America's Voice Acting

[TheLohoped]

No, it wasn't. at least during Justinian-Theodora era. greek became offical language of Byzantine Empire after 620. and if you want to know, Theodora lived in 6th century (500-548) and in her era Latin was offical language of Byzantine Empire.

Latin was the official language of the empire but the majority of population spoke greek. Only the high class officials spoke latin. Since Theodora was from the low class before marrying Justinian (very low class) it's logical that she speaks greek and not latin.

 

[IkM]

Latin was the official language of the empire but the majority of population spoke greek. Only the high class officials spoke latin. Since Theodora was from the low class before marrying Justinian (very low class) it's logical that she speaks greek and not latin.

Yes, that makes sense. but, I doubt that Darius spoke Aramaic as native language. Aramaic was lingua franca in Achaemenid Empire and native language of Persians was Farsi (Persian). but in game Darius speaks Aramaic.

 

[Rhaegar7]

Oh, come on. It's fun enough. Give the guys some credit. It's not all bad. You should have noticed at some point that all characters are cartoonish and funny, more like caricatures, but not in a bad way.

 

[George Abitbol]

Oh, come on. It's fun enough. Give the guys some credit. It's not all bad. You should have noticed at some point that all characters are cartoonish and funny, more like caricatures, but not in a bad way.

Agree But speaking (!) about Theodora, I still don't understand why she doesn't have a coastal start... Suleiman does and they ahve basically the same city !

 

[Ritzy Cat]

I always wondered why Theodora speaks greek instead Latin. Latin was offical language of Byzantine Empire during Justinian era. don't say because Byzantine became greek. in that case, Darius has to speak Persian instead Aramaic.

Aramaic was the administrative language of Persia during Darius' rule, it was the language often used for foreign trade/affairs etc.

 

[IkM]

Aramaic was the administrative language of Persia during Darius' rule, it was the language often used for foreign trade/affairs etc.

likewise, Latin used for foreign affairs but still theodora speaks greek in game.

let me put it this way;


Byzantines: spoke greek (by low class) everyday as native language but used Latin as offical language and theodora speaks greek. because people spoke greek.

Persians: spoke Persian everyday as native language but used Aramaic as offical language and Darius speaks Aramaic. why? he spoke Persian in his life. Persian was his native language and he had to speak Persian in game.

when it comes to theodora "hey, greek was her native language" but when it comes to Darius "c'mon man, their offical language was Aramaic"

pick one of them; should they speak offical language or native language?

if you pick native language: theodora must speak greek and also Darius must speak Persian.

if you pick offical language: theodora must speak Latin and Darius must speak Aramaic.

 

[Socratatus]

Pretty much every nation that attacks or invades someone else usually say they `love` peace while kicking your butt.

Then if you turn the tables and kick them back so they`re losing, they`ll say, " We love peace ; please stop attacking us!"

It`s Human nature. You have to see beyond the deceit.

 

[InsanelyApple]

Relevant article: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2604480/posts

Relevant part of article: Americans in 1776 did have British accents in that American accents and British accents hadn’t yet diverged. That’s not too surprising. What’s surprising, though, is that those accents were much closer to today’s American accents than to today’s British accents. While both have changed over time, it’s actually British accents that have changed much more drastically since then.

 

[bcaiko]

Yes, George Washington's lines often make him sound like a sanctimonious jerk.

I imagined Washington to have a British accent as well, since he WAS British.

He was a British subject, yes. But he was born and raised in Virginia. I don't know that he had even ever been to the British Isles. And like Canadian and Australian accents sound quite like English accents, Virginia had a different regional accent.

The voice actor for America isn't trying to use Washington at all; he's trying to imitate Bill Clinton.

Also the voice actor for England isn't trying to sound like Elizabeth the 1st either; she's trying to imitate Elizabeth the second C. 1950.

Julia Lenardon, who voices Elizabeth, is an expert on historical dialects. You may not like Elizabeth's voice (it is grating the fiftieth time she's asked you to accept an unfair trade agreement), but I defy you to find a historically based argument for why her accent is wrong. It seems to me that Firaxis went out of their way to find people who could accurately portray the proper accent.

 

[Ryoga]

likewise, Latin used for foreign affairs but still theodora speaks greek in game.

let me put it this way;


Byzantines: spoke greek (by low class) everyday as native language but used Latin as offical language and theodora speaks greek. because people spoke greek.

