Shafka
Dothraki
Etymology
From a blend of the nominative Proto-Plains *ʃapak (“breaker of horses”) and the partitive Proto-Plains *ʃapakǝ (“of a breaker of horses”).
Pronunciation
Pronoun
shafka (nominative/accusative second person formal, singular yer, plural yeri)
- you, you all; second person formal personal pronoun, nominative/accusative case
Inflection
| Dothraki Personal Pronouns | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person | ||||||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Formal | Singular | Plural | ||
| Nominative | anha | kisha | yer | yeri | shafka | me | mori | |
| Accusative | anna | yera | mae | mora | ||||
| Genitive | anni | kishi | yeri | shafki | mori | |||
| Allative | anhaan | kishaan | yeraan | yerea | shafkea | maan | morea | |
| Ablative | anhoon | kishoon | yeroon | yeroa | shafkoa | moon | moroa | |
Creation and Usage Notes
| If there was anything I thought the Dothraki language shouldn't have it was a formal/informal distinction in its pronouns. It didn't make sense to me. I still don't like it. The only reason that this pronoun exists is because we were required to make such a distinction in the competition to create Dothraki. The instruction were quite clear on that point. This was based on an analysis that I disagree with, but I wasn't going to risk my chance at winning the competition by arguing the point. And so the pronoun is there. All these years and I still hate it. Nevertheless, I faithfully used it when I felt it was called for. After all, it is a part of the language. It wouldn't be if it were never used.
-David J. Peterson 00:21, 23 October 2020 (PDT) |