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Valyrian
Created byDavid J. Peterson, George R. R. Martin
DateFrom 2012
Setting and usage
Purpose
SourcesA priori language
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
IETFart-x-valyrian
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Valyrian languages are a fictional language family in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, and in their television adaptation Game of Thrones and later House of the Dragon.

In the novels, High Valyrian and its descendant languages are often mentioned but not developed beyond a few words. For the TV series, language creator David J. Peterson created the High Valyrian language, as well as the derivative languages Astapori and Meereenese Valyrian, based on fragments from the novels.[1] Valyrian and Dothraki have been described as "the most convincing fictional tongues since Elvish".[2]

Creation

[edit]
David J. Peterson, creator of the spoken Valyrian languages for Game of Thrones

To create the Dothraki and Valyrian languages to be spoken in Game of Thrones, HBO selected the language creator David J. Peterson through a competition among conlangers. The producers gave Peterson a largely free hand in developing the languages, as, according to Peterson, George R. R. Martin himself was not very interested in the linguistic aspect of his works.[3] The already published novels include only a few words of High Valyrian, including valar morghulis ("all men must die"), valar dohaeris ("all men must serve") and dracarys ("dragonfire"). For the forthcoming novel The Winds of Winter, Peterson has supplied Martin with additional Valyrian translations.[3]

Peterson commented that he considered Martin's choice of dracarys unfortunate because of its (presumably intended) similarity to the Latin word for dragon, draco. Because the Latin language does not exist in the fictional world of A Song of Ice and Fire, Peterson chose to treat the similarity as coincidental and made dracarys an independent lexeme;[4] his High Valyrian term for dragon is zaldrīzes. The phrases valar morghulis and valar dohaeris, on the other hand, became the foundation of the language's conjugation system.[3] Another word, trēsy, meaning "son", was coined in honour of Peterson's 3000th Twitter follower.[5]

At the start of June 2013, there were 667 High Valyrian words.[6]

Peterson expanded the languages for the successor series House of the Dragon.[7]

Documentation

[edit]

Since 2019, Peterson has been documenting the Valyrian languages (along with his other conlangs) in a Wiktionary-style repository on the website The Languages of David J. Peterson, with assistance from curators.[8][9]

High Valyrian

[edit]

Nyke Daenerys Jelmāzmo hen Targārio Lentrot, hen Valyrio Uēpo ānogār iksan. Valyrio muño ēngos ñuhys issa.

"I am Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, of the blood of Old Valyria. Valyrian is my mother tongue."

— High Valyrian, Game of Thrones, season 3, episode 4[10][11]

In the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, High Valyrian occupies a cultural niche similar to that of Classical Latin in medieval Europe.[3] The novels describe it as no longer being used as a language of everyday communication, but rather as a language of learning and education among the nobility of Essos and Westeros, with much literature and song composed in Valyrian.

Phonology

[edit]
Consonants[12][13]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ɲ ⟨ñ⟩
Plosive p ⟨p⟩ b ⟨b⟩ t ⟨t⟩ d ⟨d⟩ dʒ ~ ʒ
~ j ⟨j⟩ 		k ⟨k⟩ ɡ ⟨g⟩ q ⟨q⟩
Fricative v ~ w ⟨v⟩ s ⟨s⟩ z ⟨z⟩ ɣ ~ ʁ ⟨gh⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Approximant
Trill r̥ ⟨rh⟩ r ⟨r⟩
Lateral l ⟨l⟩ ʎ ⟨lj⟩

Notes:[12]

θ ⟨th⟩ and x ⟨kh⟩ are not native to High Valyrian but are present in some loanwords, such as the Dothraki arakh.
Vowels[12]
Front Central Back
Close / High short i ⟨i⟩ y ⟨y⟩ u ⟨u⟩
long iː ⟨ī⟩ yː ⟨ȳ⟩ uː ⟨ū⟩
Mid short e ⟨e⟩ o ⟨o⟩
long eː ⟨ē⟩ oː ⟨ō⟩
Open / Low short a ⟨a⟩
long aː ⟨ā⟩

Vowels with a macron over them (ī, ȳ, ū, ē, ō and ā) are long, held for twice as long as short vowels. Some words are distinguished simply by their vowel length in High Valyrian.

The rounded vowels ⟨ȳ⟩ and ⟨y⟩ lost their rounding in the descendant languages. Accordingly, when High Valyrian is used non-natively as prestige language, they are pronounced as unrounded front vowels /iː, i/. While Daenerys Targaryen's first name may generally be pronounced [də.ˈnɛː.ɹɪs] by characters in Game of Thrones, in High Valyrian it would have been closer to [ˈdae.ne.ɾys], with a diphthong in the first syllable and a rounded vowel in the last.

