Languages of Eras

SillyString:
I see you did not read my post. :P
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I did. And you said that the likelihood of Rhuvish German and Kannexan German being identical is very little.

2 things:

1- It isn't. Rhuvish German is like Austrian German while Kannexan German is like standard German.

2- They're basically the same language with some different dialect bits here and there. So it's not whether the likelihood is little or not that we have to worry about, but it is instead how German got to Rhuvanland and Kannex that we have to worry about.
 
Nebula uses whatever English is called and/or Nebulan. Nebulan is a hideous fusion of Russian and Latin that is, despite all common sense, still the majority language.
 
Syrixia:
And you said that the likelihood of Rhuvish German and Kannexan German being identical is very little.

2 things:

1- It isn't. Rhuvish German is like Austrian German while Kannexan German is like standard German.

2- They're basically the same language with some different dialect bits here and there. So it's not whether the likelihood is little or not that we have to worry about, but it is instead how German got to Rhuvanland and Kannex that we have to worry about.
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I strongly disagree that there is no need to concern oneself with sensible explanations for highly implausible situations. In some cases, handwaving enhances worldbuilding, but in this case it seriously detracts from it.

The reason Austrian German and Deutsch German are dialects that don't diverge hugely (but do diverge enough to be, you know, dialects) is because they neighbor each other. They are RIGHT THERE, on each others' borders, with cross-communication and cross-contamination contributing to keep them within the same general area.

But again, like I said before... Rhuvanland and Kannex are not neighbors, not nearby, not even on the same continent. Even if they both started out, ages ago, being settled by people who spoke the same language, sheer time and distance would lead to language divergence. And I'm not talking a little bit here and a little bit there, some words are different - I'm talking full-blown, barely-mutually-intelligible-at-best dialect (and more plausibly, full differentiation of language).

The only plausible exceptions that don't require the complete suspension of rational thought would be if Rhuvanland were only recently settled - like, within the past two decades - or if there were a power relationship between the two (as in, Rhuvanland colonized Kannex, installed a Rhuvish leader, and instituted a very strict language program with enforced unanimity of speech) that was only recently dissolved. But based on your statements and prior RPs, neither of these is true, which means that it's simply implausible for Rhuvish and Kannexian to be akin to Austrian and Deutsch Germans.
 
Just to show how far languages can change... Kalti speaks Irish and Tir na Andalucia speaks Welsh. Both languages in a role play sense derived from a common ancestor language family but over time they diverged and are now have almost nothing in common other than the shared distant past.
 
SS:
Rhuvanland and Kannex are not neighbors, not nearby, not even on the same continent.*
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Wrong. Check the map scale. Intercommunication is not very difficult.

SS:
were only recently settled - like, within the past two decades
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Australia and the United States are on opposite sides of the world, yet they speak mutually intelligible dialects of the same language. And they were sure as hell settled earlier than the past two decades.

I should note -- colloquial Austrian German, meaning the speech that matters when you're down there in suburban Vienna, is a Bavarian dialect that's very distinct from the German spoken in Berlin. It's already a generous allowance of language change.

Please, let's educate ourselves before getting all anally-retentive over matters no one cares about.
 
I'd like to chirp in here, something I think everyone should be reminded of. There are obvious benefits to world building including languages, seeing as they are an extremely big part of culture with distinct paths of travel, spread, evolution, and divergence. The languages spoken in places lend huge hints into their history and interactions with the nations of the world.

Having said that, Nationstates has allowed us to create countries out of thin air, and one of the best parts of that is being able to decide the flavour of your nation. Its governance, its history, its culture, its leaders and villains, its wonders and its faults. The language spoken there is obviously a big part of that. I don't belive it's fair at any point to tell a nation what language they can or cannot speak, regardless of other nations that have chosen whatever language before and after. In this regard, we can encourage for the sake of wordbuidling, but ultimately we cab only go so far before that encouraging is more constant badgering than anything resembling a suggestion. There are people who simply will not want to take certain steps into explaining their origins and language history may be one of them. This we must accept.

I'm not, however, a person to point out a problem without seeking to be a part of its solution. I think, in light of the benefits of the depth provided by some language explanation but also keeping in mind the desires of Kannex, I propose that both Kannex and Rhuvanland have unique language names (E.G. Kannexian, Kannexish, etc & Rhuvish, Rhuvia, etc.) which theoretically provides both nations with a distinct and unique language, though both these languages can be practically German, evident in the names of people, warships, organizations, monuments, etc. Beyond this, no explanation for why the languages are practically similar will be provided and the best course of action would be for the RP world to be blissfully unaware of the similarities or acknowledge them unquestioningly as an unlikely coincidence.

I think this does enough depth so as to achieve our goals of avoiding real-life names like "German" "English" "Chinese" while allowing Kannex's and Syrixia's practical right to choosing whatever language they like for their nation's character. I'd like to also note that this is merely a suggestion, not a demand, of a possible resolution to the debate we've been having and would require full voluntary acceptance from those parties involved.
 
