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I've been looking for this for a while, and I've only been able to find what the script would look like, and not what it would actually sound like. I know it's not directly necessary, but I would like to have a base so that my players will stop trying to metagame. Plus, I run an aarakocra in another campaign I'm in, and I would like to be able to represent the languages he speaks in how I play him.

I'm playing in 5e, so if possible, I would like the lore to be from there.

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    – Someone_Evil ♦
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  • \$\begingroup\$ I feel like the text should look like chicken scratch \$\endgroup\$
    – Tiger Guy
    Sep 28, 2021 at 20:53
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    – Thomas Markov
    Sep 28, 2021 at 22:03

1 Answer 1

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Syllables connected by clicks, trills, and whistles.

The portion of the race description which suggests some names for Aarakocra characters contains some insight into their language:

As with much of their speech, aarakocra names include clicks, trills, and whistles to the point that other peoples have a difficult time pronouncing them. Typically, a name has two to four syllables with the sounds acting as connectors.

The Aarakocra language was introduced in 5e, previously, they primarily spoke Auran.

I've checked a few likely sources and Carcer's answer here seems correct: the Aarkocran language is new to 5e. Prior to this, Aarkocra spoke primarily Auran, which sounds like:

The native language of the Elemental Plane of Air is Auran, a breathy, leisurely tongue that sounds like a long, slow exhalation.

-Manual of the Planes from 3e

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  • \$\begingroup\$ There was a dedicated Aarakocra language mentioned in 2E Dark Sun materials (in the revised edition of the setting Aarakocra were a playable race, so this was moderately important). That said, checking all my Dark Sun 2E material, it's never described in any way. \$\endgroup\$
    – ShadowRanger
    Sep 29, 2021 at 0:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ShadowRanger I’ll look into it. The Aarakocra appear in 4e’s Dark Sun material, but the only language they are given is Common. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Sep 29, 2021 at 0:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ If it helps, the first Dark Sun reference I can find was from the original Dark Sun campaign setting, page 5 of the Rule Book. It's just a list of "Other Languages", where Aarakocra is listed with a * next to it (which is how they denote the races that generally speak Common as well). The 2E Monster Manual mentions their language as well: "Aarakocra speak their own language, the language of giant eagles, and, on occasion, the common tongue (10% chance)." It notes that they have "simple religious ceremonies involving the whistling of melodic hymns at sunset on the first day of a new month." \$\endgroup\$
    – ShadowRanger
    Sep 29, 2021 at 0:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ShadowRanger That last quote is a bit ambiguous, it seems it could be saying that their own language is the language of giant eagles. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Sep 29, 2021 at 0:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ Perhaps. It would be weird for their primary language to be the language of an animal species that is not depicted as being unusually intelligent, but the grammar is ambiguous. There's no ambiguity in Dark Sun materials though; they have a racial language matching their species. \$\endgroup\$
    – ShadowRanger
    Sep 29, 2021 at 1:00

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