Language of the Dead Horses

The language of the Dead Horses was a unique combination of English, German, and Navajo spoken by members of the Dead Horses tribe. It evolved in isolation at a place called Res, where the native tongue mixed with the languages of people who were vacationing in Utah.Question: "Trate de preguntar en español? OK. ¿Qué idioma es el idioma de los Dead Horses basada en? La idioma de los Sorrows se basada en español, por supuesto. Pero no puedo entender qué idioma de los Dead Horses se basada en." (English translation: "Can I try to ask in Spanish? OK. What language is the language of the Dead Horses based on? The Sorrows' language is based on Spanish, of course. But I can't understand what language the Dead Horses is based on."Joshua Sawyer: "El idioma de los Dead Horses se basada en alemán, inglés, y navajo, pero la morfología del navajo es irreconocible." (English translation: "The Dead Horses language is based on German, English, and Navajo, but Navajo morphology is unrecognizable."Joshua Sawyer Spring.meQuestion: "Is It correct that the tribals are descended from vacationers at the time of the Great War? I swear I hear a little German in the Dead Horses and Spanish in the Sorrows, but I also hear another language(s) mixed in and spoken by either tribe as well."Joshua Sawyer: "Yes. Joshua Graham explains that they speak languages from a place he calls 'Res' mixed with languages from people who were vacationing in Utah."(Joshua Sawyer Formspring post 19 May 11)The Courier: "Do they speak... our language?"Joshua Graham: "Most don't. It's been hundreds of years since the war. They've developed their own languages. Take the Dead Horses. We think they were originally refugees from a place called east of the Grand Canyon. They speak a combination of Res and a language spoken by travelers who were visiting Res when the bombs fell. Over time, the two languages blended. I was a translator years ago, but it's hard to keep up with all of the tribal variations."(Joshua Graham's dialogue) This article lists phrases spoken by members and their translations.
==Normal conversation==
Phrase 	Pronunciation	Translation 	Circumstance
Goot. 	 	Good (day) 	Greeting
Yah ah tahg. 	 	Hello 	
Hoi! 	 	Hi! 	
No tsaig tuh beh dah a hih jih gahni a meer.	 	Don't point weapons at me. 	Player aims at tribal
Stahp dahs pleez. 	 	Stop that please 	
Ah del tahi, bahm buh, ya? 	 	Explosive, bomb, yes? 	Player lays mine
A bil he neh fuhr jahd thli gai! Heh he! 	 	A warning for white legs! Heh he!	
Nih mah sih! 	 	Grenade! 	Player throws grenade
Bahm buh! 	 	Bomb! 	
==Combat==
Phrase 	Pronunciation	Translation 	Circumstance
Lah. 	 	Fine. 	Accepts yield
Varoom? Stahp! 	 	Why?! Stop! 	Attacked
Nah ash ne wit deer! 	 	I'm playing with you! 	Attacks
Shtairb! 	 	Die! 	
Glahb ni kahn meer dah ah?! 	 	Think you can fight me?!	
Shaiss! 	 	Shit! 	Avoids threat
Eh hahj! 	 	Look out! 	
Roo too nait, ahk iss. 	 	Rest tonight, my friend.	Reaction to death
No! Neekt ni! 	 	No! Not you! 	
Naymst dees! 	 	Take this! 	Throws explosive
Koh bahm buh! 	 	Fire bomb! 	
Geh bits ah! 	 	Don't kill me! 	Reaction to murder
Chin dee! 	 	Devil! 	
Dahs wur bahd. 	 	That was bad. 	Reaction to murder, no crime
Ow wah! 	 	Ouch! 	
No! Shtay len tahbah mah ee.	 	No! Thieving Raccoon. 	Player caught stealing
Bey haz oh neekt! 	 	It's not allowed! 	
==Detection==
Phrase 	Pronunciation	Translation 	Circumstance
Ni ar heer? 	 	Are you here? 	Idle, alert
Shih zookuh ta tee... 	 	I'm still searching...	
Voh ni ar? 	 	Where are you? 	
Shoah! 	 	Look! 	Alert to combat
Shih finn deh deer! 	 	I found you! 	
Hah go! 	 	Come here! 	
Huh. Neekts. 	 	Huh. Nothing. 	Alert to normal
Gey gonen. 	 	Gone. 	
Yee nad loo shee! 	 	Skinwalker! 	Lost track of target
Guhst fair schvoond! 	 	Just disappeared! 	
Fair flick! 	 	Damned! 	
Goot keel, ahk iss. 	 	Good kill, my friend. 	Combat to normal
Shih zhah neh hoyta! 	 	I'm lucky today! 	
Goot nah nish. 	 	Good work! 	
Ee sists ah. 	 	I am listening... 	Lost target, idle
Dah tse ni ar gey gonen. 	 	Maybe you're gone. 	
Voh ni ar? 	 	Where are you? 	
No, ni kahn neekt ruhn! 	 	No, you can't run! 	Lost to combat
Dahs eet! 	 	That's it! 	
Ni ar toht! 	 	You are dead! 	
Shih ahm fair tig es zookuh.	 	I am done searching. 	Lost to normal behaviour
Yo eechay 	 	Unknown 	
Sha shin neekt 	 	Unknown 	
Yideets oh etvass. 	 	I hear something. 	Normal to alert behaviour
Vass? 	 	What? 	
Nish eh. 	 	I'm taking a look. 	
Ni ar toht! 	 	You're dead! 	Normal to combat
Jahd thli gai! 	 	White Legs! 	
Ahl tah jeh jey! 	 	Attack! 	
Shtairb, chin dee! 	 	Die, Devil! 	Starts combat
Sohl tyeh! 	 	Let's go! 	
Dah ah hi meer! 	 	Fight me! 	
==Miscellaneous==
Phrase 	Pronunciation 	Translation 	Circumstance
Goot sists 	 	Good/Glad to hear it. 	Spoken by Follows-Chalk
Dank ni, ahk iss 	 	Thank you, my friend. 	Spoken by Follows-Chalk
Dank ni. 	 	Thank you. 	Spoken by Follows-Chalk
Growans 	 	Guts. 	Spoken by Follows-Chalk
Goot gonen. 	 	Goodbye 	Spoken by Follows-Chalk
Goot gonen, ahk iss 	 	Goodbye, my friend. 	Spoken by Follows-Chalk
Owslandr utman zookuh, Joshua Graham?	AUS-land-er OOT-man ZOOK-uh	Outsider seeks (Joshua Graham)?	Heard during conversation with Dead Horses disciple of New Canaan
==Behind the scenes==
* Fallout: New Vegas project director Joshua Sawyer explained what the Dead Horses' language is based on and its history.
* The pidgin languages used by the tribal groups in Zion was actually done in an effort to cut costs, so that many of their voice lines wouldn't need to be localized.Joshua Sawyer on Something Awful forums: "Even the pidgin languages the tribes speak in Honest Hearts were just an attempt to keep costs down. All of the DLCs feature very few speaking characters because Fallout games have localized text and VO. That includes background characters and their reactive barks, so we made pidgin languages for the tribes so they wouldn't need to be re-recorded. Of course, the tribes were also supposed to be multi-ethnic, so you'd see white Dead Horses, black Dead Horses, etc. And again, Daniel was supposed to be Asian. It was incredibly frustrating to get halfway through production only to discover that making ethnic variants for every tribe would completely blow the already limited in-game memory limit. It wasn't a problem of 'Ah, this will take more work,' but, 'The game will crash as soon as this area loads.' "
==References==
Non-game
Category:Dead Horses
Category:Post-War languages