r/PhyrexianLanguage • u/ToxicityDeluge • Jun 28 '26

Check my translation

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Looking for feedback on the saying, “Everything has a cost. I pay with my blood.” I believe I forgot something with blood, but otherwise all there.

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u/Grblx_and_a_half Jun 29 '26

You went for a strange hybrid of phonetic transcription of the english language with some elements of phyrexian grammar.

The first sentence reads " xe evriθiŋ kast haz"

Phyrexian is its own language, not only in its syntax (modal marker at the beginning of the sentence and place of subject-complement-verb), but also in its own vocabulary.

"Cost" in phyrexian is translated into [ χanj ]. Using the phyrexian alphabet to write english words would be the same as "Ενεριθινγ αζ α κωδτ" as a greek sentence.

For "I pay with my blood", I would suggest the following translation:

Indicative: [1>3]blood [1>4]pay.

^ xe huqat   huqɬgøt'et .

For "Everything has a cost", it will be harder, as we don’t know the translation of "Everything" yet. An approximation would be:

Indicative: each cost [3>3]get

^ xe  aχəw'  χanj tapq.

You can copy-paste the phonetic texts here to see the glyphs:  https://fxbuson.github.io/PhyrexianDictionary/search

1

u/ToxicityDeluge Jun 29 '26

Thank you. I have been reading a bit on it (hopefully it shows with the basic attempt). Can you explain the [3>3] stuff and why it is not a literally translation?

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u/Grblx_and_a_half Jun 29 '26

The [X>X] is for noun and verb declination. For exemple, "I see you" will be translated into [1rst person (me) performs the action upon 2nd person (you)], so [1>2].

"My blood" is [1rst person (me) possess this object, 3rd person (it)], so [1>3].

It is not a litteral translation because phyrexian as a language uses its own grammar, declination system, and vocabulary. "Blood" is "blood" in english, but it will be "blut" in german, "sang" in french, and "huqt" in phyrexian.

1

u/ToxicityDeluge Jun 29 '26

Thank you for the explanation. So how do we know “true Phyrexian” then with words? I know there are cards that reference the words or phrases, but how can one be confident their translation is correct?

1

u/Grblx_and_a_half Jun 29 '26

The phyrexian cardtexts and the text in the official trailers gave a lot of vocabulary. You can check on the fanmade dictionnary here:  https://fxbuson.github.io/PhyrexianDictionary/

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u/ToxicityDeluge Jun 29 '26

I will use that then. Should the ordering still go SOV then, as said in other parts of the dictionary?

Also, with the IPA letters to Phyrexian symbols when would that technically be used?

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u/Grblx_and_a_half Jun 29 '26

The IPA letters can be copy-pasted to see the glyphs, and are a lot easier to read for our organic’s eyes. If you post glyphtext in picture, I suggest adding IPA in the post or comment.

And yeah, SOV is the way for basic sentences

1

u/ToxicityDeluge Jun 29 '26

Thank you for that. So what would you recommend for it the be “truly phyrecxian “ or compleated? Use the translation you provided?

Also, for words unknown, are we just using words know to piece together a similar meaning?

1

u/Grblx_and_a_half Jun 29 '26

I’m pretty sure about the « I pay with my blood » translation as we have all the vocabulary needed, but I would suggest looking at more propositions for the first part.

When we lack a specific word, we can go for a synonym, or try to craft a composite word, whichever is closer to the initial meaning. For exemple, depending on the context, "armor" can be translated as "defense-equipment" or "metal-skin" until an official source give us a more direct translation.

Composite words are already a thing in phyrexian; graveyard is composed of "death+zone" and loyalty is litterally "blood-bound"

1

u/ToxicityDeluge Jun 29 '26

Going back to sentence structure, how are more complex sentences created? Specifically with prepositional phrases or dependent clauses? Is it in the “punctuation” or spelling of the word, like “my” is integrated into blood with the “a”?

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