Gargish alphabet

Used heavily in the later parts of Ultima VI, and periodically in many later games, the Gargoyle language consists of a unique alphabet and pronunciation.

Usage

A sign in Gargish

"Gargoyle" is an English corruption of gargl, the Gargoyles' name for themselves and their language. An informal word for gargl as the name of the Gargoyle language is "Gargish".

Spoken Gargish is grammatically rather flexible. Distinctions between nouns, adjectives, and verbs are indicated by gestures and intonations. This flexibility is also apparent in the names of magic spells derived from Gargish phrases. "Vas Sanct Lor", for instance, is derived from the Gargish vas saengkt lor, but it is equally correct to say saengkt vas lor or even lor saengkt vas. Gargoyles tend to omit words they consider to be unnecessary complications, like pronouns, and they often speak in infinitives. While a human attempting to speak Gargish might come up with something like í est ker í le vid ú prae, "I'm certain that I've seen you before", a Gargoyle would simply say ker le vid prae (or more idiomatically, ker prae vid le), "to be certain having seen before". With practice, it is possible to deduce the implied pronouns in a Gargoyle sentence, but not always easy.

Unlike spoken Gargish, the written language has no way to mark the intonations and gestures that make the speech intelligible, so there are suffixes that mark words as being verbs, nouns, or adjectives, and also indicate the tense and aspect of verbs. In many cases, these are words which are meaningful by themselves, such as the adjectival suffix -de, which means "of" in isolation. Here is a list of the most common suffixes:

char "part" (names a tool used for doing a certain action, such as agrachar "weapon")

de "of" (marks adjectives or adverbs formed from nouns, verbs, and other words)

ku "with" (forms adjectives, such as mirku "watery")

le "end" (marks past tense or perfective aspect of verbs)

lem "one" (similar to English -er in baker, writer, miner, etc.)

re "begin" (marks future tense of verbs)

sa "able" (similar to English -able, ible)

tas "quality" (marks abstract nouns, such as ámotas "love", vs. ámo "to love")

te "in" (marks present tense or imperfective aspect of verbs)

ve "like" (forms adjectives, such as misve "similar")

Gargoyles have an alphabet of 30 characters, arranged in a 5x6 pattern. Similar sounds are grouped together by rows and columns. For instance, the first row, transcribed as p b m f v u, represents sounds that are produced with the lips, and the sounds in the first column, p t ch kl k, are all voiceless stops.

The letter u also serves to represent w at the beginning of a syllable when followed by a vowel. The sequence k-u is sometimes pronounced ku, as in kuante, but more frequently kw (traditionally transcribed as qu), as in quas. Three of the letters (ny nl, and hl) serve only to complete the chart, and are not found in contemporary spoken Gargish.

The Gargish language has long and short vowels. They are not normally distinguished in spelling, except where this would cause confusion. For example, uus means "up," but us means "diligence." In this document, long vowels are marked with an accent: us vs. úus, súm vs. summ.

Names

Most gargoyles have names that describe their profession, however some (particularly the elite) have names which are meaningless in themselves (such as Draxínusom), or have meanings beyond their profession (like Beh Lem, which means "just one", "the one of justice" – compare beh, the mantra of Justice).

Magical Language

The Words of Power used in magic are derived from Gargish. Indeed, many potent spells, or rituals, are spoken in Gargish.

Syllable	Gargish Word
An	an
Bet	bet
Corp	korp
Des	des
Ex	ex
Flam	flam
Grav	grav
Hur	húr
In	in
Jux	jux
Kal	kal
Lor	lor
Mani	mání
Nox	nax
Ort	ort
Por	por
Quas	quas
Rel	rel
Sanct	saengkt
Tym	tim
Uus	úus
Vas	vas
Wis	wís
Xen	zen
Ylem	áilem
Zu	zú

Examples of complex spells using Gargish include the following:

