Kenku can only speak using their mimicry trait but that means you have to have heard someone speak a phrase or word in order to speak it. Do I need to write down and keep track of all the phrases that I've heard so that I can communicate? Or can I only remember and mimic phrases I've heard recently?
3 Answers
In general, kenku are capable of a full range of regular speech. It's simply that that speech may be a mix of voices and sounds the kenku has heard (anytime) before. Essentially, they're kind of like a GPS's text-to-speech or another voice software that works by combining existing sound bites together. They can't create new sentences themselves, only piece together parts of what they've heard.
Jeremy Crawford explains more on Twitter:
friend will be playing a kenku in a one-shot. We discussed how mimicry works. Are they more like a parrot, repeating what they've heard? or can they observe a group for a time and make sentences using said voice? how long can they remember sounds?
So no, you don't need to track every single word you've heard before; in general, by the time you become an adventurer it's probably safe to assume you've heard the gamut of words used in normal conversations (and even some uncommon ones) - it's just that when you say those words, each word or phrase might be in a different voice (that of someone you've heard say that word/phrase before). And if you haven't heard a word/phrase before, you'd need to hear someone else say it in order to say it yourself... Or I suppose you could pronounce it syllable by syllable.
It might be fun to keep track of snappy one-liners or funny things so you can echo them in the other character's voice later.
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4\$\begingroup\$ If a Kenku is able to reproduce and combine specific syllables extracted from the speech it has heard, as Crawford's comments suggest, that allows for a much greater degree of communicative ability than the answers to this question suggest. \$\endgroup\$– CarcerMay 21, 2018 at 18:57
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1\$\begingroup\$ @Carcer An increase in communicative ability does not necessarily equal fluency. \$\endgroup\$– NotArchMay 21, 2018 at 19:11
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\$\begingroup\$ Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. \$\endgroup\$ May 21, 2018 at 20:25
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\$\begingroup\$ It's a bit weird that you are referring to "GPS" as the voice output of the program. \$\endgroup\$ May 21, 2018 at 21:21
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\$\begingroup\$ @Acccumulation: Cut me some slack, I'm doing this at work :P Fixed. \$\endgroup\$– V2BlastMay 21, 2018 at 21:45
iirc RAW states than kenku are capable of communication. that being said they are only capable of mimicking sounds. I would assume RAI means that even though they can only copy sounds for communication they still understand exactly what those sounds convey for the intent of communication.
personally I have interpreted that to mean that kenku speech is very similar to that of Bumblebee from the transformers movies: he uses all the correct words in the language he's speaking, but they're like sound clips from different voices.
so to answer your question, no I don't think its necessary to log all the phrases you know, though it would help with the flavor and rp of the character to know what phrases are spoken in what dialect/tone/etc if that's what you want to portray.
Personally, I would say that if you have a high INT, then you can piece together sentences word by word, but if you don't, you would use more phrases than individual words
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3\$\begingroup\$ Hi Joshua! Welcome to the RPGSE! Your answer is very reasonable from the standpoint of a DM ruling at a table (and probably how I would personally rule as a DM, too) but it is important to provide textual/lore support for this decision. This is because the Stack Exchange is not a forum but has a unique question/answer format and answers need to be authoritative. When you get the chance, I encourage you to read more about this site's format by taking the tour or reading the help center Again, welcome!!! :) \$\endgroup\$– RykaraAug 7, 2020 at 16:46
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\$\begingroup\$ You might also want to explain how this does not go directly against the Kenku's Curse. \$\endgroup\$– ErikAug 7, 2020 at 17:39
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\$\begingroup\$ Upvoted to help you get the rep to talk in chat for any questions/discussion. You really should follow Rykara's advice though! \$\endgroup\$– fectinAug 7, 2020 at 18:12