Gerudo (Language)
The Gerudo language,[1][2] or simply Gerudo,[3] is the written and spoken language of the Gerudo people.
The Gerudo language first appeared in Ocarina of Time in its written form, although was not confirmed as such until the Hyrule Historia.[4] Consisting of 26 different characters, the script is an alphabet directly corresponding to the modern Latin alphabet, making it a substitution cipher. It reappeared in Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time 3D.
The accompanying spoken language itself was first introduced in Breath of the Wild, where certain phrases are casually used throughout the Gerudo Region by both the Gerudo and travelers of the Region. Although the Gerudo alphabet is seen again in Breath of the Wild, which is confirmed by Creating a Champion to be the alphabet for the same Gerudo language,[2] all instances of the writing are actually in English.
Vocabulary
Breath of the Wild introduces several words in the Gerudo language, primarily interjections and a few nouns. Aside from this vocabulary, nothing else is known about the spoken language such as grammar or a complete phonology. The Gerudo also share the Hylian language with the rest of Hyrule Kingdom.[2]
The words in the Gerudo language are mostly derived from corruptions of Japanese words relating to the desert, or of their Japanese or English counterparts. Many of them replace a b sound with v, as the v sound is only used for foreign words in Japanese and is often approximated with a b. This is alluded to in-game with non-Gerudo having the same difficulty differentiating the two sounds.[5][6][7]
| Phrase | Meaning | Japanese | Possible origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sav'otta | Good morning[2][8] | サヴォッタ (Savotta) | サボった (Sabotta) (slacked off) |
| Sav'aaq | Good day[2][9] | サヴァーク (Savāku) | 砂漠 (Sabaku) (desert) |
| Sav'saaba | Good evening[2][10] | サヴァサーバ (Savasāba) | さばさば (Sabasaba) (feel relieved) or サヴァ (Sava) (ça va) |
| Sav'orr | Good night[11][12] | サヴォール (Savōru) | サボる (Sabaku) (slacking off) |
| Vasaaq | Welcome[2][13] | ヴァーサーク (Vāsāku) | バーサーク (bāsāku) (berserk) |
| Sav'orq | Goodbye[2][14] | サヴォーク (Savōku) | Counterpart to Savāku [note 1] |
| Sarqso | Thank you[3][2] | サークサーク (Sākusāku) | さくさく (Sakusaku) (briskly) or サンキュー (Sankyū) (thank you) |
| Sa'oten | An exclamation, a surprise[15][16][17][18] | サヴォーテン (Savōten) | サボテン (Saboten) (cactus) |
| Voe | Man[2][19] | ヴォーイ (Vōi) | ボーイ (Bōi) (boy) |
| Vai | Woman[2][20] | ヴァーイ (Vāi) | Counterpart to Vōi |
| Vehvi | Daughter[2][21] | ヴェーヴィ (Vēvi) | ベイビー (Beibī) (baby) |
| Vaba | Grandmother[2][22] | ヴァーバ (Vāba) | ばあば (Bāba) (granny) |
| Vure | Bird[2][23] | ヴァード (Vādo) | バード (Bādo) (bird) |
In Japanese, the signature drink of The Noble Canteen, the Noble Pursuit, is also given the name ヴァーイミーツヴォーイ (Vāi Mītsu Vōi), effectively meaning "Vai Meets Voe".[24] It is unclear if this is supposed to be an entirely Gerudo phrase, since the word "meets" is literally in English (using katakana).
Tears of the Kingdom introduces informal slang abbreviations for some Gerudo words primarily used by younger Gerudo [25].
| Original phrase | Shorten form | Original phrase (Japanese) | Shorten form (Japanese) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sav'otta | Votta [26][27] | サヴォッタ (Savotta) | ヴォッタ (Votta) [28][29] |
| Sav'aaq | Sav'a [30][27] | サヴァーク (Savāku) | サーヴァ (Sāva) [31][29] |
| Sav'saaba | Sav'a [32][27] | サヴァサーバ (Savasāba) | サーヴァ (Sāva) [33][29] |
| Sarqso | Sarq [34] | サークサーク (Sākusāku) | サクー (Sakū) [35][36] |
| Vasaaq | N/A [37] | ヴァーサーク (Vāsāku) | N/A [38] |
Script
Gerudo is written using an alphabet that corresponds one-to-one with the Latin alphabet. It can be seen at the Gerudo's Training Ground and Spirit Temple (where it appears written in order and its entirety on the stone to the left for the stairs at the entrance) in Ocarina of Time, sparsely at the Arbiter's Grounds in Twilight Princess, a stairway in Ganon's Castle in Ocarina of Time 3D and throughout Gerudo encampments and Gerudo Town in Breath of the Wild.
Trivia
- The "y" in the Gerudo Typography bears resemblance to the "y" found in the medieval runic alphabet, or fuþark.
- The usage of only two single numbers (1 and 5) suggests that the Gerudo numerical system is a simplified variation of Roman numerals. It is possible that counting would consist of the two available numbers being used consecutively to reach the desired number. For example, 6 would be written "5 1", ten would be written "5 5" and fifty five would thus be written with eleven consecutive 5's.
- In the original Japanese version of Hyrule Historia, the transcription table identifies the top and bottom parts of the Gerudo semi-colon as a period and comma, respectively.[39]
- The title at the top of the Gerudo Alphabet says "Geldo's Typography" in Gerudo symbols. Geldo may have been the original intention for the name's translation.