Spell	Meaning	Used in
Rel An-Quas Ailem In Gargl	Change Reality (of) Matter into Gargoyle	Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue (by Erethian)
Rel An-Quas Ailem In Bal-zen	Change Reality (of) Matter into Monster	Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue (by Erethian)
Rel An-Quas Ailem In Bet-Zen	Change Reality (of) Matter into Small Animal	Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue (by Erethian)
Rel An-Quas Ailem In MOO	Change Reality (of) Matter into Cow	Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue (by Erethian)
An Ort Rel	Negate Magic Change	Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue (by Erethian)
An Vas Ailem	Negate Great Matter	Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue (by Erethian)
Kal Bet Ailem	Summon Small Matter	Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue (by Erethian)
Vas Ort Rel Tym Vas An Ort Ailem	Great Magic of Changing Time - Great Negation of Magic Matter	Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue (by Erethian)
Vas Flam Uus	Great Flame Up (Blood Flame)	Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue (by the Avatar, to invoke the magic of Castambre)
Vas Rel Ailem	Great Change Matter (Form Rock Person)
Kal Mani	Summon Healing (Create Life)
I Re-tem Bentas Juxark I. Praetimde Mír-Wís Re-Por I	I have Virtue, Protect Me. Ancient Turtle, Transport Me.	Ultima VII Part Two (by the Avatar, to summon the the Mad Mage's giant turtle)
In Pri Kli Ort Ailem, Priin Ort Inten Mani	Invoke Unity (of) Three Matter/Parts, Unify (Unity Invoke) Magic Maintain Life	Ultima VII Part Two (by the Avatar, to reunite the Banes of Chaos)

Lexicon

Provided here is a dictionary of all known Gargish words and their English equivalent.

