Draconic

The name of Apsu, deity of dragons, is derived from the Draconic words for "one" (aauu) and "founder" or "foundation" (apsyk).

This article covers the language, which is always capitalized. "Draconic" is also the generic adjectival form of dragon.

Draconic is among the oldest, if not the oldest, languages of the multiverse. Because of this, nearly all other languages—human or otherwise—can trace some roots back to this primordial tongue.

Properties

Speech

Draconic has a throaty character and defaults to an imperative tone. It employs the entirety of a dragon's tongue, and is said to bear a tonal sound to non-dragons, a trait that dragons themselves deny. However, dragons speaking Draconic emit a form of vibration that communicates subtext that non-dragons can neither produce nor perceive.

Writing

Draconic employs both phonetic letters, which are commonly employed, and pictographs, which are reserved for important words (most often nouns) like "dragon" and "hoard". The language once used as many as 20,000 pictographs prior to the development of its alphabet, but as of 4708 AR it used only 20; likewise, scholars of Draconic texts can often estimate its age by its use of pictographs.

Kobolds associated with dragons tend to prefer pictographs out of a desire to more closely emulate dragons.

Terms

Apsu

The name of the draconic deity Apsu is derived from the Draconic words for "one" (aauu) and "founder" or "foundation" (apsyk).

Aurux

The Draconic word for "gold" is aurux, which commonly appears in the names of gold dragons of the Aurixia clan.

Avalorex

The gnome seer Avalorex claims his name means "all-knowing" in Draconic.

Gegganallag

The Draconic term gegganallag, meaning "many mouths", was used to name a pyrohydra in Varisia.

Imarr

The Empyrean language word for "new" (aasu) is derived from Apsu's name; the term aasimar, also used to refer to the Empyrean people, is aasu combined with the Draconic loanword imarr (for "birth"), to refer to a child born of both Heaven and the Universe.

Iruxi

The etymology of iruxi, the word used among lizardfolk to describe themselves, is rooted in Draconic. Its etymology is unclear, though it is believed to be related to the constellation of the Lone Mother, which among dragons was once called Erux ("defiance").

Najra

The diminuitive sapient najra lizards of Vudra's Narhari Desert despise being called lizards and prefer simply najra, which imprecisely translates to Common tongues as "swarm dragon".

On Golarion

Aside from dragons, Draconic is also commonly spoken in the Tian Xia nation of Xa Hoi, as it is the language of the Tian-Dan people. Dragon rune bracelets often bear Draconic pictographs or words indicating their kinship with a specific type of dragon.

Behirs speak Draconic, but despite other similarities to dragons, these beasts become enraged when compared to one.

Drakespeaker Mina Helian, a member of the Ridge Board of Goka, uses her fluency in Draconic to advocate for the city's long-enslaved drakes.

Xulgaths speak Draconic, and a few of its demon-callers can also read and write the language. Due to Aroden's ancient theft of aeon orbs from xulgaths in the Darklands, they associate the Draconic word for "thief" with the deceased deity.

On distant worlds

Draconic is one of the two major languages spoken on the planet Triaxus.

In religion

The Nethysian aphorism "point with the finger of the scorched black hand", ostensibly referring to the common somatic spell component or Nethys' magic-charred right hand, is in fact a Draconic play on words.

A Draconic phrase for "point with the finger" is tonally adjacent to another Draconic phrase for "seek the greater knowledge". Additionally, stressing certain syllables of the phrase also produces a vulgar connotation.

While Nethysian initiates often invoke the phrase in earnest to signal their devotion, they often laugh when they eventually learn of this Draconic entendre.

Notable works

Despite its ostensibly human authorship, Feeble Terrance's Guide to Trapcrafting is a book on traps written entirely in Draconic, including its title in Draconic upon its spine.

Vraxeris, an innovative wizard who attempted to achieve immortality through use of the clone spelll, were written entirely in Draconic.

References

Paizo published a section on the Draconic language in Fortress of the Stone Giants.