Contrastive vowel length has also been lost in some derived languages; in season 3 of Game of Thrones, Astapori Valyrian is heard, in which long vowels are pronounced exactly like short vowels.[12]

Syllable stress is penultimate unless the penultimate syllable is light and the antepenultimate syllable is heavy, in which case stress is on the antepenultimate.[14] As a highly inflected language, word order is flexible (a feature lost in derived languages),[12] but sentences with relative clauses are head-final.[10]

Grammar

[edit]

Nouns

[edit]

There are four grammatical numbers in High Valyrian—singular, plural, paucal and collective. For example:

vala

NOM.SG

"man"

valun

NOM.PAU

"some men"

vali

NOM.PL

"men"

valar

NOM.COL

"all men"

vala valun vali valar

NOM.SG NOM.PAU NOM.PL NOM.COL

"man" {"some men"} "men" {"all men"}

The collective can itself be modified by number as a new noun declension, for example:

azantys

NOM.SG

"knight, soldier"

→

 

 

azantyr

NOM.COL

"army"

azantys → azantyr

NOM.SG {} NOM.COL

{"knight, soldier"} {} "army"

azantyr

NOM.SG

"army"

→

 

 

azantyri

NOM.PL

"armies"

[17]

 

 

azantyr → azantyri

NOM.SG {} NOM.PL

"army" {} "armies"

Nouns have eight cases—nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, instrumental, comitative and vocative, though the instrumental and comitative are not distinguished in all declensions,[16] nor are the genitive, dative and locative always distinguished in the plural.[5] Both prepositions and postpositions are used to form other cases; for example, the ablative is formed with the preposition hen + the locative (e.g. hen lentot, "from a house") while the superessive is formed with the postposition bē following the genitive (e.g. lento bē, "on top of a house").[18]

There are four grammatical genders, which do not align with biological sex.[19] The Valyrian names for the genders are:[20]

hūrenkon qogror—"lunar class",
vēzenkon qogror—"solar class",
tegōñor qogror—"terrestrial class",
embōñor qogror—"aquatic class".

Animate and individuatable nouns are generally in the lunar or solar classes, while other nouns are generally classified as terrestrial or aquatic. The names of the classes derive from the nouns themselves, which are prototypical members of each gender.[20] Peterson describes Valyrian gender as being inherent but more predictable from phonology than gender in French, with some of the derivational properties of the noun classes of Bantu languages.[20] As a result of the phonological predictability, many words for humans (which tend to end -a or -ys) are lunar or solar; many foods and plants (often ending -on) are terrestrial.[21]

According to Peterson, "what defines declension classes in High Valyrian" can be divined by paying "close attention to the singular and plural numbers" and noting "where cases are conflated and where they aren't".[22]

Verbs

[edit]

Verbs conjugate for seven tenses (present, aorist, future, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect and past habitual), two voices (active and passive) and three moods (indicative, subjunctive and imperative). Tenses in High Valyrian often convey information about both time and aspect.[23]

Nouns have four grammatical numbers, but verb conjugations have only been described in the singular and the plural;[22] paucals trigger plural agreement, and collectives trigger singular agreement.[24]

Adjectives

[edit]

Adjectives have three declension classes.[25] Like verbs, adjectives only have two number forms—a singular, which is also used for the collective, and a plural, also used for paucal numbers.[25] Adjectives may be both prepositive (e.g. "the white shoe") or post-positive (e.g. "the body politic"); when prepositive some further rules apply.[25]

Several forms of elision and consonant assimilation occur with prepositive adjectives:

  • With inflections of two syllables (such as kastoti in several class I plurals), the second syllable is often lost to elision; word-final -t is also lost before consonants—compare aderot ābrot ("to the quick woman") with adero Dovaogēdot ("to the quick Unsullied").[25]
  • When such elision causes a word-final -z (such as with the class I kasta becoming kastyzy (nom.) and kastyzys (voc.) in the lunar plurals, below), the final -z is devoiced to -s when it precedes a voiceless consonant—compare kastys hobresse ("blue goats") with kastyz dāryssy ("blue kings"), both forms from kastyzy, the lunar nominative plural.[25]
  • If the syllable in question is vowel–consonant–vowel, then only the final vowel is elided—compare ānogro ēlȳro ("of the first blood") to ēlȳr ānogro ("of the first blood").[25]
  • Whereas instrumental forms are generally listed as containing -s- or -ss- and comitative forms generally contain -m- or -mm-, some nouns use only the s-forms in both cases and some nouns use the m-forms for both. When this occurs, the consonant in question experiences consonant harmony, causing the use of what might otherwise be a comitative form for an instrumental and vice versa, such as with the examples given of class I vowel mutations below,[citation needed] where the forms appear to be instrumental ("by means of the ... men", "by means of the ... rains"), despite being comitative ("accompanying the ... man", "accompanying the ... rains").[25]
  • Finally, word-final -m is decreasingly common in High Valyrian. Contracted inflections that end in -m will often assimilate to -n unless the next word begins with a vowel or a labial consonant.[25]

Class I adjectives decline differently for each of the four noun classes.[25] Adjective classes II and III both conflate rather more forms, failing to distinguish between solar and lunar nouns and failing to distinguish between terrestrial and aquatic nouns.[25]

Duolingo course

[edit]

On October 31, 2016, a course in High Valyrian for English speakers began to be constructed in the Duolingo Language Incubator. David J. Peterson is one of the contributors to the course.[26][27] The beta version was released on July 12, 2017.[26][27] In April 2019, the course was updated in anticipation of Game of Thrones' eighth and final season.[28] As a part of this update, Peterson created audio for the course's lessons and exercises.[citation needed]