Gargish	English
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A a but; yet a-sa cannot abis bee abis-áilem honey abis-kans honey abis-reg beehive abu misuse; squander; waste ac act (v) ack proof; receipt ac-tas act; process acu detail;' needle; pin ad on; upon ade however adictas addition adix add adsenkt agree adsenktas agreement adsenkt-de approve adsi consent; incessant; regular aes copper afin acquaintance; relation; relationship; bond aglo armor ágra attack; fight; hit ágra-char weapon ágra-char-in-lem blacksmith; Weaponsmith ágra-lem fighter; guard; warrior ágra-lem-mur army; military ágra-tas struggle áh sixty-four ai there is; there are ai-re there will be aig nail; rivet; spike áilem dust; matter; substance; thing áilem-char material áilem-de solid aio yes ai-re there will be ak sharp aki hawk aksi, axi law; principle aksi-múr, axi-múr the three principles al salt alb white ali (an)other alt deep alv belly; stomach; womb am honesty; honest amb stroll; walk amit give up; lose amit-tas loss ámo love ámo-ágra-tas competition ámo-lem friend; loved one an negate; negative; not; none; no an-ad off an-adsenk-tas against an-ágra peace an-ai absence an-áilem nothing an-ámo hate; hatred an-ámo-lem enemy an-ang loose; loosen; wide an-aur credit an-bal good an-bal-sil-fer False Prophet an-ben sick; ill an-ben-tas disease an-cel short an-cel-lem commoner an-cirk far an-do front an-ex slave; enslave an-ex-por lock; locked; closed an-flam cold; douse; put out an-húr calm an-in crush; destroy; smash an-in-tas demolition; destruction an-jux remove danger; safe; secure; untrap an-kad-sa infallible an-kal banish an-kans famine an-kred disbelief; discredit; doubt an-ku without an-ku-kred impulse; impulsive an-lai sad; unhappy an-lim rough; sketch; sketchy; unrefined an-lor dark; darkness an-lor-tim night an-mání hurt; harm an-mis different an-mul shame an-múr few an-múr-de countless an-nax cure poison an-nax-áilem antidote an-ord chaos an-ort dispel; negate magic an-plen drain an-por still; motionless; stop; lock; rest an-pur complex; dirty an-quas real; reality an-rap slow an-rel static; constant; unchanging an-sá cannot an-saengkt unprotected; curse(d) an-son quiet; silent an-ten lack an-tim never an-uus low an-vas-ku slender; thin an-ver left an-vol-de, an-vold-de wingless an-wís foolish; unwise; forget an-zen inanimate an-zú awake; awaken; conscious; wake; wake up ann year ang cling; tight ang-ku clingy ang-ter narrow angulem angle ang-vid observation; scrutiny anísh strange anmánívas Anmanivas (name) ansikart Ansikart (name) ant pump ánte among; enter; in; into; within apér open; unlock apér-an-tu private apér-ter door; gate apér-tu public ápta proper; correct ápta-de properly aran orange arb bush; vegetation arb-char plough; plow arb-de nature; natural arb-flam forest fire arb-kans fruit arb-lem farmer arb-ped root arb-reg farm arb-teg bark (tree) arch arc; bent; bow; curve arg silver arí berserk ark hide; keep (away) ark-lem stealth ark-tas secret arr ask; interrogate; question (v) arr-tas interrogation; question ars art ars-lem artist ars-solu stage art master asper despise; disdain; scorn; spurn assuk insurance ast at ater brick atra ink átri hall au or aud hear; listen; ear aud-char song aud-de hearing aur gold; money aurvidlem Aurvidlem (name) aust south aut self aux help; support ávatar Avatar avir bird axi principle axi-múr the three principles azer bitter B baka berry bal evil; bad; doom bal-lem Evil One bal-mus rat bal-olef stench; stink bal-sil prophecy bal-sil-fer prophet bal-son noise bal-ungo chafe; grind; wear out bal-zen monster basi kiss bea fortune; luck; lucky beh justice beh-de proper beh-lem just one (person) beh-reg courthouse belis anger (v) belis-ku angry belis-tas anger bel-lem judge ben good; healthy; well ben-de properly; well ben-fin success ben-in craft ben-in-áilem artifact ben-in-lem craftsman; Goodscrafter ben-in-tas precise; precision ben-ku kind; kindly ben-lem virtuous ben-mon manage ben-mon-lem manager ben-mon-tas administration; politics; political ben-om-mání prosperity ben-reg hospital ben-sop excite; surprise ben-sop-tas excitement ben-tas health; virtue bet small bet-arb plant bet-drak drake bet-fil thread bet-lem child bet-mantik pouch bet-mens