Language translations for leader sayings

[Red Khan]

@Red Khan Can you upload Basil and Ambiorix's lines onto Soundcloud? I would greatly appreciate it!

I'll try to do it on this weekend.

 

[notNamed]

Just shooting a question here folks, but are you in any way affiliated with the Civilopedia quotes?
I was kinda looking through Civ 5 Hiawatha's quotes and they're a bit of a mess. To give an example, his intro quote given as: "Greetings, Stranger. I am Hiawatha, speaker for the Iroquois. We seek peace with all but we do not shrink from war. (Skana'gá:. Í:naya Hiá:wà:'tha kiehandese. Ne'de yò:ngwe te nuyá:n, nero dinohsun.)" has issues. I'm not a speaker of Mohawk, so I can't do the whole thing justice (and while partially wrong, it doesn't look that bad to this guy), but it both mixes by-ear orthography and misinterpretations.
"Skana'gá:" is definitely not what the guy says, he says "Skén:nen kénhak" which you can check is a fairly normal Mohawk greeting. If we were to keep to the orthography established by the editor of the page, it would be "Sga:na'gahak." Likewise, the trailing portion of the second sentence is another fairly easily spotabble error where they didn't know the word, so the end is just "...nero dinohsun." I don't know if that could be interpreted as a real word in Mohawk or not, but within the contest of the quote and recording, he's obviously saying "ne Rotinon:hsonni./The Haudenosaunee" or back to his orthography again "ne Rodinu:hsuni".

So yeah, if you guys have any sway over those quotes, or perhaps know someone who speaks or is simply learning the language, it would be nice to return to Civ 5 for a moment and go over these once more.

 

[Morningcalm]

Updated parent post with Basil translations per earlier posts.

Just shooting a question here folks, but are you in any way affiliated with the Civilopedia quotes?
I was kinda looking through Civ 5 Hiawatha's quotes and they're a bit of a mess. To give an example, his intro quote given as: "Greetings, Stranger. I am Hiawatha, speaker for the Iroquois. We seek peace with all but we do not shrink from war. (Skana'gá:. Í:naya Hiá:wà:'tha kiehandese. Ne'de yò:ngwe te nuyá:n, nero dinohsun.)" has issues. I'm not a speaker of Mohawk, so I can't do the whole thing justice (and while partially wrong, it doesn't look that bad to this guy), but it both mixes by-ear orthography and misinterpretations.
"Skana'gá:" is definitely not what the guy says, he says "Skén:nen kénhak" which you can check is a fairly normal Mohawk greeting. If we were to keep to the orthography established by the editor of the page, it would be "Sga:na'gahak." Likewise, the trailing portion of the second sentence is another fairly easily spotabble error where they didn't know the word, so the end is just "...nero dinohsun." I don't know if that could be interpreted as a real word in Mohawk or not, but within the contest of the quote and recording, he's obviously saying "ne Rotinon:hsonni./The Haudenosaunee" or back to his orthography again "ne Rodinu:hsuni".

So yeah, if you guys have any sway over those quotes, or perhaps know someone who speaks or is simply learning the language, it would be nice to return to Civ 5 for a moment and go over these once more.

I'm not involved with the Civilopedia quotes, but I did create a thread way back when collating language translations for Civ V leaders. If you want to provide corrected translations, you should be able to update the Civ V wiki.

 

[Red Khan]

Just shooting a question here folks, but are you in any way affiliated with the Civilopedia quotes?

You probably mean the Fandom Wikia?
https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Hiawatha_(Civ5)#Lines

Feel free to edit it (in a responsible manner ). You don't even need to register.

 

[God of Kings]

You probably mean the Fandom Wikia?
https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Hiawatha_(Civ5)#Lines

Feel free to edit it (in a responsible manner ). You don't even need to register.

Important note: Wikia is now Fandom. They are one and the same. Thus, Fandom Wikia is a pleonasm.

 

[Red Khan]

@Red Khan Can you upload Basil and Ambiorix's lines onto Soundcloud? I would greatly appreciate it!

As promised.

Ambiorix - https://soundcloud.com/user-137283764/sets/ambiorix

Basil II - https://soundcloud.com/user-137283764/sets/basil-ii
Maybe @Basileus Rhomaion might want to have a look at the pep talk here. It's all Greek to me (sorry, couldn't resist this pun ), but it seems that he only says the first sentence of his Civilopedia quote.

I am Basil, the Bulgar-Slayer. I am Basil, both hero and villain, loved by my people and hated by my enemies. Power depends on two things: the force of arms and the observance of laws.

And I humbly remind, that Gorgo's warning/agenda disapproval line is still not written down. It can be heard here and it's in-game translation is

Are you such a coward, to avoid bloodshed? To yield so easily? Where is your honor?