Gallery
-
"A"
-
"B"
-
"C"
-
"D"
-
"E"
-
"F"
-
"G"
-
"H"
-
"I"
-
"J"
-
"K"
-
"L"
-
"M"
-
"N"
-
"O"
-
"P"
-
"Q"
-
"R"
-
"S"
-
"T"
-
"U"
-
"V"
-
"W"
-
"X"
-
"Y"
-
"Z"
-
";"
-
"5"
-
"1"
-
"!"
-
"?"
External Links
Notes
- ↑ the vowel "a" in "ヴァ (Va)" is swapped with "o" (the first vowel and the last vowel in the gojūon list).
References
- ↑ "Might as well learn as much of the Gerudo language as I can while I'm here, right?" — Jules (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Creating a Champion, Dark Horse Books, pg. 401
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "By the way, in Gerudo, "thank you" is "sarqso." SARQSO!" — Guy (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ Johnson, David, Another Zelda alphabet cracked, Gerudo font made available - Zelda Universe , Zelda Universe, retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ↑ "Not "bai"! Vai! Bite your bottom lip as you say it." — Dorrah (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Er... Sa...botta? Was that it? I can't tell... Apparently you really have to bite your lip to get that V sound out clearly. A little kid made fun of me yesterday for not being able to get the pronunciation right. I don't know why, but it sounds the same to me no matter what I do.." — Lyndae (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Uhh... Sav'aaq! That V sound is really tricky to master... I feel like I got it there, though." — Lyndae (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Good morning! I actually want to use the actual Gerudo greeting. You know...Sav'otta!" — Frita (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Good day! I actually want to use the actual Gerudo greeting. You know...Sav'aaq!" — Frita (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Good...evening... Heh, that's how you say it where you're from, isn't it? Here, we say "sav'saaba."" — Maike (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Sav'orr!" — Romah (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Sleep well. Sav'orr!" — Kachoo (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Well...come... Did I get that right? Isn't that how you say it where you're from? Here, we say "vasaaq."" — Maike (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Since you're here, it might be worth it to learn some Gerudo words, right? "Good-bye" is sav'orq." — Dorrah (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Sa'oten! That's the Thunder Helm, isn't it?!" — Teake (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Sa'oten! Why are there so many monsters all over the place?!" — Calisa (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "What if "spirits" refers to orbs like this one? Sa'oten! I believe I've made a breakthrough!" — Rotana (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "I'm always shocked when I speak with the others about you. It's a real sa'oten-a surprise-how incredible you are." — Isha (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "Voe is a word in the Gerudo language that means "man."" — Merina (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Vai is a word in the Gerudo language that means "woman."" — Merina (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "If I ever have a vehvi, I hope I can raise her to be a vai like you." — Malena (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Wait, I should say "grandmother," not "vaba."" — Risa (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "Whoa... That's a really big vure..." — Kalani (Breath of the Wild)
- ↑ "ウチの看板商品ヴァーイミーツヴォーイが欲しいのかい？" (You want our signature drink, the Vai Meets Voe?) — Furosa (Breath of the Wild, Japanese localization)
- ↑ "After all your help, you're welcome to anything you want from our stock here. First the sand shroud, then the monsters, and now the young'uns are all spouting that annoying slang... This must be what the end of the world looks like." — Emri (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "Votta! I mean, Sav'otta!" — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 "That was close... If the others heard me, they'd definitely chew me out for using slang on duty..." — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "ヴォッタ …じゃなかった サヴォッタ！" — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 "危ない 危ない… またセンパイに「若者言葉を使うな！」って 叱られるトコだった…" — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "Sav'a! I mean, Sav'aaq!" — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "サーヴァ …じゃなかった サヴァーク！" — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "Sav'a! I mean, Sav'saaba!" — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "サーヴァ …じゃなかった サヴァサーバ！" — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "Sarq for before! I mean, sarqso! After all your help, you're welcome to anything you want from our stock here." — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "さっきは サク～！ …じゃなかった サークサーク！ さっきウチらを助けてくれた礼だ ここにあるモンは 何でも使ってくれ" — Boraa (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "サクー！" — Cara (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "Still a bit green, aren't ya? What a shame for you to do so well only to get tripped up right at the end. The correct answer is "vasaaq." The word "va" doesn't exist. Novices want to abbreviate anything, but not everything in Gerudo can be shortened. That's what makes it difficult. All right, let's finish with some pronunciation review. Watch carefully now. You bite your lip, and... "Va." Like that. "Ba"... is wrong. And that's a wrap on my Gerudo lessons. That was a pretty fun time. Sarq!" — Maike (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "しゃちょ～さん まだまだ青いね～ 最後の最後でひっかけ問題に ひっかかるとはな 正解は『ヴァーサーク』だ 『ヴァー』なんて言葉は存在しないよ 素人は何でも略したがるが そうじゃないのがゲルド語の難しいところなんだ じゃあ最後に 発音のおさらいだ いいか… 唇をかんで 『ヴァ』 だ 『バ』 じゃないからね よし じゃあレッスンは終わりだ なかなか楽しい時間だったよ サク～" — Maike (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ Hyrule Historia, Shogakukan, pg. 90