[RPG] Can a Bear with a Belt of Dwarvenkind Speak Dwarvish

dnd-5elanguagesmagic-itemswild-shape

This may well come down to House Rulz, but my druid recently acquired a Belt of Dwarvenkind, and I was wondering if (assuming you would let him wear it in bear shape), you would also let him speak Dwarvish.

I realise that according to the description of Wild Shape in the PHB: You can’t cast spells, and your ability to speak or take any action that requires hands is limited to the capabilities of your beast form. (p. 67).

I also see the following points made in answer to Can a druid speak while in wild-shape?:

  • A DM may rule that a high-level druid has some capacity for speech in beast form based on being able to perform verbal spell components with the 18th level class feature Beast Spells:

  • Beginning at 18th level […] You can perform the somatic and verbal components of a druid spell while in a beast shape … (id.)
    But, this would be a houserule and likely not intended by RAW since Beast Spells specifically limits the verbal aspect to druid spells (not all spells).

  • The inability to form words (i.e., communicate in a language) in beast form would not prevent you from "gain[ing] the ability to comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts for the duration" pursuant to Speak With Animals (PHB, p. 277).

So my reverse-logic is this: Since a player-character can Speak with Animals due to the influence of magic, couldn't a beast (say a bear) speak Dwarvish when under the influence of a Belt of Dwarvenkind?

Best Answer

No.

The Belt of Dwarvenkind grants knowledge of the Dwarvish language, not the physical ability to produce speech. Beast Form very clearly denies the use of the humanoid languages you know:

your ability to speak [...] is limited to the capabilities of your beast form

If it was a Belt of Wookieekind, the situation would be different.