Githyanki Dialects
The Githyanki language has retained more internal cohesion than many Earth languages, due mainly to the (relatively) unified culture and the intense xenophobia of its native speakers. The githyanki are also, however, a conglomeration of isolated fortress-cities, and the dialect spoken in one Astral fortress may have drifted significantly from that spoken in another city. While these linguistic differences may be difficult for most barbarians to discern, they tend to be quite noticeable to githyanki.
There are also significant differences in everyday body language and mannerisms of githyanki from different cities.
The "pure" form of the language is the language of official written communications between cities (for example, royal proclamations). All knights are particularly familiar with it (although not all choose to speak it all the time), for in addition to their other uses, the knights help to keep all githyanki linguistically cohesive. History books and the like are usually written in this form of the language. Scholars and githyanki who travel extensively or otherwise have contact with those from other cities are more likely to use this dialect. Conceptually, it is fairly similar to General American Pronunciation (GAP). It is not, however, an exact match for the everyday language of any githyanki city, though it comes closest to the modern dialect of Tu'narath.
The archaic speech is spoken almost exclusively by those groups that have both high status and some sort of connection to the Revered Queen. Any githyanki may use this language in the context of religious rituals focused around the Revered Queen, but it is otherwise considered presumptuous at best (and sacreligious at worst) for ordinary githyanki to use it. The archaic speech is particularly associated with the Ch'r'ai and with many of the undead recipients of the Queen's Honor, but members of necromantic Orders and some duthka'giths may use the archaic speech as well. Knights may use the archaic speech, but rarely do so for everyday matters. It is believed that, of all forms of the Githyanki language, the archaic speech is closest to the speech that the Revered Queen uses. (Compare to Elizabethan English.) If a githyanki uses the archaic speech, that githyanki is almost certainly someone to be listened to.
Note that some archaic words remain in use in other Githyanki dialects. (Compare a dialect that uses some old-fashioned words to someone speaking pure Elizabethan.)
The ancient speech is rarely used by living (or even undead) speakers and is quite likely older than the Revered Queen Herself. It is mainly found in old history books and scholarly works, and in those religious rites practiced today that predate the Revered Queen. Modern githyanki are most likely to encounter the ancient speech in religious rites devoted specifically to Gith. It remains mostly comprehensible to modern speakers, though many words may need to be puzzled out. (Compare to Middle English.)
The cities referred to below (except for Git'riban, of course) all come from the 2e Guide to the Astral Plane.
The dialect of Tu'narath is essentially the "pure" form of the language plus a smattering of words and idioms from the archaic speech. Citizens from Tu'narath have a tendency to consider themselves more "cultured" than the average githyanki, and are sometimes characterized in githyanki plays as rather snobbish. Many speakers from Tu'narath are likely to be significantly more indirect in their speech than most githyanki. (Some postulate that Tu'narath's proximity to the royal family and its various retainers in ancient times resulted in this manner of speech filtering into ordinary society.) Many are also more formal in their mannerisms than the average githyanki.
The dialects of T'n'ekris and Xamvadi'm sound old and cultured to githyanki ears, but are linguistically distinct from the dialect of Tu'narath and especially from each other. The accents of both cities are usually distinctive and easily recognizable to other githyanki, not least because the rivalry between the two cities is often played upon in githyanki plays and other forms of art. Denizens of both cities also tend to have distinctive body language and mannerisms. These dialects, too, contain a smattering of the archaic speech.
The dialect of Githmir grates upon many githyanki ears, for this dialect contains many more imported words than any other (except Git'ribani, which is even worse). It contains many words from Prime civilizations, and is one of the few dialects that contains significant amounts of planar cant, as well as tidbits from Outer Planar languages. It is closer to Git'ribani speech than any other dialect. (There are a few famous scenes in githyanki plays where the Githmir dialect is referred to as a barbarian language!) Interestingly, a few words in obsolete planar cant remain in use in this dialect.
The dialect of Git'riban is not necessarily spoken by recent visitors or new residents, but may be by those who were hatched and raised there, or by very long-time residents. It is particularly influenced by modern planar cant, the githzerai language, and the bastardized version of the githyanki language spoken by Gith pirates. This dialect is also influenced by the language of Athasian gith.
The dialect of Gad'idine is fairly difficult for those from the ancient cities to make out (in no small part because of its many imported aquatic-themed words). It sounds quite "provincial" to citizens from older cities such as Tu'narath, T'n'ekris, or Xamvadi'm.
Sword-speech (the version of the language used in battle), ironically enough, is often dialectical to the point of being nearly incomprehensible. Under ordinary circumstances, this compressed version of the language would only be spoken to other members of one's own warband, and as such the sword-speech of a Sapphire or Ruby might be dramatically different from that of a Bronze or Jasper. In the event that it becomes necessary to use sword-speech between members of different warbands, the dialect becomes a compressed form of the "pure" form of the language.