 

[Red Khan]

Speaking of new leader's Civilopedia quotes:

I wasn't able to find source for Ambiorix's quote

Come, enemy. Send an ambassador, for I have something to say which will benefit us both.

but I have a feeling that it's inspired by some lines from Ceaser's Commentarii de Bello Gallico.

The last sentence of Basil II's quote is a slightly rephrased sentence from the second preface of the Code of Justinian, so the original quote should be in Latin, not Greek.

I am Basil, the Bulgar-Slayer. I am Basil, both hero and villain, loved by my people and hated by my enemies. Power depends on two things: the force of arms and the observance of laws.

The maintenance of the integrity of the government depends upon two things - namely, the force of arms and the observance of the laws - and, for this reason, the fortunate race of the Romans obtained power and precedence over all other nations in former times...

Source

 

[Red Khan]

Wikia is updated with the name of the voice actors. Here is the list:

Menelik II - Debebe Eshetu
Simón Bolívar - Iván Ramón Orihuela Raschery
Lady Six Sky - Carla Castañeda Mendoza

So I was right - it's was indeed some really lazy casting on the side of whoever did the recording in Mexico.

 

[God of Kings]

Wikia is updated with the name of the voice actors. Here is the list:

Menelik II - Debebe Eshetu
Simón Bolívar - Iván Ramón Orihuela Raschery
Lady Six Sky - Carla Castañeda Mendoza

So I was right - it's was indeed some really lazy casting on the side of whoever did the recording in Mexico.

I bet that the recording studio in Mexico that Firaxis contracted out to intentionally had celebrity voice actor Carla Castañeda Mendoza voice Lady Six Sky so that Latin American Civ players can recognize her voice.

That is in contrast to Civ IV and Civ V that mainly had university professors in Montreal voice units or leaders, respectively.

I personally prefer university professors voicing civ leaders than celebrity voice actors, especially when it comes to languages not widely spoken today.

 

[Zaarin]

I personally prefer university professors voicing civ leaders than celebrity voice actors, especially when it comes to languages not widely spoken today.

Celebrity VAs who speak the language in question is one thing, but I would have preferred someone who could, you know, speak a Mayan language, ideally K'iche'.

 

[Basileus Rhomaion]

Basil II - https://soundcloud.com/user-137283764/sets/basil-ii
Maybe @Basileus Rhomaion might want to have a look at the pep talk here. I don't know any Greek, but it seems that he only says the first sentence of his Civilopedia quote.

Yes he does, and incorrectly so; he stresses the word "Voulgaroktonos" (Bulgar-slayer) as "VoulgarOktonos" rather than "VoulgaroktOnos". Kind of disappointing as well that his pep talk is something as basic/pointless as that.

And I humbly remind, that Gorgo's warning/agenda disapproval line is still not written down. It can be heard here and it's in-game translation is

Sorry about that, I forgot about it with all the Byzantium things going on. Here's what I was able to make out:

"Ούτως θρασύς εί ώστε το αίμα φεύγειν; Πη ένδει α τιμά τέος;" = Are you so bold/courageous as to avoid blood (bloodshed)? How can your honour be so lacking?

It's honestly very hard to understand because of the mediocre pronunciation of reconstructed ancient Greek and the fact it's a Doric dialect as well. I wouldn't be surprised if most of what I heard is actually something completely different, but I guess it will suffice for now.

 

[Red Khan]

I bet that the recording studio in Mexico that Firaxis contracted out to intentionally had celebrity voice actor Carla Castañeda Mendoza voice Lady Six Sky so that Latin American Civ players can recognize her voice.

That is in contrast to Civ IV and Civ V that mainly had university professors in Montreal voice units or leaders, respectively.

I personally prefer university professors voicing civ leaders than celebrity voice actors, especially when it comes to languages not widely spoken today.

I think that the difference is purely organizational. When recording for Civ5 they tried to find people speaking the language as close to Montreal as possible. And where else to look for people that speak rare languages if not the nearest university.

When they recorded for Civ6 they decided to find actors who are also native speakers (and I kinda like to wishfully think that the criticism in the previous installation of this thread had it's part in it ). That's why they outsourced a studio in Spain that cast a real Spaniard for Philip, a studio in Russia that cast a professional voice actor for Peter and found a voice actress for Tomyris who is both a native speaker of Ossetian and a professional theatrical actress.
But unfortunately whoever Firaxis outsourced in Mexico deceived them, they didn't cast native speaker of Maya. And it's not that a professional actress speaking Maya is hard to come by.

There are also Yucatec language soap operas and television programs on local TV channels in the Yucatan. There are lots of Yucatec voice actors in the newest Tomb Raider game too, if you turn on the immersion mode. Funnily enough, Pacal in Civ V actually had a decent native speaker of Yucatec as the voice actor.

