Language translations for leader sayings

[Red Khan]

You might be right, you're the Russian speaker after all and Civ leaderheads are of course slight caricatures, where flirty Catherine isn't an exception.

There is another aspect to it - she is addressing another leader and by using “ty” she implies equality. If she would use “Vy” it would seem that she thinks you have a higher position. If I remember correctly it is historically correct.

 

[Viregel]

I tried translating Pocatello's speech through an online dictionary. It would have been easier if I knew what he was saying, at least in Shoshone. If we get transcriptions, then we should be able to (roughly) translate the rest. So far I got:

INTRO: I am Chief Pocatello. A long time you (live, lie down/be situated), kill not *didn't get the rest*

I'm guessing that the language is Western Shoshone, as I doubt that there would be several dialects in the one speech. The Western Shoshone seamed to make more sense in the translations anyway and I would guess that it is the branch of Shoshone that Pocatello is from, although I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Pikachao]

I tried translating Pocatello's speech through an online dictionary. It would have been easier if I knew what he was saying, at least in Shoshone. If we get transcriptions, then we should be able to (roughly) translate the rest. So far I got:

INTRO: I am Chief Pocatello. A long time you (live, lie down/be situated), kill not *didn't get the rest*

I'm guessing that the language is Western Shoshone, as I doubt that there would be several dialects in the one speech. The Western Shoshone seamed to make more sense in the translations anyway and I would guess that it is the branch of Shoshone that Pocatello is from, although I'm not 100% sure.

what did you hear the Shoshone as for the translation? I got something different for the middle part and I'm curious to see where the issue lies (I'm admittedly a little unsure about the middle of my translation, but very confident on the "newe sogope bihande" part at the end and the beginning.)
Also, just pointing this out for people who want to complain about incorrect grammer in these translations, "Chief" Pocatello should probably be "regwana" or "degwani" Pocatello. (although you could argue the colloquialisms allow chief to still be his title, and he may have went by it himself.)

 

[Viregel]

what did you hear the Shoshone as for the translation? I got something different for the middle part and I'm curious to see where the issue lies (I'm admittedly a little unsure about the middle of my translation, but very confident on the "newe sogope bihande" part at the end and the beginning.)
Also, just pointing this out for people who want to complain about incorrect grammer in these translations, "Chief" Pocatello should probably be "regwana" or "degwani" Pocatello.

I am awful at listening in general, so I probably got the transcription amazingly wrong. Here's my transcription, if it's of any use:

Attacked:Ne-ge majonki white!
DeclaresWar1:Now-wa besia!
DeclaresWar2:Tumen ty-bo àndre... Bake do-e!
Defeated:E-e noo-e... Wa ko hun.
HateHearIt1:Tay-koo.
HateHearIt2:Hinyaros.
HateHearIt3:Hilara we-ke?
HateHello:Shinam sitone.
HateNo1:Ke me ye?
HateNo2:Urayu tona he koh?
HateNo3:Gayh!
HateYes1:Mek...en es nom.
HateYes2:Neca naw...
HateYes3:Osey en day diny why.
Intro:Nay Chief Pocatello. E na-en habinadena. Nay waso-cop a hun-de?

I will do the rest later. I'm pretty sure that the "Nay" in the intro is written as "Ne", meaning "I". Here's the Shoshone that I got for part of the intro:


Ne Chief Pocatello. Eei na-en habi nadawaga.

EDIT: It probably would be beneficial to say that I don't speak Shoshone. Yet.

 

[Guandao]

I am awful at listening in general, so I probably got the transcription amazingly wrong. Here's my transcription, if it's of any use:

Attacked:Ne-ge majonki white!
DeclaresWar1:Now-wa besia!
DeclaresWar2:Tumen ty-bo àndre... Bake do-e!
Defeated:E-e noo-e... Wa ko hun.
HateHearIt1:Tay-koo.
HateHearIt2:Hinyaros.
HateHearIt3:Hilara we-ke?
HateHello:Shinam sitone.
HateNo1:Ke me ye?
HateNo2:Urayu tona he koh?
HateNo3:Gayh!
HateYes1:Mek...en es nom.
HateYes2:Neca naw...
HateYes3:Osey en day diny why.
Intro:Nay Chief Pocatello. E na-en habinadena. Nay waso-cop a hun-de?

I will do the rest later. I'm pretty sure that the "Nay" in the intro is written as "Ne", meaning "I". Here's the Shoshone that I got for part of the intro:


Ne Chief Pocatello. Eei na-en habi nadawaga.

