Are Common and Elven the only launguges in this world?

[Gamerlord]

It seems that everyone here knows Common, and nobody bothers to speak their native language, well, besides the elves.

Their are at least 11 launguages if I remember correctly, why are only 2 being used? I'm sure Rich could just type some gibberish and call it Draconic, or Subterranean, or Giant, etc.

[SoD]

Nale mentions other languages in internal monologue when he talks with Haley and can't understand her.

[Gamerlord]

Nale mentions other languages in internal monologue when he talks with Haley and can't understand her.
But he only mentions 2 or 3, there are still many others.

[Lira]

The goblins in strip #10 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0010.html) speak another language (probably Goblin).

[Acero]

there's goblin

[Carnivorous_Bea]

I do believe language is moving at the speed of plot so that it doesn't destroy the flow of the story. :smallwink:

[Nerdanel]

Draconic and Lizard have been mentioned.

[nybbler]

And Raven, of course. Caw caw caw caw.

[Kcalehc]

Well of course when elves speak to each other they use elvish, as goblins do goblin. You're just listening in common.

(It's like in old WWII movies, where all the germans speak perfect English, but with the german accent; you know they'd really be speaking german, it's just been pretranslated for the audience)

[BillyJimBoBob]

How odd! In all the old gladiator movies I've watched the Romans spoke perfect English as well. I wonder if there's some kind of connection here that we're not seeing?

[Kupi]

Also, keep in mind that we've predominantly seen the party traveling through human-controlled or mixed-species lands. Sandsedge, for instance, is a major marketplace, so you'd expect Common to be the tongue of choice for most people. So it's not that other languages don't exist, it's that the party's never gone anywhere where Common wasn't in widespread use.

[japandy42]

The goblins in strip #10 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0010.html) speak another language (probably Goblin).

Actually, the goblins in that strip are speaking Ewok. I'm sure they know goblin too though. :smallwink:

[factotum]

This is just the way D&D works. Pretty much everybody speaks Common, even those for whom it isn't their native language, so it's unsurprising that OotS reflects that.

[Trobby]

"Common" is apparently exactly what it says on the tin. Common enough that every race that speaks, ever, can speak it. So using other languages just never shows up in the strip.

There's probably some Orcish and some Dwarven somewhere in the world, but I think Rich made the choice early on to just ignore the existence of other languages and have everybody saying the same thing.

[Vetreon]

I don't know which language it is, but in the 4th panel there is something that isn't common.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0007.html

[Elan's Modron]

I don't know which language it is, but in the 4th panel there is something that isn't common.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0007.html

Well-spotted! I forgot about that example. Also- somewhere near the strip you mentioned- we do have some traces of goblins speaking in (presumably) Goblin. Or possibly Provencal :smallwink:

Ah- I looked it up- it's Strip #10.

[Herald Alberich]

Well of course when elves speak to each other they use elvish, as goblins do goblin. You're just listening in common.

(It's like in old WWII movies, where all the germans speak perfect English, but with the german accent; you know they'd really be speaking german, it's just been pretranslated for the audience)


How odd! In all the old gladiator movies I've watched the Romans spoke perfect English as well. I wonder if there's some kind of connection here that we're not seeing?

I'm going to state the obvious here and provide the inevitable link: you're talking about the Translation Convention (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TranslationConvention).

[David Argall]

Dwarf seems to be a different language, or at least a really hard to understand dialect.

[Optimystik]

Dwarf seems to be a different language, or at least a really hard to understand dialect.

Neither, at least as far as we have seen. OtOoPCs:

The spell cast by Durkon and Roy's arcane companion to "translate" Durkon's speech is "Comprehend Inconsistent Accents!" rather than Comprehend Languages. The dwarves' speech patterns to each other before Durkon is exiled are exactly the same as their manner of speaking to humans.

This is not to say that Dwarven is not a separate language, but we haven't seen it used yet to my knowledge.

[dps]

I don't know which language it is, but in the 4th panel there is something that isn't common.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0007.html

I think it's Klingon.