Kannex:
SS:
Rhuvanland and Kannex are not neighbors, not nearby, not even on the same continent.*
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Wrong. Check the map scale. Intercommunication is not very difficult.
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Map scale isn't terribly relevant in this case. Continental Europe is connected by land borders, and still developed dozens of different languages. Water borders make differentiation all the stronger. It is simply and unequivocally unrealistic to handwave zero linguistic development over hundreds if not thousands of years.

SS:
were only recently settled - like, within the past two decades
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Australia and the United States are on opposite sides of the world, yet they speak mutually intelligible dialects of the same language. And they were sure as hell settled earlier than the past two decades.
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I see you have still not bothered to actually read my post about this. :eyeroll:

I should note -- colloquial Austrian German, meaning the speech that matters when you're down there in suburban Vienna, is a Bavarian dialect that's very distinct from the German spoken in Berlin. It's already a generous allowance of language change.
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I'm aware of that (and once again: this is true even while sharing land borders and being quite small). However, I was responding to Syrixia's assertion that "They're basically the same language with some different dialect bits here and there." That that's not true IRL is less important to me than pointing out that that breaks all sense of realism in RP.

Please, let's educate ourselves before getting all anally-retentive over matters no one cares about.
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Just because you don't care about quality worldbuilding doesn't mean that I shouldn't, or that I'm the only one who does. In fact, it's pretty clear from this thread that I'm not the only one who cares. I'm just stuck doing most of the explaining because I know more about linguistics than most of the other participants.
 
SillyString:
Kannex:
SS:
Rhuvanland and Kannex are not neighbors, not nearby, not even on the same continent.*
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Wrong. Check the map scale. Intercommunication is not very difficult.
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Map scale isn't terribly relevant in this case. Continental Europe is connected by land borders, and still developed dozens of different languages. Water borders make differentiation all the stronger. It is simply and unequivocally unrealistic to handwave zero linguistic development over hundreds if not thousands of years.

SS:
were only recently settled - like, within the past two decades
Click to expand...

Australia and the United States are on opposite sides of the world, yet they speak mutually intelligible dialects of the same language. And they were sure as hell settled earlier than the past two decades.
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I see you have still not bothered to actually read my post about this. :eyeroll:

I should note -- colloquial Austrian German, meaning the speech that matters when you're down there in suburban Vienna, is a Bavarian dialect that's very distinct from the German spoken in Berlin. It's already a generous allowance of language change.
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I'm aware of that (and once again: this is true even while sharing land borders and being quite small). However, I was responding to Syrixia's assertion that "They're basically the same language with some different dialect bits here and there." That that's not true IRL is less important to me than pointing out that that breaks all sense of realism in RP.

Please, let's educate ourselves before getting all anally-retentive over matters no one cares about.
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Just because you don't care about quality worldbuilding doesn't mean that I shouldn't, or that I'm the only one who does. In fact, it's pretty clear from this thread that I'm not the only one who cares. I'm just stuck doing most of the explaining because I know more about linguistics than most of the other participants.
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Regarding my vague and incorrect definition of Austrian German- yes. That Bavarian style dialect is what I meant. Apologies. :tb3:
 
Esplandia speaks Quaelech, which I've kinda based off of Anglo-Saxon. Tajis speaks Kaldaech which is closely related to Quaelech and both are Hastfradic languages. (I have some 100 or so words made up for it and some basic grammar).
 
Yeraennus:
Ceretis:
What does a Seblandian accent sound like?
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It sounds like an English accent, but in Seblandian.
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:clap:

As I said a couple of pages back, Old Xentheridan is Swedish - with the exception of a few made up words - and Xentheridan Mercantian (or whatever the denonym is) is mainly Mercantian, with a few Swedish words mixed in. Traditionally, most places will still have a reference to Old Xentheridan, despite it being practically a dead language; for example, Den Faviken, which was a restaurant in Cosonia.
 
In Myrorian, sibilants and other fricatives are relatively common and most vowels are made at the front of the mouth. When speaking Mercanti, native Myrorian speakers often have trouble with stop consonants, especially glottal stops. For instance, when making a /k/ sound, a Myrorian may mispronounce it by using something like a "ch" or "j" sound.

In Myroria, a common shibboleth marks a native Mercanti speaker - the common Myrorian name "Llandren" sounds something like "Flandren" but is often pronounced "Landren" by people who first see the name in print.
 
Archegnumans speak a tongue called Archegnu, which is a largely unique language which takes some inspiration from Finnish. There are a number of English loanwords - and even some Japanese examples, such as the Archegnu word 'sepuku' (meaning 'suicide') stemming from the Japanese 'seppuku' (meaning 'to commit suicide by stabbing oneself in the abdomen with a sharp implement', or ' to disembowel oneself with a sword rather than surrender').

When communicating with foreign nations, English is often utilised.
 
Myroria:
In Myroria, a common shibboleth marks a native Mercanti speaker - the common Myrorian name "Llandren" sounds something like "Flandren" but is often pronounced "Landren" by people who first see the name in print.
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Oh, so Myrorian is Welsh?

I hate you.
 
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