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Darnassus portal runes

Darnassian script on the portal between Rut'theran Village and Darnassus.[1]

Darnassian (also called Darnassae,[2] Kaldorei[3] or elvish)[4][5][6] is the language of the night elves. It wasn't always called this way.[7]

As the naga, high elves, blood elves, void elves, and nightborne are all descended from night elves, their languages of Nazja, Thalassian,[8] and Shalassian respectively[9] bear some resemblance to Darnassian. There are, however, strong ideological differences between the night elves and their distant kin. Thus, a linguist must take great care in drawing comparisons between Darnassian and its cousin languages. Night elves tend to consider such comparisons offensive.[10]

The hearty frostsaber's ferocious appetite earned it the nickname "Dragon Belly" in the night elf language.[11]

Darnassian primer (official translations)[]

Blizzard have internally developed a grammatical template for Darnassian.[12] Here are a few common Darnassian phrases and words, for which the translations have been officially confirmed by Blizzard:

Untranslated phrases[]

Untranslated words[]

In-game parser[]

This is the list of words created by the in-game language parser for the Darnassian language, which is listed as language number two (word range 101-202) in the Language text file.

Note: The language algorithm used by the in-game "translator" merely makes the words look like Darnassian. It does not actually use a specific dictionary. Therefore, translated in-game speech isn't true Darnassian.

Number of letters in word Word List
One-letter words A, D, E, I, N, O
Two-letter words Al, An, Da, Do, Lo, Ni, No, Ri, Su
Three-letter words Ala, Ano, Anu, Ash, Dor, Dur, Fal, Nei, Nor, Osa, Tal, Tur
Four-letter words Alah, Aman, Anar, Andu, Dath, Dieb, Diel, Fulo, Mush, Rini, Shar, Thus
Five-letter words Adore, Balah, Bandu, Eburi, Fandu, Ishnu, Shano, Shari, Talah, Terro, Thera, Turus
Six-letter words Asto're, Belore, Do'rah, Dorini, Ethala, Falla, Ishura, Man'ar, Neph'o, Shando, T'as'e, U'phol
Seven-letter words Al'shar, Alah'ni, Aman'ni, Anoduna, Dor'Ano, Mush'al, Shan're
Eight-letter words D'ana'no, Dal'dieb, Dorithur, Eraburis, Il'amare, Mandalas, Thoribas
Nine-letter words Banthalos, Dath'anar, Dune'adah, Fala'andu, Neph'anis, Shari'fal, Thori'dal
Ten-letter words Ash'therod, Dorados'no, Isera'duna, Shar'adore, Thero'shan
Eleven-letter words Fandu'talah, Shari'adune
Twelve-letter words Dor'ana'badu, T'ase'mushal
Thirteen-letter words U'phol'belore
Fourteen-letter words Anu'dorannador, Turus'il'amare
Fifteen-letter words Asto're'dunadah, Shindu'falla'na
Sixteen-letter words -
Seventeen-letter words Ando'meth'derador, Anu'dorinni'talah, Esh'thero'mannash, Thoribas'no'thera

Related languages[]

The novel Cycle of Hatred mentions "four elven dialects".[52] The naga, high elves, and blood elves all speak languages derived from Darnassian. The Naga (former Highborne elves), speak the language Nazja, which is as corrupted as the creatures who speak it. The language of the high elves, who were exiled from Kalimdor, changed into what is now known as Thalassian. It is also the language of the blood elves.

Darnassian, Thalassian, and Najza seem to have many common phrases, as is evidenced by Prince Kael'thas' use of "Ishnu'alah", Lady Vashj's "Ishnu'dal'dieb", as well as the names of the different elf subtypes, the Kaldorei, Quel'dorei, and Sin'dorei.

The high elves have very long life spans compared to humans, so Thalassian might be so similar to Darnassian that it would be more correct to call it a dialect, rather than a separate language. However, various sources call them languages, and imply that there would be difficulty in communication between the separate languages.

In Hearthstone[]

Voyage to the Sunken City cinematic song

Song of the Voyage to the Sunken City cinematic trailer.[22]

Hearthstone This section contains information exclusive to Hearthstone and is considered non-canon.

In the RPG[]

Icon-RPG This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

Beyond the current spoken version of Darnassian there is one ancient dialect of Darnassian, written in Darnassian runes.[55] However, it is possible that it is the language currently known as Elven which is also spoken on Mount Hyjal.[56]

  • Allaminar! - Word of magic that creates a illumination spell, which causes a bright light.[57]
  • Keermissar! - Word of magic that causes three whirling magic stars to flash forth and strike an enemy.[57]

Night elf names[]

Night elf names always have a special meaning. First names derive from an elven word or the name of a famous hero having a totemic or ancestral connection. Surnames are indicative of the family line and often date back millennia.[58]

  • Male: Ilthilior, Mellitharn, Khardona, Andissiel, Mardant, Tanavar.
  • Female: Kaylai, Keina, Deliantha, Meridia, Freja, Alannaria, Nevarial.
  • Family: Moonblade, Glaivestorm, Proudstrider, Oakwalker, Nightwing, Staghorn.