Bastard Valyrian

[edit]

In the world of the novel and TV series, the Nine Free Cities of Essos speak locally evolved variants of Valyrian known as Bastard Valyrian, described by the character Tyrion in A Dance with Dragons as "not so much a dialect as nine dialects on the way to becoming separate tongues".[29]

Peterson described the relationship between High Valyrian and Bastard Valyrian as being similar to that between Classical Latin and the Romance languages evolved from Vulgar Latin, or more accurately between Classical Arabic and the modern varieties of Arabic, in that High Valyrian is intelligible, with some difficulty, to a speaker of a local Essosi language.[10]

Slaver's Bay dialects

[edit]

The slave cities of Slaver's Bay are lands of the ancient Ghiscari Empire that was conquered and annexed by Valyria, so they speak related languages descended from High Valyrian with the substrate of the local Ghiscari languages.[30] Peterson noted that with regard to the vocabulary of the derived languages, "If it’s got a 'j' in an odd place, it’s probably Ghiscari in origin."[31]

Astapori Valyrian

[edit]

Si kizy vasko v’uvar ez zya gundja yn hilas.

"And this because I like the curve of her ass."

— Astapori Valyrian, Game of Thrones, season 3, episode 3[32][33]

The first derivative Valyrian language to be featured in the series was Astapori Valyrian, a variety from the city of Astapor in Slaver's Bay. It appeared in the third-season premiere episode "Valar Dohaeris". Peterson created the Astapori dialogue by first writing the text in High Valyrian, then applying a series of regular grammar and sound changes to simulate the changes in natural languages over a long period of time.[34]

For example, Astapori Valyrian has lost all long vowels (designated with a macron) and most diphthongs.[12] Between vowels, [b, d, g] have become [v, ð, ɣ]; subsequently, [p, t, k] have become [b, d, g] in the same environment.[35] As a result, an "Unsullied" is rendered as Dovaogēdy [do.vao.ˈɡeː.dy] in High Valyrian, but as Dovoghedhy [do.vo.ˈɣe.ði] in Astapori.[12]

Similarly, Astapori Valyrian has lost the case system of High Valyrian, so the word order is more reliably subject–verb–object (SVO) and the four genders of High Valyrian have been reduced to two, with three definite articles: ji [ˈʒi] (animate singular, derived from High Valyrian ziry [ˈzi.ry] "him/her (accusative)"), vi [ˈvi] (inanimate singular, derived from High Valyrian ūī [ˈuː.iː] "it (accusative)"), and po [ˈpo] (plural, derived from High Valyrian pōnte [ˈpoːn.te] "them (accusative)").[12][36] There is also an indefinite article, me [ˈme], derived from High Valyrian mēre [ˈmeː.re] ("one").[36] Word stress is less predictable than in High Valyrian, but commands are stressed word-finally (for example: ivetrá).[37]

Meereenese Valyrian

[edit]

Ev shka moz avrelya fej wal thosh? Pa wal yel wazghesh shing pa nesh esh yelwa mish she yel lerch ej rovnya sha nofel?

"You want to drink wine with these men? The men who tore us from our mothers’ arms and sold us at auction, like cattle?"

— Meereenese Valyrian, Game of Thrones, season 6, episode 4.[38][39]

Meereenese Valyrian appears in Seasons 4 and 6 of Game of Thrones.[38]

Like Astapori Valyrian, it lacked long vowels as well as the sound /y/.[40] However, its phonology departs considerably more from High Valyrian. This decision was a response to the request that it not be mutually intelligible with High Valyrian, unlike Astapori Valyrian, which is. For example, the word "Unsullied":[41]

Meereenese Valyrian: Thowoá [θo.woˈa]
Astapori Valyrian: Dovoghedhy [do.vo.ˈɣe.ði]
High Valyrian: Dovaogēdy [do.vao.ˈɡeː.dy]

Written form

[edit]

Peterson did not create a High Valyrian writing system for Game of Thrones, but he commented that he "was thinking something more like Egyptian's system of hieroglyphs—not in style, necessarily, but in their functionality. Egyptians had an alphabet, of sorts, a couple of phonetically based systems, and a logography all layered on top of one another."[42] In the third season's episode "The Bear and the Maiden Fair", Talisa is seen writing a Valyrian letter in the Latin alphabet, because according to Peterson, "it didn't seem worthwhile to create an entire writing system for what ultimately is kind of a throwaway shot".[43]

A writing system was eventually created for House of the Dragon. It is a mixed script, consisting of three types of glyphs:[44]

  1. Logographic glyphs (stand for whole words)
  2. Paradigmatic glyphs (used to show nominal paradigms and inflections)
  3. Alphabetic glyphs (used purely for their phonetic value)

In media

[edit]

High Valyrian was featured in detail in Game of Thrones only from season 3 onwards, spoken mostly by Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) on occasions with her scribe Missandei (played by Nathalie Emmanuel) and lieutenant Grey Worm (played by Jacob Anderson). The language has more prominence in the prequel House of the Dragon, mainly between the lead character Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by Milly Alcock as teenager and Emma D'Arcy as adult) and her uncle Daemon Targaryen (played by Matt Smith).

