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| {{Ratings}}
| | #REDIRECT [[Sangheili (language)]] |
| {{Era|H1|FOR|FS|GOO|HGN|UP}}
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| [[Image:Speaking Elite.jpg|thumb|A [[Sangheili]] speaks in a language represented by Forerunner glyphs.]] | |
| [[Image:Speaking Jackal.jpg|thumb|A [[Kig-Yar]] speaks its foreign tongue.]]
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| [[Image:Alphabetcovenantsy1.jpg|thumb|A guide to the cipher at a former incarnation of halo2.com]]
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| 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.
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| Translation software is used on Covenant ships to decipher words. The races don't speak the same language due to evolutionary design restrictions, for example: the Kig-Yar cannot speak anything other than a hissing sound.
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| However, the main Covenant language seems to be Sangheili, as most of the Covenant names are Sangheili words e.g. Unggoy. This is mentioned in [[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]
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| == Written Language ==
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| ''[[Conversations from the Universe]]'' contains letters written by the [[Prophets]] of [[Prophet of Truth|Truth]] and [[Prophet of Supposition|Supposition]]. The writing in these letters resembles English, with various alterations.
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| 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.
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| 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 [[Jackal]]s 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.
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| A panel showing a Jackal's language suggests that the UNSC had only translated the direct equivalents of the English counterparts. Due to no other example of the language, the other characters would have been harder to translate. According to the Panel, with underscores representing untranslated symbols, the Jackals speech was.
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| <pre>
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| Z. ...U___
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| ...______
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| D___
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| </pre>
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| This is the closest currently to understanding the languages.
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| Like the Forerunner written language, some of the undeciphered symbols seem to be English letters rotated. One example is the 3rd letter on the 2nd like of the speech of the Jackal in the above comic panel, which is the Covenant equivalent of the letter F, which appears as an English F 270°.
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| ==Languages==
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| ===[[Unggoy]]===
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| 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.
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| ===[[Kig-Yar]]===
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| Kig-Yar language seems to consist of a range of hisses and growls, though it is intelligible to other members of the Covenant.<ref>''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''</ref><ref>''[[Halo 2]]''</ref><ref>''[[Halo 3]]''</ref><ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''</ref> It is likely that they speak the Sangheili language, the distortion caused by their different physiology.
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| ===[[Huragok]]===
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| Huragok are the only known species in the Covenant to possess more than one language. One is a verbal language, consisting of whistles and chirps, used to convey orders between Huragok and their superiors, usually a Ship Master and their crew<ref>''[[Halo: First Strike]]''</ref>. The second is a sign language, using the different shapes and positions of tentacles to convey different meanings. The Huragok sign language can be learned by other species, including Unggoy, though their inferior dexterity makes forming the shapes a cumbersome task.<ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''</ref>
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| ===[[Yanme'e]]===
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| Yanme'e use a system of chirps, clicks and buzzes to convey information between other members of the hive, rubbing their wings together to produce such sounds, similar to Earth crickets. Translator units are required for other species to understand them.<ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''</ref>
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| ===[[Lekgolo]]===
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| Lekgolo communication is problematic at best. Between different Mgalekgolo forms, and individual Lekgolo worms, they use resonance that only their own species can hear and understand<ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''</ref>. For inter-species communications, Mgalekgolo are capable of speaking at least the Sangheili language.<ref>''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''</ref>
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| ===[[Jiralhanae]]===
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| The native Jiralhanae language is animalistic, incorporating a wide range of sounds from growls and barks, to full-out howls and roars<ref>''[[Halo 3]]''</ref><ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''</ref>. Jiralhanae are also capable of speaking the Sangheili language.<ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''</ref>
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| A few different sounds are known;
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| Satisfied Huff, Authorative Bark, Affirmative Grunt, Laugh, Aggressive Growl, Short Bark, Berserker Growl, Howling, Aggressive Bark (fighting), Whimpering, impaitent Growl, Injured Bark, Roar, deep sniff, dying growl, surprised huff
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| ===[[Sangheili]]===
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| Though originating with the Sangheili, their language has come to be the Covenant [[Wikipedia:Lingua franca|''lingua franca'']], used to connect the different races and species. It is seemingly based upon the Forerunner language<ref>''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''</ref>, likely pieced together from fragments recovered on Forerunner relics.
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| A few words, and their meanings, are known:
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| :Unggoy - Grunt
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| :Kig-Yar - Jackal
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| :Sangheili - Elite
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| :Yanme'e - Drone
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| :Jiralhanae - Brute
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| :Lekgolo - Hunter
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| :San'shyuum - Prophet
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| :Huragok - Engineer (adapted from Forerunner name "Huragok")
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| ===[[San' Shyuum]]===
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| Based on religious sermons by the [[Prophet of Regret]] on [[Delta Halo]], the native Prophet language is similar to Gregorian-style chanting.<ref>''[[Halo 2]]'', [[Delta Halo (Level)]]</ref> Whether this is a special dialect for religious purposes or not is unknown.
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| == Sources ==
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| <references/>
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| [[Category:The Covenant]]
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