Old Ghiscari is a language which began in the Old Empire of Ghis.[1] Old Ghiscari has largely been replaced with the mongrel Ghiscari dialects of High Valyrian along Slaver's Bay,[2][3] though it is still spoken by some.[2][4]
Language
[edit]Old Ghiscari is a guttural-sounding language, described by Tyrion Lannister as harsh and ugly[5] and by Victarion Greyjoy as full of growls and hisses.[6] Mhysa is a word meaning "mother" in the old pure tongue.[2]
Modern Ghiscari writing uses glyphs;[7] it is unknown if glyphs were used in Old Ghiscari as well.
History
[edit]Old Ghiscari developed from the ancient city of Ghis in Ghiscar. The region was conquered by the Valyrian Freehold in five Ghiscari wars, however, and the Ghiscari people became slaves of Valyria. The Slaver Cities instead came to speak bastard Valyrian, High Valyrian corrupted and flavored with Ghiscari[7][8][3] to form a mongrel tongue.[9][10][11][1]
Recent Events
[edit]A Storm of Swords
[edit]Mhysa, an Old Ghiscari word meaning "mother", is used by many of the freed people of Yunkai to refer to Daenerys Targaryen when she enters the city after the battle near Yunkai.[2]
A Dance with Dragons
[edit]When Hizdahr zo Loraq holds a feast in the Great Pyramid of Meereen, singers from Yunkai sing love songs in Old Ghiscari.[4]
Skahaz mo Kandaq,[12] Hizdahr zo Loraq,[8] and Yurkhaz zo Yunzak[10] speak "Ghiscari" at times, though it is unclear if this refers to Old Ghiscari or mongrel Ghiscari.
Quotes
[edit]Thus the Ghiscari became but another part of the new Valyrian empire, and in time they forgot the tongue that Grazdan spoke, learning instead High Valyrian.[3]
—writings of Yandel
Even the Ghiscari tongue was largely forgotten; the slave cities spoke the High Valyrian of their conquerors, or what they had made of it.[7]
—thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
Dancers danced; musicians played queer tunes with bells and squeaks and bladders; singers sang ancient love songs in the incomprehensible tongue of Old Ghis.[4]
—thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 60, The Spurned Suitor.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 42, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: The Rise of Valyria.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 50, Daenerys VIII.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 14, Tyrion IV.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 63, Victarion I.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 23, Daenerys II.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 2, Daenerys I.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 6, The Merchant's Man.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 47, Tyrion X.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 59, The Discarded Knight.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 43, Daenerys VII.