shelf bet-op village bet-sarp worm bet-ter-mír well (water) bet-tim young; new bet-zen insect betra Betra (name) beur butter bib drink bif crossroad; fork bij jewel bólesh Bolesh (name) braca breeches; pants; trousers brák arm bris broken buci horn buk mouth buk-kul tooth; teeth buk-marga lip buto button C can allow; let cani' dog car part car-de-arb branch carn meat cas accident; chance cel noble; high celsus tall cerub brain ceu example cev goat chan allow chan-por admit chan-por-tas admittance char part char-zen member circem about cirk close (proximity); near clav key clen dependent clens client cliv incline; slope clok bell clud complete cod tail; trail coel climate; weather cons effect cor breast; heart coxi digest coxi-tas acid; digestion cras dense; heavy; thick crin hair crios blood cu collar; neck cu-de throat cui spoon culk cushion cult culture; education cur cart curo run D dáemón daemon de belong; possess; of; from; than; like de-ku-est probable deji cast (throw); hurl; throw; toss del line; row; verse de-lem owner delsa soft delsa-teg smooth delsa-teks linen denae again deresh Deresh (name) des reduce; lower; down des-áilem hail; meteor storm des-de below; under des-in-tas foundation; underpinning des-lem handyman; laborer; worker des-por descend des-ter valley des-ter-múr underworld desbet Desbet (name) dig finger dig-kir ring dim remit; return; send dis apart; asunder do back dol cunning; deceit; treachery; trick domu building don give; drop; yield don-an-hur comfort don-lai please don-múr distribute don-múr-tas distribution don-poen grief (v) don-sadis punish don-sadis-tas punishment dot debt drak dragon draxínusom Draxinusom (name) dúk guide dur duration; for (period of time); while E eger desire; need eger-ku necessary; needed ek six enu list equi horse er so erb grass esh, ew and est be; exist; is; are esta such; that; those esta-de thereby; therewith esta-tim then et albeit; although; though evol development; growth ex, eks freedom; free; release ex-por hatch; open; unlocked ex-rap burst exferlem Exferlem (name) F fai-an-kred do feb decline fed bond (v); connect; tie (v) fed-tas affinity; bond; connection; tie fel wrong fel-tas error fel-wís false; falsehood; lie; fable felúka Felucca (the moon) fem female fem-bet-lem girl fem-in-lem mother fem-lem woman fem-orn dress fem-prol daughter fen window fer bring; bear (v) fervi boil fervi-ku boiling fest disgust fest-as contempt; disgusting fig fix; fixed fil cable; cord fin end fin-ku over fírm close (v); shut fla whip flam flame; fire; heat flam-char oven flam-ku hot; warm flam-tim summer flur flower fódus Fodus (name) fol leaf for strong for-por shove fora aperature; fissure; hole fora-ku hollow foranámo Foranamo (name) forbrák Forbrak (name) forlem For-Lem (name) formi ant forskis Forskis (name) frèt brother fu crazy; deranged ful brown fum smoke; steam; vapor G gargl Gargoyle; Gargish gat cat gen knee gens gender; sex glór glory glub ball grat thank(s) grav authority; energy; field; power grebdil Grebdil (name) gres out; exit; way (out) gres-por begone; come out; exit; leave; go out; hatch H har hour harm harmony harp clamp; grappling; hook hiúman human hoc till; until horel clock horffé Horffe (name) hori gray húr wind; air húr-ex-cu cough húr-son whistle I í I, me ídde mine (possession) íde my ílem we, us (he/she/they and I) in make; create; cause; form; become in-áilem produce in-aur profit in-aur-ku profitable in-bet shrink; focus in-des diminish; reduce in-ex free; release in-flam ignite; burn in-húr blow in-jur promise (v); swear in-jux threaten; endanger in-ker convince in-korp die; kill in-lor illuminate in-mání heal in-mání-lem healer in-mis copy (v); duplicate (v) in-nax poison (v) in-ort enchant in-ten maintain in-por go; come in-por-dis avert; avoid in-saengkt protect in-sel decision in-spak range in-ten maintain in-vas enlarge in-wís learn; teach; study in-wís-de teaching in-wís-lem teacher in-wís-lók interpret in-wís-lor create an image; draw; paint in-wís-tas lesson in-zen born; birth in-zú fall asleep inforlem Inforlem (name) init begin; start inmánílem Inmanilem (name) insep test; try insu island int join int-rep-ku assemble; match; merge int-vas grow; enlarge int-zu marry; married int-zu-tas marriage intes