What is the Sarkaz Alphabet?
The Sarkaz alphabet is a fictional writing system featured in Arknights: Endfield. Attributed to the ancient Sarkaz race, it appears throughout the game's PVs and menu UI. Each Sarkaz character maps one-to-one to a Latin letter (A–Z) or digit (0–9), so with a reference chart you can decode Sarkaz text into English.
The script first appeared in the original Arknights during Amiya's promotion cinematic, where community decoding efforts revealed hidden messages like "Wake up?" and "Courage restored." In Endfield, Sarkaz characters are used across the entire UI — buttons, status displays, and PV overlays all contain encoded English words.
How to Read Sarkaz Text
Reading Sarkaz text is straightforward: replace each glyph with its corresponding Latin letter. However, characters in-game are sometimes rotated or mirror-flipped, so pay attention to orientation when decoding manually.
This tool lets you tap Sarkaz characters and instantly see the Latin conversion in real time. You can also use cipher mode to send encoded Sarkaz messages to friends.
Sarkaz Language Structure
Phonological research by the community suggests Sarkaz has its own sound system beyond simple letter substitution. Special consonants include č (like English "ch"), š (like "sh"), and ğ (a uvular sound produced deep in the throat).
Word-structure analysis shows that Sarkaz uses pre-modification, combining roots to build meaning. For example, "Sarkaz" breaks down to sar (without, lacking) + kaz (home, people), meaning "those without a home." "Kazdel" is kaz (home) + del (land), meaning "homeland."
The apostrophe (') carries no sound value and serves as a connector attaching modifiers to a word. For instance, Qui'sartuštaj is qui (hope) + sar (without) + tuštaj (restraint), meaning "unrestrained hope." Other systematic features include the plural suffix -am and the root lon (gathering), seen in words like esqa lonam (soldiers — "gathered people").
Kazdel and the Sarkaz
In the game's lore, the Sarkaz are descendants of a people once called the Teekaz. After losing their homeland to invasions by Ancients and Elders, they came to be called "Sarkaz" — a derogatory term meaning "rootless ones," derived from sar (without) + kaz (home).
Kazdel — kaz (home) + del (land) — is the Sarkaz promised land. More than a nation, it functions as an ideological concept: the lost homeland and the aspiration to rebuild it. Ironically, the slur "Sarkaz" became a rallying cry for a displaced people united in their vow to restore Kazdel. The Sarkaz script itself symbolizes this lost culture and the will to reclaim it.
Key Facts
- What is the Sarkaz alphabet?
- The Sarkaz alphabet is a fictional writing system from Arknights: Endfield. Each character maps one-to-one to a Latin letter (A–Z), digit (0–9), or punctuation symbol.
- How do I read Sarkaz text in Endfield?
- Replace each Sarkaz glyph with its corresponding Latin letter. Characters may be rotated or mirror-flipped in-game. Use this tool to type Sarkaz characters and instantly see the decoded text.
- What does 'Sarkaz' mean in the Arknights universe?
- "Sarkaz" comes from the roots sar (without) + kaz (home), meaning "those without a home." It was originally a derogatory term for the displaced Teekaz people, but became a rallying cry for rebuilding their lost homeland, Kazdel.
- Does Sarkaz have its own grammar and vocabulary?
- Fan research has identified systematic features including pre-modification word order, the plural suffix -am, the apostrophe as a modifier connector, and roots like sar (without), kaz (home), del (land), qui (hope), and lon (gathering).
- Where does the Sarkaz script appear in-game?
- Sarkaz characters appear in Amiya's promotion cinematic in Arknights and throughout the Endfield UI - menus, buttons, PV overlays, and status displays all use encoded Sarkaz text.