Language in the Splatoon series

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Inkling, also referred to as squid language, is the language in which Inklings in the Splatoon series communicate. While individual letters, words, and the occasional phrase are often similar to real-life languages, Inkling as a whole has been confirmed by Splatoon developers to be almost entirely random. However, it has been found that there are several scripts which are sometimes decipherable.

Inkling is also sometimes referred to by fans as "Inklish", which is a combination of the words "English" and "Inkling".

Appearance

The Splatoon series feature various glyphs that make up the Inkling language or other species' language. There appears to be glyphs that can be grouped together into various scripts, as they follow a certain style in their appearance. What is in common between these scripts is that each glyph can be rotated or mirrored. Much of the Inkling language seems similar to the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. Many letters also resemble Japanese characters.

Some of these scripts appear more consistently for certain occasions.

Inkling speech may occasionally sound and in some ways look like real words, but for the most part, it is indecipherable high-pitched gurgling.

Scripts

Script	Description
	This "Bold" script resembles the typeface primarily used in the original Splatoon game for dialogue. It appears in both games and is widely used on e.g clothes, weapons. Examples of this script can be seen on the Splatfest Tee, where it's always used as the text for the Splatfest team's name. This script is unique for having both an uppercase and lowercase form.
	This "Square" script appears in Splatoon, Splatoon 2 and in promotional material for Splatoon 3. This script is widely used for various different applications e.g. on weapons, clothes, in Sunken Scrolls, buildings, and it's often used for large bodies of text such as in the descriptions of Museum d'Alfonsino and Shellendorf Institute. The Sunken Scrolls reveal it's also the text used in Inkling social media, and it's also used in Octarian weapon blueprints. It's also present throughout the underground facility in Octo Expansion. This wide application suggests it may be language understood by several species.
	This "Round" script appears in Splatoon and Splatoon 2. It is mostly used on buildings, signs and posters.
image	"Bubble" script
image	"Runic" script
image	"Serif" script
image	"Halfmoon" script
	This "Deapsea Stencil" script made its debut in Octo Expansion and is one of most frequently used scripts there.
image	Deespea Block

Readable words

Some Inkling words are clearly readable as English or Japanese words.

Round Script

explain how round script is used according to internal order with little inconsistency

Image	Meaning	Additional Information
	ON AIR	From the studio where Inkopolis News is filmed.

GIRL HELP

Deepsea Block Script

Image	Description
	The studio where Inkopolis News is filmed has an "On Air" sign using the "Round" script.
	The sign at Mahi-Mahi Resort, saying "Mahi-Mahi Resort and Spa".
	The Squid Sisters' logo says "Pitz 2", which is similar to "Peace 2'.
	This sign in Moray Towers says 'Exit'.
File:Nintendo sign.jpg	This reads 'Nintendo'. This is found in Ancho-V Games.
File:Shellendorf Banner.PNG	The banner at Shellendorf Institute resembles the letters "Tho Davon Mujum," which is similar to the stage's name in Japanese, "Devon Oceanographic Museum".
File:Squid Beatz 2 title.jpg	Squid Beatz 2's logo resembles the words "Ika Radio 2", translating to "Squid Radio 2".
	The logo of Wahoo World seems to spell out "SMESHI WORLD", which is the stage's name in Japanese.
File:Information-desk-WahooWorld.jpeg	The sign seems to spell "information" in English. This is located in Wahoo World.
	The text around TEST PASSED! reads "Mission Clear" and "Number 10008".
	The sign on the Unnamed Battle Lobby Tower in Splatoon 3. The text after SquidForce's logo seems to spell "ThREE" in English.
	Using the cipher fans have found for the "Round" font, the top part reads "niconicochokaici", which is aluding to "niconico chokaigi". Behind the Squid Sisters reads "live". The bold middle of the poster reads "shiokaraz" with the cipher, which alludes to the Japanese name of the Squid Sisters "Sea'O Colors". The rest of the poster features the "Square" font and at the very bottom, using the cipher, it reads "www.seaocolors.com".

• Octopus-style posters near the Deepsea Metro read "Octavi", similar to "octavo" which means "eighth", along with a faded picture of an octopus. It is possibly a movie poster.
• MakoMart posters have oranges on them and read "StVy Fresh", which is very similar to "Stay Fresh". This implies that the slogan was adopted as a food motto as well, also a pun for the real-life term fresh fruit.

