+- Discovery Gaming Community (https://discoverygc.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Welcome (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=399)
+--- Forum: Help & Support (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=26)
+--- Thread: User Guides to the Languages of Discovery (/showthread.php?tid=66236)
User Guides to the Languages of Discovery - fencore - 09-13-2011
The following guides are user created and focus on the various languages that exist within the roleplay of the Discovery GC ethos. As the only language I'm fluent in is English, I can't claim that they're 100% accurate, but they should be a good starting point or reference material.
If you have a guide that you would like to alter/add/rewrite, or find something that's just completely wrong, shoot me a message and we'll work something out.
Language Guides
English French
Enoch's Guide to the Gallic Language - Updated 18 September 2011
German
JapanesePersonalities, Ways of Life, and Other Things
Discordianism
Malaclypse 666's "Discordian Q&A" - A back-and-forth on the finer points of Discordianism by our resident Erisian.
At some point I might go fix the formatting on a couple of these. AceJoker's is helpful, but the formatting makes me go HHHHNNNNGGGGHHHHH
User Guides to the Languages of Discovery - Enoch - 09-13-2011
Hello.
I noticed that most of the sentences/words in French, in-game or in the Communication Channel, contain massive spelling/grammar errors. That's ok and perfectly understandable, since the French language is pretty hard, awkward, and makes little sense most of the time.
So I thought "Why not making a small, easy to use guide to French language ? With the .86 incoming and Gallia breaking its isolation, it could be useful to people who want to include some Gallic words in their roleplay !"
And here am I.
Please note that this guide is in no way a complete initiation to French. Instead, I'll just give you some words, expressions, sentences, and advices you can use while steamrolling the rest of Sirius in your Valor.
Let's begin with the greetings.
The most common one is of course "Bonjour", meaning Good day, or Hello. It's neutral in the sense it is generally used between people not knowing each other.
A more cordial greeting is "Salut", meaning Hi.
In the evening, it's "Bonsoir" (Soir meaning Evening and Jour meaning Day, I guess you got the pattern).
Good Night is said "Bonne nuit". Nuit is a feminine word, hence the "Bonne" instead of "Bon".
Goodbye is simply "Au revoir".
On to the honorifics.
- Mister = Monsieur.
- Miss = Mademoiselle. -- These 3 are used for people you respect, at least a little.
- Mrs = Madame.
- King = Roi (or Roy for the middle-age spelling).
- Queen = Reine.
- Count, Earl = Comte.
- Lord, liege = Seigneur.
- Majesty = Majesté.
- "Mon Seigneur" or "Majesté" is the proper way of speaking to a person of very high rank, such as a King. Note that "Mon Seigneur" is male, so don't say that to the Queen.
A few military ranks.
These ones are easy because they are spelled almost the same way.
- Soldier = Soldat.
- Sergeant = Sergent.
- Lieutenant, Major, Colonel and Commodore are the same.
- Admiral = Amiral.
Some very soft curse/slang words.
- Dammit ! = Bon sang !
- Geez. = La vache. (This one is ridiculous. It literally means "The cow". Silly.)
- Dude = Mec.
- My god ! = Mon dieu !
- Crap ! = Mince !
- What's up ? = Quoi de neuf ?
Useful common nouns/fixed expressions.
- Gallia is not translated as "Galle". That's a disease. Gallia = Gaulle.
- So "The Kingdom of Gallia" is "Le Royaume de Gaulle".
- Yes = Oui.
- No = Non.
- Please = S'il vous plaît.
- Thanks = Merci.
- At your orders = A vos ordres.
- Great. = Génial.
- My friend = Mon ami.
- My brother = Mon frère.
- My sister = Ma soeur.
- Kingdom = Royaume.
- House = Maison.
- Empire = Empire.
- Navy = Marine.
- Ship = Vaisseau.
- Fighter = Chasseur.
- Bomber = Bombardier.
- Gunboat = Frégate.
- Cruiser = Croiseur.
- Battleship = Cuirassé.
- Transport, Station and Base are the same.
Yes, it is tempting to use a lot of French words when roleplaying a Gallic character. But do that and you will end up with sentences that won't be understandable to other players. Also keep in mind that rules 3.2 forbids to use French-only sentences.
A few Gallic words per sentence are fine. Not more.
Remember : A Pikachu gets Bastilled every time someone misuses french words.
I will probably add things when I come to think about them.
If you have questions or comments, feel free to respond in this thread.
