Updated for 5th edition
| Language |
Typical Speakers |
Script |
| Abyssal |
Demons, chaotic evil outsiders |
Infernal |
| Aquan |
Water-based creatures |
Elven |
| Auran |
Air-based creatures |
Draconic |
| Celestial |
Celestials (angels, devas) |
Celestial |
| Common |
Humans, halflings, half-elves, half-orcs |
Common |
| Deep Speech |
Mind flayers, beholders |
— |
| Draconic |
Kobolds, troglodytes, lizardfolk, dragons, dragonborn |
Draconic |
| Druidic |
Druids (only) |
Druidic |
| Dwarvish |
Dwarves |
Dwarvish |
| Elvish |
Elves |
Elvish |
| Giant |
Ogres, giants |
Dwarvish |
| Gnomish |
Gnomes |
Dwarvish |
| Goblin |
Goblinoids, hobgoblins, bugbears |
Dwarvish |
| Gnoll |
Gnolls |
Common |
| Halfling |
Halflings |
Common |
| Ignan |
Fire-based creatures |
Draconic |
| Infernal |
Devils, Tieflings |
Infernal |
| Orc |
Orcs |
Dwarvish |
| Primordial |
Elementals |
Dwarvish |
| Sylvan |
Fey creatures (dryads, brownies, leprechauns) |
Elvish |
| Terran |
Xorns and other earth-based creatures |
Dwarven |
| Undercommon |
Drow, Underdark traders |
Elvish |
Animals, Plants, Vermin, and Oozes typically do not have languages.
Constructs, Deathless, Undead, and Elementals are usually created and understand the language of their creator.
Aberrations are just freaky, and may or may not speak any known language.
This list isn’t intended to be a list of all D&D languages. For one thing, it doesn’t include all race-specific languages. The grell language, for example, is only spoken by the grell. One source says that other creatures cannot learn the grell language. There are a few other languages that are race-specific, such as the Slaad. I will not attempt to keep this list updated with every monster in the multiverse that has their own race-specific language.
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Dungeon Master Assistance 
Awe, I was hoping for fonts to use…
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Look here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/2jwsx2/dnd_and_other_script_font_collection/
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You can use ‘word’ for many fonts… ( over 100).
I like Old English font, size 10, for one-quarter inch (1/4) lines.
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That is a good point. A lot of people forget to look at the fonts they may already have.
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Ronny, What about the Grell language?
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Refer to the note I just added to the end of the original post.
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Oh ok srry…
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No apologies required. I added that after I read your comment. Please continue to comment on anything that you feel needs clarification.
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this list of languages doesn’t say anything about tieflings…
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Tieflings can speak, read, and write Common and Infernal.
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Tieflings speak abyssal
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There is a Unearthed Arcana with optional rules for abyssal tieflings that can speak, read, and write Abyssal instead of Infernal. The tiefling in the Player’s Handbook only have Common and Infernal.
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shows tiefling under infernal right there
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You sir, are inept. Players Handbook (the core rulebook) says tieflings speak, read, and write Common and Infernal. There was an additional variant LATER released offering a different kind of tiefling that INSTEAD knows Abyssal; they are not the same branch of tiefling. This page specifically refers to the Player’s Handbook version.
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You’re forgetting Thieves’ Cant.
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I can see where you could make an argument for including thieves’ cant in this list, but I never thought of it s a true language. As per the Player’s Handbook, it is “a secret mix of dialect, jargon, and code that allows you to hide messages in seemingly norm al conversation. Only another creature that knows thieves’ cant understands such messages.”
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Utbay sntiway Igpay Atinlay ustay away odecay ndaway otnay away anguagelay?
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utbay igpay atinlay isway otnay away ungeonsday andway agonsdray anguagelay.
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Iyay eanmay, ityay ouldcay ebay ifyay youyay ereway ersistentpay enoughyay andyay otgay ayay igbay enoughyay oupgray ofyay eoplepay otay angechay ethay amegay
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Iyay amyay otnay oingday isthay anyyay oremay. Ityay isyay otay ifficultday orfay emay otay akemay ethay anslationstray. Iyay evernay aredcay orfay igpay atinlay.
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Can a player learn more languages other then the starting ones in the new 5e books?
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Hi, Robbed.
When creating your character, you can replace tool proficiencies with languages on a one-for-one basis.