EDIT: It probably would be beneficial to say that I don't speak Shoshone. Yet.

Here are my transcriptions for comparison,

Intro: “Ne Chief Pocatello, ina en hani be deina, ne gwa so go bohandi”

Attacked: “Nei gei majong kwi wait!”

DeclaresWar: “Nowa beishia, taman taibo endrei e, bei ka tu oeey!”

Defeated: “Ennan nui! Wako hon…”

Request: “Na nang ga haik!”

Peaceful: “Ermanou assahuni hana ichi, kamini mendok”

HateHearit01: “Tei kul!”
Hatehearit02: “Hin yar ross!”
HateHearit03: “Hilula oeey ki!”
HateHello: “Hinan sik tonni!”
HateNo01: “Quem ma yey!”
HateNo02: “Harriyap tonna ika!”
HateNo03: “Kei!”
Hateyes01: “Mek!, er nez nou”
Hateyes02: “Neiha nou!”
Hateyes03: “Au sei en da dunni wai”
NeutralHearit01: “Kud das!”
NeutralHearit02: “Nou kiyanga heat?”
NeutralHearit03: “Ha’ ah?”
NeutralYes01: “Ha mek!”
NeutralYes02: “Suniya thoi!”
NeutralYes03: “Hmm!”
NeutralNo03: “Kei!”
NeutralNo02: “No man gey!”
NeutralNo03: “Quem ma iyey!”
NeutralHello: “Da hima dumb bidei!”

 

[Guandao]

Here are some translations for al-Mansur's lines, according to a Moroccan commentator on youtube

Intro: "I'm the Sultan of Marrakech Ahmad Al-Mansour, in the name of my people I welcome you"

Attacked: shame on you, using violence which doesn't solve anything! (very similar to a line in xml files, It's a shame you are so quick to resort to senseless violence )

NeutralLetshearit01: go on

NeutralYes02: Of course!

NeutralNo02: Of course not!

HateNo2: A silly suggestion!

 

[Guandao]

I have tried translating Ashurbanipal and Shaka's lines. Anyone else have?
I was able to translate bits of the dialogue,
I'm trying to translate Hiawatha, Montezuma, Askia, and Haile Selassie as well.

 

[Danielion]

Always surprising how they find people to speak in the lines for certain civs, yet finding people online who speak those languages to translate for us is often near-impossible. In that regard it surprises me how no one has been able to translate Shaka's lines thus far.

 

[Viregel]

Always surprising how they find people to speak in the lines for certain civs, yet finding people online who speak those languages to translate for us is often near-impossible. In that regard it surprises me how no one has been able to translate Shaka's lines thus far.

I could try transcripting Shaka's speach at some point. So far, I've found the most useful Zulu phrase ever:

Umkhumbi wami ugcwele ngenyoka zemanzini.

Allegedly, it means "my hovercraft is full of eels." I got I from this website, which does look like a good resource for translation.

 

[digrosz]

Shaka is commonly known for its use of Hovercrafts.

 

[IgorS]

I could try transcripting Shaka's speach at some point. So far, I've found the most useful Zulu phrase ever:

Umkhumbi wami ugcwele ngenyoka zemanzini.

Allegedly, it means "my hovercraft is full of eels." I got I from this website, which does look like a good resource for translation.

Ah, yes, Omniglot! My go-to site for finding out how to tell people that my hovercraft is full of eels. You won't believe how many times this happened to me, and every time it happens, I am abroad, surrounded by people whose language I don't speak.
My favourite is of course the Uzbek: Mening kayiqim baliq bilan to'lgan.

 

[Danielion]

Allegedly, it means "my hovercraft is full of eels." I got I from this website, which does look like a good resource for translation.

Even with voice sample and all. Interesting.

Princeofnigeria here claims to have known actual Zulu people. I doubt it's still the case, but hopefully when he's not scamming people with his Nigerian bank account, he might think of us whenever the chance arises again to get Zulu people translate Shaka's dialogue.

 

[Henry_VI]

About Suleiman, way back on page 3:

- where did they get this guy?(narrator). It seems they made a time machine and get an actor from 70s turkish movies. The talking style is considered very funny or silly in Turkey. There is even a comedy series that mocks this style of talking. Just imagine an very bad Elvis wannabee trying to talk like Elvis.

- this is modern turkish btw. Ottoman turkish had more Arabian Elements in it and sounded quite different.

I concur; though I have to add, that even for modern Turkish usage it's horribly un-idiomatic.

