Venezia
- Thread starter Axeldc
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Bonci
King
He is speaking a strange mix...I would say it's venetian with an italian accent (if it even makes sense, but that is the impression I got) XD
Blitz Spearman
Warlord
I also think that it is not modern Italian. I am Brazilian, never studied Italian, already heard people speaking Italian IRL and I know that I should be able to understand only about 30% (because all neo-latin languages are somewhat similar) and somehow I can understand over 80% of what he says. It is almost easier for me to understand him than to understand Maria, with that impossibly hard (for a Brazilian) old Portuguese accent 
Helel Bright
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2013
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...or is he speaking Veneto?
He is.
Liufeng
A man of his time
I also think that it is not modern Italian. I am Brazilian, never studied Italian, already heard people speaking Italian IRL and I know that I should be able to understand only about 30% (because all neo-latin languages are somewhat similar) and somehow I can understand over 80% of what he says. It is almost easier for me to understand him than to understand Maria, with that impossibly hard (for a Brazilian) old Portuguese accent
Sorry dude, but Maria doesn't speak "old" portuguese. she speaks totally normal, the only old word being "dizeis", which is the second person of plural, which is a conjugate form almost non-existent nowadays in Portugal. All the rest she says is totally fluid and I would go as far as to say that the vocalist is extremely fluent and comprehensive. Maybe you're just not used to the potuguese with "portuguese" accent (as paradoxal this sentence is). Otherwise, I also understand clearly what E. Dandolo says !
Napoleon speaks modern French, which I understand perfectly. He even uses modern expressions, like "tais-toi!" which means shut up. I can understand Isabella of Spain with the little Spanish I know. Elizabeth I sounds a lot like Elizabeth II, so I expected Enrico to speak modern Italian, but bravo for using Veneto.
Blitz Spearman
Warlord
So, she speaks with a mostly modern accent? I also have a lot of trouble understanding modern Portuguese from Portugal, so I admit that I probably wouldn't know the difference, but I just assumed that they made her with a more historically accurate accent, because Pedro's accent is actually from the 19th century, the kind of accent that I hear in movies set in the Brazilian Empire. Well, Washington's accent doesn't sound historically accurate either, so I guess it could be random
So, she speaks with a mostly modern accent? I also have a lot of trouble understanding modern Portuguese from Portugal, so I admit that I probably wouldn't know the difference, but I just assumed that they made her with a more historically accurate accent, because Pedro's accent is actually from the 19th century, the kind of accent that I hear in movies set in the Brazilian Empire. Well, Washington's accent doesn't sound historically accurate either, so I guess it could be random
Washington sounds like Bill Clinton.
iRule
Warlord
It's actually much more similar, even it that seems odd judging from this conversation taking place here. A Spaniard not understanding a Bolivian, for the first time, is normal. Not with the Portuguese-Brazilians. The thing is, Portugal has 10 million people... Brazil 200 million people. And one is a behemoth of a cultural world power and has a share of 1/4 of all fiction in Portuguese TV, not to mention music. While Portugal doesn't export much to Brazil, save a things or two.
Brazilians - from some regions in particular, not Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, or Santa Catarina, at least usually - are simply not used to the Portuguese accent. But I'm yet to see a Brazilian saying "I really don't get European Portuguese". That is a huge exaggeration, UNLESS we're speaking of some Cockney version of Portuguese (it exists): a New Yorker will simply be unable to understand a working class cockney from London, that's for sure, and same goes for Portuguese.
So, she speaks with a mostly modern accent? I also have a lot of trouble understanding modern Portuguese from Portugal, so I admit that I probably wouldn't know the difference, but I just assumed that they made her with a more historically accurate accent, because Pedro's accent is actually from the 19th century, the kind of accent that I hear in movies set in the Brazilian Empire. Well, Washington's accent doesn't sound historically accurate either, so I guess it could be random
Well, that's no modern accent to be honest... unless you hang around with a terrible kind of Portuguese people eheh. No Portuguese really speaks like her, it's "posh" Portuguese, so that's why it sounds weird to your ears. Even to mine. The Portuguese voice-acting (both for Pedro and Maria) were great, they cared about the accents - the way she speaks is almost a stereotypical account of what you take for the "posh" accent of the Royal Family in Portugal.