between inwíslóklem Inwisloklem (name) ish normal ista this ita thus; so iten journey J jist fiction jup skirt júr oath; promise jux, juks danger; harm; damage jux-ark defend; protect (from harm) jux-wís alert K kad fail; collapse kah sacrifice kah-mání-zen-de sacrificial kal summon; call; greet; hello; usher in kal-ort cast (a spell) kalix chalice; cup kans use; consume; eat kans-char plate kans-in-lem cook; Foodmaker kans-sa consumable kap box karbas canvas kas helm kat fall ker sure; certain ker-de to be sure; certainly ker-tas conviction kimik chemical kír circle kír-char wheel kír-ku round kír-por orbit; roll klár, qar bright klau, qau chamber klep, qep take; get; steal klep-lem thief; pirate klí, qí three klí-tim thrice kódeks, kódex book; codex kódex-reg library kon opposite kons organization kor courage korb basket korp death; dead; deadly kort chrysalis; cork kreb frequent kred believe; think; consider kred-char mind kred-don, kredon entrust kred-in idea; invention kred-in-lem creator; inventor kred-lem believer kred-tas belief; opinion; theory; thought krill Krill (name) ku with ku-ánte within ku-por combine kua, qua which; as kuad, quad cube kuae, quae problem kuar, quar four kuas, quas illusion; illusionary kui, quí any kui-áilem anything kui-tim anytime kul knife kuo, quó how kupsi blade kur attention; care kur-ku attentive; caring L la the lab glide; slide; slip lago bottle lai happy; happiness; joy; pleasure lan tongue lanx plate; platter; tray lap stone; rock laplem Lap-Lem (name) lat flank; side le limit; end; action completed; could le-in achieve le-in-tas achievement leb pot lect electric leg read leg-te reading lem he, she, it, they; him, her, it, them; one; those lem-de his, her, its, their lem-múr everyone; those len gentle len-tas gentleness; kindness líbrum book; librum lig line lim polish; refine ling, liy language lint sail; ship (v) lin-tas boat lint-reg harbour, harbor lint-tas ship lit letter loc location; position lók discuss; say; speak; talk; tell lók-an-adsenktas protest; recriminate lók-de talking lók-trak represent lók-trak-lem representative lor light lor-fil ray lor-rel lens lor-rel-in-lem Lensmaker lor-tim day; daytime lor-tim-init morning lor-tim-pos tomorrow lor-tim-prae yesterday lor-wís-lem Lensmaker (title; scholar of light) lud fun; game; humor; humorous; play lud-áilem toy lud-ku funny; playful lud-lem player lum humility lum-lem humble luo pay (v); payment lup wolf M mac wall mag dear; important mag-áilem mass mag-ars science mag-ars-lem scientist mag-dig thumb mag-enu archive; record mag-kred religion mag-mo statement mag-múr committee mag-sed throne mag-teks flag mag-trav operation mag-wís news makis apparatus; machine mal apple mán remain mán-char remains mání life; healing; live mání-áilem food mání-de medical mantik bag mantik-teks pocket mánu hand mánu-orn glove mar sea marga edge mas male mas-bet-lem boy mas-in-lem father mas-lem man mas-orn robe mas-prol son med center; middle mek sword mek-lem swordsman; fighter mel black mens table ment chin min less minzur amount; measure minzur-char ruler (measurement) mír water mír-an-nax cure potion mír-de wave mír-for current (water) mír-korp-nox deadly poison mír-ku watery; wet mír-mání healing potion mír-sarp sea serpent mír-wís turtle; giant turtle; dragon turtle mis same; too mis-squa parallel mis-tas balance mis-tim also mis-ve similar mit sweet mit-mání-áilem cake mo noun; word mol hammer mon to lead; lead (v) mon-de responsible mon-lem leader mon-wís advice mont mountain mord bite mors behavior; tendency mot engine mú compassion mul pride mun minute múr number; multiple; group; many múr-flur garden múr-in-zen fertile múr-lor-tim month múr-om community; society múr-pri-lem council; government múr-skis reorganize; sort (v) mus mouse N nag swim naks, nax, nox poison (n); poisonous naxátilor Naxatilor (name) násh Nash (name) neb mist nem lumber; wood ner nerge nes require; must; has to nes-tas demand; request ni no; neither nim quite; very nix snow nod knot nóm name nub cloud O o by oblek amuse oblektas amusement ok eight ok-de eighth ole oil olef smell (v) olef-ku smelly; stinky olef-tas odor; smell om spirituality om-de sacred; holy om-jux desecrate op city; town op-som tax op-via street or