What Language Do the Dothraki Speak?

Last week, I was rewatching Game of Thrones with a friend, and when Daenerys first rode Drogon and the Dothraki surrounded her shouting "Mhysa," my friend paused the screen and asked: "What language are these Dothraki actually speaking? It sounds made up, but there's something oddly consistent about it."

If you've had the same question, you're in the right place. Let me break down exactly what language the Dothraki speak and how to understand it. Try our free Dothraki Translator to see how phrases work in context and hear correct pronunciation.

The Quick Answer: Dothraki Is a "Constructed but Fully Functional" Language

A lot of people think Dothraki is just random "alien gibberish" the showrunners made up, but that's not true—it's a constructed language (conlang) specifically created by linguists for Game of Thrones, and it's fully functional for communication, not just scattered vocabulary thrown together.

When I first started researching this, I specifically looked up interviews with linguist David J. Peterson, the creator of Dothraki. He mentioned that when creating the language, he drew inspiration from Mongolian, Turkish, and other nomadic languages, which is why Dothraki has lots of rolled sounds and short, sharp syllables that give it that rough "steppe warrior" feel. For example, the word "Dothraki" itself has the stress on the first syllable and needs to be pronounced with force—that's borrowed from the pronunciation habits of nomadic languages.

Here's a real pain point I want to address: when watching the show, subtitles often only translate the general meaning, and if you want to know what the actual line means, it's hard to find reliable translation sources. I'll share a tool I use all the time—David Peterson's official Dothraki Dictionary (just search "Dothraki Dictionary" and you'll find it). It has nearly 2,000 common words and phrases, and you can look up almost all the classic lines from the show. It's way more reliable than random fan translations.

Core Knowledge: 3 Key Features of Dothraki (With Practical Examples)

You don't need to memorize grammar rules by rote to understand Dothraki. Just grasp these 3 features, and you'll quickly get its core logic and even be able to form a few sentences yourself.

Feature 1: Nouns have "gender," but only "animate" and "inanimate." For example, "horse" (the most important animal to the Dothraki) is an animate noun called "adak"; "sword" is an inanimate noun called "rakh." The key difference is in the suffixes—animate nouns often end in "-ak" or "-ek," while inanimate nouns often end in "-kh" or "-sh." When I first cosplayed as a Dothraki warrior, I made a mistake by saying "my adak" (the correct form is "adaki"—animate nouns need the "-i" suffix for possession) and got laughed at. Once I memorized this suffix pattern, I never made that mistake again.

Feature 2: Verb tenses are super simple—they use prefixes. For example, "to walk" is "shierak." The present tense is just the base form, the past tense adds "me-" to become "meshierak," and the future tense adds "ve-" to become "veshierak." Here's an example from the show: when Daenerys says "I will fight alongside you," the original line is "Vezh fin zhok va drogosh," where "vezh" is the future tense prefix for "fight" (vezh). Pretty straightforward, right?

Feature 3: Adjectives come after nouns. This is different from English word order. For example, you can't say "fast adak" for "fast horse"—you have to reverse it to "adak shierak" (horse + fast). When the Dothraki shout "Great Khaleesi" in the show, the original line is "Mhysa Dothrak," which is "Khaleesi (Mhysa) + great (Dothrak)." Once you remember this word order, you can easily understand the structure of many lines.

Pro Tip: Use "Scene-Based Memory" to Quickly Master Practical Dothraki

This is a technique I've developed after researching for so long, and it's rarely mentioned in the field. Since Dothraki was created to serve the steppe nomadic scenes in Game of Thrones, many words relate to "horses, battle, steppe, and tribe." We can memorize by scene, which is 10 times faster than learning words in isolation.

For example, the "steppe scene": once you remember "sevos" (steppe), you can extend it to "sevos qoyi" (wind of the steppe) and "sevos adaki" (horses of the steppe). The "battle scene": remember "vezh" (to fight), and you can extend it to "vezhak" (warrior, fight + person) and "vezh fin" (fight together). The "tribe scene": remember "khalasar" (tribe), and you can extend it to "khal" (khal, tribe leader) and "khalessi" (khaleesi, leader's wife).

I used this method myself and memorized over 50 common words in just 3 days. When chatting with friends who also love Dothraki, I can handle simple conversations. For example, to say "I like the horses of the steppe," you can say "Fin sevos adaki qoylisa." See how simple that is?

The Bottom Line: Dothraki's Core Value Is "Immersion"

Whether you're binge-watching the show or doing cosplay, when we ask "what language do the Dothraki speak," what we're really after is a deeper immersion into the world of Game of Thrones. While this constructed language isn't a naturally evolved language, it has a complete system of pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary that makes us believe in the authenticity of the Dothraki nomadic people when watching the show.

Ready to explore Dothraki? Check out our free Dothraki Translator and start practicing today. Translate phrases, learn pronunciation, and discover how this constructed language works in practice. Whether you're a complete beginner or looking to deepen your understanding, our translator helps you explore Dothraki step by step.