In the world of the novel and TV series, the
Nine Free Cities of Essos speak locally evolved variants of Valyrian known as
Bastard Valyrian, described by the character
Tyrion in
A Dance with Dragons as "not so much a
dialect as nine dialects on the way to becoming separate tongues". Peterson described the relationship between High Valyrian and Bastard Valyrian as being similar to that between
Classical Latin and the
Romance languages evolved from
Vulgar Latin, or more accurately between
Classical Arabic and the
modern varieties of Arabic, in that High Valyrian is intelligible, with some difficulty, to a speaker of a local Essosi language. Peterson noted that with regard to the vocabulary of the derived languages, "If it’s got a 'j' in an odd place, it’s probably Ghiscari in origin."
Astapori Valyrian The first derivative Valyrian language to be featured in the series was Astapori Valyrian, a variety from the city of
Astapor in Slaver's Bay. It appeared in the third-season premiere episode "
Valar Dohaeris". Peterson created the Astapori dialogue by first writing the text in High Valyrian, then applying a series of regular grammar and sound changes to simulate the changes in natural languages over a long period of time. For example, Astapori Valyrian has lost all long vowels (designated with a
macron) and most
diphthongs. As a result, an "Unsullied" is rendered as
Dovaogēdy in High Valyrian, but as
Dovoghedhy in Astapori. There is also an indefinite article,
me , derived from High Valyrian
mēre ("one").
Meereenese Valyrian Meereenese Valyrian appears in Seasons 4 and 6 of
Game of Thrones. Like Astapori Valyrian, it lacked long vowels as well as the sound /y/. However, its phonology departs considerably more from High Valyrian. This decision was a response to the request that it not be
mutually intelligible with High Valyrian, unlike Astapori Valyrian, which is. For example, the word "Unsullied": : Meereenese Valyrian:
Thowoá : Astapori Valyrian:
Dovoghedhy : High Valyrian:
Dovaogēdy ==Written form==