Alexander's... "Greek"

[AW Arcaeca]

Surprised nobody mentioned Ramesses II speaking modern Egyptian Arabic.
Ancient egyptians spoke, well, ancient egyptian which has nothing to do with Arabic. It's closer to semitic and berber languages. But it's understandable, Ancient Egyptian is a dead language, deader than "dead" languages like Latin.

Actually, we did notice that, a few pages back...

Actually as an Arabic speaker, Ramesses isn't speaking Egyptian Arabic. He is speaking Classical Arabic (similar to the language found in the Koran) with an Egyptian accent, not the Egyptian dialect. Harun is also speaking Classical Arabic but with an Arabian accent. Ahmad on the other hand is speaking the Moroccan dialect, but without a lot of the French influences seen in popular Moroccan Arabic.

And yes, we have discussed why he should be speaking ancient Egyptian and why ramesses speaking Arabic was certainly a fault on the developers' side.

 

[bcaiko]

Wu Zetian's Chinese is definitely not befitting of royalty, very plain, like she's a commoner. It would be awesome if she spoke the Mandarin dialect of Xian. Plus a reconstruction of Middle Chinese has been done by scholars before, I guess they wanted Mandarin speakers to understand the dialogue, but it is so simple.

Well, it's not like Wu was born into royalty. She was the emperor's concubine and worked her way up to being empress in her own right through strong political maneuvering (and lots of murder!). She was never a peasant - her father was a wealthy timber merchant - but she wasn't schooled at a young age in the emperor's court, either.

 

[otaman1]

Well, the real Egyptian language is extinct. Unless someone knows Coptic. I mean, that's the closest thing to the real Egyptian language.

 

[LastSword]

Cassimir cannot handle polish.

 

[pyroflare77]

I sent youtube clips of Gajah Mada to my faculty advisor (he did work in Java, and knows Javanese as well as Indonesian), his short reply was "it's fractured Javanese, sort of". Make of that if you will.

Well, Gajah is speaking Old Javanese, which might have something to do with that.

 

[Sagax]

Well, it's not like Wu was born into royalty. She was the emperor's concubine and worked her way up to being empress in her own right through strong political maneuvering (and lots of murder!). She was never a peasant - her father was a wealthy timber merchant - but she wasn't schooled at a young age in the emperor's court, either.

Neither did she live in future to speak modern Mandarin Chinese. Her current lines don't even reflect her upbringing by a wealthy merchant.

 

[Pydgie]

About Ramesses II speaking Classical Arabic.
Ancient egyptians spoke, well, ancient egyptian which has nothing to do with Arabic. It's closer to semitic and berber languages. But it's understandable, Ancient Egyptian is a dead language, deader than "dead" languages like Latin.

I agree with you, but I just wanted to point out that Arabic is a Semitic language. Of course Coptic would've been a much better choice.

 

[Louis XXIV]

It's Greek, isn't it? I recognize some of the words. Dido herself was Greek in the story of Carthage's founding.

She's speaking Hebrew

Gah, it's Phoenician (I'm not sure if western Phoenician or Tyrian Phoenician, but, either way, Phoenician).

Dido was never Greek. She's supposed to be a Princess from the Phoenician colony of Tyre who founded Carthage. There's an argument that the Greeks made up the story, but they never claimed she was Greek.

Nor does what she speak sound remotely like Greek. Otaman is closer in that it's a semitic language fairly closely related to Hebrew (it's also related to Arabic, the Aramaic spoken by Darius, and the Akkadian spoken by Nebuchadnezzar and Ashurbanipal). In fact, people who speak Hebrew say they understand some of the words she speaks. If you want to use the Bible as a reference point, the Phoenicians are the Canaanites. So there's certainly some similarities. However, they aren't the same language.

Dido speaks Phoenician because she was Phoenician and the Carthaginians are Phoenician.

 

[Sr_Rainbow]

I can easily tell that Wu Ze-Tian's voice actor is not a native Chinese speaker. She talks excruciatingly slowly, almost like she's patronizing me.

 

[otaman1]

Gah, it's Phoenician (I'm not sure if western Phoenician or Tyrian Phoenician, but, either way, Phoenician).

Dido was never Greek. She's supposed to be a Princess from the Phoenician colony of Tyre who founded Carthage. There's an argument that the Greeks made up the story, but they never claimed she was Greek.

