what are the units saying when you click them?

[civvver]

The american and english ones I can understand, being an english speaker, but what are the other guys saying? Are the languages actually correct? I'm assuming they are but say for instance the indian units. Doesn't india use many different languages depending on the area? And the dead languages like from ancient egypt and rome, do they use ancient egyptian and latin or arabic and italian?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I'm not sure. Probably "Lemon, you're going to lose again."

 

[Windsor]

The german, spanish and vikings are saying the same things as the english and american. I assume the rest does the same.

The vikings speaks modern norwegian and not old norse as they should.

 

[Gorey]

only non english ones i can understand are the german ones.


Haben Sie ein Plan?

 

[Yared]

Though I don't speak Amarinya, the language I speak (Tigrinya) is close enough for me to understand some of what they're saying.

Ne-ge-re-ni = Tell me

 

[Junuxx]

Romans --> Latin
Aztecs --> Nahuatl
India --> Sanskrit, I guess? Or Hindi?
Egypt --> Reconstructed ancient Egyptian
HRE --> Some kind of Old German I guess
Byzantines --> Medieval Latin? or Greek?
Inca --> Quecha
Ethiopia --> Amharic (thanks yared)
Khmer --> Khmer/Cambodian
Mali --> Mandinka
Zulu --> isiZulu
Ottomans --> Turkish
Greeks --> not sure whether they speak ancient or modern Greek
Babylon --> ?
Sumer --> ?
Mayans --> ?
Carthage --> ?
Native Americans --> ?
Celts --> ?

 

[Grey Fox]

The languages spoken are as close to the original language spoken by the civilization.'

The Mayan for example is, I believe, actual Mayan.

They are all saying pretty much what the english speaking units say, but in their own language.

 

[Yared]

Amarinya = Amharic

sorry if I confused you guys

 

[Gooblah]

Indian units speak Hindi - though, interestingly, it could be Gujurati, considering the Civilopedia entry for the Fast Worker. Both sound similar (and I know neither! ).

 

[dannythefool]

HRE --> Some kind of Old German I guess

It sounds like a possibly modern Low German dialect. It's definitely not Old High German.

Byzantines --> Medieval Latin?

Sounds more like Greek. Although I think they still used Latin under Justinian I.

Greeks --> not sure whether they speak ancient or modern Greek

If I am right about the Byzantines, I'd guess that the Greeks speak modern Greek because it is different from what the Byzantine units say. Maybe someone who actually speaks Greek will eventually read this thread ;-)


All the countries that still exist today seem to be using their modern languages as far as I can tell.

 

[Conneely]

I can say that the Japanese basically say the same as the American/English.

 

[Junuxx]

It sounds like a possibly modern Low German dialect. It's definitely not Old High German.

Öcher Platt, perhaps?
Would make some sense for Charlemagne, though not so much for the HRE as a whole.

 

[pesgores]

The Portuguese speak European Portuguese and say basily the same as the Americans and English.

 

[De Begerac]

If I am right about the Byzantines, I'd guess that the Greeks speak modern Greek because it is different from what the Byzantine units say. Maybe someone who actually speaks Greek will eventually read this thread ;-)

As it happens.......

Greek spoken is modern greek and same meaning as all the other languages.

Cyrano

 

[r_rolo1]

The Portuguese speak European Portuguese and say basily the same as the Americans and English.

European Portuguese and with a very definite accent... it is almost possible to pinpoint from where the voice bearer comes from

 

[hrhj2]

Öcher Platt, perhaps?
Would make some sense for Charlemagne, though not so much for the HRE as a whole.

Although I cannot say for certain it would be the Aachener dialect, it certainly sounds like a form of Plattdeutsch, somewhere between high German and Dutch.

BTW, although Dutch units do speak modern dutch , they sound very slightly out of date to me: a bit like people spoke in ww2-and fifities-era movies and news reels. Just slightly too well-articulated and affected... but hey, it's not too often I get to hear my native language in a computer game

EDIT: and yes, they say about the same things they do in English.

 

[Willem]

Are the languages actually correct?

I'm pretty sure that no one knows how ancient Sumerian is supposed to sound. They're just using modern day equivalents and not the real languages for the most part. Latin is probably the only ancient language they're doing correctly.

 

[Yared]

I'm pretty sure that no one knows how ancient Sumerian is supposed to sound. They're just using modern day equivalents and not the real languages for the most part. Latin is probably the only ancient language they're doing correctly.

If you're right then the Ethiopians are speaking Amharic - which is what I originally thought. But the language spoken during the reign of Zara Yaqob (1434 – 1468) was Ge'ez (predecessor) so they might be speaking that.

I'll get a relative who can tell the difference to listen to it. I can't really imagine the Civ team going through all the trouble of finding a Ge'ez talker when it's 1000x easier to just hire a random Ethiopian...

I'll get back to you on it!

 

[civverguy]

I'm pretty sure they say the same things as the English ones. The Chinese Mandarin voices say, "what do you need?" "Your will" "what?" etc., same as the English voices. Except I feel the pronounciation are too formal and kind of slow, like it sounds like its being read in a classroom.

 

[Junuxx]

BTW, although Dutch units do speak modern dutch , they sound very slightly out of date to me: a bit like people spoke in ww2-and fifities-era movies and news reels. Just slightly too well-articulated and affected... but hey, it's not too often I get to hear my native language in a computer game

I think the Dutch voice sounds very much like Joost Prinsen, although I'm not really sure it's him.