Common Tongue

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The Common Tongue[1][2][3] or Common Speech[4][5] is the language commonly spoken in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. There are regional accents[6][7] and class differences,[8][9] but these do not result in a lack of comprehensibility.

Language

The First Men in Westeros spoke the Old Tongue,[10][11] but for centuries the primary language in Westeros has been the Common Tongue. It is likely that the Common Tongue was brought to Westeros with the arrival of the Andals, or perhaps the Andals spoke an earlier form of the language that developed into the Common Tongue. (As in the real world, how the English language developed from Old English brought to Britain by the Anglo-Saxons, displacing the Celtic languages.)

Isolated descendants of the First Men may not speak the Common Tongue. While some free folk who live beyond the Wall understand the Common Tongue, many clans instead speak local languages.[12] The Thenns, for instance, speak the Old Tongue and can only speak a few words of the Common Tongue.[13] The Vale mountain clans do speak the Common Tongue, but with a particular syntax and intonation.[14]

In Westeros, differences in speech can be observed between the highborn and lowborn.[15][16][17][18] These differences can be found in the sound of their speech,[17][6][19] but also in the use of specific phrases and words. An example is the use of "my lord" by nobles, but "m'lord" by peasants.[9] According to Lord Roose Bolton, peasants pronounce "m'lord" as if they have mud in their mouths.[9] Although the degree of which it is used differs greatly between the common born, the lowborn patois can be seen in multiple further instances:

Example 1: "She ast me to, m'lord," Mycah said. "She ast me to." [...] "It's not no sword, it's only a stick."[8]
Example 2: "She don't know me," he said, "but I knows her, oh, yes."[20]

Regional accents can lead someone to determine where a person has been born.[6][21] This is not limited to the regions of Westeros (crownlands, Dorne, Iron Islands, north, Reach, riverlands, stormlands, Vale, westerlands),[6] but also specific cities[22][18] and even districts within those cities.[23] For example, Tyrion Lannister, a highborn man from Casterly Rock, near Lannisport in the westerlands, tries to evade suspicion by claiming to be a noble's bastard son who grew up in Lannisport,[21] thereby accounting for his speech. Another example is Samwell Tarly, who is identified as a highborn from the Reach by Pypar, who states that Samwell is "A lordling. Southron, most like near Highgarden", based solely on his speech.[6] Decades earlier, Septon Sefton recognized that Duncan the Tall was from King's Landing because he was familiar with the city's accent.[18] Further, Tyrion could identify that Kem was not just from King's Landing, but from the district of Flea Bottom.[23]

The largest difference within the Seven Kingdoms can be found in Dorne, where the Common Tongue is marked by the influences of the language of the Rhoynar.[4][24] This influence can be found all over Dorne,[4] but most strongly among the salty Dornishmen,[24] who have the most Rhoynish blood.[25] The Dornish speak with a "Dornish drawl",[26][27][17] stretching, rolling, or lilting some words.[24] Some describe the Dornish speech as charming.[24]

When a non-native speaks the Common Tongue, they may have an accent, which may or may not affect comprehensibility. For example, the Tyroshi captain Moreo Tumitis speaks the Common Tongue fluently, with only a very slight accent.[28] A Tyroshi archon's daughter was said to have a "delightful accent".[29] However, Collio Quaynis, a Tyroshi singer, has a "ludicrous" accent so thick only one word in three could be understood.[30][31] And when the Dothraki khal Drogo speaks the Common Tongue, his accent is so "thick and barbarous" that several Westerosi cannot understand a word.[32]

Known non-native speakers

Asshai'i

Braavosi

Dothraki

Ghiscari

Lyseni

Myrish

Norvoshi

Pentoshi

Qohorik

Summer Islanders

Thenns

Tyroshi

Volantenes

Other

Unknown

Quotes

Yes, Westeros has regional accents. I played with the idea of trying to depict them with phonetic misspellings (and indeed I do a little of that, with some less educated characters), but that way lies madness. I try to suggest the accents with syntax and taglines instead.[33]