[Sholos]

The reason there's not 11 different languages being used is because the people reading the comic actually want to be able to read the comic. If only the human characters spoke something we could read, the comic would quickly get annoying. Seriously, go back and read the early strips, but don't read anything a goblin says, including Redcloak. Don't read anything the roaches say either, because they'd be speaking Infernal. Go ahead and read the comic like that, and I think you'll understand the choice to have everything readable.

[Prowl]

I thought the goblins were making Warcraft II sounds... but yeah Ewok fits too.

[AxeD]

Varsuvius translates an 'ancient draconic inscription' in one of the dragon magazine comics.

Dragons apparently have 3 words for puffins :smallwink:

"Theirs is a complex culture" - Varsuvius

[King of Nowhere]

It's like in old WWII movies, where all the germans speak perfect English, but with the german accent; you know they'd really be speaking german, it's just been pretranslated for the audience

Crap!
When I saw those movies, both the germans and the english were speaking italian!
But when reading oots, they're still speaking english!
Must be some obscure plot...

[Asta Kask]

Crap!
When I saw those movies, both the germans and the english were speaking italian!
But when reading oots, they're still speaking english!
Must be some obscure plot...

There are germans and english in oots?

[Vetreon]

There are germans and english in oots?

No, but they are in the war movies. :smalltongue:

[Katana_Geldar]

Neither, at least as far as we have seen. OtOoPCs:

The spell cast by Durkon and Roy's arcane companion to "translate" Durkon's speech is "Comprehend Inconsistent Accents!" rather than Comprehend Languages. The dwarves' speech patterns to each other before Durkon is exiled are exactly the same as their manner of speaking to humans.

This is not to say that Dwarven is not a separate language, but we haven't seen it used yet to my knowledge.

Roy was able to read Durkon's letter (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0305.html)

And there were his "tradtional dwarven battle taunts" in the bonus strip.

[Optimystik]

Roy was able to read Durkon's letter (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0305.html)

And there were his "tradtional dwarven battle taunts" in the bonus strip.

Precisely. Even that letter, from one dwarf to his home, was written in Common. So we haven't seen Dwarven used in the strip yet, just badly accented Common.

The bonus strip, I haven't read.

[Ted The Bug]

In a bonus comic in Paladin Blues, Xykon mentions that he knows Draconic, and the dragon in the cave apparently speaks lizard.

[the_tick_rules]

There's raven and lizard.

[Asta Kask]

No, but they are in the war movies. :smalltongue:

Shoot. And here I was hoping for Xykon vs. Spitfire battle... :smallsmile:

[Vetreon]

Shoot. And here I was hoping for Xykon vs. Spitfire battle... :smallsmile:

Hey, we can still keep our fingers crossed and hope for it real hard. (Seems to work for the CitD, so why not give it a shot?)

[Berserk Monk]

It seems that everyone here knows Common, and nobody bothers to speak their native language, well, besides the elves.

Their are at least 11 launguages if I remember correctly, why are only 2 being used? I'm sure Rich could just type some gibberish and call it Draconic, or Subterranean, or Giant, etc.

Rich doesn't have a reason to show the other languages being used yet.

[kwanzaabot]

And Spanish (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0047.html).

[Elan's Modron]

And Spanish (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0047.html).

Ooh! Good catch!

[Talya]

This is not to say that Dwarven is not a separate language, but we haven't seen it used yet to my knowledge.

As we all know, dwarves in modern fantasy are simply short, bearded scotsmen. The Scots speak "English" (loosely, anyway), which is analogous to common, however they do have their own language as well, Scot Gaelic. Those Scots who know how to speak Gaelic, still usually speak English, even to each other.

So following this analogy, if Dwarf = short Scotsman, Dwarven = Scot Gaelic, and Common = English, most dwarves will speak Common!

[Querzis]

Precisely. Even that letter, from one dwarf to his home, was written in Common. So we haven't seen Dwarven used in the strip yet, just badly accented Common.

The bonus strip, I haven't read.

Dont you get it? When Roy tell him he didnt had to to write the accent. Durkon just replied: «the what now»? The accent IS the Dwarven language.

[Serenade]

Ooh! Good catch!