Emma D'Arcy, who played the adult Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon, reports enjoying learning it, saying, "I actually really enjoyed the process. It's like a fully functioning language — it's fully operational and so it's really gratifying to unpick."[45] Their co-star Matt Smith, who played Daemon, initially found it daunting, saying, "I had pages of it. Reams. At first, I dreaded it. But when I got to it, I quite enjoyed learning it and quite enjoyed performing it."[45]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Valyrian languages

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The Valyrian languages constitute a constructed language family developed by linguist for HBO's and its prequel , drawing inspiration from the fictional universe of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. At the core is High Valyrian, a prestige language analogous to Latin, which originated in the ancient Valyrian Freehold and survived as a liturgical and scholarly tongue after the cataclysmic Doom of Valyria. This family includes several dialects of Low Valyrian, such as Astapori Valyrian and Meereenese Valyrian, which evolved as creolized variants influenced by local tongues in regions like Slaver's Bay. Peterson began constructing High Valyrian in 2012 for Game of Thrones Season 3, starting with a limited lexicon provided by Martin—including words like valar ("all"), morghulis ("must die"), and dracarys ("dragonfire")—and expanding it into a fully functional with approximately 2,000 words. The features a weight-sensitive stress system, typically falling on the penultimate , and an inflectional with four numbers: singular, , paucal (for small groups), and collective (for all). Noun cases and endings determine syntactic roles, allowing flexible , while influences from languages like Latin informed its structure without direct copying. In the series, High Valyrian underscores themes of heritage and power, notably spoken by characters like to assert her Valyrian lineage and by red priests in rituals. Iconic phrases such as ("All men must die") and ("All men must serve") highlight its ceremonial role, enhancing by evoking historical depth and cultural prestige. The dialects appear in Essos-based plotlines, such as negotiations in Astapor, where corrupted forms reflect linguistic divergence post-Valyrian empire. Beyond the screen, High Valyrian has gained real-world popularity, with over 1.5 million learners on as of 2024.

Creation and Development

Inspirations

The Valyrian languages trace their origins to scattered fragments invented by George R.R. Martin in his A Song of Ice and Fire novels, where they appear as evocative terms and phrases suggesting an ancient, imperial tongue. Key examples include "Valyrian steel," referring to legendary blades forged in the lost civilization of Valyria, and the phrases valar morghulis ("all men must die") and valar dohaeris ("all men must serve"), which underscore a classical prestige language spoken by nobility and scholars. Martin developed only a handful of such elements—approximately eight words in total—to evoke depth without full linguistic construction, treating Valyrian as a backdrop for world-building rather than a fully realized system. Linguist expanded these fragments into a complete , drawing primary inspirations from ancient real-world to ensure naturalistic plausibility. For High Valyrian, the core of the family, Peterson modeled its grammatical structure on Latin, incorporating complex case systems and inflections to mirror the analytical depth of a classical prestige . Phonetics were influenced by Greek, with melodic vowel patterns and aspirated consonants lending an elegant, archaic tone, while etymological roots were derived from broader Indo-European sources to create a sense of historical depth and familial evolution among dialects. These elements were blended using (conlang) principles, such as systematic sound changes and derivational morphology, to produce a that felt authentically ancient yet adaptable for fictional use. Conceptually, High Valyrian was designed as a "dead" language in the lore, paralleling Latin's role in medieval Europe as a for , , and elite communication long after the fall of its originating empire. This positioning allows it to influence descendant dialects—such as those in Slaver's Bay and the Free Cities—through and simplification, reflecting real linguistic divergence in post-imperial contexts. The languages received further refinement for HBO's adaptations of Martin's works, enhancing their prominence in dialogue and cultural depiction.

Development Process

The development of the Valyrian languages was commissioned by HBO as part of the production of Game of Thrones, with linguist David J. Peterson tasked with expanding on George R.R. Martin's sparse textual fragments from the novels. Peterson began creating High Valyrian around 2011–2012 in preparation for Season 3, which aired in 2013 and introduced significant Valyrian dialogue. Peterson followed an iterative process, first establishing the grammar and core vocabulary of High Valyrian—modeled conceptually after classical languages such as Latin and Greek—before deriving the Low Valyrian dialects. By the end of in 2019, the High Valyrian lexicon had grown to approximately 2,000 words to support evolving script needs across seasons. Dialects like Astapori Valyrian were developed in 2012 as creolized variants, applying systematic sound shifts and simplifications to High Valyrian to reflect regional linguistic evolution in Slaver's Bay. The languages saw further expansions starting in 2022 for the prequel series , where Peterson added specialized vocabulary for dragon commands and refined High Valyrian phrasing to suit Targaryen-era dialogue. This included terms like lykirī ("be calm") and dohaerās ("serve") for interactions with dragons. Additional vocabulary was incorporated for Season 2 in 2024, including new dialogue lines, though without major structural changes to the . In tandem, the Duolingo High Valyrian course received a major update in July 2022, incorporating 159 new words and skills focused on dragon-related commands and , directly tying into the series' themes. As of November 2025, the lexicon remains around 2,000 words, with ongoing minor additions for future adaptations.

