(08-11-2015, 02:06 AM)Kaiz Wrote: As title. I would assume there are, since there are races like the Au Ra that have been isolated from the other races of Eorzea, and there are beast tribes and what-not. I haven't seen any official confirmation of it, however. Do different languages exist, or can everyone communicate clearly?
There is a "Common Eorzean" tongue which most races now living in Eorzea are familiar with. Because our MSQ PC possesses a version of the Echo which allows them to comprehend all languages, it's often unclear whether our encounters in game with foreigners like the Garleans or the Far Easterners are spoken in other languages or that they too are familiar with this Common Tongue.
That said, there are a ton of languages mentioned in lore. Almost every race has or had at some point their own native tongue. While these languages have mostly died out in Eorzea, it's likely they are still kept elsewhere in the world.
Miqo'te:
Miqo'te Naming Conventions Wrote:The names of these tribes contained many sounds which were difficult to represent with the existing Eorzean alphabet; but the fact that there were the same exact number of tribes as letters in the Eorzean alphabet was taken as a sign that they were destined to make the new realm their home, and so assigned each tribe with a letter/sound that was closest to its name. Over time, this resulted in the changing of the pronunciation to more closely resemble the pronunciation of the Eorzean letter than that of the original word.
Roegadyn:
Roegadyn Naming Conventions Wrote:Sea Wolf names are actually all formed from two words taken from the ancient Roegadyn language that the race's ancestors spoke before they came to Eorzea.
Lalafell:
Quote:Monke Onke
A giant freshwater fish found in the tepid rivers and lakes of the Black Shroud. Gridanian records state that the first monke onke was brought to the Black Shroud by the realm's first Lalafellin settlers, the name monke onke meaning "friendship" in the settlers' native tongue.
DAT Files Wrote:Throughout history, the Lalafell passed their histories down through song, which is why even now many use heavy alliteration in their speech.
Padjal:
Padjal Naming Conventions Wrote:Words in the Padjal language are normally separated by spaces. However, when a group of words forms a single concept (such as a proper noun, or a compound word), they are connected with hyphens.-Padjal Naming Conventions
Sightseeing Vista #40 Wrote:Haukke Manor
Long frowned upon by the people of Gridania as a symbol of excess, the Seedseers would finally submit to pressure from the citizenry, selling the deed to the manor to Lady Amandine of House Dartancours. The word "Haukke" is of ancient Padjali origin and means, "to speak without words."
Quote:Dwarf Catfish
An undersized variety of catfish found in still, swampy waters across Aldenard. The Padjali name for this fish is "gee-gee," supposedly taken from the grinding sound created when it moves its fins.
Au Ra:
Au Ra Lore and Naming Conventions also gives us that Raen, who live in Doma, speak Japanese. Japanese Doman text gets used quite a bit in MSQ and other Doman related quests like the Ninja storyline. However, this is an example of a "national language," not so much a "racial language." So it may have been, as lore says Raen were once nomadic as well, that they too had their own racial language, but upon settling permanently in Doma/East Othard, they adopted the language of the natives and the Raen language was lost.
Au Ra Naming Conventions Wrote:Unlike their sister clan, the Xaela, who bloody the land with endless tribal conflict, the Raen have embraced a life of tranquility and solitude, long abandoning the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors to settle the deep valleys of Othard's mountainous eastern reaches. Only on rare occasions will one emerge from the valley mists to seek adventure in realms afar.
The Xaela naming conventions, on the other hand, are based on Mongolian.
Au Ra Naming Conventions Wrote:So, which Earth languages are we borrowing names from? Well, as most of you have already figured out, the Raen (Yugiri’s clan) borrows their names from Japanese. The second clan—the Xaela—take theirs from Mongolian. However, as is the case with Hyuran names, we have chosen to use names/spellings that slightly different than their modern equivalents.
Likely, the Xaela's racial language is a dialect of real world Mongolian. So if you're wanting to write out made-up words that your Xaela is speaking, I'd look there for inspiration.
Au Ra Naming Conventions Wrote:As was mentioned earlier, Xaela names are based on Mongolian names/words used in the 15th century (give or take a few centuries). Lists of ancient Mongolian names can also be found on the Internet for those not versed in ancient Mongolian history (I’m guessing that’s a lot).
Unlike Raen names, where the spellings are pretty much fixed, and there are no real variations for a single name, individual Xaela names come with multiple spellings, all of them acceptable. The Xaela, being nomadic, live lives that are one part solitary (when traveling as a clan) and one part community (when they interact with other clans they come across in their migrations). Because of this, similar names are used throughout the Othardian steppe, but they often feature slightly different spellings due to evolving separately in isolated clans. Also a factor is that, until recently, writing was almost non-existent amongst the tribes─written language simply not a necessity in the nomadic lifestyle.
While the Raen abandoned the method of using clan names as their surnames when they abandoned the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors, the Xaela continue the tradition. This means that, for the most part, Xaela surnames are the names of one of 51 existing clans. The following is a list of the clan names and a quick blurb describing the clan. The words used in tribe names are, for the most part, original words based loosely on 15th to 17th century Mongolian spellings.
There are also, of course, the various Beastmen languages mentioned in lore. While most Eorzean beast tribes also speak the Common Tongue, their native tongues are still used to this day, unlike the races of man.
Fernehalwes' Beast Tribes Naming Conventions post has some good info on these.
But there's also:
- High Sylphic = The language spoken by the Sylphs.
- Dragonspeak = The language spoken by the Dravanians.
- Rhotano Bloodcant = The language of the Sahagin, which many Reavers have also learned to speak.
- Gobbiespeak = Language of the Goblins.
- Mooglespeak = Language of the Moogles. There are very very few people versed in this language. Though, more are likely becoming fluent with the advent of the Mogmail System set up by Kan-E-Senna.
Vanu Vanu also have their own native language, as seen in a few of the new Sightseeing Vistas:
Vista #25 Wrote:Mok Oogl Island
An island whose name, in the tongue of the Vanu Vanu, translates to "a noise heard on high." On the island stands a monument engraved with a mark of moogle design, but no sign of the creatures themselves, leaving its origins clouded in mystery.
(Based on the above, Moogles also have a written language?)
Quote:Mahu Wai
Mahu wai grow from the floating islands of Abalathia's Spine, releasing scores of thin transparent tendrils into the sky to catch their prey and haul it back to their giant maws. The word mahu wai means "bottomless greed" in the Vanu tongue.
Hope this helps! ^^