passion orb moon orb-lap moonstone orb-rel phase of moon ord order orga instrument oric ore oric-de metal; steel oric-reg mine (n) oric-te mine (v) orn dress (v) orn-tas ornament oro argue oro-tas argument ort magic ort-lem mage ort-mír magical potion os bone ov egg P pa by pál pale pál-os Palos (name; pale bone) pan bread pap paper pap-de page par equal par-de equally pat potato pecu special; unusual ped foot ped-aglo boot; shoe ped-ágra kick ped-dig toe ped-por step pek sheet pek-áilem wool pek-teg cotton pel shovel; spade pen five pend hanging; stick pend-char glue; paste pend-ku sticky per use; function per-sa valuable per-tas functionality; usage pinek brush pisk fish plen-tas crowd (n); full plir coil (v); fold (v) plir-kir twist plir-tas coil; fold plor cry plú more; most; much plú-ben better plum feather poen regret (v); repent poen-tas regret; repentance pons bridge por motion; move; movement; moving; bring; transport por-áilem take; remove por-an-do push por-char leg por-in asborb por-lem porter por-mír stream; river porci pig pos follow; after pos-an-do forward pos-tim future; will; shall pot weight prae before; precede prae-jist history prae-tim past; was; ago prae-tim-de ancient praen grip praen-char net predi property presk almost prí one; unity; first prí-de single prí-de-kans meal prí-in unify prí-lem lord; queen; king; ruler prí-tas singularity; unit prí-te rule prol descendant prop intention; objective; plan; purpose pud powder pul chicken; fowl pulker beautiful pulker-mo poem pupit desk pupit-de drawer pur simple, clear pur-sed bench purg clean; wash purg-áilem soap purg-ku clear purg-te-kap bath purg-zen-tu bathe Q qua, kua what; which; as qua-lem who; some qua-ter where qua-tim when qua-wís why; because; reason quad, kuad cube; square quae, kuad problem, trouble quaeven Quaeven (name) quan Quan (name) quant degree; size quar, kuar four quas, kuas illusion; illusionary quas-áilem duplicate quas-korp fear; illusion of death quas-rep-ku mix; mixed quas-zen clone quí, kui any; anything quó, kuo how R ra valor rad base rap current (time); quick; urgent; now rap-curo dash; flee rap-sa available; handy; ready rap-tim quickly approaching; nigh rati account (v) ratitas account (n) re (in order) to; to begin; will; shall re-in begin re-por transport; take; carry re-te have; possess rea react' respond rea-tas reaction; response rec erect; straight reg home; house reg-char room reg-vas-uus roof rei business; event; industry rel change; changing rel-por moongate; moongate travel rem gift; prize; reward rep frame; structure rep-ku together res answer reskí remember reski-tas memory rig hard; stiff rig-an-flam ice rig-kans nut rig-teg scale (animal skin); shell rir laugh rit ritual rót turn rú red rúneb Runeb (name) S sá can; able; may sá-est possible sab taste sac sugar sac-ku sugary; sweet sadis pain; torture sadis-túrn dungeon saengkt, saeykt bless; force; protection saengkt-grav force field saengkt-lor invisible; invisibility saep seal; stamp saf yellow sal spring (forth), jump sarbo coal sarp serpent; snake sarp-an-zen-ex-lem Snakecharmer sarp-arí-lem berserker satis adequate; enough sarpling Sarpling (name) sed-tas chair; seat seg grain; seed sek two; both; second sek-de other sel choose; select sel-tas choice; selection sem seven sem-de seventh sem-lor-tim week semi half sent feel; feeling sep cover sept north sera bar; fence; rail; rod setil basin; bucket sev intense; serious; stern; strict sev-rem offer; proposal; suggestion si if; whether si-par compare, comparison sik dry sik-solu sand sil star; astrology; prediction silámo Silamo (name) simi gorilla; monkey síní blue sinvráal Sin'Vraal (name) sit lie; rest skel calamity; crime skel-lem criminal skel-lem-reg prison skí know; knowledge; tell skí-tas intelligence; knowledge skis crack; cut; divide; tear apart; separate skis-char scissors; shears (tool) skis-tas division skrí print; write; writing skrí-lem writer sku shield slaskow Slaskow (name) sol only; but solu floor som cost; price; value som-ku costly som-teks silk son sound son-de music son-lem musician sop dismay; shock; confound sor sister spak distance; space spec kind (type); sort (n) sper anticipate; await; hope squa scale (balance); level stat condition ster