Gem Glyph

Gem Glyph is a language that appears in writing throughout Steven Universe in the background art, and as a minor plot point in "Monster Reunion". It is the native writing system of the Gem race.

The language is depicted in the following episodes:

• "Steven the Sword Fighter" (on the columns of Pearl's Arena),
• "Sworn to the Sword", "Steven vs. Amethyst", and "Mindful Education" (on the columns of the Ancient Sky Arena),
• "Monster Reunion" (on papers that Nephrite writes on),
• "Bismuth" (on one of the weapons in the Forge),
• "Gem Heist" (on the pillars of the gate to the Zoo's Containment Area),
• "Lion 4: Alternate Ending" (on the walls of Rose's Landfill),
• "Stuck Together" (on a notification in Aquamarine's Ship),
• "Off Colors" and "Lars' Head" (on a destroyed pillar and in the Off Colors' headquarters, an abandoned Homeworld Kindergarten).
• "Your Mother and Mine" (on pillars during a flashback of the Gem War)
• "Familiar" (on a doorframe of Blue Diamond's Extraction Chamber)
• "Change Your Mind" (on Obsidian's sword)
• Steven Universe: The Movie (in the book from which White Diamond reads from)
• "Little Homeschool" (on a contract at the end of the episode)
• "Homeworld Bound" (on both the Zircons' posters and on banners on Homeworld)

An alternate form of the script appears throughout Attack the Light in scenery and in-game dialogue. Its second sequel, Unleash the Light, uses the official version of Gem script as a font.

Main Script

Anything about the language's grammar, orthography, or lexicon in canon has yet to be revealed, and it has not been heard spoken. It is unlikely to be an alternative script or substitution cipher for English, as it has more than 26 characters. Some of the characters, however, resemble traditional (or simplified) Chinese; among those characters are: 中 (middle), 門 (door), 日 (day/sun), 目 (eye), 几 (stool/amount), 月 (month/moon), 山 (mountain), 开 (open), 王 (king), 田 (field), 丑 (ugly/clown), and 巳 (Sixth Earthly Branch/snake zodiac).

The script also shares similarities with the Glagolitic script, the oldest known Slavic alphabet, used for writing Old Church Slavonic.

In "Monster Reunion" and "Familiar", Centipeetle's script writes and the script on the entrance to Blue Diamond's Extraction Chamber appears somewhat different to the previous instances of the script. The elements are written similarly to the Arabic script as opposed to the runes seen on the show. Steven mistakes these for meaningless scribbling when he first sees it, but Pearl describes it as "decently legible". It is possible this is a cursive or stylized form of the written language, or a different writing system entirely.

Unleash the Light uses a sample of the official Gem script as a font, making it a direct substitution cipher for the English alphabet, but it does not appear to match Gem language as it is used in the show. This version has entirely different characters for the capitalized and lowercase versions of the same English letters. It is also possible that this variation of gem glyph is a revised version of the Alternate Script that was first seen in Attack the Light.

Gallery

"Steven the Sword Fighter"

"Sworn to the Sword"

"Monster Reunion". Can be roughly read as Emarald (although her name is Nephrite) in Perso-Arabic Script.

"Bismuth"

The closest look of the Gem Language in the Forge's giant sword.

"Gem Heist".

"Lion 4: Alternate Ending"

"Stuck Together"

"Off Colors"

"Lars' Head"

"Your Mother and Mine"

"Familiar"

Steven Universe: The Movie

"Little Homeschool"

"Homeworld Bound"

Obsidian's greatsword

A majority of the known glyphs.

Trivia

• Steven Sugar is the only one who knows what the symbols on the Gem structures mean.

Alternate Script

The alternate script in the dialogue of Attack the Light uses the fonts Alien Lines Latin and Alien Sans Latin.

When directly translated from these fonts into readable text, "BLAH FHJOW NVG FKKD HFG" and "OUEIT JJOKLE" hold no meaning.

Gallery

The alternate script used by the Violet Light in Attack the Light.

The alternate script used by the Yellow Light.

Trivia

• Attack the Light's (and possibly non-canon) script also somewhat resembles the Pokémon Unown, both resembling letters of the Roman alphabet made out of lines and circles.
  • Some characters vaguely resemble a TIE fighter, the Rebel Alliance and the Resistance symbol from Star Wars.