Al Bhed language

The Al Bhed language is a fictional language from the role-playing video game Final Fantasy X and its sequel Final Fantasy X-2. During the game, apart from the main protagonist who may learn it, the language is spoken only by the Al Bhed people themselves. Although it seems at first like a foreign language, it is actually a simple substitution cipher, a system of transposing certain letters for others. It shares the same syntax and grammar of English.

Here is how to convert English to Al Bhed:

Simple Substitution of letters:

English: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Al Bhed: YPLTAVKREZGMSHUBXNCDIJFQOW

For example, "you" in English is rendered as "oui" in Al Bhed:


 * Y → O
 * O → U
 * U → I

Certain keywords are not translated into Al Bhed in the game. Most keywords are proper nouns, but some common nouns also are not translated, such as "fiend" ("Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca!" / A fiend! In human disguise!), "magic" ("Ouin bnaleuic magic yht Aeons yna caymat" / Your precious magic and Aeons are sealed), and "airship".

In the game, Al Bhed words are differentiated from the common language of Spira by being printed in blue text (for non-translated words) or pink text (for translated words, represented here in bold). The player can learn the Al Bhed language by picking up items called Al Bhed Primers. Each Primer translates a single letter of the alphabet. This sometimes results in bizarre statements mixing English and Al Bhed in the same word. Go here for a list of where you can find all the primers.

Al Bhed in Japanese
The original Japanese version of the cipher uses the syllable-based kana system of writing where each symbol represents a combination of "consonant + vowel" (or simply a vowel). In general, each symbol is mapped to another with the same vowel, but a different consonant.

For example, "sa" maps to "ra", "se" maps to "he", and "na" maps to "ha". The word "sayōnara" (goodbye) maps thus:

"sa-you-na-ra" to "ra-fu-ha-na".

"サ-ヨ-ナ-ラ"  to "ラ-フ-ハ-ナ."

As with the English version, proper nouns and game-specific concepts are not translated. Al Bhed is written in katakana.