A very intrepid reader asked me the above question earlier today. There are NO SPOILERS in the following post.

It should be noted now that Draconic is not an exact language, and translations are rough, as true Draconic is spoken with a combination of words, flashes of memory, senses, images and emotions across a mental link. It should also be noted that Draconic was not a written language originally, and is still a mostly oral language amongst the dragons (with a several runes of power to represent important words and concepts). A written alphabet was only created by humans for the sake of their dragon-based religion, and for the purpose of magical study.

In Drazhanii (the Draconic language), the apostrophe is used to signify that two separate words are being brought together to form a new word with a new or combined meaning (For the most part anway. There are a couple exceptions to the rule).

Combined words employing the apostrophe should be pronounced as if they are a single word, with no gap between the words. The apostrophe was only added by human translators and linguists to ease translation and readability. If you could figure out the two root words, it would help infer meaning for the new, combined word.

One example is K’thirqi. K’thirqi the Drazhanii word for kidney. It literally translates to Common as “flesh kidney.” Though it comes from the words thirqi, which means kidney, and kha which means blood, flesh or lifeblood.

Normally, thirqi on its own is only used when describing a kidney separate from the body of a living being. Hence the distinction between thirqi and k’thirqi. It’s important to specify–especially if you’re healing using magic. But, when you put the two words together, their meaning combines and changes both worlds into a new, or altered word, entirely.