We analyze the gas kinematics of damped Lyα systems (DLAs) hosting high-
z gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and those toward quasars (QSO-DLAs), focusing on three statistics: (1) Δ
v90, the velocity interval encompassing 90% of the integrated optical depth, and (2)
W1526 and (3)
W1548, the rest equivalent widths of the Si II 1526 and C IV 1548 transitions, respectively. The Δ
v90 distributions of the GRB-DLAs and QSO-DLAs are similar; each has median Δ
v90 ≈ 80 km s
−1 and a significant tail, extending to several hundred km s
−1. This suggests comparable galaxy masses for the parent populations of GRB-DLAs and QSO-DLAs, and we infer that the average dark matter halo mass of GRB galaxies is

10
12 M
. The unique configuration of GRB-DLA sight lines and the presence (and absence) of fine-structure absorption together give special insight into the nature of high-
z protogalactic velocity fields. The data support a scenario in which the Δ
v90 statistic reflects dynamics in the interstellar medium (ISM) and
W1526 traces motions outside the ISM (e.g., halo gas and galactic-scale winds). The
W1526 statistic and gas metallicity [M/H] are tightly correlated, especially for the QSO-DLAs: [M/H] =
a +
blog(
W1526/1Å) with
a = −0.92 ± 0.05 and
b = 1.41 ± 0.10. We argue that the
W1526 statistic primarily tracks dynamical motions in the halos of high-
z galaxies and interpret this correlation as a mass-metallicity relation with very similar slope to the trend observed in local, low-metallicity galaxies. Finally, the GRB-DLAs exhibit systematically larger
W1526 values (>0.5 Å) than the QSO-DLAs (
W1528
≈ 0.5 Å), which may suggest that galactic-scale outflows contribute to the largest observed velocity fields.