How to Speak Dothraki: Words and Phrases Every Fan Should Know
The Dothraki don't ask "How are you?" They ask Hash yer dothrae chek? — "Do you ride well?" In a culture where life happens on horseback, riding well means living well.
Here's the Dothraki every fan should know: greetings, famous quotes, insults, and just enough grammar to understand how it works.
What Language Do the Dothraki Speak?
The Dothraki speak Dothraki, a constructed language created by linguist David J. Peterson for HBO's Game of Thrones. It's based on a few dozen words and names George R.R. Martin used in the novels, expanded into a full language with grammar and thousands of words.
The Counterintuitive Truth: Dothraki Is Harsh-Sounding but Polite
Dothraki sounds rough to English ears, with sounds like kh, q, and zh. Many viewers assume it's a crude language.
It isn't. Dothraki has formal greetings, careful respect words, and elegant poetic metaphors like "my sun and stars." Its most common greeting, M'athchomaroon, literally means "with respect." We call this fierce courtesy: a warrior culture with deeply structured manners.
Essential Greetings
| Dothraki | Meaning |
|---|---|
| M'athchomaroon | Hello (formal, "with respect") |
| M'ath | Hi (informal) |
| Hash yer dothrae chek? | How are you? ("Do you ride well?") |
| Fonas chek | Goodbye ("Hunt well") |
| Hajas | Be strong (used as a farewell) |
Famous Quotes From the Show
"Yer shekh ma shieraki anni."
"You are my sun and stars." Daenerys to Drogo. Drogo's reply: Shekh ma shieraki anni — "My sun and stars."
"Me nem nesa."
"It is known." A phrase Dothraki use to state unquestionable facts. Characters say it often, and fans use it jokingly.
"Anha zhilak yera."
"I love you."
"Khal vezhven."
"The great khal." A title of highest respect.
"Athchomar chomakaan."
"Respect to those who show respect" — a courteous response.
Dothraki Words Every Fan Should Know
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Khal | Warlord, king |
| Khaleesi | Wife of a khal, queen |
| Khalasar | A khal's horde or people |
| Arakh | Curved sword |
| Hrazef | Horse |
| Vaes | City |
| Vaes Dothrak | City of the Riders |
| Zhavvorsa | Dragon |
Notice how many of these connect to riding and fighting. Vocabulary follows what a culture cares about.
Try more words in the Dothraki Translator.
Dothraki Insults
Dothraki insults often attack a person's courage or connection to horses:
- Lamb Man — the Dothraki's mocking name for the Lhazareen, who herd sheep rather than ride. (Lhazareen Translator)
- Calling someone unable to ride is deeply shameful.
- Cutting a warrior's braid signals defeat — Dothraki warriors who have never lost a battle keep their braids long.
That last point is cultural rather than linguistic, but it shapes how insults work: language and custom go together.
Grammar Basics
Word Order
Dothraki is mostly subject–verb–object, like English:
Anha zhilak yera — "I love you" (literally "I love you")
Adjectives Follow Nouns
Khal vezhven — "khal great" = "great khal"
Verbs End in -lat
The infinitive (dictionary form) of Dothraki verbs usually ends in -lat:
- dothralat — to ride
- zhilat — to love
- astolat — to speak
Animate and Inanimate Nouns
Dothraki nouns are split into two classes: animate (living things) and inanimate. This affects how words change form.
This is what we call worldview grammar: grammatical categories that reflect how a culture divides the world.
Pronunciation Tips
- kh — like the ch in Scottish loch
- q — a k sound made further back in the throat
- zh — like the s in "measure"
- th — as in "thin"
- Rolled r — flip your tongue lightly
Peterson has said he drew inspiration for Dothraki's sound from several real languages, including Arabic, Russian, Turkish, Estonian, Inuktitut, and Swahili.
How Big Is Dothraki?
George R.R. Martin used about 56 words of Dothraki in his books. Peterson's first version for HBO had around 1,700 words, and the language kept growing through the series. Today it has several thousand words — enough to write poetry and hold real conversations.
We explain the full journey in How Dothraki Became a Fully Functional Language.
Where to Learn More
- Living Language Dothraki (2014) by David J. Peterson — the official course
- Dothraki.com — community resources
- Game of Thrones scenes with subtitles — great listening practice
- The Dothraki Translator — for quick experiments
Where Dothraki Is Heading
The Dothraki appear only briefly in House of the Dragon, which focuses on Westeros and High Valyrian. We predict Dothraki will remain a "classic" fan language — stable, beloved, and studied — while Valyrian becomes the franchise's growing language. Think of Dothraki as Klingon's cousin: finished enough to be fully used, famous enough to never disappear.