Trigedasleng 101

1. Pronunciation

First of all, there's no standard writing system for Tridedasleng. But David J. Peterson (who we'll be referring to as DJP) created a phonetic writing system to be used in the script of the show and to show the changes from Modern English to Trigedasleng. That's how I'll be writing it out for the rest of this book, so keep in mind that Trigedasleng does not have an 'official' written form! Don't embarrass yourself in front of the Grounders, by pulling out a pen and paper to write something. They might kill you.

Moving on, I'll be showing you that phonetic writing system as well as how to pronounce it now (specifically a romanization system which means it uses letters like the ones in English). I recommend you practice pronouncing these out loud, unless you're not alone and don't want people to hear your beautiful Trigedasleng.

A a – Pronounced like in "apple", "fan", or "abby". The only time this doesn't apply is when Aa is at the end of a word. In that case, it's pronounced like in "sofa", "bar", or "jaha". 

Ai ai – Pronounced like in "bite", "die", or "thigh".

Au au – Pronounced like in "cow", "down", or "grounder".

B b – Pronounced like in "blue", "cab", or "bellamy".

Ch ch – Pronounced like in "chop", "rich", or "kitchen".

D d – Pronounced like in "dark", "pad", or "indra".

E e – Pronounced like in "end", "bed", or "dead".

Ei ei – Pronounced like in "hey", "eight", or "fade".

F f – Pronounced like in "fat", "raft", or "griffin".

G g – Pronounced like in "good", "rag", or "goat".

H h – Pronounced like in "hat", "horse", or "alcohol".

I i – Pronounced like in "kid", "in", or "finn". This can also be pronounced like in "machine", "fizzy", or "irony". There isn't a difference when written.

J j – Pronounced like in "jasper", "jinx", or "adjust".

K k – Pronounced like in "cat", "kit", or "octavia".

L l – Pronounced like in "lime", "lexa", or "will".

M m – Pronounced like in "maybe", "sham", or "murphy".

N n – Pronounced like in "no", "run", or "funny".

O o – Pronounced like in "law", "rod", or "shot". This can also be pronounced like in "son", "done", or "on". There isn't a different when written.

Ou ou – Pronounced like in "wrote", "vote", or "won't".

P p – Pronounced like in "pick", "ship", or "lips".

R r – Pronounced like in "red", "clarke", or "dare".

S s – Pronounced like in "marcus", "snake", or "raspberry".

Sh sh – Pronounced like in "rush", "luscious", or "shut".

T t – Pronounced like in "tiger", "monty", or "rat".

Th th – Pronounced like in "thin", "lather", or "that".

U u – Pronounced like in "rude", "soon", or "dude".

V v – Pronounced like in "very", "savvy", or "rave".

W w – Pronounced like in "wish", "what", or "wild".

Y y – Pronounced like in "you", "yak", or "play".

Z z – Pronounced like in  "zoo", "jazz", or "glitz".

Done? Read it again.

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Alright! You may have noticed some missing letters.

• There's no "Cc"! That's because Cc, with all due respect, is very much useless. If it has a "sss" (like in snake) sound, use "Ss". If it has a "kuh" (like in cat) sound, use "Kk".

• There's no "Xx"! That's because, like Cc, it is also quite useless. Instead you simply use "Ks, ks", which sounds the same as "Xx". Just say it out loud: TAX –––> TAKS. See?

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Let's take a quick break, you must be exhausted. Wonder how The 100 character's names would be written as in Trigedasleng?

Clarke = Klark

Bellamy = Belomi

Octavia = Okteivia

Monty = Monti

Murphy = Merfi

Lexa = Leksa

Lincoln = Linkon

Abby = Abi

~ • ~

What about you? How is your name spelled using Trigedasleng pronounciation? If you're not sure, let me know what your name is and help you figure it out.

For example, my name is "Valerie". Therefore the Trigedasleng pronounciation / spelling I would use is, "Valori". 

Still a little confused? Don't hesitate to ask a question, or continue to read over the list. Practice makes perfect!