Nor does what she speak sound remotely like Greek. Otaman is closer in that it's a semitic language fairly closely related to Hebrew (it's also related to Arabic, the Aramaic spoken by Darius, and the Akkadian spoken by Nebuchadnezzar and Ashurbanipal). In fact, people who speak Hebrew say they understand some of the words she speaks. If you want to use the Bible as a reference point, the Phoenicians are the Canaanites. So there's certainly some similarities. However, they aren't the same language.

Dido speaks Phoenician because she was Phoenician and the Carthaginians are Phoenician.

I understand some Hebrew. That's why I thought she was speaking Hebrew. As for Darius, I thought he was speaking Persian, not Aramaic. Guess I was wrong on that too. Double fail.

 

[Sagax]

I can easily tell that Wu Ze-Tian's voice actor is not a native Chinese speaker. She talks excruciatingly slowly, almost like she's patronizing me.

The speed is actually kinda accurate: in all the Chinese "soap operas" about the ancient times the characters speak ancient Chinese, which is much slower than the way Mandarin Chinese is spoken now.

 

[qemist]

Napoleon is FRENCH! Not Quebecian french, but France french.

Actually he was Corsican and spoke French with a marked Corsican accent. I don't know what that would sound like to an anglo monoglot like me.

The speed is actually kinda accurate: in all the Chinese "soap operas" about the ancient times the characters speak ancient Chinese, which is much slower than the way Mandarin Chinese is spoken now.

I dunno about "Ancient Chinese" but when I was watching Chinese historical soaps in a vain attempt to learn the language I noticed that they do tend to speak slowly and with exaggerated emphases, as though declaiming. I don't know if this is to make it easier for the audience to understand or it is just Chinese stage tradition.

 

[adam19]

im from morocco so any question can i help you. I think its a bit weird hearing dariya in dlipomatics, but i love it because thats the way people talk

 

[Pydgie]

im from morocco so any question can i help you. I think its a bit weird hearing dariya in dlipomatics, but i love it because thats the way people talk

I agree. Actually, I mentioned that a while ago.

I was surprised when I heard Ahmad speaking Moroccan Arabic the like of which is spoken on the streets. It seemed a little off as a ruler would definitely not speak like that especially not in the 16th century before colonization and everything.

And, btw, for non-Arabic speakers, Daariyya or Aammiyya is the language spoken at home or on the street among the people casually, whereas Fus-haa is the formal language.

 

[Sr_Rainbow]

The speed is actually kinda accurate: in all the Chinese "soap operas" about the ancient times the characters speak ancient Chinese, which is much slower than the way Mandarin Chinese is spoken now.

Well, Wu is speaking modern mandarin Chinese in the diplomacy screen, so it still sounds bad. Plus, I don't think you can really cite soap operas for their historical accuracy, especially for something like ancient talking speed. I mean, from watching Jersey Shore can a non-American form an accurate conclusion of how all people from New Jersey are? No.

 

[Karmah]

Napoleon sounds canadian and uses 'tu' instead of 'vous' which makes him sounds too casual to french ears.
'tu disais ? ' .....non serieusement ,'tu' ?

 

[JSMCAG]

Napoleon sounds canadian and uses 'tu' instead of 'vous' which makes him sounds too casual to french ears.
'tu disais ? ' .....non serieusement ,'tu' ?

He's arrogant - you want him to treat you by "vous"?
You're lucky enough he even listens to your trade proposal!

Seriously, though - I do see a trend of some leaders using an informal "you", depending on the leader. Might be to sound more familiar and welcoming, other times it might be because they're arrogant and judge you inferior.
Maria I always uses a formal you, but Pedro I uses a very informal one when he doesn't like you, for example.

 

[Arachnofiend]

I don't speak Japanese and can't verify but I've heard that Oda is always very formal and respectful towards the player when he speaks. Even when he declares war he addresses you as an equal.

 

[Pydgie]

I guess that's because he is a samurai. So it would be all about discipline and respect.

 

[Sturmgewher88mm]

I don't speak Japanese and can't verify but I've heard that Oda is always very formal and respectful towards the player when he speaks. Even when he declares war he addresses you as an equal.

Oh yes, über formal. I'm almost surprised he doesn't address you as 様