The purpose of this dictionary is to provide a list of all of the words of the D'ni language that have been published by Cyan Worlds, Inc. Words in this dictionary include definitions if they are known. Otherwise, the word is simply listed along with its pronunciation. The dictionary is in PDF format, and should open automatically if you have a PDF reader. If not, you can right click the link and download the file.
Information about the language has been revealed in diverse ways, ranging from inscriptions on artifacts and notes or letters depicted in the Myst games, outside publications such as books and calendars, speech recordings, text from novels, and revelations from Cyan World's web sites.
A dictionary compiled by explorer Kh'reestrefah which includes sentence sources and speculative translations for unknown words is located at Eldalamberon.
This is a list of examples of the D'ni language in use.
| Abbreviation |
Source |
Notes |
| AP |
 Atrus's Prayer; 1996 Myst Calendar. |
Atrus's Prayer is an official source material that cannot be relied upon as one hundred percent accurate. Richard Watson said that it was the first thing he wrote in D'ni, and it was written before he'd settled the grammar and spelling. |
| BA |
Book of Atrus, The, by , by David Wingrove. |
As of July 2014, The Book of Atrus, The Book of Ti'ana, and The Book of D'ni were still available from Amazon USA. Also available was a collected volume called The D'ni Reader which contains all three books. |
| BD |
Book of D'ni, The, by David Wingrove. |
| BT |
Book of T'iana, The, by David Wingrove. |
| Chalk |
Chalkboard in the Riven schoolroom. |
|
| Cho |
Cho the guard; Riven link cage. |
The guard was nicknamed "Cho" by players of Riven because that was the first word he said upon finding the Stranger. |
| Comp |
Compass directions; Sharper's Teledahn office. |
|
| Crossw |
Crossword Puzzle, The D'ni. |
|
| Cyan |
Cyan's old or new web sites. |
|
| Desk |
Desk chandelier; Gehn's 233rd Age. |
|
| DLG |
D'ni Language Guide; Myst V Lost Chapters booklet. |
|
| DNIP |
D'ni Negilahn Introduction Pamphlet; Ae'gura Museum. |
Translated by Tricia Lawson. |
| Dome |
Dome, Golden; Riven. |
|
| DRC |
drcsite.org. |
The original DRC web site has been taken down, and all that's left of it are the forums. |
| DT |
D'ni Timepiece; Aitrus's Map. |
|
| Exile |
Exile; Releeshahn book cover. |
|
| FL |
Fault Line; Aitrus's Map. |
|
| Float |
Floating Maproom; Riven. |
|
| FMR |
From Myst to Riven; by Richard Kadrey. |
|
| Gate |
Gate Room wall; Riven. |
|
| Gehn |
Gehn's Imager speech; Riven Classroom. |
|
| GC |
Gehn's speech to Cho; Riven alternate ending. |
|
| GJ |
Gehn's Journal; Riven Soundtrack booklet. |
|
| JS |
Journey to the Surface; Aitrus's Map. |
|
| Kadish |
Kadish's final testament. |
|
| Keta |
Keta's imager speech; Gehn's 233rd Age. |
|
| KG |
Kenen Gor manifesto; Neighborhood classrooms. |
|
| Lamp |
Lamp;
Riven Classroom. |
|
| Larry Fontenot |
Words revealed by Richard A. Watson to Larry W. Fontenot. |
Larry Fontenot (Larry LeDeay IC) corresponds with RAWA, and is occasionally given new words or words that had not been previously known or defined. |
| Lex 2019 |
Cyan Worlds' Lexember event on Twitter, December 2019. |
Lexember (Lexicon December) is an event in the ConLang (Constructed Language) community where the participants post at least one new word per day for the entire month. The event has been held annually since 2012. 2019 is the first year Cyan participated, although they released a mix of known words and words that did not have confirmed definitions rather than create new words. |
| Liz |
Lizard; Aitrus's Map. |
|
| Map |
Map; Aitrus's Map. |
|
| Mus |
Museum Pod Age Map. |
|
| Page |
Pages; the red and blue pages in RealMyst. |
|
| Pepsi |
Pepsi's eulogy by Rawa; Pepsi
Remembered. |
The page was part of the guildofhealers.com web site, which is now gone. Compare
the similar phrases in the ceremony for Efanis in The Book of Ti'ana, page 35. |
| Phos |
Phosphorescent Plants; Aitrus's
Map. |
|
| Podium |
Podium recording; Bevin
community room. |
|
| Prov |
Proverb; Myst V collectors edition cover. |
|
| Rawa |
Richard A. Watson; confirmed definitions. |
RAWA provided tidbits about the D'ni language in many forums and to many people over the years since Riven was released. |
| Rime |
Rime Age; Crystal Poster. |
Poster found in the main chamber on Rime. |
| RJ |
Riven Journals puzzles. |
|
| RM |
Rand Millier, A Word from. |
|
| RS |
Riven Sountrack Album disk. |
|
| SG |
South Gate; Aitrus's Map. |
|
| Shaft |
Shaft; Aitrus's Map. |
|
| Talash |
Talashar; paperback
edition of the Book of Atrus. |
|
| Tree |
Tree proverb; unused Hall of Kings graphic. |
Josh Staub created the design of the Great Tree floor mosaic found in the Hall of Kings and the library landing. Called the Library Tree, an early version of it had D'ni script on the edges of its four main divisions. A version of the Library Tree without writing was the one actually used. |
| Uru |
Uru textures and in-game texts. |
|
| WC |
Winged Creature; Aitrus's Map. |
|
| Yeesha |
Yeesha's imager speech; The Cleft. |
|
