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shike
Seeker
USA
71 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Dec 2006 : 06:49:18
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Could anyone tell me how closely related different languages are to eachother in the realms?
Each language and it's association on a scale of 0-4 (0 being not related to 4 being very related).
Thanks
Shike
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 26 Dec 2006 : 07:16:35
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This is an extremely complex question to answer.
I would suggest you track down a copy of Tom Costa's "Speaking in Tongues" article from Dragon Magazine Annual #4. Tom broke down all the languages into families, groups, subgroups, and dialects, and presented a regional breakdown or atlas of where each language was spoken.
And this from Tom Costa -
"Thanks for mentioning my old (and very first) Dragon article.
In developing I took every official or semiofficial mention of a human tongue or dialect and tried to incorporate them and then I added based on what we knew of human (and where relevant other race) migration patterns, geographical barriers, and political boundaries and comparing to the number of languages in the Eurasian-N.African portions of the real world. That article was then taken by Sean K. Reynolds and simplified (honestly, a good idea from a playability perspective) and tweaked into the official list used in FRCS. All of that said, aside from a few inconsistencies that have cropped up since its original publication, my old article can be used with minimal changes in 3.5E.
I did not bind myself to 80 languages or recall even seeing that number at the time I wrote the article."
Also -
"At the time, I gathered up every official reference I could find, added in much of Bobby Nichols' work (with his permission), and expanded on both."
And -
"I always figured pronunciation of most languages was pretty broad given the vast areas and cultures most of the more common languages are spoken. For example, Chondathan, the nearly defacto common (it's roots are the same roots as Common and its spoken by a huge swathe of the Western and Central Realms) probably sounds very different in Amn than in Chondath than in Cormyr than in the Dales. Compare it to the regional dialect differences in English between say New York, the American deep south, and inner city Los Angeles or the famous cockney accent of England versus the more stereotypical educated accent of England versus the Scottish accent or Irish accent. Sometimes one accent or dialect can be almost imcomprehensible to another fluent speaker."
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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shike
Seeker
USA
71 Posts |
Posted - 26 Dec 2006 : 08:20:31
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thanks sage. I was in particular looking for a more recent version with the languages in The current realms books. Also, I can get a copy of the issue for 12 (but my wife would veto the expendature). So, I guess I'm going to have to work it out on my own.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 26 Dec 2006 : 10:57:24
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The 1e and 2e FRCS boxed sets both contain listings of languages in the Realms, as does the 3e FRCS. Various regional tomes for 1e, 2e, and 3e also list off languages relevant for each particular region covered in the source material. The PGtF also contains racial language listings for each of the races which were updated to 3.5e.
Pg. 85 of the FRCS has a list of all the languages and what countries they are spoken in.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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shike
Seeker
USA
71 Posts |
Posted - 26 Dec 2006 : 11:00:44
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You are just a font of knowledge aren't you??
Thanks for the info. :)
I greatly appreciate it.
Shike |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 26 Dec 2006 : 22:29:57
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| Of course, none of the FR languages actually exist in the real world as full-blown (albeit fictional) languages complete with grammar rules, syntax, and vocabulary, so I don't think any answer to this question could be completely accurate from an empirical standpoint...there's no way to compare them. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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shike
Seeker
USA
71 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2006 : 04:25:50
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| What I'm looking for is making a language family kind of set up where if you know one language it is possible to kind of understand others w/o actually speaking the language. Of course, i'm thinking of translating the realms into a different mechanical system (devoid of d20). |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2006 : 06:42:56
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| I would imagine this being similar to RW. Neighboring regions could easily have similar but different dialects. |
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Thauramarth
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
731 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2006 : 13:38:11
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quote:
Originally posted by shike
What I'm looking for is making a language family kind of set up where if you know one language it is possible to kind of understand others w/o actually speaking the language. Of course, i'm thinking of translating the realms into a different mechanical system (devoid of d20).
The 2nd Edition Hordelands boxed (available as a free download from the WotC website, I am sure Woolly will be able to tell you exactly where) contained a diagram outlining the relations between the various Tuigan dialects. It could serve as an inspiration, perhaps? |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
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shike
Seeker
USA
71 Posts |
Posted - 28 Dec 2006 : 05:21:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Thauramarth
The 2nd Edition Hordelands boxed (available as a free download from the WotC website, I am sure Woolly will be able to tell you exactly where) contained a diagram outlining the relations between the various Tuigan dialects. It could serve as an inspiration, perhaps?
I actually have this. I'll take a look at it when I have more time. (in the middle of a move) Thanks for all the help. |
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Language Associatians