Documentation

The primary official resource for studying High Valyrian is the High Valyrian Reference Grammar and Lexicon hosted on language creator . Peterson's website, dedalvs.com, which provides a comprehensive along with a containing approximately 2,000 entries to support detailed language analysis and vocabulary building. This digital guide emphasizes accessibility by offering structured explanations of , morphology, and syntax, making it suitable for both novice learners and advanced enthusiasts seeking to understand the language's intricacies. In his published book The Art of Language Invention (2015), Peterson explores the principles behind constructing languages like High Valyrian, including foundational aspects of its development and phonetic design, serving as an indirect but authoritative reference for learners interested in the conlang's theoretical underpinnings. Complementing these, Peterson's associated online resources, such as those linked through his professional site, include and audio samples that aid in practical and phrase memorization. Community-driven resources further enhance accessibility, with the dothraki.org archives preserving early High Valyrian materials, dictionaries, and discussions. Fan-maintained dictionaries compile vocabulary from official sources, providing searchable tools for quick reference without an official standalone book dedicated exclusively to Valyrian as of 2025. Additionally, audio recordings produced by Peterson himself, featuring spoken examples of High Valyrian phrases and sentences, are available to guide learners on authentic intonation and rhythm. The High Valyrian course integrates these elements into an interactive format for hands-on practice.

High Valyrian

Phonology

High Valyrian possesses a consonant inventory comprising approximately 18 core , including stops such as /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, and /q/, a set of fricatives including /f/, /v/, /θ/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /x/, and /ɣ/, nasals /m/, /n/, /ɲ/, as well as like /l/, /r/, /j/, /w/, and /h/. The language treats /ŋ/ as an of /n/ before velars, not an independent . The vowel system consists of six cardinal vowels—/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, /y/—distinguished by length, where long vowels such as /aː/ or /yː/ (as in zȳhon, "their") are held approximately twice as long as their short counterparts. High Valyrian also includes diphthongs, notably /aj/ and /aw/, which function as complex nuclei in syllables. Stress placement follows a penultimate syllable pattern in most native words, though loanwords may deviate from this rule; the core syllable structure adheres to (C)V(C), permitting optional consonant onsets and codas while favoring vowel-centered rhythms. Phonotactic constraints prohibit initial occurrences of /ŋ/, and nasal assimilation occurs such that /n/ before velar consonants shifts to /ŋ/, enhancing coarticulation in connected speech. Variations in Low Valyrian dialects may simplify certain clusters or alter fricative realizations, diverging from this High Valyrian baseline. The consonant inventory includes the distinctive uvular stop /q/, and realizations may vary regionally, such as /v/ as in some accents.
CategoryPhonemesExamples/Notes
Stops/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /q/Unaspirated; /q/ uvular.
Fricatives/f/, /v/, /θ/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /x/, /ɣ/Includes /θ/ (th), /x/ (kh), /ɣ/ (gh); /ð/ marginal.
Nasals/m/, /n/, /ɲ//ɲ/ as ñ; /ŋ/ allophone of /n/.
/l/, /r/, /j/, /w/, /h//r/ trilled; total core consonants ~18.
Vowels (Short/Long)/a/ /aː/, /e/ /eː/, /i/ /iː/, /o/ /oː/, /u/ /uː/, /y/ /yː/Length contrastive, e.g., /yː/ in zȳhon.
Diphthongs/aj/, /aw/Treated as single units.

Grammar

High Valyrian grammar is characterized by its synthetic and fusional nature, featuring extensive inflectional morphology that encodes grammatical relations through affixes on nouns, verbs, and adjectives. The language draws inspiration from ancient Indo-European tongues like Latin and Greek, resulting in a system where words are highly marked for case, , number, , and voice. This complexity allows for nuanced expression of relationships between elements in a sentence, with a default head-final structure that influences phrase organization.

Nouns

Nouns in High Valyrian are declined across eight cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, , comitative, and vocative, which indicate the syntactic role of the noun in relation to other elements such as the verb or prepositions. They inflect for four numbers: singular (one instance), (multiple instances), paucal (a small but indefinite number, typically "a few"), and collective (a group acting as a unit). Nouns are assigned to one of four s—lunar, solar, terrestrial, or aquatic—based on semantic categories related to natural phenomena, such as celestial bodies or environmental domains, rather than biological sex; for example, "embar" () is aquatic gender, while "blēnon" () is terrestrial. Declensions are organized by stem types, including vowel-stem and consonant-stem classes, with patterns varying by gender and number; a representative consonant-stem is "kepa" (), which belongs to the lunar gender and follows second-declension patterns, altering endings like -a in the nominative singular to -ī in the accusative . These inflections enable nouns to convey locational, possessional, and instrumental meanings without relying heavily on separate prepositions, though prepositions can interact with case assignments.