—George R. R. Martin

"I swear it," she said in the Common Tongue of the Seven Kingdoms that by rights were hers.[34]

—Daenerys Targaryen to Jorah Mormont

At least in Dorne they speak the Common Tongue. Like Dornish food and Dornish law, Dornish speech was spiced with the flavors of the Rhoyne, but a man could comprehend it.[4]

—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister

Tyrion took a mordant pleasure in inventing the details of the colorful life of Hugor Hill, also known as Yollo, a bastard out of Lannisport. The best lies are seasoned with a bit of truth. The dwarf knew he sounded like a westerman, and a highborn westerman at that, so Hugor must needs be some lordling's by-blow. Born in Lannisport because he knew that city better than Oldtown or King's Landing, and cities were where most dwarfs ended up.[21]

—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister

Every word out of your mouth reeks of Flea Bottom.[23]

—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister

Duncan: How did you know I was from King's Landing, septon?
Sefton: Kingslanders have a certain way of speaking.[18]

—Duncan the Tall and Septon Sefton

See also

Behind the Scenes

While the Common Tongue is written as English in A Song of Ice and Fire, it is not actually English, as the world is not our Earth.[35] Though rhymes and puns and such are based in English, it can be thought that the books are a translation of the Common Tongue into English, similar to J.R.R. Tolkien's concept of The Lord of the Rings as a translation from Westron into English (although unlike Tolkien, George R. R. Martin is not a linguist). Of course, in foreign-language editions of the books, the Common Tongue is translated into that language.

The canceled HBO adaptation of the Long Night, Bloodmoon, would have primarily involved First Men characters, but also some Andal characters. The show planned to depict the First Men's Old Tongue as English, while David J. Peterson, the official language creator for the television adaptations of Martin's works, developed the ancestor language of the Common Tongue, "Andalish", for the Andals to speak. Andalish had a very similar phonology to Old English, with the concept that over the centuries of linguistic changes, it would develop into the Common Tongue/"English" language used in Westeros in Game of Thrones, including the unique-to-ASOIAF words and names (e.g. "Lannister", "Tarth", "septa"). Peterson also planned to develop a writing system for Andalish, derived from High Valyrian glyphs, that would evolve into shapes similar to the English alphabet. Peterson notes the language may eventually be used by HBO in some form.[36][37][38]

References

  1. ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 11, Daenerys II.
  2. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 64, Arya X.
  3. ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 11, The Kraken's Daughter.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 1, Tyrion I.
  5. ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 38, The Watcher.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 26, Jon IV.
  7. ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 37, Brienne VII.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 15, Sansa I.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 32, Reek III.
  10. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 51, Jon VI.
  11. ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The North.
  12. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 15, Jon II.
  13. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 26, Jon III.
  14. ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 42, Tyrion VI.
  15. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 1, Jaime I.
  16. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 25, Davos III.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 45, Samwell V.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 The Sworn Sword.
  19. ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 2, The Captain Of Guards.
  20. ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 50, Arya IV.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 14, Tyrion IV.
  22. ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 57, Tyrion XI.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 66, Tyrion XII.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 The World of Ice & Fire, Dorne: Queer Customs of the South.
  25. ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Dorne.
  26. ↑ A Feast for Crows, Prologue.
  27. ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 20, Brienne IV.
  28. ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 14, Catelyn III.
  29. ↑ Fire & Blood, The Year of the Three Brides - 49 AC.
  30. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 32, Tyrion IV.
  31. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 60, Tyrion VIII.
  32. ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 46, Daenerys V.
  33. ↑ So Spake Martin: Cyvasse, Accents, Historical Mysteries, and Dornish Nationalism (April 19, 2008).
  34. ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 72, Daenerys X.
  35. ↑ Not A Blog: About Those Spinoffs... (comment thread) (May 15, 2017)
  36. ↑ David J. Peterson: Imeimei: "While looking back through your various posts on..." (December 12, 2022)
  37. ↑ David J. Peterson: Imeimei: "Please allow me to thank you for..." (January 10, 2023)
  38. ↑ The Languages of David J. Peterson: Andal language
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