Civilization 7 Leaders Dialogue Translations

[notNamed]

Just dropping by to warn you that someone edited Himiko's pages on Fandom Wiki with Japanese lines that really don't match up with her actual lines.
I assume it might be someone who mistakenly believes that the Japanese translation of the game uses VA's lines directly in the text displayed to the player?

Either way, wiki articles tend to become canon gospels down the line so CFC should contact the wiki admins about this and correct it. And it's also a warning to all the other contemporary leaders in the game. Using the same method one could end up with jumbled lines for Napoleon, Trung Trac, etc. depending on how the respective localisations handled these lines. I assume they were given the English tooltip text and had to provide a translation of that, even if they speak the language being used by said leader?

EDIT: The lines got fixed. At least for Himiko.

 

[Archanist]

Fandom Wiki

Firaxis pls self hosted wiki D:

 

[Kankan]

According to some Hausa speakers, Amina actually speaks a more archaic form of Hausa rather than modern Hausa which I think is an amazing attention to detail!

 

[Guandao]

According to some Hausa speakers, Amina actually speaks a more archaic form of Hausa rather than modern Hausa which I think is an amazing attention to detail!

Do you think they can help translate/transliterate her lines?

 

[Kankan]

Do you think they can help translate/transliterate her lines?

I’ve been asking r/Hausa for help, so far they’ve helped transliterate her quote (as you’ll find on her Civ wiki page)

 

[Kankan]

Her quote in Hausa:

Ku ƙara wa sa makaman ku, ku sanya sirdi a kan dawakanku, ku nemi agaji buwayi Gagarau. Yau, mu ci galaba.

 

[notNamed]

I’ve been asking r/Hausa for help, so far they’ve helped transliterate her quote (as you’ll find on her Civ wiki page)

Nice.
Here's a video with all of her lines in the game, if you need a reference:

 

[Ryansinbela]

Has anyone figured out how to extract voices from the files

 

[Kankan]

Nice.
Here's a video with all of her lines in the game, if you need a reference:

Thanks! I’ll feed this to them and I’ll return with all the transliterations

 

[Red Khan]

Catherine:

Ха, я уже планирую свой триумфальный парад по случаю вашего поражения.

In-game translation: I am already planning my triumphal parade after your defeat.
Literal translation: Ha, I’m already planning a triumphal parade on the occasion of your defeat.
The "по случаю" (on the occasion of) is somewhat higher/literary style here, although not something that a modern person wouldn't use.

But what really shines is her accept deal line (somebody wrote it down in the Fandom Wiki):

Красно, быть посему.

Now that's some archaic usage of words and grammar, although I'm not qualified enough to tell if it's really Petrine Russian.

• The word красно (krasno) here is short for красный (krasniy) which in modern times means only "red", but it also has an archaic/poetic meaning of "beautiful".
• "Быть посему" (byt' posemu) is actually a phrase that Russian emperors used on documents to signify their approval of it. While googling it I actually found several sources stating that she used it on different documents. So kudos to the translator on this one.

 

[Ryansinbela]

The person who posted the Amina video also posted a Catherine video

 

[Red Khan]

The person who posted the Amina video also posted a Catherine video

Thanks! But somebody already added all her lines to the Fandom Wiki.

On a side note - her reject deal also uses a proverb and boy, do these tsars like their proverbs, Peter in Civ6 also used two of them. I'm no expert but in my opinion it breaks character, because in those days proverbs were used by the simple folk. Catherine, or any other noble in fact, would probably quote The Iliad, rather than use a proverb.
In fact, when in 1853 Vladimir Dal compiled his Proverbs of the Russian folk tsar Nicholas I himself forbid it's publishing so it was published much later in 1862 during the reign of his liberal son, Alexander II.
But I guess when translated directly they look amusing for the foreign eye, so...

 

[stealth_nsk]

Now that's some archaic usage of words and grammar, although I'm not qualified enough to tell if it's really Petrine Russian.

• The word красно (krasno) here is short for красный (krasniy) which in modern times means only "red", but it also has an archaic/poetic meaning of "beautiful".
• "Быть посему" (byt' posemu) is actually a phrase that Russian emperors used on documents to signify their approval of it. While googling it I actually found several sources stating that she used it on different documents. So kudos to the translator on this one.

Except I don't think "krasno" was ever used as an adverb in this meaning. This meaning was in use in high speech during that time, but only in shortened adjectives - I manage to find it's used in one of Lomonosov's poems.

 

[Andrew Johnson [FXS]]

While there is the off chance that Firaxis mixed up their Caesars, I'm going to just assume the best and believe that Augustus is paying an homage to his mentor. How sweet!

I know my Augustus from my Julius! But the line is just so good...

Re: another poster liking Isabella's lines, thanks! I wanted to make a character who felt entitled to the world, but also felt the need to say that she didn't feel entitled to the world. "I don't want it for me, but for God (in whose name I rule, so, yes, for me)."

 

[Sagax]

Except I don't think "krasno" was ever used as an adverb in this meaning. This meaning was in use in high speech during that time, but only in shortened adjectives - I manage to find it's used in one of Lomonosov's poems.

I legit thought that the audio was cut off, and she meant to say “PREkrasno” (прекрасно) - meaning “wonderful”. There is still a non-zero chance for that, the sentence just flows better with this word instead.

 

[stealth_nsk]

I legit thought that the audio was cut off, and she meant to say “PREkrasno” (прекрасно) - meaning “wonderful”. There is still a non-zero chance for that, the sentence just flows better with this word instead.

Yep, "prekrasno" is used that way now and was in very active use in Ekaterina time

 

[MonsieurOiseau]

Someone beat me to the Ibn Battuta translation by one day

 

[Sagax]

Thanks! But somebody already added all her lines to the Fandom Wiki.

I looked into the Wiki, and boy some of those lines may be a mess. I don't know where they got those lines for Confucius, but at least his defeat line is way off. It's possible that they were taken with the use of AI or auto-subtitling tools.

Current Wiki line: 大灾湖死也，君子惜眼，笑人羞眼。
Actual line: 大哉！死乎！君子息焉，小人休焉。

The actual line is taken straight from Xunzi, Chapter 27: "How great is death! The gentleman finds rest in it. The petty man comes to an end in it." (translation taken from Eric L. Hutton, apparently the author/editor of the main English version of the book?). I suspect most, if not all, of Confucius's lines are quotes from various Confucianist texts, but my low literacy with old Chinese texts doesn't allow me to transcribe all the lines by just listening to them...

Overall, I've found the in-game written lines pretty accurate to what's being said by leaders. We can nitpick specific choices of words here and there, but the message is being conveyed as intended.

 

[notNamed]

I looked into the Wiki, and boy some of those lines may be a mess. I don't know where they got those lines for Confucius, but at least his defeat line is way off. It's possible that they were taken with the use of AI or auto-subtitling tools.

It's the same editor as for Himiko, a user with the nickname of Zeke Hamishton.
Might actually be someone on CivFanatics? They were not only the one who uploaded the wrong lines but also the fixed lines soon after I pointed it out at the top.

In which case, enthusiasm is great and all but please keep up integrity as well. If you don't understand the language in question, the localized versions of the lines in-game, transcription tools or online translators do not make a suitable substitute. You need to be able to verify them somehow and that still comes down to proficiency in said language (for the living ones) or arduous research (for those which are only reconstructed or known from artifacts).

 

[untitledjuan]

I noticed Isabella's dialogues are cut at the beginning when they play in the game. For instance, when she begins with the word "no", she doesn't pronounce the "n" sound at the begining. The same happens with her other dialogues, the first sound of the first word is missing.