Reading Dothraki
Dothraki 1
Course 1 · Chapter 10 · Reading Dothraki
This last chapter is a test of what you can do. You will read real sentences, written by David J. Peterson, and take them apart using the nine chapters behind you: the sounds, the nouns and cases, the pronouns, the verbs and the adjectives. It ends with a glossary, a recap of the course and a short guide to where to go next.
The idea in a box
You do not need to know every word to read a Dothraki sentence. Spot the pronoun, find the verb and its ending, check the case endings on the nouns, and look up only what is left.
Reading Real Sentences
The sentences below are taken from Peterson's list of phrases on his Dothraki blog. Each one is broken down with the chapter that explains each part.
1. A question about the future
Hash anha atihak yera save? Will I see you again?
hash opens the question (Chapter 9)
anha I (Chapter 5)
atihak a- + tihak: "I will see", future of tihat "to see" (Chapters 6 and 7)
yera you, accusative (the object; Chapter 5)
save again
2. Speaking
Hash yer asti k'athijilari? You're speaking truthfully?
hash opens the question
yer you (singular)
asti you say / speak: astat, consonant stem, 2SG -i (Chapter 6)
k'athijilari "truthfully" (a word not analysed in this course)
3. A compliment
Yer zheanae. You're beautiful.
yer you (singular)
zheanae zheana + e: the adjective "beautiful" made a verb, vowel stem, 2SG -e (Chapters 6 and 8)
4. Something is good
Hazi davrae. That's good.
hazi that (near you), inanimate form (Chapter 5)
davrae is good: a verb ending in -e, as for a vowel-stem verb (Chapter 6)
5. Disagreement
Anha efichisak haz yeroon! I disagree!
anha I
efichisak efichis + ak: "I disagree", consonant stem, 1SG -ak (Chapter 6)
haz that (Chapter 5)
yeroon yer + oon: "from you", ablative (Chapters 4 and 5)
6. A promise
Anha vazhak yeraan thirat. I will let you live.
anha I
vazhak v- + azhak: future of a vowel-initial verb, 1SG (Chapter 7)
yeraan yer + aan: "to you", allative (Chapters 4 and 5)
thirat the infinitive "to live" (-at; Chapter 6)
Watch out: some meanings are read from the translation
Where a word is not in the sources used for this course (save, k'athijilari, davrae, the verbs tihat, azhak and thirat in their roots), the meaning is taken from
Peterson's translation of the whole sentence. The grammar around each word fits the chapters, but the dictionary should confirm the word itself.
The Course Glossary
| Dothraki | Meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| anha, kisha, yer, yeri, shafka, me, mori | I, we, you (sg.), you (pl.), you (formal), he/she/it, they | 5 |
| jin, haz, rek | this, that (by you), that over there | 5 |
| khalasar / khalasari | horde / hordes | 3 |
| khado / khadosi | body / bodies | 3 |
| rakh / rakhi | boy / boys | 3, 8 |
| haj | strong | 8 |
| astat | to say | 6 |
| dothralat | to ride | 6 |
| ifat | to walk | 6 |
| essalat | to return | 7 |
| vo, vos | negative words | 6, 7 |
| chek | well | 9 |
| at akat sen tor mek zhinda fekh ori qazat thi | 1 to 10 | 8 |
| virzeth thelis dahaan veltor reaven theyaven nozhoven shiqeth zasqa kazga | red, blue, green, yellow, purple, pink, brown, grey, white, black | 8 |
| Me nem nesa | it is known | 1 |
| Shekh ma shieraki anni | my sun and stars | 1 |
| Jalan atthirari anni | moon of my life | 1 |
| Hajas! Dothras chek! | Be strong! Ride well! (farewells) | 9 |
Course Complete: What You Can Now Do
| Chapter | You can now... |
|---|---|
| 1 What Dothraki Is | say who made it, from what, and how official a given form is |
| 2 Sounds and Spelling | read and say Dothraki words, with the right stress |
| 3 Nouns | tell animate from inanimate nouns and make plurals |
| 4 Cases | use the five cases, and read -aan and -oon |
| 5 Pronouns | use every personal pronoun, the genitive as "my", and the three-way "this/that" |
| 6 Verbs 1 | find a stem and conjugate the present, positive and negative |
| 7 Verbs 2 | use the past, the future and the imperative |
| 8 Describing | use adjectives, the numbers and the ten colours |
| 9 Sentences | build sentences and use a few greetings and farewells |
| 10 Reading | take a real Dothraki sentence apart |
Where to Go Next
- Peterson's own blog, dothraki.com, where much of this course's material comes from: posts on grammar, vocabulary and phrases.
- The Dothraki wiki (the Language Invention wiki), which lays out the paradigms in tables. It is fan-maintained, so compare it with Peterson's posts.
- The Living Language Dothraki course book, an official teaching selection of the language.
- The other conlang courses, such as Klingon Grammar 1 and Na'vi 1, to compare how three made-for-the-screen languages are built, and Sindarin Grammar 1 and Quenya Grammar 1 for languages made for a book.
Watch out: this course is a first step
Several areas are only partly covered, because the sources used were incomplete: the verbs "to be" and "to have", yes/no and "wh-" questions in detail, the full range of noun classes, and everyday vocabulary beyond
the show's world. Treat everything here as a starting point and check the dictionary for anything you plan to rely on.
Hands-On Exercises
Exercise 1
Break down Yer zheanae and Anha vazhak yeraan thirat in your own words: name each pronoun, verb form, tense and case, and give the chapter that explains it.
📄 View solutionExercise 2
Using only forms from the course, build and translate a sentence meaning "I will see you" and "you are strong" (use the adjective-as-verb pattern). Mark which parts are sourced and which you built by rule.
📄 View solutionExercise 3
List three things about Dothraki that are well documented and three that this course could not fully check, and say how you would verify each of the second three.
📄 View solutionChapter 10 Quick Reference
- Reading method: find the pronoun, find the verb and its ending (tense and person), check the case endings, then look up what is left
- Sentences read: Hash anha atihak yera save?, Hash yer asti k'athijilari?, Yer zheanae., Hazi davrae., Anha efichisak haz yeroon!, Anha vazhak yeraan thirat.
- Next: dothraki.com, the Dothraki wiki, the Living Language book, and the other conlang courses