Again, this is something I've mentioned before, but didn't really elaborate on.
I brought up how in certain sci-fi series they came up with words, both technical terms and slang that are in use in the everyday lives of the people in those fictional worlds.
I recently started reading the Hyperion Cantos and in it are the "farcaster" portals, a piece of advanced technology. I said before that a game like Em-8er could use nifty new words, simple compounds that make for cool names for new things (creatures, technology, locations, obscenities, inanimate effing objects) or even portmanteau words to enrich the world and build a memorable narrative.
Therefore, I propose that we enlist the help of non-native speakers of English to give examples of sayings, idioms, slang, technical terms...etc. from their own languages, translated to English, that might help create a differently-evolved English language for an alternate history and future. Given how history unfolded within the game, the influence of certain languages may be more prominent, of course.
And since this IS an alternate history, some words, expressions, sayings that we use today might not have even survived, neither in English nor in other languages, they wouldn't have even be around, since history ran its course differently and cultural changes, international relations and the zeitgeist of every following decade had been different. The evolution of that common tongue could be one aspect that could flesh out the period after the wars, all the way to the exploration of space. It doesn't have to be a litany, just enough to give the players a heads-up for why they'll be hearing and reading somethings that sound weird or unusual from time to time.
It would show how people from all nations of the Earth had merged, before venturing forth into space, using and shaping a common language they influenced with their own, adapting to it and let it seamlessly integrate parts of their own into it.
There could also be certain NPCs, hailing from more remote locations or more isolated factions, communities and star systems, who would speak a strange English. One example I can give to describe what I mean by such a language and what it could even sound like is the kid "George" in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance and the way he speaks, using "English-based creole", according to the games wikia. Of course, it doesn't have to be that, just something that was formed in a similar way, so that it sounds almost completely English a lot of the times, but is not. Not all non-player characters need to talk in this language. That would be too demanding for any writing team and the voice-actors. Some NPCs could speak it to make them more colorful and to show that despite the emergence of a common tongue that enriched itself from their languages and culture, they still retain some parts of their own. All that, without resorting to overdone stereotypical accents and mannerisms/attitudes, while still giving them a bit of flare.
Also, certain names for e.g.: plants may sound a lot less poetic in English, but in another language they may be a lot more evocative, when translated back to English. We could use some of those, from non-native speakers, as well. For example, "Water Lily" (the yellow-flowered plants on the surface of lakes, whole fields of them) doesn't really sound all that good in English. It's kind of boring. In Hungarian, however, the direct translation is "Fairy Veil" or "Nymph Veil", a LOT more evocative! And I rarely prefer the Hungarian version of anything over the English one. But, this is definitely an exception. A little snobbish of me, maybe.
We should collect and compare some of these, if non-native speakers know some off the top of their heads or if native speakers who are well-versed in another language can give examples and then we could use them in-game to name parts of the environment and other stuff.
I brought up how in certain sci-fi series they came up with words, both technical terms and slang that are in use in the everyday lives of the people in those fictional worlds.
I recently started reading the Hyperion Cantos and in it are the "farcaster" portals, a piece of advanced technology. I said before that a game like Em-8er could use nifty new words, simple compounds that make for cool names for new things (creatures, technology, locations, obscenities, inanimate effing objects) or even portmanteau words to enrich the world and build a memorable narrative.
Therefore, I propose that we enlist the help of non-native speakers of English to give examples of sayings, idioms, slang, technical terms...etc. from their own languages, translated to English, that might help create a differently-evolved English language for an alternate history and future. Given how history unfolded within the game, the influence of certain languages may be more prominent, of course.
And since this IS an alternate history, some words, expressions, sayings that we use today might not have even survived, neither in English nor in other languages, they wouldn't have even be around, since history ran its course differently and cultural changes, international relations and the zeitgeist of every following decade had been different. The evolution of that common tongue could be one aspect that could flesh out the period after the wars, all the way to the exploration of space. It doesn't have to be a litany, just enough to give the players a heads-up for why they'll be hearing and reading somethings that sound weird or unusual from time to time.
It would show how people from all nations of the Earth had merged, before venturing forth into space, using and shaping a common language they influenced with their own, adapting to it and let it seamlessly integrate parts of their own into it.
There could also be certain NPCs, hailing from more remote locations or more isolated factions, communities and star systems, who would speak a strange English. One example I can give to describe what I mean by such a language and what it could even sound like is the kid "George" in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance and the way he speaks, using "English-based creole", according to the games wikia. Of course, it doesn't have to be that, just something that was formed in a similar way, so that it sounds almost completely English a lot of the times, but is not. Not all non-player characters need to talk in this language. That would be too demanding for any writing team and the voice-actors. Some NPCs could speak it to make them more colorful and to show that despite the emergence of a common tongue that enriched itself from their languages and culture, they still retain some parts of their own. All that, without resorting to overdone stereotypical accents and mannerisms/attitudes, while still giving them a bit of flare.
Also, certain names for e.g.: plants may sound a lot less poetic in English, but in another language they may be a lot more evocative, when translated back to English. We could use some of those, from non-native speakers, as well. For example, "Water Lily" (the yellow-flowered plants on the surface of lakes, whole fields of them) doesn't really sound all that good in English. It's kind of boring. In Hungarian, however, the direct translation is "Fairy Veil" or "Nymph Veil", a LOT more evocative! And I rarely prefer the Hungarian version of anything over the English one. But, this is definitely an exception. A little snobbish of me, maybe.
We should collect and compare some of these, if non-native speakers know some off the top of their heads or if native speakers who are well-versed in another language can give examples and then we could use them in-game to name parts of the environment and other stuff.
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