Some class features let you learn additional languages. With the Cleric Knowledge Domain you learn two languages of your choice. 13th level Monk learns to touch the ki of other minds so that he understand all spoken languages. Rangers learn one language of their choice that is spoken by their favored enemies. A (rogue) thief learns skills useful for reading unfamiliar languages. And, of course, there are magical spells and items.
The Linguist Feat allows you to learn three languages of your choice.
As a house rule, if I had a player that wanted to do it, I think that I would allow a character to learn another language in his down time. For each language I would have him subtract his intelligence score from 40 to determine the number of days required and the cost would be 2 gold pieces for each day. And I might limit the number of languages he could learn this way to a maximum of his INT modifier.
One thing that others have done is to allow some type of intelligence check. I am not in favor of this. If the player has some good in-game reason to know another language I would find a way to let him learn it. I wouldn’t risk him not learning it because he made a bad roll of the dice.
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In training you can learn languages
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What classifies as a secret language? Trying to build a rogue with a sailor origin
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A secret language is just a language that you are not permitted to teach to an outsider. I think that Druidic and thieves’ cant are the only ones in the basic rules, but your DM may have others in his world.
Unless your DM says otherwise, thieves’ cant is the secrete language of thieves. If your rogue is or was previously a thief he will know that. If your character is or was a pirate your DM may allow you to know thieves’ cant, or perhaps there is a special dialect of thieves’ cant that pirates use.
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Deep speech is usually spoken by aberrations not just beholders and mind flayers. Plus Primidorial is composed of the Terran, Aquan, Auran and Ignan dialects, they are not desperate languages.
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Thanks,
I didn’t know that. I will verify and update the table.
I appreciate your input.
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What about others that are race-specific, such as Gith or Slaad? Probably not worth adding them all?
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Refer to the note I just added to the end of the original post.
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Hey, is there a way for me to find translators? I have D&D-inspired characters in a story/forum game I’m involved in, and I need translators to show how they speak. Any ideas?
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I would just recommend a Google search for each particular language to see if anyone has worked it out for whichever language you need. I know I have seen one for Draconic (it may have been called Draconian). In this chapter of my “Dragon Hunt,” I go into some detail on a small portion of that language:
https://olddungeonmaster.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/dragon-hunt-chapter-1-part-5-rebuilding-the-cabin/
My guess is that you may find quite a lot on popular races, like Elvish and Dwarvish and not so much on the more obscure ones. Also try searches on other names for the languages, such as Elven, Elf-speak, etc.
Another option would be to use a real language that sounds somewhat like you think the target language would sound (make sure it is a language that none of your players know).
Good luck and please share your findings.
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vinxa ihk wer chart coita zi klael 🙂
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wux re zi aldoer 🙂
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nomeno claxon idol kiri drong kiri swasin ithquent xsiol sjaadur sia xanalre cirau sthyr. Vinxa!!!!
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ti ekess xihood.
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Hello!
I am currently playing as a tabaxi in 5e and know Elvish, Common and Celestial, but I was wondering if as a result I would be able to read languages with Elven script, such as Aquan, Sylvan and Undercommon?
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No. Just because I read and speak English, doesn’t mean that I can read German, even though they both use the same alphabet.
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http://dnd5echaractersheet.com/d-d-languages/
This will give clear guidance about D&D 5e languages
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Thanks for the link. It looks like there is a lot of good information there.
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Just putting this out there but in my homebrew campaign there is a language and a race called Northmun. It’s a more urban version of real Norse tradition. It exists alongside Common. Bards like the language as it is rich with songs and sayings. It is said to have some magic qualities to it and seems to change the thinking of any who learn it.
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What language is the word glym from?
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I never heard of the work glym. Assuming yours is a serious inquiry, the only “glym” I can find in relation to anything D&D related is Kanaglym, which was an abandoned dwarven town in Forgotten Realms. So I suppose it might be of Dwarvish origin.
Would you please tell me where you ran across this word?
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Reblogged this on DDOCentral.
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Aquan, Ignan, Auran, and Terran are dialects of Primordial. How can they have different scripts?
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I don’t see any reason they couldn’t use different scripts. Perhaps Primordial is so old that when the other dialects split off it wasn’t a written language. Writing may not have been invented yet. (The American Indians didn’t have a written language when Columbus discovered America.) So some time after the other dialects split off, each could have invented the written form of their language based on the predominant script in their location. I kinda like that idea. If you know one, with an easy INT check you could understand one of the other if you heard it spoken, but you might not be able to read it.
But in your campaign you can change them all to a single script if you choose to.
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Great Share
I enjoyed reading this.
thanks alot.
Fizban pdf
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