- “This language has been spoken on Dinosaur Planet for thousands of years, since their first encounter with off-worlders. Before that, they got by with grunts and roars; a few still do, but most have adopted this relatively new language.”
- —Instruction Booklet, Dino Language pg 28
The Dino language or Dino Talk is spoken by the inhabitants of the planet Sauria.
History
Krystal and apparently Slippy (who translates what the Queen EarthWalker says himself before he finishes the translating device) know Dino well, and are the only known non-inhabitants of Sauria who do. The only known inhabitants that know English are the WarpStone and ShopKeeper, and potentially Tricky by the events of Assault. Shortly after Fox McCloud rescues Tricky from the SharpClaws, Slippy activates a translator device so Fox hears everything that is said in English.
Translation Chart
It uses the same written runes as the language used by most other denizens of the Lylat System, with the primary difference being the usage of a simple, if unorthodox substitution cipher. Or more plainly, it's English, but most of the letters are swapped out.
Consonants are always replaced by consonants and vowels alter into vowels. Uniquely, the letter M stays the same. Both E and Y are changed into O, but make differing sounds (E translates into both 'о̄', as in 'globe' and 'ŏ' as in 'box' whilst Y translates into 'ü' as in 'room'). In circumstances where the letter X (translated from H) causes a word to become unpronounceable, it will instead adopt a vowel sound (e.g. 'the' translated to 'kxo' which is pronounced 'kee-yo').
Proper nouns (Krystal, Scales, Krazoa), including honorifics (General, Palace), do not follow the cipher, and are instead spoken in Galactic Basic.
| English: | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| Saurian: | U | R | S | T | O | V | W | X | A | Z | B | C | M | D | E | F | G | H | J | K | I | L | N | P | O | Q |
Below is an example of the final translation.
- “De edo sud tovouk GENERAL SCALES! (Translation: No one can defeat GENERAL SCALES!)”
- —General Scales
Trivia
- Some dinosaur tribes and other native creatures have not as of yet adapted to this language, such as the more savage tribes. These include the RedEye, FireCrawler, ShadowHunter, Kalda Chom and Bloop.
- Contrary to popular belief, it was never officially named Saurian.
- When the fourth Cheat Token is collected and placed in the WarpStone's Game Well Maze, it will activate the option to allow the subtitles to appear in Dino; however, there are many spelling errors in the translation.
- Krystal's understanding and speaking of this language may be attributed to her telepathic ability, which was seen in Star Fox: Assault.
- It is often noted by game players that when Fox and Tricky hear Krystal's cries of agony at Moon Mountain Pass, her cries are spoken in Dino talk, despite the fact that Fox had his working translator at the time. Even more interesting is that unused dialogue from the game has revealed the same quotes were recorded in English too. The reason why Rare used the Dino language recordings is unknown.
- As noted, proper nouns are said according to galactic standard, even though the words that make them up are not; e.g., in the introduction, Krystal refers to "u meidkuad" ("a mountain"), but later, the Queen Earthwalker refers to "Ice Mountain".
- Sea of Thieves, another game made by Rare, would make heavy usage of runic ciphers, including substitution ciphers during their 2023 treasure hunt event.
References
- Star Fox Adventures, Instruction Booklet, pg 28 (pages are not included in the PAL Region's manual).