(edit: Having read the rest of the thread, I realize that this is a problem with several other leaders.)

It's almost as though they used Google translate for the phrases, and picked a random Turkish employee to do the voiceover. Besides, some of what he says simply sounds absurd ... 'Ottoman *nation*' ... give me a break?!

(edit: It looks like Theodora's lines are just as awful. At least her voice actress isn't a complete joke; contributes to the overall loveliness ... but I digress.)

Really annoying; Suleiman is by far the worst leader voiceover.

(edit: I still think so ---- the 'voice actor' most bereft of talent.)

 

[Henry_VI]

Allegedly, it means "my hovercraft is full of eels."

If I'm not mistaken, that sentence comes from a Monty Python sketch; possibly about Hungarian tourists.

It's been a long time since I last saw my Flying Circus, so I might well be mistaken.

(edit: or, could it have been a Lucasarts adventure? Monkey Island, perhaps...)

(edit: The linked website already references Monty Python... Sorry about the stupid post.)

 

[Guandao]

I found a word in Ashurbanipal's intro, gerginakku which means library. Will share more later.

 

[Siriuskar]

Hey all Going to backtrack a bit here but I remember a while ago that somebody asked for transcripts/transliterations of what the Arabic-speaking leaders were saying. Now the new expansion's come out I've finally got round to finishing off Rameses II's speech:


I've been working off the original translations provided by GenericPlayer back in 2010 - I've left them untouched apart from a few suggested changes which I've underlined.

I'm not using any official script or anything for the English transliteration, I've tried compromising with something that sounds roughly the same if you tried to pronounce it aloud whilst sticking closely to the actual letters in the script. Hope it helps anyways.

I also have to confess I've only been studying Arabic for a year so there's a couple of words I can't make out for the life of me - I've put these in red in both the script and the transliteration in the hope that someone will come along and fill in the blanks...
(EDIT 07/09/13: These have now been figured out, there may still be mistakes though...)

Ramesses II

Formal Arabic, Egyptian Accent

Intro: Greetings, I am Ramesses the God. I am the living embodiment of Egypt, father and mother of all civilizations.
تحيتي, أنا رمسيس اﻹله. إنني تجسيد حي لمصر, أب وأم جميع الحضارات
(tahayati, ana Ramsees il-ila. inani tagsidun haya limusr, ab wa umma gamee’a al-hadaaraat.)

Attacked: (You are) a fool who evokes pity. You have brought my hostility upon yourself and your depressing civilization!
أحمق يثير الشفقة. لقد عاديت بنفسك وبحضارتك الكئيبة
(‘ahmaq yuthiru sh-shafaqa. laqad audaytu binafsak wa bihadaaratuk al-ka'eeba!)

Declares War: You are but a pest on the face of this Earth, prepare to die!
ما أنت إلا آفة على ظهر هذه الأرض, إستعد لحتفك
(ma anta ila aafa alla dahr hadhihil-ard, ista’hid ilhatfik!)

Defeated: Strike me down and my soul will torment yours forever – you have won nothing. (lit. ‘Throw me to the ground and my soul will drive out your soul forever...&#8217
أطرحني أرضا وسوف تطرد روحي روحك إلى الأبد – لم تفوز بشيء
(atrahni ‘ardaan wa sowfa tutarid ruhi ruhak ilal-abid – lam tafuz bishai’.)

Hate Hear It 01: (Go on) then? ثم؟ (thumma?)

Hate Hear It 02: Finish your speech. اكمل حديثك (akmal hadeethuk.)

Hate Hello: Oh, it’s you. أه, ﺇنه أنت (ah, inah ant.)

Hate No 01: This is unacceptable. هذا أمرغير مقبول (hadha amra gheyr maqbul.)

Hate No 02: You cannot be serious about your request. لا يمكن أن تكون جادا في طلبك (la yumkin an takun gadan fi talabak.)

Hate No 03: I beg your pardon? أستميحك عذرا؟ (astameehaka ‘audhran?)

Hate Yes 01: Oh, very well. أوه, حسنا جدا (oh, hassanan gidan.)

Hate Yes 02: I think I should (agree). أعتقد أن وجب عليه. (a’ataqid anna wagib alayah.)

Neutral Hear It 01: Go on. هيا (haya.)

Neutral Hear It 02: Speak. تحدث (tahaduth.)

Neutral Hear It 03: I am all ears. (lit. ‘I am all listening ears&#8217 كلي آذان صاغية (kulli adhanun saagheea.)

