Wu Zetian- more imperial grace needed?

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MISER SVM

Grand Procrastinator
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This is a purely aesthetical nag. I'm sure the voice actress did put some effort and time into this, but I am a bit unnerved by the historical character's lines. If possible, I'd have liked a more classical Chinese way of expressing herself (don't get me wrong, but CAesar's speaking Latin, right? Cannot judge about Megas Alexandros though- I don't know any Greek. And of course it's mainly for convenience that Ramesses speaks modern Egyptian Arab- so this request maybe a bit too much). I think it'S not that hard to combine that, as Chinese historical dramas and wuxia flicks do that a lot too. Of course she should still use "colloquial" eg common spoken Chinese, but just some bits of classical would add to the atmosphere. Just putting in some classical expression. I mean, come on 你好我是武则天 (Ni hao wo shi Wu Zetian) that's almost like Elizabeth saying "Hi there, I'm Lizzie..." No at least she should use more imperial language like using 朕 (first person pronoun restricted exclusively to the emperor) to refer to herself. I hope that's not misconstrued somehow. I'm not asking to do Karlgren-like authentic Tang-Dynasty Chinese pronunciation, just something more elegant and "historically accurate"-

So what are your thoughts on some of the other leaders?
 
I play with animated leaders off and have all the game sounds muted so I can listen to music as I play (also so I never have to hear 'would you be interested in a trade agreement with England?' again...), but I can see why this would annoy someone with enough knowledge of the languages.
 
I think I saw somewhere in this forum that Ceasar speaks Italian, not Latin.
 
Escalate said:
I think I saw somewhere in this forum that Ceasar speaks Italian, not Latin.
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What you probably saw was that Caesar speaks Latin with an Italian accent. Since we don't know what the classical accent sounded like, I struggle to see how this is a problem. I wonder what accent people would like the emperor to use -- American? Greek? Swedish?
 
Most of Civ V's target audience will be unable to appreciate the fine distinctions between Chinese personal pronouns (or the nuances in any other foreign language for that matter), so it is hardly surprising that the game developers didn't put much effort into linguistic accuracy. At least they bothered to hire someone who could speak idiomatic Chinese, not some awkward fake-Chinese that I sometimes hear used on Western TV shows and movies.

I do agree, however, that Wu Zetian doesn't feel imperial at all. I would have imagined her to be a haughty and formidable empress, not a diminutive young lady who still looks and acts like a concubine.
 
its always kind of bothered me that elizabeth speaks modern english, and not, you know, elizabethan english.
 
My Chinese friends commented on how her pronunciation was ok, but the lines she was speaking would not befit an empress at all. Quite agreed. Also, I hate how she doesn't have a Peaceful message, as when you get to the point where she's suing for peace and you agree (normally AI at this point say their Peaceful line, and they change their stance from hate to neutral via a unique anim). It means that not only is she silent when making peace, but the animation bugs out. Ugh.

As for Augustus, he's speaking Classical Latin (not Ecclesiastical). Italian accent maybeeee, but I doubt it, as the Augustus voice actor's name is not Italian. Sounds like he might be French though.

Good thing with Augustus though, is that his lines actually befit an Emperor. "My treasury is low and my soldiers are impatient....therefore you must die". XD
 
This was actually one of the few minor annoyances I had with the game as well. I'm not Chinese but I have lived in China for a little bit and speak Mandarin (kind of) and Wu's voice and lines immediately felt much too informal (escpecially considering, as the OP pointed out, that the language is rife with terms that denote status, none of which are used by Wu.)

She sounds like a bank teller.
 
Willowmound said:
What you probably saw was that Caesar speaks Latin with an Italian accent. Since we don't know what the classical accent sounded like, I struggle to see how this is a problem. I wonder what accent people would like the emperor to use -- American? Greek? Swedish?
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Actually, more specifically, he speaks Latin with an Italian rhythm (which I think Ecclesiastical Latin uses as well). His pronunciation is proper Roman Latin. Vs have a W sound, Cs are hard, etc. I actually think he's one of the better voice actors in the game (he speaks a dead language fluently and actually puts proper emotion into it).

As for Wu, well she wasn't of noble birth, was she? Granted, she wouldn't be speaking modern Mandarin either, but maybe she would have been speaking the historical equivalent of what she speaks in the game.

BTW, about Elizabeth. I realize an English accent at the time was very different than the RP accent she speaks with in the game, but is there anything she says that is specifically anachronistic as far as dialog goes?
 
Willowmound said:
What you probably saw was that Caesar speaks Latin with an Italian accent. Since we don't know what the classical accent sounded like, I struggle to see how this is a problem. I wonder what accent people would like the emperor to use -- American? Greek? Swedish?
Click to expand...

Which Italian accent though? Italian friends assure me there are many and although I couldn't tell the difference myself I can see the problem for an Italian player if Caesar speaks with a Neapolitan accent for example.
 
MarkC1 said:
how on earth do you do this?? Ive looked around game options and found nothing
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In config.ini there's an option called LeaderHead which, if you set it to 1, will change all leader scenes into a grey featureless screen (which at least doesn't lag). I use it for modding
 
AmazonQueen said:
Which Italian accent though? Italian friends assure me there are many and although I couldn't tell the difference myself I can see the problem for an Italian player if Caesar speaks with a Neapolitan accent for example.
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Most likely Florentine, but, like I said, he's pronouncing everything correctly (I haven't listened for the vowels, but I believe so there). He doesn't have a Neapolitan accent, that's for sure.

Compare his accent to the Italian intro video if you want (it actually sounds like his Es are a bit shorter than the narrators. Just compare the word Bene).
 
AmazonQueen said:
Which Italian accent though? Italian friends assure me there are many and although I couldn't tell the difference myself I can see the problem for an Italian player if Caesar speaks with a Neapolitan accent for example.
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I don't know, I don't speak Italian. All I'm saying is, this was the discussion a while back.
 
Louis XXIV said:
Most likely Florentine, but, like I said, he's pronouncing everything correctly (I haven't listened for the vowels, but I believe so there). He doesn't have a Neapolitan accent, that's for sure.

Compare his accent to the Italian intro video if you want (it actually sounds like his Es are a bit shorter than the narrators. Just compare the word Bene).
Click to expand...

Its not a problem for me, I can't tell 1 Italian accent from another, but if I could it would make most sense for him to have a Roman accent, which I'm told by Italian friends is quite different
 
Suleiman wrote poetry, I wonder if he mentioned his beard and belly in there? If not, I'd be happy to agree that it's silly. (Certainly not befitting the wise lawgiver he was acclaimed to be in the Muslim world).

I do like how Wu mentions Yama (king of Hell) in one of her lines. Adds some nice flavor beyond the "Ok," and "My friend, would you accept this trade proposal?" which is pretty much the same text (in different languages) for all the other leaders' Neutral Yes 01 and Request sound clips.
 
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