Persians: spoke Persian everyday as native language but used Aramaic as offical language and Darius speaks Aramaic. why? he spoke Persian in his life. Persian was his native language and he had to speak Persian in game.

when it comes to theodora "hey, greek was her native language" but when it comes to Darius "c'mon man, their offical language was Aramaic"

pick one of them; should they speak offical language or native language?

if you pick native language: theodora must speak greek and also Darius must speak Persian.

if you pick offical language: theodora must speak Latin and Darius must speak Aramaic.

The important part is that those leaders knew and could speak fluently that language.
You are not nitpicking about historical consistency here but about the lack of an arbitrarily established rule regarding the selection between equally plausible languages.

 

[joncnunn]

Does this clinton-esque accent made on purpose? Washington was born in Virginia, should he have virginian accent instead (if there is any virginian accent) ? I'm not american, I just discover this detail when I came on civfanatics.

The Clinton accent It's too good to not have been on purpose (at least by the voice actor)

Yes; every place has an accent; but Virginia has several accents; not just one.
What you really mean is the Mt Vernon and surrounding areas accents; and that may be in an area that's seen in-migration during the past few decades.

I would start with General American and then add a few Southern word choices; but not so much where the vowels are positioned.

Even for next door North Carolina while I'd start with Southern as spoken in movies, it needs dialed back a bit towards general american.

(Southern spoken in movies tends to be Deep South Southern [GA, AL, MS, Memphis.] Unless they get some Yankee trying to do so in which case it just sounds fake & bad.)

 

[Triskelli]

I think Washington's accent is fine. It's definitely Virginian and confident when it needs to be. Bill Clinton, while similar, has a much more halting voice and a tiny stutter.

 

[IkM]

The important part is that those leaders knew and could speak fluently that language.
You are not nitpicking about historical consistency here but about the lack of an arbitrarily established rule regarding the selection between equally plausible languages.

actually, I don't care if they speak those languages fluently. many leaders spoke more than 2 languages in ancient times. the point is; why theodora speaks her native language but Darius speaks offical language instead of his native language. is that really hard to understand?

 

[Loucypher]

actually, I don't care if they speak those languages fluently. many leaders spoke more than 2 languages in ancient times. the point is; why theodora speaks her native language but Darius speaks offical language instead of his native language. is that really hard to understand?

Because Theodora, unlike Darius, was not born and raised into nobility and as such might've been far more fluent in her native language? That explanation has been given before. It'd make sense really.

 

[bobbo008]

You're ALL wrong. The truth is, assuming they didn't know YOUR language (for many of us that would be English) they'd have a translator speaking the translation immediately after they spoke it.

 

[joncnunn]

I think Washington's accent is fine. It's definitely Virginian and confident when it needs to be. Bill Clinton, while similar, has a much more halting voice and a tiny stutter.

The main difference between "Old Virginia accent" (shared with "Tidewater" which changed even less since Colonial times) and most other Southern accents is that the former are "non-rhotic" while most most other Southern accents (along with most other American accents for that matter) are rhotic.

 

[Godswood]

actually, I don't care if they speak those languages fluently. many leaders spoke more than 2 languages in ancient times. the point is; why theodora speaks her native language but Darius speaks offical language instead of his native language. is that really hard to understand?

What Loucypher said. Darius was meant to be a leader, from what I know. He was taught Persian and Aramaic from birth, and learned to speak Aramaic with foreign diplomats.

Unlike Theodora, who was a "noble peasant" (misnomer, but still).

 

[Dai]

I sort of feel like if you're trying to capture a sort of retiring charisma, law-educated but not snooty, and with traces of the American south without going full-on Southern, Bill Clinton seems like a perfectly reasonable template.

As far as Washington's gameplay behavior, he tends to struggle because he's set to get really angry at warmongers, but not to prioritize military might that highly himself, which is a recipe for getting your butt kicked.

 

[Falconiano]

I hate Washington too.
"I trust you're a friend to liberty" kind of propaganda makes me puff, especially since he's hypocritical; lots of liberty chatters yet votes embargoes, razes cities, plunders trade routes/improvements and whatnot.

 

[George Abitbol]

You're ALL wrong. The truth is, assuming they didn't know YOUR language (for many of us that would be English) they'd have a translator speaking the translation immediately after they spoke it.

They had Babel fish.