Covenant languages: Difference between revisions

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==Languages==
==Languages==
===Ungooy===
===Unggoy===
Their native language is composed of dog-like barks, squeaks, and grunts. Though largely unintelligible to most humans, translation software is able to decipher the meanings of these.<ref>[[Conversations From The Universe]]</ref> The word "Unggoy" itself is not a word from their vocabulary - rather, it is the Sangheili name for their species.<ref>''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''</ref> Unggoy are also fully capable of speaking a variety of human languages, a fact that they take great pride in.
Their native language is composed of dog-like barks, squeaks, and grunts. Though largely unintelligible to most humans, translation software is able to decipher the meanings of these.<ref>[[Conversations From The Universe]]</ref> The word "Unggoy" itself is not a word from their vocabulary - rather, it is the Sangheili name for their species.<ref>''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''</ref> Unggoy are also fully capable of speaking a variety of human languages, a fact that they take great pride in.



Revision as of 01:59, June 30, 2008

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A Sangheili speaks in a language represented by Forerunner glyphs.
A Kig-Yar speaks its foreign tongue.
A guide to the cipher at a former incarnation of halo2.com

The Covenant has their own unique language, which is heard in Halo: Combat Evolved. In Halo 2, their words are translated for the convenience of the player. Elites in Halo 1 spoke a deep, warbling tongue. This was achieved by playing in reverse the voice acting of David Scully. The ever popular "Wort wort wort!" shouted by many Elites during gameplay is actually "Go go go!" reversed and sped up. The hissing-like language of the Jackals is actually the English language reversed. This, and the other Covenant languages (Drones, Hunters), have remained the same since Halo 2.

Translation software is used on Covenant ships to desipher words. Why the races don't speak the same language is by evolutionary design, for example: the Kig-Yar cannot speak anything other than a hissing sound.

Howether, the main Covenant language seems to be Sangheili, as most of the Covenant names are Sangheili words - ie. Unggoy. It is mentioned in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

Written Language

Conversations from the Universe contains letters written by the Prophets of Truth and Supposition. The writing in these letters resembles English, with various alterations.

Before the release of Halo 2, the official website was made to look like a Covenant computer complete with a Covenant language. This language was a simple cipher with characters made from triangular shapes.

Text, or writing, in the Covenant appears to be mostly triangle shapes and composed almost completely of equilateral triangles, except for a single shape so far. It has been noted that this form of text was used by both Brutes and Jackals in Halo: Uprising Issue 1 so far. Whether all of the species that are or were in the Covenant use this form of text is currently unknown.

Languages

Unggoy

Their native language is composed of dog-like barks, squeaks, and grunts. Though largely unintelligible to most humans, translation software is able to decipher the meanings of these.[1] The word "Unggoy" itself is not a word from their vocabulary - rather, it is the Sangheili name for their species.[2] Unggoy are also fully capable of speaking a variety of human languages, a fact that they take great pride in.

Sangheili

Sharquoi - (unknown)
Unggoy - Grunt
Kig-Yar - Jackal
Sangheili - Elite
Yanme'e - Drone
Jiralhanae - Brute
Lekgolo - Hunter
San'shyuum - Prophet
Huragok - Engineer (adapted from Forerunner name "Huragok")

San'shyuum

From the holograms of the Prophet of Regret in Delta Halo and Regret, the San'shyuum language is similar to gregorian chant.

Sources