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The Grishaverse

Kaelish is the language commonly spoken by the inhabitants of the Wandering Isle.

Known words and phrases[]

Kaelish English translation
oncat cat[1]
dirre sweetheart[2]
Kep ye nom? What is your name?[2]
nomme __ my name is __[2]
Ken ye hom?[3] Where are you from?
ken where
kep what
ye your

Ancient Kaelish[]

Ancient Kaelish English translation
Nae brenye kerr, eld ren. Good to see you, old friend.[4]
eld old
ren friend

Linguistic analysis[]

From the words and phrases of Kaelish given in the books, it is possible to derive several pieces of linguistic information:

  • Nouns, at least some nouns, can take head-marking for some possessors (but not others). Nom means "name," and nomme, with a -me suffix, means "my name." However, there is no suffix for "your name" ─ or if there is one, it is not necessary.
  • At least in some cases, Kaelish has a zero-copula. Kep "what" + ye nom "your name" = "what is your name." There is no word here that translates as "is"; instead, juxtaposing the two phrases creates that meaning.

References[]

  1. Ruin and Rising, chapter 3
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Six of Crows, chapter 34
  3. Crooked Kingdom, chapter 22
  4. Rule of Wolves, chapter 48
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