The same is most probably true for Montezuma's Nahuatl.
So IMHO it's lazy casting and not doing a proper job on behalf of subcontractor in Mexico and I hope Firaxis will never work with them again.

Yes he does, and incorrectly so; he stresses the word "Voulgaroktonos" (Bulgar-slayer) as "VoulgarOktonos" rather than "VoulgaroktOnos". Kind of disappointing as well that his pep talk is something as basic/pointless as that.

Thanks a lot. Can you please do just one more favor and write it down in Greek alphabet? So we will have a full set for Basil.

 

[Red Khan]

I bet that the recording studio in Mexico that Firaxis contracted out to intentionally had celebrity voice actor Carla Castañeda Mendoza voice Lady Six Sky so that Latin American Civ players can recognize her voice.

Speaking of recognizing the voice. Peter's VA, Mikhail Danilyuk, is a professional dubbing actor, there is 240 dubbed films and TV series in his portfolio. When I first heard Peter I couldn't shake off a feeling that his voice is unnatural. And now I think I understand why - it was a paradox to me. I recognized the voice and subconsciously thought that Peter is dubbed. But Peter is Russian and he can't be dubbed.

 

[Guandao]

I think that the difference is purely organizational. When recording for Civ5 the tried to find people speaking the language as close to Montreal as possible. And where else to look for people that speak rare languages if not the nearest university.

When they recorded for Civ6 they decided to find actors who are also native speakers (and I kinda like to wishfully think that the criticism in the previous installation of this thread had it's part in it ). That's why they outsourced a studio in Spain that cast a real Spaniard for Philip, a studio in Russia that cast a professional voice actor for Peter and found a voice actress for Tomyris who is both a native speaker of Ossetian and a professional theatrical actress.
But unfortunately whoever Firaxis outsourced in Mexico deceived them, they didn't cast native speaker of Maya. And it's not that a professional actress speaking Maya is hard to come by.

The same is most probably true for Montezuma's Nahuatl.
So IMHO it's lazy casting and not doing a proper job on behalf of subcontractor in Mexico and I hope Firaxis will never work with them again.

I'm still bummed out they casted an Egyptian guy as Mansa Musa....Seems like a downgrade from Askia speaking Zarma in Civ5 to Mansa Musa speaking in Arabic in Civ6. He probably did knew how to speak Arabic, but still......it would have been nice to hear him mix it up with a Mande language like Bambara or Mandinka....especially since Amanitore didn't speak in Arabic and her VA is Egyptian.

But the worst is a Mexican voice actor speaking Akkadian as Gilgamesh.....

 

[Basileus Rhomaion]

Thanks a lot. Can you please do just one more favor and write it down in Greek alphabet? So we will have a full set for Basil.

"Ειμί [ο] Βασίλειος ο Βουλγαροκτόνος"

 

[Red Khan]

"Ειμί [ο] Βασίλειος ο Βουλγαροκτόνος"

Thanks a lot again!

BTW, if judged by the number of transcribed and translated lines, you have contributed the most to this thread, since Basil is the fourth(!) leader that speaks Greek.

 

[Zaarin]

But the worst is a Mexican voice actor speaking Akkadian as Gilgamesh.....

His pronunciation is bad, but his delivery is good. Cf. Robert the Bruce whose pronunciation is good but whose delivery has all the inflection and emotional nuance of text-to-speech software. Then there's Lady Six Sky whose delivery is about as weak as her pronunciation so...

Tomyris who is both a native speaker of Ossetian and a professional theatrical actress.

Over time I think Tomyris has become one of my favorites, both for her delivery and for the lovely sound of Ossetian.

 

[Basileus Rhomaion]

Thanks a lot again!

BTW, if judged by the number of transcribed and translated lines, you have contributed the most to this thread, since Basil is the fourth(!) leader that speaks Greek.

Alas, Cleopatra doesn't speak some Greek as well as she should have been :^) But yeah, no problem, I like contributing to this kind of stuff, it's part of the Civ experience for me, actually.

 

[Red Khan]

OK, @Morningcalm, we have a full set for Basil. You can just copy paste from Wikia article that I updated.
https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Basil_II_(Civ6)#Voiced

 

[Basileus Rhomaion]

Belated correction: I was discussing some of the Greek lines in Civ 6 with other people online and there was a disagreement about Gorgo's disapproval and Basil's disapproval line. For the Gorgo one we didn't quite settle, but for the Basil disapproval line I made a mistake in the second word. The quote is:

"Σπανίζεις σεμνότητος, τιμής, ευσεβείας, παντών ως απεργάζονται τον άρχονταν δίκαιον. Ίσως πρέπει με μιμείσαι."

The only change is "σεμνότητος" instead of "ενότητος". The translation is the same, with the only exception that "unity" is swapped with "dignity" (like the in-game translation mentions).

I'll post again in case I have any new findings on the Gorgo line as well.