Carthaginian Language Question

[Aleks S. I]

Hey guys, I was playing a game as Carthage and noticed something odd:

There are one or two "lines" that the soldiers say that are very, very similar to another language. [Serbo-Croat (a.k.a. Serbian; part of the Slavic language group)] After several searches that revealed no possible reason that Carthaginians should be using a Slavic language, I figured I'd ask around on here.

I was just curious as to whether this is just a case of two languages sounding similar, or if there is a specific reason that Carthaginians are speaking this particular that I don't know about.

 

[Antilogic]

It should sound like Phoenician, but given its a dead language I don't know if we have solid idea of how either should be pronounced.

As for why it sounds like Serbo-Croat, no clue.

 

[Abegweit]

Phoenician and Hebrew are pretty much the same language (written, there is no difference) so we do indeed have a good idea how it was pronounced. Any relationship with Serbian must be accidental.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

Maybe someone in Rome knows.

 

[jordiflor]

I'm fluent in Serbian (not native) and I cannot say that any of the Carthaginian voices sounds remotely like Serbian.

 

[Abegweit]

That's certainly what I would expect. Phoenician and Serbian aren't even remotely related. Serbian is from the Slavic branch of Indo-European while Phoenician is from the Semitic branch of Afro-Asiatic. As I said, it is extremely close to Hebrew. The differences are probably greater than those between Serbian and Croatian but not much more.

It is hard to say exactly how big the differences with Hebrew are as the Phoenician alphabet does not have vowels. Still... if I was in Firaxis' position, I would use ancient Hebrew for Phoenician. Maybe someone who speaks Hebrew would know.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

Or you could use the Swedish Sheff for all dead languages.

 

[Dr.Null]

Or you could use the Swedish Sheff for all dead languages.

I demand that this be made a mod.

 

[Aleks S. I]

Just to clarify a little, the line in question is something close to: "kuda ideš šarene" Which translates to "Where are you going colorful one?"

Otherwise I might just be imagining things.

 

[vandermerwe]

Just to clarify a little, the line in question is something close to: "kuda ideš šarene" Which translates to "Where are you going colorful one?"

Otherwise I might just be imagining things.

Can't argue with your interpretation of Serbian, but I think you must be imagining it. As this thread shows, the sayings in the various languages are loose translations of the English. And no English-speaking unit says anything like "where are you going, colourful one?"

One of the (IIRC) Mayan sayings sounds a bit like the Welsh "Tŷ bach" ("toilet", or literally "small house") to me. But I bet it isn't.

 

[Aleks S. I]

Alright then, thanks for the help guys.

 

[Absolution]

There should not be even a single connection to those Yoguslavian languages. I don't think they event existed before 100 BC.
Anything you heared there must be a coincidence. In which sentnce was it? I couldn't find something like "kuda ideš šarene" in the sound files.

Just for you to know - In the times of Hannibal they spoke the Punic language, which is a bit different from the Phoenician. It has some Berber foundations in it.
And another thing - the Phoenician alphabet is not the same as the Hebrew alphabet.
Until the Achaemenid era, Hebrew was written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet which is similiar to the Phoenician alphabet, but then the Hebrew alphabet changed into a newer Aramaic alphabet.
However, the ancient alphabet is still completely know today and can be easily found in the internet.

But why didn't Firaxis publish the tranlations somewhere?

Anyway, I am a native Hebrew speaker. I tried to listen to those sentences, but they aren't spoken clearly. It is hard to understand by listening.

I can only guess that CarthageOrder-009 means "Run!".
Because it sounds like "Rusudi" or "Rusuti", which is similiar to the Hebrew word "Rutsu", which mean "Run!".
Another possibility is that they are saying "Rasim", which is super similiar to the Hebrew word "Ratsim", which means "(We) are running".

The problem is the speed of speech and the accent.
If someone could just figure out what they are saying and write it in transcription like this: "tpth lty wl trgzn", I think I will be able to tranlate most of the senteneces to Hebrew and than to English.

And another thing - The CarthageSelect-006 probably means "Yes".

 

[UnforcedError]

@Absolution, these are the English transcripts of the sound-files:

Englandselect000 Reporting for duty
Englandselect001 At your service
Englandselect002 Tell me what to do
Englandselect003 Awaiting your orders
Englandselect004 Ready for action
Englandselect005 What's the plan?
Englandselect006 Yes
Englandselect007 Your orders
Englandselect008 What do you need?
Englandselect009 All present and accounted for

Carrying out orders:
EnglandOrder000 As you wish
EnglandOrder001 Move out
EnglandOrder002 Certainly
EnglandOrder003 We're on it
EnglandOrder004 No problem
EnglandOrder005 Consider it done
EnglandOrder006 Very well
EnglandOrder007 On our way
EnglandOrder008 Let's get moving
EnglandOrder009 You can count on us

This thread did a fantastic job in transcribing most of the phrases used in the game but Carthage is still missing. It would be great if you could give it a go.