Lizardman Language

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The Lizardmen have their own language, which can be learned in part from its usage. It does not appear that Lizardmen have a written language, so all known writing is done in English.

Usage

Lizardmen have an alphabet of 23 characters, but include many clicks and voiceless syllables.

ALPHABET: acćčʗehχikloprɾsśštuþyz

Not used: bdfgjmnvwth, with the exception that unvoiced consonants (p,t,k,ch,þ) may become voiced (b,d,g,j, th ) when they appear at the beginning of a word (for example, in the greeting “pica,” which is pronounced like “bee-tsah,” not like “pizza.”).

ʗ (Postalveolar click, as in the Zulu “q”. Transcribed in UW1 as “click.”)

c (Voiceless alveolar affricate [“ʦ”], as in the Polish “cebula” and Japanese “tsunami.”)

χ (Voiceless velar fricative as in Scottish “loch” and Polish “chór”. Transcribed in UW1 as “kk”.)

ss, śś, šš, cs (“long” consonant, held for an extra mora [or “beat,”] in duration, as with Japanese long vowels.)

Ś (“Soft” sh, as in the Polish ś.)

Š (“Hard” sh, as in the Polish sz.)

Ć (“Soft” ch, as in the Polish ć.)

Č (“Hard” ch, as in the Polish cz.)

s (As in English.)

r (Alveolar trill, as in the Polish “r” or Spanish “rr.” Transcribed as “rr” in UW1.)

ɾ (Alveolar tap, as in the Polish or Spanish “r.”)

Þ (Voiceless dental fricative, as in the English “th” [“thin,” not “this”].)

a (ah)

e (eh)

i (ee)

o (oh)

u (oo)

Lexicon

Provided here is a dictionary of all known Lizardmen words and their English equivalent.

Lizardman	English
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
A 'au and B bica hello, goodbye C ʗ ('click) no ʗ iriass ('click-iriass) Sir Cabirus -ʗ (as a noun suffix) non-, opposite cor go D None E eppa visit eppala visitor, wanderer F None G None H None I isili me -ik did (past tense verb suffix after consonant stop) -it shall (future tense verb suffix after a consonant stop) J None K -k did (past tense verb suffix not after consonant stop) krik grab kri'kla lurker ku of, from, possessed by ku'isili mine kutosa y ours L -la verb suffix equivalent to English “-er” M None N None O -oco -ing ossli enough P pa to do, to make paśi to talk paśioco speech, language pica hello, goodbye, pleasure picaʗ Pain, sorrow Q None R None S sela (sel'a) give si tio be soɾʗ (sor'click) stranger sor (sorr) enemy sora (sorra) steal sorala thief soraoco theft sseþ (sseth) yes, thus, that way sstreś (sstresh) help (v.) sstreśoco help (n.) ša multiple (plural determiner) šali we/us šatosa you all (plural) T þepa (thepa) lizardmen þesʗ (thes'click) hate (v.) þesʗoco hate (n.) þeś (thesh) like þit (thit) need þitla beggar -t shall (future tense verb suffix not after consonant stop) tosa you (singular) U Urgo Murgo V None W None X None Y ye- polite noun prefix yeśorʗ (yeshor'click) friend yeþe (yethe) kill yeþela warrior Z zeχa (zekka) food

Crowdsourced Words

English	Lizardman	Contributor
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
A Armor ? ? Arrow ? ? B Bow ? ? C Capable ? ? Choice ? ? D Dire Bunny ? ? Dwarves ? ? E Earthclot ? ? Elves ? ? F Fighter ? ? G ? ? ? H Hunter ? ? I ? ? ? J ? ? ? K ? ? ? L ? ? ? M Mage ? ? Mana/Aether ? ? Marcaul (a Lizard Man settlement) ? ? Mind Crippler ? ? N ? ? ? O ? ? ? P Provision (verb) ? ? Q ? ? ? R Ripper ? ? Rotworm ? ? Rune ? ? S Shadow Beast ? ? Shablers ? ? Skill Shrine ? ? Silver Sapling ? ? Stygian Abyss ? ? Sword ? ? T Trap ? ? U Undead ? ? V ? ? ? W ? ? ? X ? ? ? Y ? ? ? Z ? ? ?

Lore

From a letter by Tyball to Malabelle:

Lizardman Speech
Should you find yourself stranded in the territories of the lizardmen, you may discover a sudden need to communicate with them. As few of them speak the human tongue, 'tis best to learn a few of their words. On the following page, I give you a short glossary of their terms; carry it with you or learn their speech from it.

- from Mysteries of the Abyss (Ultima Underworld Clue Book)

Trivia

• The lizardman name for themselves (and possibly their language) is thepa.

See Also

• Runic Alphabet

Previous Appearances

• The Lizardman Language was first encountered in Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss.