Canonical Common Alphabet

Wyrmrest Accord
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Lion's Rest, Varian's gravesite, has a massive marble stone behind it. Carved into it is Common, which utilizes a variant of the the real-world Elder Futhark runic alphabet from ancient Scandinavia. I learned a version of Futhark in high school and, for some reason, never forgot. So I decided to translate the whole thing.

The foremost tombstone immediately behind the grave, pictured here:
https://wow.gamepedia.com/File:Lion%27s_Rest_Writing.png

I figured out the Common alphabet from this:
ᚫ - A
ᛒ - B
ᚲ - C (Same as K. C can also be represented with an S when making that sound)
ᛞ - D
ᛖ - E
ᚠ - F
ᚷ - G
ᚺ - H
ᛁ - I
ᛜ - J (ᛃ is used when making the Y sound)
ᚲ - K
ᛚ - L
ᛗ - M
ᛅ - N
ᛟ - O
ᛈ - P
ᚲᚹ - Q (Represented with KW)
ᚱ - R
ᛋ - S
ᛏ - T
ᚳ - U
ᚹ - V (Both V and W have the same symbol)
ᚹ - W (Both V and W have the same symbol)
ᚲᛋ - X (Represented with KS, ᚲᛋ)
ᛃ - Y
ᛉ - Z
ᚦ - TH


Now, for the main plaque, literally translated it comes out to this:
HE SON OF -TORMWIND- LIES HERE ROKEN IN TWO BY HIS WEAKNESS HE LIVED BY THE SWORD. ORGED TOGETHER AGAIN H GREATEST KIN THE KINDOMS OF LORADERON HAVE EV EVER SEEN. HE LEAD THE MIGHT OF THE ALLIANCE WITH PRIDE. E LIVES FOREVER IN OUR HEAV HEARTS REST IN PEACE OH SON OF STORMWIND.
Which I've managed to translate better into,
The Son of Stormwind lies here. Broken in two by his weakness, he lived by the sword. Forged together again, the greatest king the kingdoms of Lordaeron have ever seen. He lead the might of the Alliance with pride. He lives forever in our heavy hearts. Rest in peace, Oh Son of Stormwind.
The larger portion, the main wall behind him, includes numerous artist employees' names that work at Blizzard. I won't post them all, but examples on the first paragraph include Ishmael Hoover, Cole Eastburn, Jessica Clarke, Jessica Dinh, Andrew Matthews, Daehi Kim, Matt McDaid, Patrick Burke, etc.

Hope this is helpful everyone.
13 Likes
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cannibal just translated common. what a legend
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Bookmarked so I can use this as a reference for my character art!
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This is amazing! I never thought to look closely at those before...
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Wowzers. Well this could be a lot of fun for RP :D
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Wow, pretty impressive.
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He did it, he found the Rosetta Stone!
*throws confetti*
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What else can we translate knowing this?
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Very cool! I can see the community using this for some cool content like star wars fans do with aurebesh
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06/21/2018 08:21 AMPosted by Topsail
What else can we translate knowing this?


As part of my Languages project, I've scanned every in-game asset for written languages of all kinds. For Common, there's various versions that I've given names based on situations.

There's a unique alphabet that I've called "Crude", found in the rogue order hall and inscribed on the side of the Alliance chopper. It appears mostly inspired by Latin, but there are completely unique letters as well. Presumably this is either a form of Gutterspeak or a bridge to it.

There's a different unique alphabet that I've called "Old" which only appeared in ancient books scattered around old human areas. It is mildly inspired by runic, but a lot of the symbols are made up. Presumably this is an older, perhaps scholarly form of Common.

There's a simpler alphabet I've dubbed "Shorthand" which appears on hastily written maps and, strangely, a few death knight books. The connection there may only be visual. It looks like a child's version of a unique language with letters simplified to be different, or just reversed. It may be a quicker way to write Common.

There's a very "Stylistic" version that only appears in Dalaran, on the Antonidas plaque and on a few signs throughout the city. It seems mostly unique and almost Asian-esque in its layout of letters. I compare it to cursive writing for English.

Then there's the standard "Runic", which is founded mostly inspired by Futhark. It appears most often and throughout WoW, from barracks posters on Draenor to Forsaken gravestones to signs around Dalaran. The issue here is that sometimes 3D artists alter the runic to their liking, so it's inconsistent. I also don't believe they put forth enough effort on these smaller things to try and have them make any sense.

For example, when attempting to translate the art gallery plaques in Dalaran, you get...
Efdvij, Oikrssi
Yeanvxa, Frlste
Eayoilr, Jtde

Varian's plaque appears to be the only in-game version of Common, that I am aware of, that was actually translated by the art team. The rest of it is gibberish.
2 Likes
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06/21/2018 08:37 AMPosted by Cannibal
06/21/2018 08:21 AMPosted by Topsail
What else can we translate knowing this?