Verbs

The verb system in High Valyrian is primarily aspect-prominent, distinguishing perfective (completed actions), imperfective (ongoing or habitual actions), and other aspects like habitual for repeated events, with tense providing temporal context. There are four main tenses: present (current time), past (completed prior to now), future (subsequent to now), and aorist (undefined or timeless aspect, often used for gnomic statements). Verbs inflect for three moods—indicative (declarative or factual), subjunctive (hypothetical or desired), and imperative (commands)—and conjugate across persons and numbers, with stems modified by suffixes; for instance, the verb "dohaeragon" (to serve) in the present active indicative first-person singular is "dohaeran," shifting to "dohaerī" in the subjunctive. Voices include active (agent performs the action) and passive (action is performed on the subject), with a middle voice for reflexive or self-benefactive senses in some conjugations; negation is expressed using the adverb "daor" (not), often paired with the subjunctive mood for prohibitions or doubts. Conjugation classes depend on stem endings, such as consonant-final stems using -i for first-person plural in the present, versus vowel-final stems using -ī, allowing for prefixation of prepositions in compound forms where the original object takes accusative case.

Adjectives

Adjectives in High Valyrian fully agree with the nouns they modify in (lunar, solar, terrestrial, aquatic), number (singular, ; paucal and often align with plural forms), and case, ensuring concord within noun phrases. They are divided into three classes based on patterns: Class I adjectives decline across all categories (e.g., "kasta" meaning or , lunar nominative singular "kastā," solar "kasti"); Class II group solar/lunar versus terrestrial/aquatic (e.g., "adere" sleek); and Class III feature vowel shifts (e.g., "ēlie" first). Placement is typically pre-nominal in head-final constructions, though post-nominal positions occur for emphasis or specific derivations, with prepositive forms often truncating endings like -ti or -si for euphony. Comparative and superlative degrees are formed by adding suffixes to the adjective stem, such as -īrī for comparative (e.g., "kastŷrī" more blue) and -ājī for superlative (e.g., "kastājī" most blue), maintaining agreement in the resulting forms. This agreement system reinforces syntactic clarity, as adjectives integrate seamlessly into phrases without articles, relying on context for .

Syntax

High Valyrian employs a basic subject-object-verb (SOV) , reflecting its head-final typology where modifiers precede the heads they modify, such as adjectives before nouns and possessors before possessed. The language shows agglutinative tendencies through the use of derivational affixes on roots to form new words, combining with fusional inflections for grammatical categories; for example, prepositions may prefix to verbs, promoting the former object to a pre-verbal accusative position. Relative clauses follow the noun they describe and are marked by specific particles, while with "daor" typically precedes the verb, and questions invert elements or add particles without altering core order. This structure supports flexible topicalization, allowing fronting of elements for focus while preserving the underlying SOV frame, and phonological processes like assimilation occasionally affect boundaries in compounds.

Duolingo Course

The course for High Valyrian, developed in collaboration with linguist , entered beta testing on July 12, 2017, and achieved full release in 2019. It focuses exclusively on High Valyrian, progressing from foundational elements to intermediate proficiency across 28 units and approximately 942 lessons. The curriculum emphasizes practical vocabulary and phrases, including greetings, family terms, and commands relevant to the fictional world, such as dragon-riding expressions like "dracarys." A major update in July 2022 added 159 new vocabulary words, five dedicated skills on topics like the tense, of numbers, and reflexive verbs, along with over 700 new sentences; audio throughout the course is provided by Peterson himself. Lessons are gamified to engage users through short, interactive exercises focused on listening, speaking, and , with typing-based practice for translations but no dedicated handwriting exercises due to the language's constructed script. The course is primarily available for English speakers, though Duolingo's platform supports access from other base languages where compatible. User engagement peaked following the 2022 premiere of , with active learners surging from 514,000 in to higher numbers in subsequent months; the course has attracted over 1.7 million learners at its 2023 peak, and as of November 2025, it has 1.55 million learners, remaining active without further major updates. The course has attracted over 1.7 million learners at its 2023 peak, earning praise for its accessible, entertaining format that introduces High Valyrian grammar—such as cases and tenses—through contextual scenarios, though critics note its limitations for advanced study beyond intermediate basics.

