Tir

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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".

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
/ʔ/ 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 35-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.

The tir'su alphabet and its most common Commonization
An example of a single tir'su, the word "Vlaakith"

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