sneeze stul foolish sub grin; nod; smile subi hasty; sudden; unexpected súm suppose summ honor suo stitch (v) suo-tas stitch (n) suo-teks clothe súr sun T ta shoot ta-re-por boomerang tab card tabil board tablap slab tam nevertheless; still tan touch tas quality te present tense of verbs; action in progress; in te-in continue te-mání survive te-mání-tas survival te-per-tas persistence teg skin teg-skis shear teg-vul scar teks cloth tem storm tem-ágra thunder ten have ten-te has ter place (n) ter-alt interior; bowels (of earth) ter-áilem plane ter-ánte entrance; mouth (of cave) ter-ark hiding place ter-esta there ter-flam fireplace ter-húr sky ter-húr-mir rain ter-init original(ly) ter-ista here; present ter-ista-por come (here) ter-mír lake ter-múr world ter-ort temple; shrine ter-per-tas persistence ter-por reach ter-reg earth; land ter-reg-wís-lor map ter-te place (v); put ter-vas-arb forest ter-zú bed teregus Teregus (name) thor chest; body thor-teks tunic; shirt tib flute; pipe tim time; wait tim-por arrive; come tim-spak rhythm tim-te waiting; timing ting color; shade ting-teks banner tint adorn tir stretch tir-ku elastic; stretchy ton note trak to; toward; for; unto trak-por pull; draw trak-tas direction trámel Trammel (the moon) trav work trav-ter office trax across trí interesting tú all tú-tas whole tú-tim always; forever túrn cave U ú you ú-de your, yours úi-de our, ours úilem us; we ul final; last ul-tim ultimate úlem you (pl): you and they; "you-all" um shadow un-lem shade (ghost) umor liquid umor-flam lava umor-kans soup ún control ung claw ungo annoint; run; smear unq ever ura breath ura-char nose uri east urs bear (animal) us diligence us-ágra-lem general; military leader; troop-leader us-arb-vas-lem agriculture leader; leader of farmers usu experiment usu-de experience usu-lem expert ut a úus expand; increase; lift; raise; up úus-lem leader; chief úus-por ascend úus-tas expansion uy claw V vaglem wanderer; wandering vak cow vak-mání-áilem cheese vak-mir milk val curtain válkadesh Valkadesh (name) vas great; big; long; ultimate vas-áilem everything vas-an-ben plague vas-an-lai grieve; mourn vas-an-lor eclipse var-an-ort mass dispel vas-ang choke vas-arb tree vas-arg-sarp silver serpent vas-bal cruel var-cur carriage vas-des bottom vas-feb feeble; fragile; frail vas-fu demented; insane vas-kap chest (container) vas-korp lethal vas-korp-ágra battle; war vas-korp-nox lethal poison vas-ku fat vas-leb cauldron vas-mír ocean vas-mír-an-nax greater cure potion vas-mír-mání greater heal potion vas-mír-nox greater poison var-múr-om nation vas-por-áilem earthquake; tremor vas-pos-tim late vas-prae-tim early vas-quas confusion vas-son loud vas-ter-reg country vas-tim old; age; epoch; great time vas-úus elevated; high; top vas-wís (great) knowledge; (ultimate) wisdom vasagralem Vasagralem (name) ve like; as ved sell ved-lem vendor ved-ter market; shop; store ved-ter-de merchandise; stock veh brutal; ferocious; savage; violent vel even; flat ven discover; find ven-tas discovery ver true; truth; right ver-de truly ver-in-de perfect ter-tas fact ver-vid heed; respect vers all right; ok ves west vest search vest-tas, vestas quest vex annoy; disturb; jolt; shake vía path; course; road vici exchange; trade vid see; look; view; eye vid-ku seem vid-lem seer vid-dúk, viduk point vidúk-tas mark; sign vil cheap; common; little; poor vil-de less, least vil-lem servant vil-ved sale vin wine vin-arb vines vink chain vír green vír-mír swamp vit glass vol fly; wing vol-de winged vórtex, vórteks vortex vox voice vul injury; wound W wí we, us (you and I/me) wíde our wílem we, us; all of us (you, they, and I) wís know; knowledge; wise; wisdom; intelligent wís-char head; face wís-de wisely wís-lem scholar wís-lem-reg school wís-lor see; vision; image; picture wíslem Wislem (name) wíssúr Wis Sur (name) X No Entries Y No Entries Z zash, zaw something; somewhat zen creature; being (n); animal; existence zen-crin fur zen-for-tas muscle zen-korp undead; daemon zen-ku physical zen-lem pet zen-múr race; people; person zen-múr-int meet, meeting zen-teg leather zen-tú body zhah Zhah (name) zhel, zel iron zhel-kas Zhelkas (name; iron helm) zhen, xen family zú sleep zú-áilem sleep dust zú-ku sleepy; tired zú-tim winter

