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The '''singers''' are the most common and widespread sapient species on [[Roshar]].{{book ref|sa3|54}}{{book ref|sa3|106}} Which the Alethi call the '''parsh'''{{epigraph ref|sa3|77}} or '''parshmen'''.{{book ref|sa1|3}} They are native Rosharan lifeforms{{book ref|sa3|111}} characterized by their bipedalism, high intelligence, tetramorphic sexual paradigm; and the presence of a gemheart they can use to create symbiotic bonds with spren, which has a significant impact on both their biology and cognition. They are highly social animals capable of forming complex social structures and civilizations, with complex institutions defining their social interactions.
They are descended from the ancient [[Dawnsingers]] who first inhabited ancient Roshar before the [[Shattering of Adonalsium]], first emerging upon their creation around ten-thousand years prior to the [[True Desolation]].{{wob ref|1723}}{{book ref|sa3|111}} The level of biological similarity they have with their ancestors is unclear.
They are divided into different ethnic groups, based on their heritage and on their Spiritual state; one of these groups are the [[listener]]s.
Singers predate the humans as inhabitants of Roshar.{{book ref|sa3|111}} Around the time of the [[Recreance]],{{epigraph ref|sa3|81}} many of the singers had their [[Connection]] and [[Identity]] stolen, pieces of their souls ripped away.{{book ref|sa3|17}} This made those singers docile and subservient, which humans called parshmen and used as slaves for millennia later.{{book ref|sa1|72}} With the advent of the [[Everstorm]], these singers were healed and restored.{{book ref|sa3|17}}
== Etymology and definition ==
''Singer'' and ''listener'' are the translations of what the singers call themselves in their own respective languages, [[Dawnchant]] and ''Listener'', both in the Dawnate language family.{{wob ref|3977}} ''Singer'' technically does not refer to the entire species, with the species name being currently unknown.{{wob ref|11846}}{{wob ref|15134}} ''Listener'' refers specifically to the singers which, at some point prior to the [[Recreance]], turned away from Odium and abandoned their [[Regal]] forms and chose to settle on the [[Shattered Plains]].{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
Etymologically, ''Singer'' refers to their singing of the Rhythms of Roshar,{{cite}} and is likely derived from ''Dawnsinger''.
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