Real Languages in D&D, is this idea a good one, or not worth it

[EvilElitest]

I'm a lover languages, and through i can't even speak spanish, i've been considering implimenting real world languages into my games. Elves speaking french for example (i have french friends) and Spanish Halflings for example. However i'm not sure if this would work actually and might simply cause confusion. I want to know what you people think, ignore weather it is possible, just if it could work do you think it works in theory?
from
EE

[Sstoopidtallkid]

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That said, if it works for you, fine. Dwarves should be Scottish or Irish, Elves are definitely French, Halflings probably speak Romani (Hindi, if you aren't that diverse). Orcs speak either Russian or German, I don't care which, and Dragons speak Latin. Everyone else can be decided when they arrive.

[DraPrime]

Well, you could simply have their languages sound like real world languages. Give them names that sound like they belong to the language respective to the race. A french elf could be called Jacques, just with a bit of variation. Pronounce the "ues" instead of not saying it like you normally should.

[EvilElitest]

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Ahhhh

That said, if it works for you, fine. Dwarves should be Scottish or Irish, Elves are definitely French, Halflings probably speak Romani (Hindi, if you aren't that diverse). Orcs speak either Russian or German, I don't care which, and Dragons speak Latin. Everyone else can be decided when they arrive.

dwarves- German, maybe Nordic
High Elves- French
Wood elves- Span Spanish
Common Halfings- Romani, nice idea
Stoutfoot, Latin American Spanish
Orcs- Russian
Dragons- Latin, nice idea
Gnomes- Dutch
from
EE

Edit
I"ve been doing that actually, its just i've been mixing languages, and so i want to make it clear what language=screwed up fantasy version

[Hzurr]

dwarves- German, maybe Nordic
High Elves- French
Wood elves- Span Spanish
Common Halfings- Romani, nice idea
Stoutfoot, Latin American Spanish
Orcs- Russian
Dragons- Latin, nice idea
Gnomes- Dutch

Yeah...this feels about right

[EvilElitest]

Yeah...this feels about right

What about other races. I like German Dwarfs
from
EE

[FlyMolo]

I love latin dragons.

On the other hand, I guarantee someone is going to pull up google translate.

[EvilElitest]

I love latin dragons.

On the other hand, I guarantee someone is going to pull up google translate.

oh god...
from
EE

[Sstoopidtallkid]

I love latin dragons.

On the other hand, I guarantee someone is going to pull up google translate.

"I'm casting Tongues"
"But you're the Rogue"
"I have 12 Ranks in Knowledge: Internet."

[EvilElitest]

"I'm casting Tongues"
"But you're the Rogue"
"I have 12 Ranks in Knowledge: Internet."

Touche
from
EE

[Turcano]

I dug up my response to a similar thread from a year ago:

Elven: Basque. If you didn't know anything about the two languages, you might confuse it for Spanish, but most people find the syntax bizarre.

Dwarven: Abaza. One of my professors was one of the foremost experts on this language, and if I didn't know any better, I'd swear it was made up on a dare.

Gnomish: Georgian. Like Abaza, it's a Caucasian language, but it's a bit less... sadistic. (Dang. I just realized all of the languages I've picked so far are ergative. What does that say about me?)

Halfling: Dutch or Frisian. This is mainly due to my views on race origins and the fact that English is my native language.

Giant: Indonesian.

Draconic: !Kung. Dragons might have problems with labial consonants and so would use non-pulmonic consonants to compensate, which !Kung has in abundance. Kobolds and similar creatures speak Xhosa.

Orcish: Nahuatl.

Goblin: Quechua.

Druidic: Welsh. Still Celtic, but different.

[Collin152]

What? No.
Elves speak Japanese.
Dwarves speak Russian.
Haflings speak Romanian.
Gnomes speak Hebrew.
Orcs speak Greek.
I could go on.

[EvilElitest]

What? No.
Elves speak Japanese.
Dwarves speak Russian.
Haflings speak Romanian.
Gnomes speak Hebrew.
Orcs speak Greek.
I could go on.

Greek orcs?
from
EE

[Agrippa]

I prefer something a bit different.

Dwarven: German or Old Norse
Gnomesh: French and German
Halfling: Flemish
High Elven: Old Irish
Wood Elven: Scottish Gaelic
Orcish: Old Irish mixed with Ancient Greek

How does that look?

[averagejoe]

Well, they already have english in DnD, except they always call it "common," so other real world languages wouldn't be a big stretch. I've always thought this would be a good idea anyways, since most people don't bother with doing enough research/study to create satisfying fictional languages/language fragments.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

What? No.
Elves speak French.
Dwarves speak Scottish.
Haflings speak Romani.
Gnomes speak Hebrew.
Orcs speak German.
I could go on.

Fixed. I'll give you the Gnomes, but the others fit far better with the races' personas the way I wrote them.

[Agrippa]

Greek orcs?
from
EE

Think of them as the Spartans. Come to think of it I like to think of orcs as a cmobination of the Spartans and Irish, with a heavy focus on eugenics (Spartan influence) and sapient sacrific (Celtic influence). Add in a good dose of Tau ideology and you're golden. Like elves, orcs are more intelligent than humans.