Examples of Usage

Here are a few samples of Gargish sentences translated literally, then into more idiomatic English.

Gargish	Literal translation	Idiomatic translation
Teresta sit lem antende nóm.	place-that lie ones not-have-of name	Here lie those that had no names.
Estatim i perle lorrel re inwíslor kódex ad quad.	that-time I used light-change begin make-know-light codex upon cube	Then I used the lens to form an image of the Codex upon the cube.
Ánte esta terreg máníte múr anísh zen.	in that place-home living number strange creature	In that land live many strange creatures.
A qua lemmúr wíste, an zen anku vol verde wís.	but what ones-number knowing, not creature not-with wing true-of knowledge.	But as everyone knows, no creature without wings is truly intelligent.
Ánte kódex skríle prí ben esh ver res quí quae.	in codex written one well and true answer any problem	Within the Codex is written the one right and true answer to any problem.
Anvolde lem ansa lók, esh anten skítas de volde lem.	not-wing-of ones not-can speak, and not-have know-ness of wing-of ones	The wingless ones cannot speak, and lack the intelligence of the winged ones.
Tú rete ku klí axi: ún, or, esh us.	all beginning with three principle: control, passion, and diligence	All begins with the three principles: Control, Passion and Diligence.
Ita anai de axi vidúkte trak semde bentas, ord.	thus not-there-is of principle see-guiding toward seven-of well-quality, order	Thus the absence of the principles points toward the seventh virtue, Order.

Lore

“

Just as there are two sides to every disagreement, so too does our world have two sides. And as the centuries have drifted past, both sides have known but whispered rumors of the other's existence. But, as it was written by out greatest prophet, in days long since faded from mortal memory, there shall be three signs that precede the end. Three times shall the false prophet come to our land. He has already come twice. The two sides of the world are not locked in deadly conflict, and by my power I have verified the prophecy. For I have seen that where there are now two worlds, soon there will be only one. And this shall come to pass after the false prophet returns a third and final time. What momentous events will soon come to pass I cannot say. But I know that the false prophet will arrive soon. Even now, on the other side of the world, a singer of songs and a teller of fortunes prepare to aid him...       Naxatilor the Seer       Translated from the Gargish by Captain John Despite months of study, I find the Gargish language a mystery still. The simple passage above required every bit of knowledge and intuition I possessed. According to my young friend, Beh Lem, the passage below is of great significance, but I have much to learn, and he is not yet the scholar his father is. Even together, we have been unable to read it. I hope and pray that you may have better luck...       John – from The Book of Prophecy (Ultima VI)

Trivia

• Gargoyles name for both themselves and their language is gargl. Gargoyle and Gargish are English corruptions of their toungue.
• The full description of the Gargish Language and its usage is first seen in The Book of Prophecy (which is copied on the Ultima Web Archive).
• Creation of this alphabet is credited to Herman Miller.
• A Gargish True Type Font is available on the Ultima Web Archive, allowing you to write in gargl.
• In addition to the Words of Power, the mantras for each of the Virtues are also present as the Gargish translation of that virtue!
• Many of the Gargish words are Greek, Latin or scientific base words (i.e. aur is Au from the periodic table symbol for "gold"; semi is Latin root for "half"; kli is a variation of tri, the Greek prefix meaning "three").

Gallery

• 

  Gargish on the Sacrificial Slab

• 

  A book in Ultima IX

• 

  Another book in Ultima IX

See Also

• Runic alphabet
• Ophidian alphabet

External Links

• Gargish Language on the Ultima Web Archive
• Gargish Introduction on UOHerald
• Linguistic Asides on Gargish by Linguistic Dragon