Ifghar reading. Since Krakish is the most widely spoken language in the Northern Kingdoms, it is assumed that most of the books written there are written in Krakish.
Krakish is the language spoken by most of the creatures from the Northern Kingdoms, as opposed to the language of the Southern Kingdoms, Hoolian. It is described as having harsh sounds, sometimes compared to the sound of "gargling rocks". The language originated from the Clan of Krakor, where Cleve of Firthmore came from.
Phonology[]
Krakish has
• The vowels A, Aa, E, I, O, U
• The diphthongs Au, Ou, Uo
• The glottals Gh, H
• The liquids / rhotics R, L, Rh/Rr
• The labials M, B, V, Vv/Vh, P, F, Ff/fh
• The dentals N, D, T, Z, S
Structure[]
The structure of Krakish is not explicitly described, but can be inferred from its use. However, it seems to bear similarities to Romance languages in that adjectives change depending on the noun they are applied to,[1] and that verbs are conjugated into six forms.[2]
Vocabulary[]
This is a list of known Krakish vocabulary. It is alphabetized by the Krakish word.
Pronouns[]
These pronouns are inferred from when Otulissa is conjugating verbs on page 9 of The Burning.
Krakish | Hoolian |
---|---|
yuoy | I |
tuoy | You (Singular) |
tuoy | he/she/it |
nuoy | we |
vuoyou | You (plural) |
vuoyven | They |
Nouns[]
Krakish | Hoolian |
---|---|
bhago | book |
bleshen | blood |
brikta schnee | deep snow, the season of winter |
byssenskitch | a channel that grows narrower |
criffen | battle |
erraghh | rage |
frahmm | flames |
frisen | friend |
frissah | fires |
ghylls | secret passages |
glauc | life |
glossen | glass |
grot-ghot | native (of the Northern Kingdoms) |
hordo | snake |
hordonphonk | supremely beautiful snake |
issen | ice |
issen blaue | blue ice |
issen glossen | clear ice |
issen vintygg | deep ice |
kraal | pirate |
krepla schnee | fast falling, blinding snow |
kronkenbot | vacuum transport |
lav issen | low ice |
liffen schmoo | light frost, the season of fall |
magen | magic |
mik | jewel |
mydlsvarls | natural network of tunnels of frost |
m'whocki | owl |
nachtmagen | bad magic |
N'yrth | uppermost part, beak |
N'yrthnookah | A northeast wind that brings with it the heaviest of blizzards |
ny schnee | no snow, the season of summer |
phawish | food |
regno | ruler |
rhot ghort | a small rule infraction |
salixa | willow |
siypah schnee | snow that falls at dawn |
sklardrog | sky dragon |
skog | storyteller |
smeisshen | smith |
soffen issen | soft ice, the season of spring |
strah | crown |
sund | sound, music |
S'yrth | lowermost part, feet |
tantya | aunt |
unguis | talons, claws |
vhagen / hagen | evening |
Vlimyk vintur | last winter hunters |
vrahkyn | faith |
vroknenplonk | a very serious offense |
wykensprat | witness stand |
Yinqui | listener/spy |
Adjectives[]
Krakish | Hoolian |
---|---|
blaue | blue |
clarren | clear |
gunda/gunden | good |
ilis | safe |
mi/mi't | my/mine |
michten | little |
nacht | bad |
nachtglaux | against Glaux |
nar | noble |
prinka | poor, pitiful |
trufynkken | drunk |
tuoy | your/yours |
utmyrket | splendid |
vintygg | deep |
whiskerspritz | full of spirits |
yoicks / yoickers | crazy |
Verbs[]
Due to taking these verbs directly from a speaking context, they are in various forms, not necessarily the infinitive. For those of which the form is known, it will be listed.
