I believe those are oversights from the game development , and good for game mechanics and design . If that was the case the greybeards could speak . It is said that the Dragon Language makes no distinction between debate and shouting , and so their words have always been magical , and powerful , for those who take the time to learn and understand their meaning . From UESP the hole concept is full of inconsistencies like that . As seen here Dragon shouts a . k . a . The Voice or Thu ' um are phrases of dragon language , consisting of three separate words of power , that can be used to unleash varied powerful effects . Dragons are naturally able to use dragon shouts , but very few people possess this capability . As the Dovahkiin Dragonborn , a mortal with the soul of a dragon , you were born with this power . UESP here The ancient Dragon Language is the language used by dragons . Text in the Dragon Language is found on walls in ancient dungeons and on burial grounds . The runes used for writing the language are described in the Dragon Alphabet article . With sufficient understanding , certain words can be shouted to produce magical effects such as conjuring fire , cold , or wind slowing time or pushing an enemy away . This ability is known as the Thu ' um . UESP makes the entire concept not worth discussing , because at the same time they say the words hold power , they say they don ' t necessarily do . We could argue either way so as to prove our points but we would both be wrong , because the concept does not obey it ' s own rules . That makes discussing it ' s rules meaningless .