Talk:Languages

Proposed for Dec 2010

Two new human languages, one Italian equivalent primarily for Palestrina. Could also apply to Tuscana - I couldn't find any reference to the languages used there. The other to cover the 'Scandanavian'lands North-West of the Baronies/wk region. For game purposes we're simplifying them to two languages, with the expectation that both have regional dialects.

Language	Max Rk	Families	Groups	Notes
Paliano	9w	Western-Human	Elvidic	Language of Palestrina, equivalent to old Italian. A different dialect in every city/state.
Norsk	9r	Western-Human	Dwarvidic	Language of Ivinia, Shorkyne and other northern lands. Various local dialects.
Mylae	9r	Eastern Human	Hiin	Language of the Theropsid Isles and other far southeastern lands down to the SW of Kinlu. Various local dialects.

Amusingly, 5% of the popn of Mordeaux speak Tuscanan (my bad), but there is no evidence of Tuscanans speaking any language at all. Ross should be able to tell us whether Tuscanans speak Common with an atrocious accent because its their second language, or just to annoy adventurers!

Likewise, Kelsie shold be able to tell us what the Palestrinians speak, as there is no wiki evidence of a language, or even people there.

We might want to consider tying Alman and Norsk closely together? Again Ivania and Shorkyne don't seem to mention languages, and Jon or Jono might be able to tell us what language(s) are used there.

I guess I just want to check with the campaign history before adding yet more languages. Andreww

You can have accents within a language, i.e. where the person speaking shares the same mother tongue as the addressee(s), and we are all occasionally aware of that. Most Scots speakers do not speak Gaelic as their mother tongue, for example. Accents could be, and frequently were, so strong as to be impenetrable to people passing through areas.

Perhaps, instead of adding entire languages or dialects, just make it an accent that is tricky to follow until an adventurer gets used to it. In reality, the huge diversity of languages per square kilometer of living space that we see in DQ just never existed.

More to the point, it's hard to see what the game advantage is of having so many languages. In the end, it's just entries on character sheets with numbers beside them. Consider that having a passing understanding of as many as 4 other languages is a substantial intellectual achievement. Velcanthus

Despite what Jim claims, the number of languages per sqm in DQ is probably less than on earth. Depending on how you count, there are between 400 and 1700 'mother-tongue' languages/dialects spoken in India alone (120+ of whom are spoken by > 10,000 people). I believe India is smaller than the Baronies. However, I agree with him on game-play benefits (something sadly overlooked by the game designers of Earth). Andreww

If you count Urdu and Hindi as different languages, feel free. However, they never require translators, and children born in N.Z. who learn Hindi have no difficulty understanding Urdo or indeed other languages when they travel through Pakistan. Yes, some of the Sinhalese languages ARE different, but they are a long way away.Velcanthus

Proposed Changes for Sept 2009

The following new languages and changes to existing languages are proposed for voting at the September 2009 GMs meeting.

New Languages

Ruskan [9k]

Family: Eastern Human

Group: Dwarvidic

Hindian [9b]

Family: Eastern Human

Group: Hiin

Vanaran [9b], Dawon [7], Rabari [8b], Dimasa [10b,n], Sora [6], Gnoll [7], Karbi [9]

Family: Bestial

Group: Hiin

Changed Languages

Lunar Empire

Add to Group: Titanic

Five-Sisters-Courtly[10*] and Five-Sisters-Trader[9*]

Replace with: Five-Sisters[10*]

Add to Group: Dravidic

Language note for Five Sisters - most merchants and traders also speak their own heavily accented dialect of Common.

Old Kravonian

Remove, it is the same language as Kravonian.

Khuzdul

Remove, it is the same language as Dwarven.

Frogelf

The language is actually Tenochan, but was nicknamed Frogelven by guild members.

Purple-Drow, Purple-Old-Drow, and Purpuric group

Remove from rules as they are not Alusian languages. Moved to Foreign Languages section on the wiki.

Sasquatch

Move from Family: Earth Dweller (they are not) to Family: Bestial.

Yeti

Remove, it is the same language as Sasquatch.

Doppleganger

Add to Group: Hiin

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Conversion Notes

Characters with ranks in Five-Sisters-Courtly or Five-Sisters-Trader transfer their rank to Five-Sisters. Characters with ranks in both may transfer to a higher rank in Five-Sisters based on XP/Time spent, rounding up in players favour, or transfer the lower rank to a different language.

The same applies for ranks in Old Kravonian => Kravonian.

The same for Khuzdul => Dwarven

The same for Yeti => Sasquatch