Tir
Tir (or "githyanki") is the language of the githyanki race. Descended from Ancient Tir, the shared ancestor language of the githyanki and githzerai, Tir is a thriving tongue, serving as the primary language for nearly the entire githyanki race and a secondary language for countless Astral natives. This page will present a brief listing of the alphabet and important characteristics of Tir, as well as major vocabulary terms in that language.
Phonology
Tir possesses 21 consonant sounds, with a good deal of overlap existing between Tir and Common, though there are some key differences. Tir lacks the sounds usually corresponding to "f", "j", "w", "th" as in "then", and "s" as in "measure". Meanwhile, it possesses three sounds not present in Common: a glottal stop, usually transcribed '; "tl"; and "zh". (This is slightly untrue, as some names and archaic words do possess "f" and "j" sounds, but these are largely holdovers from Ancient Tir; these sounds have since all but been dropped from the language.)
Vowels in Tir, on the other hand, are much simpler than in common, and are usually transcribed uniquely. Pronunciation of the most common transcriptions is listed in the below table.
| /p/ | pit | /b/ | bit |
| /t/ | tin | /d/ | din |
| /c/,/ck/,/k/,/q/ | cut | /g/ | gut |
| /'/ | uh-oh | ||
| /tl/ | Quetzalcoatl | /ch/ | cheap |
| /v/ | vat | ||
| /th/ | thin | ||
| /s/ | sap | /z/ | zap |
| /sh/ | she | /zh/ | as jar, but without tongue touching palate |
| /h/ | ham | ||
| /r/ | run | /y/ | yes |
| /l/ | left | /n/ | nap |
| /m/ | mat | /n/ | bang |
| (at ends of syllables) | |||
| /a/ | cat | /aa/ | father |
| /ah/ | face | /e/ | bed |
| /i/ | kid | /i/ | key |
| (inside syllables) | (at ends of syllables) | ||
| /ai/,/y/ | cry | ||
| /o/ | more | /u/ | about, supply |
Written Language
The written form of tir, known as tir'su, has a 27-character runic alphabet. Words in tir'su are written in clockwise circles with the initial character at the top-most point, with phrases and sentences formed by connecting single words (also known as tir'su) in chains weaving from bottom-left to top-left, over and down, and continuing across the page, ending at a right-most corner.
Vocabulary
| Tir | Common |
|---|---|
| ch'r'ai | faithful |
| draa | red dragon |
| g'hel | brain |
| g'lathk | farmer |
| gish | skilled; githyanki fighter/mages |
| githyanki | the githyanki race; literally "children of gith" |
| gustil | healer |
| hr'a'cknir | sage of the silver; seer/energy collector caste |
| ir | pain, agony |
| kith'rak | captain; highest rank of githwarrior |
| kiir'vrahc | betrayer, traitor; common term for githzerai |
| kr'y'izoth | warlock's peace; specifically, a common type of undead warlock or gish on the astral |
| mir'r'tal | safety |
| mirhanac | crystallize, petrify |
| mlar | artist; architect/engineer caste |
| nir'tl'a | silver sword |
| un | attack |
| revrykal | servant |
| sarth | sergeant; common githwarrior |
| senzha'si | seer; hr'a'cknir diviners/clairvoyants |
| t'rac | insanity |
| tir | githyanki language |
| tir'su | written githyanki language; literally "words of tir" |
| tl'a | sword |
| tl'a'ikith | sword spirit; specifically, a common type of undead githwarrior on the astral |
| var'ith'n | collector; hr'a'cknir energy collectors that gather energy for mlar |
| varsh | nurse; wetnurse/midwife caste |
| vlaakith | death; literally, "spirit's journey" |
| y'rn | transporter, teleporter |
| zanhkor | exit |
| zharn | remember |
| zhez'rathki | planeshift; literally "seep through the cracks" |
| zor | fire |
| zoth | warlock |
| zvir | breath |