Brands

Image	Description
	Ammo Knights' logo resembles the words "Kuji Alive", which is similar to "Weapons Alive" or "Kuji Weapon Shop". While these names are never seen in Splatoon, the names may be concept names or location codes.
	The Forge brand logo resembles the letters "Forリマ", which is similar to the brand's name in Japanese, フォーリマ (fōrima).
	The Splash Mob brand logo resembles the letters "GiMN", which is similar to the brand's name in Japanese, ジモン (jimon). Interestingly, Gimn is a Russian word, meaning "Anthem", "Canticle", "Carol" or "Hymn".
	The Tentatek brand logo resembles the letters "AROME", which is the brand's name in Japanese, アロメ (arome).
	The Zink brand logo resembles the letters "IArOIC", which vaguely resembles the brand's name in Japanese, アイロニック (aironikku, i.e. "ironic").
	The Enperry brand logo loosely resembles 大王イカ (daiō-ika), the Japanese name for the giant squid.

Splatfest shirts

Nearly all Splatfest Tees have readable words. A few examples are listed here. For more images of Splatfest Tees, see Splatfest team tees from Splatoon and Splatfest team tees from Splatoon 2.

• 

  "Cat".

• 

  "Dog".

• File:Splatfest Team Water Slide Shirt Text.jpg

  "Water Slide".

• 

  "Aori" and "Hotaru", Japanese names of Callie and Marie, respectively.

Decoding

There have been many attempts at decoding the Inkling language, and while it appears to be largely gibberish with instances of using glyphs to make words that resemble existing English and Japanese words, the usage of those glyphs have been inconsistent. Though there have been instances where certain scripts are used more consistently throughout the game and has allowed people to decode them when used as such.

Others believe that, since Nintendo has made previous languages with some translatable words before, such as the Hylian language from the Legend of Zelda series, it could be possible that Inkling can be translated.

Official lyrics for songs by Off the Hook and the Squid Sisters have been distributed with merchandise, such as albums and piano sheet music. An in-universe interview with Wet Floor also disclosed a couple of lines for the song Inkoming! that incorporate sounds resembling English words. Lyrics for Ebb & Flow (Octo) are also shown to incorporate the word "splatoon", albeit slightly deviated from how it is normally spelled in katakana.

Octoling language

The Octolings seem to have their own language seen in Octo Valley and Octo Canyon. It has many similarities to the Inkling language but seems to be in a more box-style font unlike the Inkling language, which can be in a variety of fonts. The Octoling language seems to have two dialects similar to Japanese: the normal Octolings make Inkling-esque sounds, while Octosnipers, Octocommanders and all varieties of Octotrooper make groaning sounds that mimic the noises Inklings and Octolings make when they take damage or are splatted. The noises Jellyfish make (Jelonzo and Jelfonzo, as other Jellyfish are never heard talking) seem to speak in the same "groaning" dialect, implying that some Jellyfish speak Octoling.

In the Japanese versions of both Splatoon games, Inklings talk in hiragana, and Octarians in katakana (along with a brainwashed Callie and Marina, occasionally; detailed in The Art of Splatoon 2). In Japanese media, a character's dialogue being written with katakana can also imply a foreign accent of some sort. Off the Hook's songs are bilingual, with both Pearl and Marina singing portions in Octoling. An Inkling's experience listening to them has been compared to Japanese people listening to English-language songs without an understanding of the language, but an appreciation of the melody.

Audio

• Female Inklings' voice clips.
• Male Inklings' voice clips.
• Squid Sisters' voice clips.

Gallery

• 

  An Inkling stands in front of a sign in the Inkling language

• 

  The back of amiibo box found in Inkopolis Plaza using the out-of-bounds glitch, mostly written in Inkling

• File:Inkling Full 1.jpeg

  Part one of glyphs of the Inkling language

• File:Inkling Full 2.jpeg

  Part two of glyphs of the Inkling language

• File:Inkling Full 3.jpeg

  Part three of glyphs of the Inklings language

• File:Inkopolis Tower Lobby.png

  The front of Inkopolis Tower's Battle Lobby is labelled in Inkling, along with the brand on the speakers

See also

• Search r/Splatoon for language
• View Squid Boards thread
• Source of the Inkling language glyphs