Low Valyrian Dialects

Slaver's Bay Dialects

The Slaver's Bay dialects, collectively known as the Low Valyrian variants spoken in the cities of Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen, represent creolized forms of High Valyrian heavily influenced by the substrate of the ancient Ghiscari language following the Valyrian conquest of the region. These dialects emerged after the Doom of Valyria, when the collapse of the Valyrian Freehold led to linguistic divergence, incorporating Ghiscari loanwords and simplifying High Valyrian's complex grammar to create more analytic structures. Often referred to as Ghiscari Low Valyrian, they exhibit reduced noun declensions, loss of the case system present in High Valyrian, distinguishing them from the prestige form of the ancestral language. Astapori Valyrian, the most prominent of these dialects, was developed by linguist David J. Peterson in 2012 specifically for Season 3 of the television series Game of Thrones, where it appears in scenes set in Astapor. It maintains a relatively conservative vocabulary compared to other Slaver's Bay variants but features significant grammatical simplification, including the shift to subject-verb-object (SVO) word order from High Valyrian's subject-object-verb structure and the elimination of case markings through prepositions. This dialect is spoken by the Unsullied soldiers and many freed slaves in the region, reflecting its role as a lingua franca among diverse populations. Meereenese Valyrian, used in scenes from Meereen, diverges more sharply from High Valyrian through extensive sound changes designed to render it unintelligible to speakers of the prestige language, such as . Peterson derived it via a series of phonological shifts from High Valyrian, including palatalization (e.g., s and z becoming sh and j before front vowels), spirantization (e.g., intervocalic s to sh), (e.g., b to v, d to dh), and vowel lowering (e.g., final u to o). These alterations result in a harsher, more fricative-heavy influenced by Ghiscari elements, though it retains some analytic tendencies like simplified conjugations. While it shares core with Astapori Valyrian, the sound changes reduce between the two, akin to the difference between Scots and standard American English. Yunkish Valyrian, associated with Yunkai, is the least extensively developed of the Slaver's Bay dialects, featuring only minor variations from Astapori Valyrian, such as subtle lexical differences incorporating additional Ghiscari loanwords related to local customs and trade. It has seen limited use in the television adaptation, with samples primarily in background dialogue rather than extended scenes. Like the other variants, it reflects the creolized nature of the region, prioritizing functional communication over High Valyrian's elaborate morphology. Overall, the Slaver's Bay dialects exhibit low with High Valyrian—comparable to the divergence between Latin and modern —due to their creolized evolution and substrate effects, though Astapori and Yunkish remain highly intelligible with each other. Meereenese stands as the most isolated, emphasizing the regional fragmentation post-Doom. These languages serve as markers of cultural in Slaver's Bay, spoken by slavers, Unsullied, and freed populations alike.

Free Cities Dialects

The Free Cities dialects constitute the western branch of Low Valyrian, primarily spoken across the Nine Free Cities of Essos, where they serve as vernacular languages for daily communication among inhabitants, in contrast to the more formal and elite status of High Valyrian. These dialects emerged from the linguistic divergence following the Doom of Valyria, incorporating regional influences while preserving core elements of High Valyrian , such as inflectional forms for tense and aspect, though they lack the extensive case system of the classical tongue. The nine principal dialects correspond to the individual Free Cities: Braavosi, Lorathi, Lysene, Myrish, Norvoshi, Pentoshi, Qohorik, Tyroshi, and Volantene, each exhibiting local admixtures from pre-Valyrian substrates, such as Andalic elements in the Norvoshi variant due to historical migrations and cultural blending in the hilly regions. For instance, the Norvoshi dialect integrates Andalic related to bearded priests and axe-bearing warriors, reflecting Norvos's rugged, inland heritage. Overall, these western dialects maintain greater structural fidelity to High Valyrian than their eastern counterparts, with features like head-initial noun phrases and mixed word order patterns. Development of these dialects for media adaptations has been limited, as the television series primarily featured High Valyrian and Slaver's Bay variants; however, produced sample phrases for some dialects to enrich the narrative without full grammars. among the branches is low, with variations approaching the status of separate languages, as noted in observations of their phonetic shifts and lexical divergences during interactions in Essos ports. The Volantene dialect stands out for its relative conservatism, often employed in rituals tied to Old Valyria's legacy, underscoring the cultural prestige of Volantis as the "First Daughter" of the fallen empire. Lysene and Myrish dialects, by comparison, display vowel reductions and simplifications influenced by maritime commerce, facilitating forms in trade hubs.

Writing System

Script Characteristics

The High Valyrian script is a glyphic invented by linguist specifically for the television series , where it first appeared in 2022. Unlike the spoken language developed earlier for , no dedicated script was created for Valyrian until this prequel series necessitated visual representations of ancient texts and inscriptions. The design draws on Peterson's expertise in constructed scripts, aiming to evoke an ancient, intricate aesthetic while remaining functional for narrative purposes. The script operates as an abugida-like system, featuring base glyphs that primarily denote , with attached or modified elements indicating vowels to form syllabic units. It comprises a comprehensive set of over 270 glyphs, including core alphabetic characters, numerals from 0 to 9, and specialized symbols for and other functions. These glyphs are characterized by angular, interconnected strokes that give them a rune-like appearance, suitable for carving into stone or metal, as seen in in-universe artifacts like dragon eggs or steel blades. Text flows left to right, with words demarcated by a middot (·) separator instead of blank spaces, and sentences concluded by a (.). Additional includes paired symbols for quotations—such as opening and closing strikes—and a dedicated marker for negation, enhancing expressiveness without relying on extensive diacritics. While the primary form employs blocky, distinct for clarity in formal or monumental writing, Peterson has indicated that a variant likely exists conceptually for more fluid, everyday applications, analogous to the script derived from , though no official forms have been detailed or implemented. This standard script applies uniformly to High Valyrian, serving as the foundational system for transcribing the language's into visual form, with brief mappings to its sounds (e.g., the for "ā" corresponding to a long ).

