Correspondence between real and fantasy languages
- Thread starter Roman
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WhatGravitas
Explorer
"Kieslutscher" - großartig! Wird sofort geklaut für meine Kampagne!Kae'Yoss said:
But otherwise, yeah, what should we Germans here take for Dwarven, if our "Common" is already German?
AbeTheGnome
First Post
i just think common is such a bad idea. i mean, there are so many great roleplaying opportunities to be had with (mis)translation.
AFGNCAAP
First Post
Well, normally I don't go with equating real world languages with fantasy languages: I tried to this with a 2E campaign, but I found myself stuck when I tried to determine what real languages to relate to those of "evil" races like goblins, orcs, etc.--just seemed kinda wrong to make that association.
I am sorta-kinda using this in a campaign I'm using now, but that's because the PCs are people from Earth, brought over into a D&D-like realm (kinda like the D&D cartoon, though with a reality TV show idea behind it instead of a cartoon). As part of the magics that brought them over, the languages that they knew acted as the equivalent to languages in the realm: Common = English; Halfling = Spanish; Dwarven = German; Elven = French; Celestial = Quenya/Sindarin; Infernal = Klingon; Draconic = Proto-Indo-European; etc.
(I equated old/extinct & fictional languages to languages I thought would be rarer to encounter/know. IMHO, it makes them a bit more exotic/arcane-sounding).
However, these equivalencies are just for simplicity: the actual languages aren't even remotely related to one another as the Earth-based-analogs may suggest.
I am sorta-kinda using this in a campaign I'm using now, but that's because the PCs are people from Earth, brought over into a D&D-like realm (kinda like the D&D cartoon, though with a reality TV show idea behind it instead of a cartoon). As part of the magics that brought them over, the languages that they knew acted as the equivalent to languages in the realm: Common = English; Halfling = Spanish; Dwarven = German; Elven = French; Celestial = Quenya/Sindarin; Infernal = Klingon; Draconic = Proto-Indo-European; etc.
(I equated old/extinct & fictional languages to languages I thought would be rarer to encounter/know. IMHO, it makes them a bit more exotic/arcane-sounding).
However, these equivalencies are just for simplicity: the actual languages aren't even remotely related to one another as the Earth-based-analogs may suggest.
Nyaricus
First Post
I've never actually gone out and made equivalencies for RL and fantasy languages in my game. I suppose if I were to do so, then my list would look something like the following:
That sounds about right to me
cheers,
--N
- Draconic = Latin, absolutely. Giving Lizardfolk spanish accents is a cool idea, IMO
The Kobolds should, of course, be French (just think about it.... 
) - Dwarven = Old German
- Elven, High = Finnish (going after Tolkienisms here)
- Elven, Low = Welsh (Tolkien, again)
- Giant = Old Norse (Nordic giants get to speak Norse, of course)
- Gnome = Yiddish (an almost forgotten language, derived from German - in much the same way the gnomes are a forgotten folk derived from Dwarves? That works!)
- Goblin and Orc = ?? Not sure, really - what about Gothic? Or Slavic? Slavic might work...
- Halfling = Romany (or, in English "Gypsy")
- Yuan-ti = Old Persian (A very beautiful language, has a great flow to it [had a teacher who read a few poems or something in it])
- Abyssal, Celestial and Infernal = Semitic, mainly Arabic and Hebrew
- Druidic = Goidelic (the Gaelic "root" language the celts spoke)
That sounds about right to me
cheers,
--N
Prince of Happiness
First Post
Lord Tirian said:
Swedish.
From my world
Languages in Midrea fall into two families
One is derived from English, mixed with words from many different tongues. The second is the Shan language family, which may be related to Terran Basque.
The languages are
A: High Anglish – this is similar to modern English and was the common language of the first humans to arrive. It is still spoken as a trade language and as an only language in Frirhom. It is also spoken in the Queens Domain
B: Vinyari – this is spoken by the Vinyar and the Gallitep. It is a Shan language family
C: Aradian: A mixture of English and Gaelic dialects spoken in Aradia and Ashanan
D: Eskane: This is a mix of Shan and High Anglish with a few Rom and Tinker spoken by the tribes of the Eskane. Eskane has three mutually intelligible dialects, one for each of the Eskane tribes.
