Figure out what Dido will speak?

[Suppiluliuma 1]

It will be interesting to know which language the Developers have got Dido of Carthage speaking.

As is well known, the Phoenician (better known as Canaanite) language is extinct. But enough is known about the language to classify it as a Semitic language of the Canaanite subgroup; its closest living relative is Hebrew, to which it is very similar; then Aramaic, then Arabic.
I cannot see the Devs making Dido speak Hebrew.
My guess is that they went with Aramaic.

What do you all think?

 

[snipperrabbit!!]

Aramaic with a Lebanese accent ?

 

[Louis XXIV]

There are people with a decent knowledge of Phoenician. There are youtube videos with people speaking it. However, it is uncommon. My suspicion is, if they can't find someone to speak Phoenician, Tunisian Arabic would be the next logical choice, followed by Lebanese Arabic (representing Carthage first and Phoenicia second).

 

[Civciv5]

I guess Dido will speak Tunisian Arabic.
Ramesses II speaks Arabic instead of Egyptian.
They are simply too lazy too search for a speaker of Egyptian and too stingy.
I guess they will do that again.
Although I hope not.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I wouldn't say lazy. It's extremely difficult to find one who can get to their studio to record (although if you find a male speaker of Ancient Egyptian in French Canada who sounds as cool as Ramses does in game, I'll take back my point. Still, I don't think you should call Firaxis lazy until you do).

 

[Guandao]

Once we get the game and the dialogue, shall we make a thread here with the translations?

It's possible that Dido will speak a Berber language like Kabyle. There's already two Arabic speakers in the game already. I'm not a fan of having multiple leaders speak the same language.

As for Ramesses speaking Egyptian Arabic, I find it likely that Firaxis wanted Egyptian players to understand his dialogue. A lot of Egyptologists understand Ancient Egyptian and probably know Coptic too.

 

[Louis XXIV]

We have two German speakers and six Germanic speakers. Arabic dialects can actually vary quite significantly.

Dido (or really any Carthaginian leader) would not have spoken a word of Berber. Arabic is probably a closer language to Punic as well.

There are not that many speakers of Coptic in the world and even fewer in the US. I think Ramses was a practical consideration and not so Egyptian players (however many there are) could understand him.

 

[Guandao]

Why not? Wouldn't the Carthaginian leaders need to know a Berber language to communicate with the locals?

 

[Louis XXIV]

Locals where? Did they also need to speak Sicel, Greek, Iberian, or whatever was spoken in Sardinia? Given the imperial nature of the city, it would have made more sense for the Numidians within their sphere to speak Punic.

 

[Guandao]

Numidians were Berbers

 

[Louis XXIV]

I know. I said it makes more sense for them to speak Carthaginian when interacting with Carthage than for Carthage to learn Berber languages.

 

[Guandao]

Carthaginian being Phoenician?
I guess Tunisian Arabic is an ok substitute.
But at least we got Nebuchadnezzar speaking Akkadian than Iraqi Arabic

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I really hope the don't use Arabic.
Aramaic would be OK, although Darius already speaks it.

 

[Guandao]

I wonder what Dido's theme was based on.
It's sounds more like Rome's theme than Middle Eastern music
Could it be entirely made up?

 

[Pangur Bán]

Don't think the masses of Numidians would have known Punic; doesn't tend to work that way in other places. As far as these things go a Berber dialect is probably a good choice, second in relevance after Punic itself.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Is it really more likely for the leader of Carthage to learn the language of the peoples essentially at the borders of their territory than it is for them to learn Punic for trade and interaction with the center?

The city of Carthage did not have a dominantly Numidian population and neither would the Carthaginian colonies in Spain, Sardinia, etc.

 

[Pangur Bán]

You tend to find that successful general types like that learn such languages. Wouldn't be surprised if Hannibal had some Celtic either .. more than the average Scot or Irishman today!

Re Cathage city. We don't have the foggiest. The hinterland of Carthage spoke languages akin to modern Berber dialects as far as I'm aware. This means you can't really fairly say that Berber is comparable with hinterland languages in Iberia and Sardinia. I'm sort of vaguely aware that there is good evidence for use of Berber in Roman-era urban sites in this region of Africa.

 

[Guandao]

What kind of people lived in Carthage?
Was there mass immigration from Phoenicia?
Or people from Sicily, Sardinia, Hispania?

 

[snipperrabbit!!]

Dido came from the Levant ! Only words from lebanese area is relevant !

 

[Pangur Bán]

Well, Dido probably didn't exist.

Having Dido as ruler of Carthage is pretty much like having Clytemnestra as leader of the Greeks.