Orthography and Usage

The orthography of the Valyrian languages primarily refers to the system developed by linguist for High Valyrian, which employs the Latin alphabet to represent its phonemes consistently. This system uses diacritics such as macrons to distinguish , with short vowels rendered as a, e, i, o, u and long vowels as ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, where long vowels are pronounced approximately twice as long as their short counterparts. Consonants are represented with standard Latin letters, including ñ for the palatal nasal /ɲ/ (as in Spanish niño), z for the /z/, and digraphs like kh for the /x/ (as in Scottish loch), gh for the /ɣ/ (as in Spanish lago), and th for the /θ/ (as in English thin). Spelling rules in High Valyrian romanization emphasize phonetic consistency, avoiding the letter x entirely and doubling consonants to indicate gemination, such as ss for a prolonged /sː/. For digraphs, doubling is applied to the first letter only, resulting in forms like kkh rather than khkh to represent a geminated /xː/. Peterson has clarified that this is not a native orthography but a practical romanization scheme designed for accessibility, as a true High Valyrian writing system would diverge significantly from the Latin alphabet in form and function. Low Valyrian dialects, such as those spoken in Slaver's Bay (including Astapori, Yunkish, and Meereenese varieties), inherit this romanization but exhibit phonological shifts influenced by local substrates like Ghiscari, leading to variations in sound representation that can affect spelling consistency across dialects. In the fictional lore of the Valyrian languages, High Valyrian romanization is used for formal purposes such as spells, inscriptions, and noble correspondence, particularly among the Targaryens who preserve it as a liturgical and academic tongue. Low Valyrian dialects, by contrast, rely more on oral traditions or integration with local scripts in regions like the Free Cities or Slaver's Bay, with written forms appearing infrequently due to their creolized nature. In media adaptations, Valyrian text is rarely displayed on screen, as subtitles in the Common Tongue suffice for dialogue, limiting orthographic usage to prop design and supplemental materials. Modern adaptations of Valyrian include digital resources hosted on Peterson's website, such as guides and lists for the associated script, facilitating study and creative use. As of 2025, no standardized encoding exists for the full Valyrian script, though the romanization employs standard Latin characters with common diacritics supported in .

In Media

Literature

In George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, High Valyrian serves as the ancient tongue of the Valyrian Freehold, manifesting minimally through proper names, isolated phrases, and allusions to historical texts rather than extended dialogues or conversations. Notable examples include Targaryen names like and commands such as dracarys (meaning "dragonfire"), alongside ritualistic expressions like ("all men must die") and its counterpart ("all men must serve"), which appear in contexts tied to Men of Braavos. Martin has acknowledged inventing only seven words in High Valyrian during the series' composition, generating additional terms organically as plot demands arose without constructing a systematic , vocabulary, or syntax. Low Valyrian variants emerge more subtly in the Essos-based narratives, particularly in regions like Slaver's Bay (e.g., Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen) and the Free Cities (e.g., Volantis and Pentos), where they are evoked through narrative glosses, cultural customs, and implied multilingual interactions among diverse populations. "Bastard Valyrian," a corrupted fusion of High Valyrian with indigenous languages, functions as a practical in these mercantile hubs, facilitating commerce and diplomacy amid linguistic fragmentation following the Doom of Valyria. These languages underscore the series' lore as remnants of the Valyrian Freehold's vanished imperial splendor, symbolizing cultural decay, exotic heritage, and the enigmatic cataclysm that shattered its dominance over Essos. Appendices and companion volumes, such as The World of Ice and Fire, incorporate untranslated Valyrian terms and excerpted historical references to evoke this antiquity, reinforcing themes of lost knowledge and enduring legacy without providing full linguistic immersion. Prior to the adaptation, Martin supplied conlanger with fragmentary Valyrian elements—a handful of words and phrases like those noted above—to inform the languages' development.

Television Adaptations

In HBO's Game of Thrones (2011–2019), High Valyrian appeared starting in season 3, primarily through Daenerys Targaryen's commands and formal speeches, such as her declaration "Zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor" ("A dragon is not a slave") during negotiations in Astapor. Low Valyrian dialects from Slaver's Bay, including Astapori and Meereenese variants, featured in over 50 lines across seasons 3–5, used in scenes depicting slave markets and uprisings, such as Kraznys mo Nakloz's taunts translated by Missandei. These dialogues were subtitled on-screen with English glosses to convey meaning without disrupting the narrative flow. The prequel series (2022–present) expanded High Valyrian's role among the Targaryen family, with prominent usage in Rhaenyra Targaryen's private conversations and council scenes, emphasizing its status as their ancestral tongue. Dragon commands like "sōvēs" (fly) were integrated into episodes, as seen in aerial battles and training sequences. Season 2 (2024) introduced the series' first extended scripted High Valyrian beyond commands, appearing in episode 7 to heighten dramatic tension in royal disputes. Low Valyrian was absent, with the production focusing solely on High Valyrian to reflect the Targaryens' Valyrian heritage. Linguist served as on-set consultant for both series, recording pronunciations for every Valyrian line to train voice actors, ensuring authentic delivery without accents from English. Actors, including and , practiced via these audio guides to perform fluidly in scenes. The on-screen prominence of Valyrian languages spurred , contributing to a surge in enrollments for its High Valyrian course, which launched in 2017 and saw nearly 100,000 sign-ups by 2019 amid ' final seasons. As of 2025, the course has approximately 1.55 million learners worldwide. A course update, timed with 's premiere, added over 150 vocabulary words and 700 sentences, further boosting learner engagement.

References

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