...or is it "precision engineer?"

“Your bidding, muthsera?”

Dunmeris linguistics lesson time!

This clip is from the Morrowind Argonian greetings sound clip folder, meaning every Argonian with a high enough disposition will greet you like this. The developers really shouldn’t have had the Argonians use the honorific “muthsera” for everyone because Dunmeris has way too many honorifics, and they all imply different things about the person being addressed, the speaker, and the relationship between the two.

Muthsera is a highly formal, gender neutral term of respect similar to “master” or “mistress”, used only to address people who the speaker considers to be of a much, much higher station than the speaker. It is a term that an apprentice would use for their master, someone in the service industry would use for someone they are serving, or a low ranked servant or slave would use for someone who isn’t also a servant or slave. It can be used as a form of flattery, sarcasm, or to convey that the speaker feels the highest possible respect for the person they are addressing, to the point that they do not consider themself to be of the same class. Because of its formality, it is also used on legal documents.

Sera is an everyday, gender neutral term of respect similar to “sir” or “ma’am”, used between peers. For example, two merchants would use “sera” to address each other, but a slave addressing a merchant like this, or a merchant addressing a member of the nobility like this would be considered disrespect. It is the most commonly used honorific.

Serjo is a formal, gender neutral term of respect similar to “my lord” or “my lady”, used to address nobility. It can also be used between two non-noble peers as a form of flattery or very high respect. It is occasionally used by servants of high status to address people they are not serving.

Ser has the same connotations as “serjo”, but it is used only in informal and private settings.

Sedura is a gender neutral term of respect similar to “sir” or “ma’am”, used to address people who are wealthy, and who are generally not nobility. (Note: it can be used for nobility, but “serjo” is more appropriate.) Using this honorific can be tricky, because you have to 1) determine that the person you are addressing isn’t a member of the nobility, or else you may offend them for your failure to use “serjo”, and 2) determine that it is an appropriate time to acknowledge the wealth of the person you are addressing, and that they aren’t touchy about the status of their wealth, or else you are likely to offend them for drawing attention to their wealth. As a result, it is not used nearly as often as the honorifics above. It is often used by servants and slaves to acknowledge people of higher socioeconomic status. It can also be used between two wealthy people to acknowledge the other’s wealth. Appropriate times to use this honorific also include introductions, business transactions, and whenever referencing someone’s wealth is relevant.

Kena is a gender neutral term of respect similar to “doctor” or “professor”, used to address wizards, scholars, and tutors–especially Telvanni.

[Morrowind by day #2 | Back on track | 19.05.2026]

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