AE vs BE

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AE or BE for game content?

Poll ended at Sun Dec 13, 2009 10:42 am

AE (American english)
19
26%
BE (British english)
43
60%
Finnish
10
14%
 
Total votes: 72

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Juliana D'cheyne
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Post by Juliana D'cheyne »

Dahinar Sharpeye wrote:Well, it took me a long time to start writing armor instead of armour.
How about full leatherarmor? I usually have to ask what they buy anyway.
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AlexRose
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Post by AlexRose »

Juliana D'cheyne wrote:
Dahinar Sharpeye wrote:Well, it took me a long time to start writing armor instead of armour.
How about full leatherarmor? I usually have to ask what they buy anyway.
That's the point, we say "armour" and then it doesn't work. Or you try to buy a portal book to the "harbour" or cast a portal to it and it doesn't work.
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Estralis Seborian
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Post by Estralis Seborian »

NPCs should understand both BE and AE, that is for sure. The question is what they say. Or whether an item is designated "ax of pwnage" or "axe of pwnage". And if you think all this is pointless, save your time and go play Illarion. I see a point in this and thus, a quick survey does no harm.
Last edited by Estralis Seborian on Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Arvemor
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Post by Arvemor »

rakust dorenstkzul wrote:
Arvemor wrote:Rakust, I think that is British English! It's not like its any major differences though, is it?
Mom= Mum
Jelly= Jam
Familytime= tv watching (Just kidding, Americans! I love your movies!)
Have you ever heard an Austrailian?
Lol, I AM Australian! The jibe was at americans, not us! But it wasn't serious. Just to clarify:
I meant when they say we're going to have family time, we Aussies go "Oh, they're gonna watch tv!" Anyway, it was a joke! :roll:
Eadgar
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Post by Eadgar »

The main difference between BE and AE are a few minor points of spelling (and colloquial terms). Other than that, most of the differences are in pronunciation. AE prefers "z" over "s" and drops the occasional "u" in a few words:


Specialize vs. Specialise
Favor vs. Favour


That being said, there is no real such thing as AE, as AE is can easily be divided into 5-7 different dialects of English (based on pronunciation as well as the usage of colloquial terms and slang). I makes me no difference, as all dialects of English are mutually intelligible and I've been known to let my spelling inconsistently drift between them. The difference between any type of AE and BE is about the same difference as it would be between someone from Texas and someone from Maine.

If we are going to standardize the English, we should probably use BE because it actually does have a standard form (Queen's English, as I think it is called). AE has no "standard" form in the way most other languages to (that is, a national governing body that codifies the rules and rubrics of the language for official use of the language).


Another idea might be to let the "new language" retain the two dialects and have the usage reflect different origins: AE is the dialect of the Serinjah, Ama-Shoon, and Norodaj; and BE is the dialect used in among the Salkamaer and Albar courts).

Just a thought.
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Tanistian_Kanea
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Post by Tanistian_Kanea »

this answer could have been thought of, and the conclusion arrived upon without this poll, simply by looking at the situation.
this game is a fantasy world, set in gothic, renaisance, medieval ext... the source material for this world comes from real life. so look at real life around this time. north america? tribes, small villages. limited technology and art. europe? aka britain? roads. cities. full scale wars. siege weapons (like catapults) balista, paints, architecture, sculpture, ENGLISH.
use the Britain please. or better yet. waste more time, learn old english and use that.
Grokk
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Post by Grokk »

Grokk wrote:Why should all the NPCs spell/speak the same? The players don't. And won't start as a result of this. A BE speaking character can just have grown up in a different region than an AE speaking one. Same goes for books IMO, no need to have them all writing one way or the other. Why can't different dialects develop within Illarion?
This.

The only thing that needs to be changed is the in-game descriptions. Use BE. Clearly that is the outcome of the poll. The people have spoken. End of thread, right?
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Post by Eadgar »

Tanistian_Kanea wrote:this answer could have been thought of, and the conclusion arrived upon without this poll, simply by looking at the situation.
this game is a fantasy world, set in gothic, renaisance, medieval ext... the source material for this world comes from real life. so look at real life around this time. north america? tribes, small villages. limited technology and art. europe? aka britain? roads. cities. full scale wars. siege weapons (like catapults) balista, paints, architecture, sculpture, ENGLISH.
use the Britain please. or better yet. waste more time, learn old english and use that.
Ic gadrie!
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Estralis Seborian
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Post by Estralis Seborian »

Nice proposal to make use of AE vs BE as dialects, but honestly, for me, that is too much a hassle with too little gain. The idea itself is appealing, though.

I think the poll yielded a clear result, I'll leave it open for some days, but not to argue whether such polls make sense or not and not whether BE is a better 'language' than AE or vice versa. That is totally pointless, without a doubt.
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Post by Grokk »

Estralis Seborian wrote:Nice proposal to make use of AE vs BE as dialects, but honestly, for me, that is too much a hassle with too little gain. The idea itself is appealing, though.
I don't think anything needs to be done, though. Just leave everything as it currently is, and our characters can just assume that an NPC comes from a region that spoke a certain dialect or had a background that led to the use of such. The actual regions where each dialect is spoken don't need to be listed. After all, I'm sure we already have both BE and AE speaking PCs hailing from a single region. No one questions these people about such peculiarities, so I'm sure no one would require such an answer from an NPC.
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Post by Eadgar »