Speculation[]

Questionmark-medium
This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

It has been pointed out that Darnassian, an old language, shares the same root word with the name of the Night Elven capital, Darnassus, a city created relatively recently. Some reasons as to why this may be include: 1) the language was always called Darnassian, and the city was named for the language; 2) there was no name for the language prior to the foundation of the city, and so they bore the same, 3) the name of the language was changed, or 4) "darnass" has a translation that is not yet known.

Based on the primer above, one can draw several conclusions as to the meanings of specific words, suffixes and prefixes in the Darnassian language:

  • "An" = "Snow"
  • "Aran" = "Town"
  • "Do" = "Teacher"
  • "Dorei" = "Children", "Born of"
  • "Drassil" = "Crown"
  • "Dris" = "Eye"
  • "Ishnu" = "Good fortune"
  • "Kal" = "Star(s)"
  • "-naar" = "Town"
  • "Nor" = "Heavens"
  • "Quel" = "High" or "Noble"
  • "Shan" = "Honored"
  • "Tel" = "Earth"
  • "Thero" = "Student"
  • "Vor" = "Broken"
  • "Zin" = "Glory"

References[]

 
  1. ^ Wolfheart, chapter 1
  2. ^ Quotes by Arathandris Silversky
  3. ^ H [53] Betrayed: You assume the text is of some ancient language... perhaps Kaldorei?
  4. ^ The Comic: Destiny Awaits!
  5. ^ Inv offhand hyjal d 01 [Arcane Tome]
  6. ^ N Demon hunter [8-45] The Keystone
  7. ^ N [57] Under the Chitin Was...
  8. ^ The Warcraft Encyclopedia/Thalassian
  9. ^ Don Adams on Twitter - "Correct. It's an offshoot, similar to Thalassian."
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s The Warcraft Encyclopedia: Darnassian
  11. ^ Mount Journal entry for Ability mount whitetiger [Reins of the Spotted Frostsaber] and Ability mount whitetiger [Reins of the Striped Frostsaber]
  12. ^ Eric Law 2022-03-19. Hearthstone Interview: Christie Golden and Valerie Chu Weigh Anchor on Narrative and Atmosphere of Voyage to the Sunken City. Game Rant. Retrieved on 2022-05-07.
  13. ^ Rensar Greathoof#Quotes
  14. ^ Alash'anir
  15. ^ a b c Seeds of Faith
  16. ^ N [70] Call of the Dream
  17. ^ Destiny Awaits!, pg. 11
  18. ^ a b World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, pg. 124
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Alliance Player's Guide, pg. 128
  20. ^ A [5-30] Call Down the Thunder
  21. ^ a b Loreology on Twitter
  22. ^ a b c d e f Hearthstone on Twitter (2022-05-06). Archived from the original on 2022-05-07.
  23. ^ A Good War, pg. 66
  24. ^ The Sundering, chapter 1
  25. ^ a b Flashback, pg. 22
  26. ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, pg. 94
  27. ^ Elegy, pg. 87
  28. ^ World of Warcraft: Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor, pg. 108
  29. ^ Stormrage, pg. 84
  30. ^ Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos manual, pg. 47
  31. ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, pg. 95
  32. ^ A [50] An Urgent Request
  33. ^ N [60] Daughter of the Night Warrior
  34. ^ Feral Worgen (Val'sharah)
  35. ^ Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor, pg. 56
  36. ^ Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos manual, pg. 48
  37. ^ War Crimes, chapter 6
  38. ^ Christie Golden on Twitter (2014-05-08). Retrieved on 2019-03-12.​ “it means thank you :-)
  39. ^ a b Curse of the Worgen
  40. ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, pg. 139
  41. ^ The Founding of Quel'Thalas
  42. ^ A Leatherworking [50] Make Some Noise
  43. ^ Lieutenant Aylissa Silverarrow#Quotes
  44. ^ Day of the Dragon, pg. 136
  45. ^ The Art of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, pg. 6
  46. ^ Lands of Mystery, pg. 74
  47. ^ Enemies at the Gate
  48. ^ a b The Spirits of Ashenvale
  49. ^ Curse of the Worgen Issue 4
  50. ^ A Parting of Ways
  51. ^ Inv misc rune 02 [Encrypted Sigil]
  52. ^ Cycle of Hatred, pg. 67
  53. ^ Peter Whalen on Twitter: "Druidic attack spell - she's commanding the plants to fight on her behalf. Especially powerful given the local vegetation."
  54. ^ Skelesaurus Hex dialogue
  55. ^ Shadows & Light, pg. 134
  56. ^ Lands of Mystery, pg. 17
  57. ^ a b Magic and Mayhem, pg. 57 - 58
  58. ^ World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game, pg. 39

External links[]

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