Krakish | Hoolian |
---|---|
aroch | teach |
bit | it is |
bity | it will be |
bisshen | say/speak (likely the infinitive) |
frihl | it burns |
fryke | freeze |
goot | hoot |
grash | eat |
heeldving | think |
kerplonken | yeep |
kraalynk | to attack for treasure |
misnacht | [Do you] understand |
murischev | Teach to fight |
skog | tell/sing |
stresschen | to originate from/hail from |
vinc | conquer, win, overcome |
yeben | become |
Adverbs[]
Krakish | Hoolian |
---|---|
achtin | here/for |
vatsapoose | travelling on one's belly |
Miscellaneous[]
Krakish | Hoolian |
---|---|
ach | exclamation for surprise |
di | of |
der | the |
e | another form of and |
effen | of (as in from)[3] |
in | in |
ja | yes |
murm | like, as |
nuftan | no way |
nunchat | no |
nynick | never |
Phrases[]
Krakish | Hoolian |
---|---|
Framisch longha | Follow me |
Gare heeldvig | Think nothing of it |
Gunden vhagen | Good evening |
Hvrash g'mear mclach? | Where are you going? |
Takk | Thank you |
Fyrndronken nyghot ig fyrnsfris | We have nothing to fear but fear itself |
Vreeling cladonia mich vaargen, scmuttz engen guneer gunden | Cleve's comment on the amazing diversity of cladonia lichen, exact translation unclear |
Bisshen ninga Krakish y faar son | Otulissa's reply to Cleve, exact translation unclear |
Verschtucken mitgon vouykinn schnitzkin bynnghis yonkus | A code spoken by Blix that meant: "Beware, slipgizzles are among us. The enemies, the two Horneds." |
Gishmahad frissah bralaag gyrrrmach tuoy oschuven | Spoken by one of the owls involved in the "peg-out" operation, near the end of The Shattering, to deceive Nyra's forces. |
Be verbs[]
Also inferred from when Otulissa is conjugating verbs on page 9 of The Burning.
Krakish | Hoolian |
---|---|
Yuoy bis | I am |
Tuoy bit | You (singular) are |
Tuoy bim | He/she/it is |
Nuoy bimish | We are |
Vuoyou bimishi | You (plural) are |
Vuoyven bimont | They are |
Interrogative pronouns[]
Krakish | Hoolian |
---|---|
Hvrash | Where? |
Vhrunk | What? |
Examples (Contextual)[]

There are several examples in the books that can be studied to provide a better understanding of Krakish, the longest being Nyra's statement of love and devotion to Kludd in The Siege:
- Erraghh tuoy bit mik in strah.
- Erraghh tuoy frihl in mi murm frissah di Naftur, regno di frahmm.
- Erragh tuoy bity mi plurrh di glauc.
- E mi't, di tuoy.
Several grammatical structures can be gathered from this text. For example, it can be observed that di is the possessive indicator, in the cases frissah di Naftur, the fires of Naftur or Naftur's fires, regno di frahmm, the flame's ruler or the ruler of the flames, plurrh di glauc, life's blood or blood of the (my) life, and di tuoy, of your (heart) or yours. Also note, that though it can be interpreted either way, grammatical syntax appears to be "possessor (what's doing the possessing) di possessive (what's being possessed)".
Also if you look at Erraghh tuoy, I would propose that you place the object that you are possessing in front of the noun when you are using a pronoun without di.
I would also assume that pronouns can function as descriptive or possessive without any change. The use of tuoy as both you and your indicates this.[4]
Trivia[]
“The Krakish words actually have some roots in Norwegian. Krakish is the language of the Northern Kingdoms, and that made me think of Scandinavian countries. So I did go to a Norwegian language Web site and picked out a few words. Then I sort of mangled them a bit, turned them inside out, and came up with this weird-sounding language. There is also a hint of Yiddish-like words thrown in."
- Kathryn Lasky, Guardians of Ga'Hoole Discussion Guide
References[]
- ↑ This is not said outright but can be inferred from the word for "good", which changes from gunda to gunden depending on what it describes
- ↑ Revealed in The Burning, page 9
- ↑ Svall refers to Ezylryb as Lyze effen Kiel in The Burning.
- ↑ All assumed information above is inference until proven validated.