Grokk wrote:
Estralis Seborian wrote:Nice proposal to make use of AE vs BE as dialects, but honestly, for me, that is too much a hassle with too little gain. The idea itself is appealing, though.
I don't think anything needs to be done, though. Just leave everything as it currently is, and our characters can just assume that an NPC comes from a region that spoke a certain dialect or had a background that led to the use of such. The actual regions where each dialect is spoken don't need to be listed. After all, I'm sure we already have both BE and AE speaking PCs hailing from a single region. No one questions these people about such peculiarities, so I'm sure no one would require such an answer from an NPC.
It is like trying to figure out among a group of PC's from the same town, one speaks New and another Old...
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Lrmy
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Post by Lrmy »

Please keep it American English. Thems Europeans can spell like American's an we can't talk like thems so drop the U's.
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Juliana D'cheyne
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Post by Juliana D'cheyne »

Lrmy wrote:Please keep it American English. Thems Europeans can spell like American's an we can't talk like thems so drop the U's.
Ya'll just ain't talkin' right anyways, southern is best!
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Post by Eadgar »

Juliana D'cheyne wrote:
Lrmy wrote:Please keep it American English. Thems Europeans can spell like American's an we can't talk like thems so drop the U's.
Ya'll just ain't talkin' right anyways, southern is best!
Isn't England North of the Mason-Dixon line?
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Lrmy
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Post by Lrmy »

Eadgar wrote:
Juliana D'cheyne wrote:
Lrmy wrote:Please keep it American English. Thems Europeans can spell like American's an we can't talk like thems so drop the U's.
Ya'll just ain't talkin' right anyways, southern is best!
Isn't England North of the Mason-Dixon line?
Yes
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RayJ
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Post by RayJ »

American intellect does not rise with latitude. I should now, as I am very cold right now. :lol:
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RayJ
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Post by RayJ »

I can't spell in either language, I am american.

Old english seems right for this game. and yes I did use spell check even for this short post.
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Jupiter
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Post by Jupiter »

RayJ wrote:Old english seems right for this game.
I guess you are talking about pseudo Old English.
Really Old Language is difficult enough for native English speaker... and nearly impossible for not native speaker.
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Thrym
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Post by Thrym »

I *love* Old English, and would gladly waste my time learning it if I had the resources. >:] I thought it might gain some criticism for using it, though. One of my characters comes from a very Anglo-Saxon area of the mainland.
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Post by Eadgar »

Thrym wrote:I *love* Old English, and would gladly waste my time learning it if I had the resources. >:] I thought it might gain some criticism for using it, though. One of my characters comes from a very Anglo-Saxon area of the mainland.
Ooh! I'll come have conversations in Old English (Anglo-Saxon) with you! Just download a copy of the Bosworth-Toller dictionary and download the OECheatSheet and just make translations of Anglo-Saxon poems and riddles... you'll get the hang of the language after awhile.


OE Cheat Sheet: http://people.uleth.ca/~daniel.odonnell ... tsheet.pdf
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Sssari
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Post by Sssari »

I had to recite the opening to the Canterbury Tales (In Old English!) from memory in English class. No mistakes or no credit.

Pretty crazy stuff.
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Mesha
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Post by Mesha »

Sssari wrote:I had to recite the opening to the Canterbury Tales (In Old English!) from memory in English class. No mistakes or no credit.

Pretty crazy stuff.
Strange, considering the Canterbury Tales were written in Middle English, not old English. ;)

I'm following an Old English course next semester though! *dances*

Anyhow, could someone lock this thread?
Charles Kingblood
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Post by Charles Kingblood »

old english and middle english are often confused with each other, middle english is what most people are really thinking of. old english almost looks like a totally different language and honestly i don't want it implemented. I want to play a game and have fun, i don't want to take a language class just to play a game.

as far as american english being a retarded form of british english thats crazy talk. we speak differently. and yes american english does have a standardized form you don't learn "queen's english" in high school in america its referred to as "Shirley" english. However when both standard forms are spoken correctly the biggest thing that separates the 2 are a few letters here and there.

I think IF anything is to be changed, perhaps you could make the NPCs respond to both spellings instead of just one of them.

as far as the dialect thing goes, I'm from Arkansas and as anyone that has heard me can tell you I don't have a southern accent :p .

In the forums I see alot of people getting somewhat heated on some minor things though it seems. arguments over languages, and realism and so forth. Remember its a game, have fun. and as for realism, you are in a world of walking lizards, people throwing fireballs, gigantic demons, walking skeletons and other types of magic, a little realism makes it fun but in a world with all the aforementioned things how real can you make it? or how real do you really want it? Fantasy Role Playing is a form of escapism, if you make it too real you have...the sims.

Mix the real with the surreal, relax, have fun its an rpg. :p
Eadgar
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Post by Eadgar »

Charles Kingblood wrote:yes american english does have a standardized form
No, it does not. In England there is an official, governing body in the government (or that is government sponsored) which codifies the Queen's English. This process of codification by (essentially) the government produces a standardised form of English.

There is no such body here in the US, and our English is about as standardised as a wikipedia article.
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Estralis Seborian
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Post by Estralis Seborian »

In the forums I see alot of people getting somewhat heated on some minor things though it seems. arguments over languages, and realism and so forth. Remember its a game, have fun. and as for realism, you are in a world of walking lizards, people throwing fireballs, gigantic demons, walking skeletons and other types of magic, a little realism makes it fun but in a world with all the aforementioned things how real can you make it? or how real do you really want it? Fantasy Role Playing is a form of escapism, if you make it too real you have...the sims.
Just quoted for truth.

Thanks to all who participated in the poll! Poll result yields that I'll make my NPCs speak british english and, of course, they'll understand both, AE and BE. Finnish did not get enough votes, sorry Cromwell :-P.
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