Neutral Hello: Good day. طاب يومك (taarbayaumuk.)

Neutral No 01: No. كلا (kalla.)

Neutral No 02: Definitely not. كلا بكل التأكيد (kalla bikull at-t’akid.)

Neutral Yes 01: Very well. حسنا جدا (hassanan gidan.)

Neutral Yes 02: OK. حسنا (hassanan.)

Peaceful: You know I could have destroyed you, but I'm overcome by a feeling of generosity today.
تعرف أنه كان بإمكاني أن أدمرك, لكن يعتريني شعور بالكرم اليوم
(t’arif anahu kana b’imkani an udamirak, lakin ya’atarini sha’aur bilkaram alyawm.)

Request: Generous Egypt makes you this offer.
مصر السخية تقدم لك هذا العرض
(musr as-sakheea tuqadumu lika hadhal-‘ard.)


That's all, pretty much. As for the new DLC, I'll take a look at Al-Mansur's lines in a bit and see if I can make any sense of them...

 

[Siriuskar]

Here's a few of the basics I can pick out on a first listen to Al-Mansur:

Neutral Hear It 02: Proceed. / كمل (kamil.)

Neutral Hello: Greetings! / تحيتي (tahayati!)

Neutral No 02: Of course not. / بالطبع لا (biltab’ay la.)

Neutral Yes 01: Fine! / جميل (jameel!)

Neutral Yes 02: Sure! / أكيد (akeed!)

I'll have another stab at it tomorrow, though I can't promise I'll be able to make out much more.

 

[Siriuskar]

A few more from Al-Mansur below. I also read back through the thread this morning, I hadn't realised people had offered to/started to translate Al-Mansur already so I apologise if I'm jumping the gun on anyone here. Credits anyway to Guandao for posting the XML lines and some of the translations by a youtube commenter, and to Bobby Martnen who already posted the NeutralHello (tahayati).

Yes, Moroccan Arabic. A scholar of Arabic on another forum confirmed it. I hope he agrees to help us and translates it.

Hello everyone, I just made this account to help out on this thread, being a Moroccan player

I just wanted to confirm something from everyone: Do we only have the sound files to work with?

Any word from either of these guys? Would be useful and much better to have translations from a native speaker...


Intro: I am the Sultan of Marrakesh Ahmad Al-Mansur, in the name of my people I welcome you!
أنا سلطان ديال مراكش أحمد المنصور, باسم شعب ديالي كنرحب بكم
(ana sultan diyal maraaksh ahmadl-mansur, bismi sha’ab diyali kanarhab bikum)

Hate No 02: (What a) ridiculous suggestion! / اقتراح سخيف (‘qtirah sakheef!)

Neutral Hear It 01: Go on. / أزيد (azeed.)


There's also a lot of Moroccan dialect-specific vocabulary in there I wasn't aware of, such as 'ashnu' ('what?') which I can hear in HateHearIt02 & 03. For these reasons it's proving difficult for me to work out some of the words, so again I hope there's a native speaker around to help out...

 

[Morningcalm]

It's going to be hard to find a native speaker. I guess contacting university people might help, Firaxis has been known to find voice actors from universities. Anyway, I've added your additions to the parent post(s). Thanks, Siriuskar!

 

[Siriuskar]

No worries, happy to contribute!

I have a few more from Al-Mansur, I'll keep adding them as I go along. Turns out the phrasebooks on sites such as Linguanaut and Omniglot are invaluable sources for the darija (moroccan arabic)-specific vocabulary, as most of those words can't be found in the standard arabic dictionaries. I'm beginning to get my head around the differences in grammar and verb formation as well which should speed up my translations a bit.


Hate Hear It 02: Now what? / دابا شنو؟ (daba shnu?)

Hate Hear It 03: What do you want? / أشنو بغيتي؟ (ashnu bgheeti?)

Neutral Hear It 03: Yes? (lit. ‘How?&#8217 / كيفاش؟ (keefash?)

Hate Yes 03: As you wish. / كما بغيتي (keema bgheeti.)*

Peaceful: This conflict has come to an end. / هد الصراع انتهى (had s-siraa’a intahaa.)


*May have misinterpreted first word (normally voweled 'kama' كَمَا in standard arabic)


As it stands I still have to work out: Attacked, DeclareWar, Defeated, HateHello, HateHearIt01, HateNo01, HateNo03, HateYes01, HateYes02, NeutalNo1, NeutralNo03, NeutralYes03, Request.