Hylian Language
From Zelda Wiki.org
Hylian is the main language used in Hyrule. When written, the characters are composed mostly of squarelike symbols and dots with a small amount of curved or diagonal lines, and changes slightly from game to game.
Spoiler warning: If you have not completed the relevant game(s), then the following details could spoil your experience.
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Appearances
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The first appearance of Hylian was written on various important rocks and pedestals in A Link to the Past, and was translated by use of the Book of Mudora. Unlike later examples of Hylian, this was just nonsensical symbols. While the Japanese versions used Egyptian hieroglyphs among them, they were removed from the English language versions.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, the scripting appeared on places such as tombstones in Kakariko Village's Graveyard. No official translations or character sets have been released by Nintendo, although some fans have created versions themselves. A lot of evidence suggested that the writing was simply Japanese hiragana and katakana, just written with different symbols, and the in-game and box art Hylian inscriptions appeared to confirm this.
This writing was also found in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, even though it was set in Termina.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
On Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the intro sequence had paintings with the language below it, and later in the game Valoo, the Great Deku Tree and Jabun spoke it to the King of Red Lions. Once the game is finished there is an option for a second quest, in this version of the game all Hylian speech is translated. In Japan, an explanation on the Hylian alphabet was printed on the back of the instruction manual, confirming that the language is actually written like Japanese, but using different symbols.
This writing is also featured in The Minish Cap.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
In Twilight Princess, the language is represented by an alphabet based directly upon the Latin one, and the Hylian language in the game is in English. The Wii version of the game has the symbols reversed, making translation somewhat more difficult.
The script used in The Wind Waker is however used on tombstones in Kakariko Graveyard, for unknown reasons.
External links
- Hylian writing systems on Omniglot.com:
- IGN article about Hylian