As part of my Languages project, I've scanned every in-game asset for written languages of all kinds. For Common, there's various versions that I've given names based on situations.

There's a unique alphabet that I've called "Crude", found in the rogue order hall and inscribed on the side of the Alliance chopper. It appears mostly inspired by Latin, but there are completely unique letters as well. Presumably this is either a form of Gutterspeak or a bridge to it.

There's a different unique alphabet that I've called "Old" which only appeared in ancient books scattered around old human areas. It is mildly inspired by runic, but a lot of the symbols are made up. Presumably this is an older, perhaps scholarly form of Common.

There's a simpler alphabet I've dubbed "Shorthand" which appears on hastily written maps and, strangely, a few death knight books. The connection there may only be visual. It looks like a child's version of a unique language with letters simplified to be different, or just reversed. It may be a quicker way to write Common.

There's a very "Stylistic" version that only appears in Dalaran, on the Antonidas plaque and on a few signs throughout the city. It seems mostly unique and almost Asian-esque in its layout of letters. I compare it to cursive writing for English.

Then there's the standard "Runic", which is founded mostly inspired by Futhark. It appears most often and throughout WoW, from barracks posters on Draenor to Forsaken gravestones to signs around Dalaran. The issue here is that sometimes 3D artists alter the runic to their liking, so it's inconsistent. I also don't believe they put forth enough effort on these smaller things to try and have them make any sense.

For example, when attempting to translate the art gallery plaques in Dalaran, you get...
Efdvij, Oikrssi
Yeanvxa, Frlste
Eayoilr, Jtde

Varian's plaque appears to be the only in-game version of Common, that I am aware of, that was actually translated by the art team. The rest of it is gibberish.


Wow. Canni, I'm impressed. This is a huge undertaking and frankly more cool to me than any secret Mount they add in the game that you have to solve a mystery for (though the lucid nightmare was pretty slick)
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Extreme kudos to you! This is awesome work :D
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ᚷᛟᛟᛞ ᛜᛟᛒ
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ᚦᚫᛅᚲᛋ ᛖᚹᛖᚱᛃᛟᛅᛖ
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Given Humanity’s history in Azeroth, they descend from Vykul. Does this translate Vrykul stuff in Northrend or Stormheim?
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06/21/2018 10:42 AMPosted by Ciscily
Given Humanity’s history in Azeroth, they descend from Vykul. Does this translate Vrykul stuff in Northrend or Stormheim?


It does not, unfortunately. Vrykul appears as a variant of runic, but not the same kind. It uses different letters and symbols altogether, closer to Anglo-Saxon runic but not quite.
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That’s fascinating. What other languages have you worked on? I know Blizzard used real world inspiration while crafting the lore, but are there any other near direct translations in the many languages?
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06/21/2018 10:47 AMPosted by Ciscily
That’s fascinating. What other languages have you worked on? I know Blizzard used real world inspiration while crafting the lore, but are there any other near direct translations in the many languages?


I've got full compilations of every written language to appear in-game, including Centaur, Common, Darnassian, Draconic, Draenei, Dwarven, Eredun / Demonic, Gnomish, Goblin, Gutterspeak, Hozen, Kalimag, Mogu, Ogre, Orcish, Qiraji, Ravenspeech, Shalassian, Taur-ahe, Thalassian, Titan, Tol'vir, Tuskarr, Vrykul, Zandali, all known magical runes and then a few unknown languages such as the one the Unseen Path utilizes, one inscribed on a globe in Karazhan, one inscribed on an ancient tablet of unknown origin and the Magtheridon Cube's symbols.

I've organized each variant of each language into smaller categories based on appearance, such as the Common varieties I mentioned earlier. From what I can tell, Blizzard artists likely have some sort of reference when creating assets, but I can't make out any clear translations like I have here. Discerning clear alphabets is nearly impossible if we're being honest, so I'm doing my best to make clear indications of frequently-used symbols.

Here's an example of the format I'm doing for, the "Crude" version of Common that is utilized by the Uncrowned and appears similar to Gutterspeak.
https://i.imgur.com/OMJdgp7.jpg
1 Like
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This is fantastic work. I take it anthropology and linguistics are a passion! Isn’t gutterspeak the language used by jawless Forsaken?
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06/21/2018 11:01 AMPosted by Ciscily
This is fantastic work. I take it anthropology and linguistics are a passion!
Not really, but WoW lore in general certainly is. :)
Wowpedia.org/User:Cannibeans

06/21/2018 11:01 AMPosted by Ciscily
Isn’t gutterspeak the language used by jawless Forsaken?
It's their official language overall. It was an offshoot, criminal-world version of Common that actually predates the Forsaken, but they've taken it up as their own and rarely teach it to outsiders, even other Horde members, specifically so they can converse in secret. It's thought to be yet another attempt by Sylvanas to distance themselves from ever feeling like a human again.