to hold · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| hand | qora | hand, arm · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| Grains | Not yet in our sources. | |
| golden | hoshor | golden · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| sand | qeshah | sand · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| How | kifinosi | how · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| few | loy | few · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| they | mori | they · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| creep | Not yet in our sources. | |
| Through | Not yet in our sources. | |
| fingers | tir | finger · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| to | Motion toward is shown by the allative case, not a separate word. | |
| deep | ao; aolat; athaozar | deep; to be deep; the depths · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| While | kash | while · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| weep | laqat | to weep, to cry · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| O | Not yet in our sources. | |
| God | vojjor | god · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| Can | laz | to be able · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| grasp | Not yet in our sources. | |
| Them | The object form of mori is used; our sources here give only mori. | |
| with | ma | with, and · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| tighter | Not yet in our sources. | |
| clasp | Not yet in our sources. | |
| save | vijazerolat | to save, to rescue · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
| One | at | one · Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list |
| pitiless | Not yet in our sources. | |
| wave | havazh | sea (the nearest word in our sources) · Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 |
Every Dothraki form here comes from David J. Peterson's own word lists or the dictionary built from them. Forms are given in the dictionary spelling. Words still open are ones our sources give no form for. Dothraki is the property of HBO; single words are quoted for study.
Sources
Pages consulted
- David J. Peterson, Dothraki Swadesh list (dothraki.com)
- Dothraki Dictionary v3.11 (docs.dothraki.org)
- David J. Peterson, Dothraki pages on the Language Invention wiki
- Dothraki.com grammar posts
- Dothraki language, Wikipedia