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'''Common''' (or the '''Common Tongue''') is the [[language]] of the [[human]]s<ref>''[[Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game]]'', pg. 104</ref><ref>''[[World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game]]'', pg. 131</ref> and most [[Forsaken]]. It is divided heavily into regional dialects, | '''Common''' (or the '''Common Tongue''') is the [[language]] of the [[human]]s<ref>''[[Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game]]'', pg. 104</ref><ref>''[[World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game]]'', pg. 131</ref> and most [[Forsaken]]. It is divided heavily into regional dialects, most corresponding to historical kingdoms.<ref>''[[The Last Guardian]]'', ch. 2, noting the accent of [[Kul Tiras]]</ref><ref>A [[Grizzly Hills]] dialect is mentioned in the Horde quest “Mikhail’s Journal”, though it’s possible that it was actually a local population of another, larger dialect instead. Alliance quests, however, do refer to these people as “locals” (“Local Support”, “Close the Deal”, “A Tentative Pact”, and “Escape from Silverbrook”) and a separate people in “Preying Upon the Weak”.</ref> | ||
==Historical Influence== | ==Historical Influence== | ||
Latest revision as of 7:19 PM, July 3, 2026
Common (or the Common Tongue) is the language of the humans[1][2] and most Forsaken. It is divided heavily into regional dialects, most corresponding to historical kingdoms.[3][4]
Historical Influence
Thalassian had a large impact on Common due to high elven influence on early humanity polities, especially when concerned with magical jargon. The dialect of Dalaran, being a city-state ruled by mages, was deeply influenced by it, especially with so many high elves living within its borders.
Recent Changes
The dialects have experienced massive levelling in recent decades:
- The destruction of Stormwind during the First War and subsequently the escape of refugees to Lordaeron.
- The rebuilding of Stormwind started at the conclusion of the Second War with significant help from Lordaeron and included people from various human nations, introducing yet more influences to the Stormwind dialect.
- The traitorous actions of Alterac during the Second War left the nation in ruins, leading to attempts to annex portions by Stromgarde and Lordaeron and seemingly scattering its population.
- Lordaeron and Dalaran were destroyed during the Third War, followed by the decline of Stromgarde.
- The destruction of the Greymane Wall, bringing some Third War refugees into Gilneas.
The massive death toll during each of these events resulted in the annihilation of older members of a given society, cutting off large portions of cultural memory for younger generations and removing dialectal differences that were more common prior to the formation of the Alliance. Kul Tiras remains the sole remaining human kingdom without major linguistic changes.
The Common spoken in Theramore is a cobbled collection of dialects, largely based on those of Lordaeron, Kul Tiras, and Dalaran with a notable influence from the Thalassian spoken by the high elven Dalaran population.
Trivia
It is useless to make any decisions regarding this language. It is mostly English, except when not. The few non-English words can just be viewed as older dialects. Its writing system is too varied to be useful, so it is better to choose the Elder Futhark when needed.
Endnotes
- ↑ Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game, pg. 104
- ↑ World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game, pg. 131
- ↑ The Last Guardian, ch. 2, noting the accent of Kul Tiras
- ↑ A Grizzly Hills dialect is mentioned in the Horde quest “Mikhail’s Journal”, though it’s possible that it was actually a local population of another, larger dialect instead. Alliance quests, however, do refer to these people as “locals” (“Local Support”, “Close the Deal”, “A Tentative Pact”, and “Escape from Silverbrook”) and a separate people in “Preying Upon the Weak”.