mastermind wrote:
Eh... I might be spelling it wrong.
Færeyjar. Fareoran. Faeroan. Faeroinan????
Islands south-east of Iceland, under danish control, population of 50 000 or so, there was recently found oil there...
Can someone help me on this one.
The U.S. government refers to that 'self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark' as the 'Faroe Islands', though Merriam-Webster's (the premier dictionary of American English) spells it 'Faeroe Islands', with 'Faroe Islands' being an alternate spelling. Same goes for the word for the language and people of those islands: 'Faroese' or 'Faeroese'. See
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html and
www.merriam-webster.com.
[Off-topic, but rpg-relevant note: there's a Faroese musical group that attempts to revive Viking-era music using authentic period instruments (including the the lyre, flute, lure, rebec, shawm, and jew harp). Check 'em out at
http://www.krauka.dk/cd_english.htm. Thought this might be good for Norse-flavored campaigns.]
In response to the following question...
2.) What is the primary language in your area? (...and is it a notably different dialect than its original?)
...Steven McRownt answered:
Italian, and we don't have dialects here, just loads of different 'accents'
Mama mia! Italian doesn't have dialects?! *Every* language has dialects. While it's true that almost every Italian citizen speaks some form of Standard Italian (or at least a regional version of Standard Italian, which could correctly be referred to as an 'accent' [ie. slight differences in pronunciation, but grammar based on the written standard]), the home speech of many Italians would be considered by linguists to be separate languages (eg. Emiliano-Romagnolo, Ligurian, Piemontese, Venetian, and Sicilian) -- not to mention the entirely non-Italian minority languages native to Italy, such as Albanian, Ladin, Bavarian, Franco-Provençal, the Sardinian languages, and Greek(see .
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Italy for a full list of the languages of Italy). For a thorough examination of the question of "What is a language?" and "What is the difference between 'dialects' and 'languages'?", see
http://www.linguasphere.org/. For those that are interested, both the Linguasphere Register, and the Ethnologue
http://www.ethnologue.com/, attempt to list all the languages and dialects of the world (and the Ethnologue has spiffy linguistic maps for many countries as well).
Finally, here's my answers to the original questions:
1. I live in the community of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, City of Encinitas, County of San Diego, State of California, United States of America, Earth,...,Trichiliocosm,..., Kosmos.
2. The primary language of the County of San Diego is English (the prestige dialect is 'General American English'). In the time I've lived here (I'm from the East Coast), I've noticed a few minor localisms, such as 'No Worries!' (='That's OK') and the use of 'canyon' for what I'd call a 'valley'. Some of the rural Anglos speak with a Western American dialect (kinda like cowboys). There are people from every part of the world living in San Diego. The three largest ethnic groups, after non-Hispanic Whites (1.83M), include Mexican Americans (650K), African Americans (160K), and Filipino Americans (130K). A typical 'heritage language' for a member of these communities is likely, respectively, 'Mexican Spanish' (and even a Native American language of Mexico, such as the Zapotec language of one of my co-workers), 'African American English' (ie. 'Ebonics'), and Tagalog (and other languages of the Philipines). I must also note the numerically weak, though culturally vital Native American languages of the county, including Kumiái, Luiseño, and Cupeño.
By the way Mark, I must disagree with the term 'original' in the following question:
2.) What is the primary language in your area? (...and is it a notably different dialect than its original?)
What you refer to as the 'original language' should properly be referred to as the 'prestige dialect' or 'standard dialect'. According to linguists, *everyone* speaks a dialect -- it's just that some dialects have social prestige, and some have less prestige, or prestige in only limited circles. Among living dialects of a language, no one dialect can be considered the original or parent dialect, rather, they are all siblings.
3. I speak 'General American English' (learned through mass media, emulation of educated local speakers, and college education), though sometimes with the rapidity of 'Inland Northern American English' (from my Michigan-born dad)...and sometimes with some 'Southern American English' twang thrown in, particularly when I'm uncomfortable (I grew up in West Virginia, with a locally-born mom). (For reference, here's a couple dialect maps of the U.S.:
http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/home.html, and
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/1906/dialects.html). I speak some basic Mandarin (one semester intensive study in China), with a Beijing accent. I know the 'rules' for switching from 'Putonghua' (=standard Mandarin of mainland China) to 'Kuo-yu' (=standard Mandarin of Taiwan), so I try to alter my pronunciation depending on where the listener is from. Since moving to California, I've worked in a gas station, and as a produce clerk, so I've learned 'Gas Station-Produce Clerk Spanish' (including numbers, 'the bathroom is outside', 'the bathroom is occupied', 'here is the key for the bathroom', 'onion', 'cilantro', 'apple', and other useful speech). I also know how to count to ten in a lot of languages. Oh, and some Quenya, Sindarin, and Black Speech
.
4. For degree of fluency see my preceding answer.
5. I've only gamed in General American English. Though some of the local gamers speak Navy/Marine Corps English (ie. American English with a lot of military jargon)
.
6. The game materials I own are in English (most being in American English, though some classics written in British English, such as B10: Night's Dark Terror). I prefer English-language materials only to the degree I am unable to speak other languages. However, I have theory that nations whose soldiers play Dungeons & Dragons don't go to war with one another. So translating rpg rules and settings into other languages might contribute to world peace
. Another idea I had was to make culturally-relevant rpgs specifically for speakers and learners of endangered languages. For example, I imagine a d20 or OGL 'Cherokee Adventures' as a game setting (perhaps with Historical, Legendary, and Fantasy campaign options), with the books printed in both the Cherokee and English languages. Something like 'Oriental Adventures' or the upcoming 'African Adventures', but less syncretic. There are a lot of ways one could go about this. I read in an interview that Dave Arneson advocates using rpgs in the classroom, so I'm not alone in this desire.
7. The San Diego area is very well served. Game Empire is fully stocked, and only twenty miles away. There's also a WotC store, a Game Keeper, and an independent store (Game Cove) in a similar radius (though it's too bad Thrill Books in Encinitas went under).
If I spoke another language fluently, I'd love to help you translate.
Shane