Translated, that bit reads 'I think I failed a Listen Check'

[Jokasti]

I don't know which language it is, but in the 4th panel there is something that isn't common.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0007.html
I'm pretty sure that's Tauraho, actually.

[Optimystik]

Dont you get it? When Roy tell him he didnt had to to write the accent. Durkon just replied: «the what now»? The accent IS the Dwarven language.

It's a common trope (in real life as well) that people with strong accents don't think they sound strange to themselves, even when everyone acts quizzical when they speak. Durkon IS speaking Common, just thickly.

[Talya]

It's a common trope (in real life as well) that people with strong accents don't think they sound strange to themselves, even when everyone acts quizzical when they speak. Durkon IS speaking Common, just thickly.

Minor quibble: There's really no such thing as a "strong accent," or even a "neutral accent." Everyone has an accent. The accent is simply the local differences in how a language is pronounced. A Scot accent, southern US accent, Canadian accent (a misnomer, there's probably a dozen different accents in Canada, all vastly different from each other, eh), a midwestern accent, a Boston accent, a British accent (ha! The city of London itself has dozens), Irish...they're all accents.

I have a friend from Nigeria. He's almost impossible for the average Canadian to understand until you get to know him. His first language is English, his accent is not a foreign language one, it's simply another way of speaking English. To people in Nigeria, it's the correct way to speak English. To everyone else, they have an accent.

[Bibliomancer]

I have a friend from Nigeria. He's almost impossible for the average Canadian to understand until you get to know him. His first language is English, his accent is not a foreign language one, it's simply another way of speaking English. To people in Nigeria, it's the correct way to speak English. To everyone else, they have an accent.

Exactly. In fact, the concept of standardized language didn't originate until relatively recently (within the past 400 years or so). Back in Chaucer's day, everything was spelled more or less phonetically and so quite a bit of variation occurred. Thus, people from two different areas of England would have been speaking in two very different accents and writing (if they wrote at all) based on their own pronunciation.

[Maximum Zersk]

Minor quibble: There's really no such thing as a "strong accent," or even a "neutral accent." Everyone has an accent. The accent is simply the local differences in how a language is pronounced. A Scot accent, southern US accent, Canadian accent (a misnomer, there's probably a dozen different accents in Canada, all vastly different from each other, eh), a midwestern accent, a Boston accent, a British accent (ha! The city of London itself has dozens), Irish...they're all accents.

I have a friend from Nigeria. He's almost impossible for the average Canadian to understand until you get to know him. His first language is English, his accent is not a foreign language one, it's simply another way of speaking English. To people in Nigeria, it's the correct way to speak English. To everyone else, they have an accent.

Don't forget an east indian accent!
Also, I just noticed, your from Canada too!
Sweeet.

[Elan's Modron]

Exactly. In fact, the concept of standardized language didn't originate until relatively recently (within the past 400 years or so). Back in Chaucer's day, everything was spelled more or less phonetically and so quite a bit of variation occurred. Thus, people from two different areas of England would have been speaking in two very different accents and writing (if they wrote at all) based on their own pronunciation.


Well said.
There's a quote in linguistic circles about this - spec. - what's the difference between a dialect and a language?

"A language is a dialect with an army."

The amount of energy it takes constantly to 'standardize' a language is incredible. -- The efforts taken to 'defend' a language from either internal or external forces:
the years of schooling in and legislating of the 'proper' forms- the often violent suppression of non-dominant modes and tongues, etc., etc., etc.

Hell, not that long ago- even in English-speaking countries, people weren't allowed to write IN ENGLISH...if they were using their left hand to do so.
And forget it about if you were trying to express yourself in, say, Welsh, or Navajo, or American Sign Language...

[Elan's Modron]

A quote from Wikipedia:

The Welsh Not or Welsh Note was a piece of wood, inscribed with the letters "WN", that was hung round the necks of children who spoke Welsh in some schools in the 19th century. The "not" was given to any child overheard speaking Welsh, who would pass it to a different child if overheard speaking Welsh. By the end of the day, the wearer of the "not" would be given a lashing. The idea of the "not" was to discourage pupils from speaking Welsh, at a time when English was considered by some to be the only suitable medium of instruction.