E: Northlandier: This is a mix of English, Finnish and various Scandinavian dialects mixed with some Shan. It is spoken in Neden, Danak, Norras and Barava. Each nation has some drift but the dialects are understandable
F: Vi: Vi is a coarse language that’s sounds faintly like old English and is spoken only in the extents of the Vi. It is Shan Family
G: Vohi: A quiet Shan language spoken by its namesake peoples
H: Stelek: This is the language of the Steel Cities and is a constructed version of English mixed with German and Shan
I: Gallandrian: This is the only one of the 20 kingdoms languages that is not based on Shan and Anglish. Its roots are French and Shan instead with some English mixed in
J: City Speech: All 9 of the cities by the inland sea use this language which is Shan touched with Italian, and a hint of Spanish,French Portuguese and English
K: Hyrkan. This language is not based on Shan or English roots and resembles aborigine dialects mixed with Shan more than anything else
L: Hajasa and Kedesh: Niether Hajasa mor Kedesh have a unified language. There are at least 100 known dialects of Hajasnai and probably that many of Kedeshi .The dialects seem to mix Shan, English, Arabic, Farsi, Punjabi, Tagalog and a several other languages into a stew
M: Delan. Delan is a mix of English, German and Shan and is related to the Steel Cities language
N: Bulshul: Bulshul is related to Russian, and Shan
O: Irinar: This is similar to Bulshul and spoken in Irainar
P: Techoon: Techoon is related to Sebo Croatian and Shan. It is spoken in Banja Techoon and Vaki Korishni
Q: Raleyn and Regana speak a language that mixes French and Anglish with a hint of Aradian
R: Other lands
In general each of the other country in Midrea speaks its own language. Most of these are related to a mixture Shan dialects with some Anglish loan words. Old High Anglish is spoken everywhere and it is possible to find a speaker in all but the most remote places
Languages in Midrea fall into two families
One is derived from English, mixed with words from many different tongues. The second is the Shan language family, which may be related to Terran Basque.
The languages are
A: High Anglish – this is similar to modern English and was the common language of the first humans to arrive. It is still spoken as a trade language and as an only language in Frirhom. It is also spoken in the Queens Domain
B: Vinyari – this is spoken by the Vinyar and the Gallitep. It is a Shan language family
C: Aradian: A mixture of English and Gaelic dialects spoken in Aradia and Ashanan
D: Eskane: This is a mix of Shan and High Anglish with a few Rom and Tinker spoken by the tribes of the Eskane. Eskane has three mutually intelligible dialects, one for each of the Eskane tribes.
E: Northlandier: This is a mix of English, Finnish and various Scandinavian dialects mixed with some Shan. It is spoken in Neden, Danak, Norras and Barava. Each nation has some drift but the dialects are understandable
F: Vi: Vi is a coarse language that’s sounds faintly like old English and is spoken only in the extents of the Vi. It is Shan Family
G: Vohi: A quiet Shan language spoken by its namesake peoples
H: Stelek: This is the language of the Steel Cities and is a constructed version of English mixed with German and Shan
I: Gallandrian: This is the only one of the 20 kingdoms languages that is not based on Shan and Anglish. Its roots are French and Shan instead with some English mixed in
J: City Speech: All 9 of the cities by the inland sea use this language which is Shan touched with Italian, and a hint of Spanish,French Portuguese and English
K: Hyrkan. This language is not based on Shan or English roots and resembles aborigine dialects mixed with Shan more than anything else
L: Hajasa and Kedesh: Niether Hajasa mor Kedesh have a unified language. There are at least 100 known dialects of Hajasnai and probably that many of Kedeshi .The dialects seem to mix Shan, English, Arabic, Farsi, Punjabi, Tagalog and a several other languages into a stew
M: Delan. Delan is a mix of English, German and Shan and is related to the Steel Cities language
N: Bulshul: Bulshul is related to Russian, and Shan
O: Irinar: This is similar to Bulshul and spoken in Irainar
P: Techoon: Techoon is related to Sebo Croatian and Shan. It is spoken in Banja Techoon and Vaki Korishni
Q: Raleyn and Regana speak a language that mixes French and Anglish with a hint of Aradian
R: Other lands
In general each of the other country in Midrea speaks its own language. Most of these are related to a mixture Shan dialects with some Anglish loan words. Old High Anglish is spoken everywhere and it is possible to find a speaker in all but the most remote places
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