[Collin152]

Fixed. I'll give you the Gnomes, but the others fit far better with the races' personas the way I wrote them.

I refuse to believe elves don't have tea ceremonies.

But hey, my Gnomes are good enough, it seems.

[SilentNight]

Howzabout this

High Elves speak Japanese
Gray elves speak Gaelic or Welsh
Wild Elves speak whatever the Mayans called their language
Dwarves are Norse
Halflings are Mongols?(Did the Mongols have their own language or did they speak some dialect of Chinese? I can't remember.)
Gnomes are Dutch
Orcs are German
Asherati(Sandstorm)Speak Arabic

[Ascension]

If you're going to have Orcs speak Greek, have them speak "Frat Greek," i.e. they actually speak English and have no idea how to speak Greek, but they string random Greek letters that look like random English letters together in slightly amusing patterns.

I personally think personifying the Orcs as an entire race of drunken frat boys fits pretty well.

[Collin152]

Well, I dislke Dwarves with Scottish, German, or Norse involved, but alright then. Japanese elves for the win.
Arigatou gozaimasu.
ありがとうございます。

[MisterSaturnine]

Gnomes would probably speak Yiddish, not Hebrew. I agree with Elven French, but I kind of like Halflings speaking Italian and Orcs speaking...ooh! Maybe Haitian Creole?

[Collin152]

Gnomes would probably speak Yiddish, not Hebrew. I agree with Elven French, but I kind of like Halflings speaking Italian and Orcs speaking...ooh! Maybe Haitian Creole?

Yiddish speaking Gnomes?
Wonderful idea!
Let us drink to it!
L'Chaim!

[leperkhaun]

IM sure you probably already thought of this, but for dwarven and elven, orc/goblinoid, you could always take tolkiens languages.

[DanielX]

I have tried to think of something similar, but it was using pre-modern languages and "families" only. The world where one of my Town characters comes from uses this... I connected language to religion.

Humans, based around the "Roman Empire" and points east, speak Latin, Greek, Semitic, or Indo-Aryan languages. They thus also worship either the Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, or Indian gods (generally; some humans worship the gods of 'others', and vice versa).
Dwarves speak Nordic or Germanic languages. I suppose Gnomes would as well, except Dwarves use something closer to modern Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish, while Gnomes speak something more akin to Dutch or similar dialects of German. Dwarves come from Norse mythology. They both, I suppose, worship the Norse gods,. An eastern group could speak Baltic tongues (e.g. Lithuanian).
Elves speak Celtic languages - akin to Gaelic or Welsh. This is largely because of the fact that the Sidhe/Sith of Celtic mythology are one of the origins of modern "elves". I guess Drow, if they exist in this world, would use a variant. They also worship Celtic deities.
Orcs use Slavic tongues - mainly because I connected them to Tchernobog, a Slavic deity that Early Christians saw (probably wrongly) as an analogue for Satan. . Non-evil Orcs would likely worship other figures in Slavic mythology.
Halflings/hobbits likely speak a variant of the language humans, dwarves, or elves use in the area they live, and worship a subset of the same Gods. If they have their own tongue, perhaps the ancestor to Basque would be appropriate.
Giants, giantkin, or whatever could perhaps (this is a copy off of the "Tears of Blood" community world, I know) speak Finno-Ugric languages (Finnish, Estonian, Saami, etc), and worship the Finnish deities. Alternatively, the Finno-Ugrics are a separate group of Elves.
If you go around to other parts of the world, different species have different tongues, or the same species uses a different tongue elsewhere (Ainu elves? Inuit giantkin? San halflings? whatever!).

[The Extinguisher]

Something slightly offtopic, I've always wanted to invent some languages for other species. Like humans have a million and a half languages, but elves have one?

[SilverSheriff]

Dwarves should speak German, Germany had a lot of scientist at the start of last century, therefore German should not be discarded as Orcish.

[Nerd-o-rama]

I'm a fan of Russian Dwarf and German Goblin, but my fanboyishness over the Ring cycle might get me to invert that.

Orcs speak Hungarian (Magyar). They would speak Mongolian if I had any bloody clue what that sounded like. Non-Russian Ostroslav languages are also an option.

Draconic is Latin, because that's what all the magic is written in. Kobolds and Lizardfolk would speak Vulgar Latin, most Dragons strictly High.

[Manga Shoggoth]

The languages really aren't an issue, provided the Big Evil Bad Guy has an educated Upper-class English Accent.

[Kioran]

Why do the lawful RL-societies and their languages always get the raw deal? *shudder* elves *convulse* gnomes *retch*

Japanese is, of course, Infernal - Evidence: Japan is responsible for 90% of the worlds depraved material, and they use characters similiar to chinese - which is, of course, Abyssal.....

No seriously, German for Orcs is perfectly okay, but if the race doesn´t reach a grown mans nipples, they cannot compete. Sorry.