Either way, we don't know how were the accents back then... they were (supposedly) closer to the Brazilian (especially Rio) accent though, especially as Maria I ended up living (and dying) in Rio de Janeiro, at the time of her death the capital of Portugal. Either way, I can't believe you don't get what she says - that seems more like cultural conditioning that something else.
All Brazilians I know who play Civ told me she sounds great... so that means they got every single thing she said.Her accent is a Modern Portuguese, Lisbon-accented, "posh" one (if that's a thing). She uses, though, some archaic Portuguese words mixed in with her posh accent.
Raskolnikoff
Chieftain
Speaking about portuguese, how is Pedro's accent/voice ? Is it modern or does it have some 1800ies touch ?
God of Kings
Ruler of all heads of state
See here for all of the BNW leaders' in-game voice acting: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=500442
Harald Blåtand (Bluetooth) also speaks very modern Danish, in the sense of the words and pronunciations, however most of the sentences are obviously meant to sound "old"-ish.
When meeting him: Wonderful! A new challenger, Harald Bluetooth bid you welcome to his land
When declaring war on him: "Ahh, you show the skill of a great viking, it's just a shame I will have to kill you"
When he declares war: "Hahaha, I grow tired of this unnecessary talk. We shall decide our differences on the battlefield like real men"
It's like a poor mix of modern and old
Blitz Spearman
Warlord
Whoa, I didn't know that Brazil exported that much TV shows to Portugal! I knew that we exported some, and that we exported a lot more to African countries like Angola and Mozambique, but 1/4 is a lot. It is really very rare for me to hear a Portuguese person speaking, and I am also from São Paulo, so my own accent is more Italian-influenced, while people from Rio have a more Portugal-influenced accent, mostly because of Maria and her family moving there along with like 50k people, in a time when the city had less than 100k people I think. So maybe the Brazilians you know are all from Rio?
I could get everything Maria says, except a word or two, after starting a game by her side in the map and hearing she say her lines a lot of times. Shorter sentences are easier for me to understand, because what makes Portugal-speaking hard for me is the speed with which you guys talk. I swear that I need subtitles if I want to understand more than 70% when I watch Portuguese shows in cable TV
It sounds very accurate, like I said, is what I hear in movies set in his time. It is a mix between Portuguese from Portugal (he is, after all, Maria's great-grandson) and the modern accent from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil is a huge country with just one language, so every region has it's own accent), with a lot of old, now unused words like "gracejos" (jokes) and "voismicê" (old form for "você", means "you").
God of Kings
Ruler of all heads of state
Whoa, I didn't know that Brazil exported that much TV shows to Portugal! I knew that we exported some, and that we exported a lot more to African countries like Angola and Mozambique, but 1/4 is a lot. It is really very rare for me to hear a Portuguese person speaking, and I am also from São Paulo, so my own accent is more Italian-influenced, while people from Rio have a more Portugal-influenced accent, mostly because of Maria and her family moving there along with like 50k people, in a time when the city had less than 100k people I think. So maybe the Brazilians you know are all from Rio? :very funny:
I could get everything Maria says, except a word or two, after starting a game by her side in the map and hearing she say her lines a lot of times. Shorter sentences are easier for me to understand, because what makes Portugal-speaking hard for me is the speed with which you guys talk. I swear that I need subtitles if I want to understand more than 70% when I watch Portuguese shows in cable TV
Closed-captioning is your friend.
InsanelyApple
Prince
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2012
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- 520
Somewhat relevant article: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2604480/posts
Somewhat relevant section of article: Whats surprising, though, is that those accents were much closer to todays American accents than to todays British accents. While both have changed over time, its actually British accents that have changed much more drastically since then.
iRule
Warlord
Very, very interesting, because the Brazilian accent is also said to be closer to the "original" Portuguese accent! At least that spoken around Brazil's independence.
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