The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild features a multitude of complete in-game alphabets and languages, including scripts for the Hylians, Sheikah, and Gerudo. Examples of each groups' respective alphabetical structures can be found all throughout the expansive world of Hyrule in immense detail. For those curious players, each of these languages has been thoroughly documented and codexes can be used to translate the material found in-game into a discernible form.
Throughout the course of Breath of the Wild, Link ends up interacting with a wide variety of races. Some of these, like Bokoblins, are often left as enemies for the player to defeat while others ,such as the Korok, act as an opportunity to unlock additional space in Link's inventory. However, other races feature a much more prominent part of the game's story and world building. As such, there is a lot to unpack regarding their history and cultures, including their alphabets.
Hylians are one of the most populace races in Hyrule and can easily be picked out due to their humanoid appearance and recognizable pointy ears. The Hylian alphabet has currently seen six different variations, with Breath of the Wild featuring the Sixth Hylian Script. This alphabet, originally introduced in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, bears a strong resemblance to the English alphabet and features 26 letters. Letters such as 'A' and 'B' look nearly identical to the respective letters in English, though they feature a more brush stroke-like appearance. As a modified form of Fifth Hylian, there are a few imperfections and duplications among the letters. 'G' and 'E' are identical to 'W' while 'F' is identical to 'R' and 'J'. Given this overlap, the Hylian alphabet really only features 21 unique letters.
The Sheikah Language, based on the Latin alphabet, is a systematic language which features square shaped, angular letters. The language features 26 distinct characters, 4 punctuation symbols, and 10 numerals. This variety of icons allows for the development of a fully comprehensive language. Sheikah writing completely eliminates spaces between words, often making it difficult to discern the start and end of a passage. Certain symbols such as the full stop, act in similar ways to the English language and denote the end or break in a sentence. In many cases, Sheikah writing often omits punctuation altogether, which further complicates the ability to discern the separation between words.
The Language of the Gerudo has it's own typography and shares several similarities with the Sixth Hylian Script. Like Hylian and Sheikah, Gerudo consists of 26 distinct letters, but also features 2 numbers (1 and 5) and 4 punctuation symbols. The language was first seen in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and has stayed primarily the same into Breath of the Wild. Unlike Hylian, the Gerudo alphabet has much more elongated and wispy letters. The Gerudo Language is both spoken and written, with many Gerudo opting to speak to other races in the more common Hylian language. However, it's common for Gerudo grammar and words to be mixed in with Hylian when communicating with outsiders.
The Legend of Zelda games are not only impressive for their storytelling, but also for their extensive world and cultural building of the races that occupy these titles. Hylian and Gerudo have carried over from previous games and progressively evolved while Sheikah is the newest of languages to be introduced into the franchise. It's the addition of these details which can create a realistic feeling world and makes The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Hyrule all the more interesting to explore.
Source: Zelda Wiki
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