On-line translators cannot be trusted for English to French (or French to English) translations because they tend to translate the whole text word-to-word. Results are awful. So don't hesitate to shoot me a PM if you want to translate somethin'.
== Edit ==
When I started writing this guide I had already noticed a few sigs, transmission bars, MD messages, etc that were incorrect. It's pretty much the reason why I made this guide in the beginning. But back then, I thought : "I can't directly point people to the mistakes they make. I can't post on the forum telling someone : your sig doesn't make any sense. That would be rude, ya'know."
Well I changed my mind.
This post is both a bump and a repository of mistakes I found in people's RP when they speak French. So here I go.
Note : I realize that when reading this, some people might get offended (or not, I dunno really). Some may even think I am targeting a couple of particular factions. I'm not. Keep in mind my goal is not to point fingers saying "The guy that wrote that in his sig can't speak properly, lol". No. I'm just here to show you people who make mistake how to correct them. Also note that I'm fine either way. I won't throw you the gauntlet because you are making mistakes. This guide is meant to help you, not to blame you. As I said, it's ok to make mistakes. But if you want to throw a couple of French words in a conversation on the forums or in-game, why not make it look as authentic as possible ?
Let's get started.
- Vrai pour Sable!
- I tried to figure out what it meant, I did not manage to. "Pour Sable" makes sense (it just means "For Sable !"). "Vrai pour Sable" just means "True for Sable"; I don't know if it means something in English either.
- No offense but that is just not French. None of the words in that sentence are in French. Doesn't mean anything in any language I know.
- "My ship" is not "Moi ship". It's "Mon ship" (or "Mon vaisseau). "Mon" or "Ma" is the possessive.
- All the faction names present in-game are accurately translated, except for "Unione Corse". That should be just Union. That means the proper spelling is Legion, not Legione. It's Maquis, not Marquis. It's Ãle, not Ãlé. And so on.
User Guides to the Languages of Discovery - zhihao420 - 09-13-2011
Welcome to Norexan's English grammar lesson! Here you will learn from common grammatical errors made by internet users and hopefully correct your wrong grammar in the future. We will start with five top errors today. Now pay attention and learn!
Just before we start, "vs." is short for "versus" and "etc." is short for "et cetera".
*Disclaimer - This guide was only written for those who genuinely wishes to improve upon their English skills. Its intent is to idenfity and correct common errors, not serve as an infallible reference.
1. Your vs. You're
This one drives me insane, and it's become extremely common among internet users. All it takes to avoid this error is to take a second and think about what you're trying to say.
"Your" is a possessive pronoun, as in "your car" or "your thread." "You're" is a contraction for "you are," as in "you're screwing up your writing by using your when you really mean you are."
2. It's vs. Its
This is another common mistake. It's also easily avoided by thinking through what you're trying to say.
"It's" is a contraction of "it is" or "it has." "Its" is a possessive pronoun, as in "this blog has lost its mojo." Here's an easy rule of thumb'repeat your sentence out loud using "it is" instead. If that sounds stupid, "its" is likely the correct choice.
3. There vs. Their vs. They're
This one seems to trip up most people, make sure to watch for it when you proofread.
"There" is used many ways, including as a reference to a place ("let's go there") or as a pronoun ("there is no hope"). "Their" is a plural possessive pronoun, as in "their bags" or "their opinions." Always do the "that's ours!" test'are you talking about more than one person and something that they possess? If so, "their" will get you there. "They're" is a contraction of "they are" as in "they're on a plane which is ready to take off."
4. Affect vs. Effect
As with any of the other common mistakes people make when writing, it's taking that moment to get it right that makes the difference.
"Affect" is a verb, as in "Your ability to communicate clearly will affect your income immensely." "Effect" is a noun, as in "The effect of a parent's low income on a child's future is well documented." By thinking in terms of "the effect," you can usually sort out which is which, because you can't stick a "the" in front of a verb. While some people do use "effect" as a verb ("a strategy to effect a settlement"), they are usually lawyers, and you should therefore ignore them if you want to write like a human.
5. Capitalisation and Apostrophes
The apostrophe is a raised comma ' like this ( ' ). It is used to show 'possession' and to punctuate 'contractions'. Please use apostrophes in appropriate contractions such as "don't", "can't" and possension such as "Jason's car", "the dog's bone". Always capitalise the initial letter of the word in the beginning of a sentence and capitalise proper nouns. For example "The car was driving up the hill." "I went to New York last week."
---------------------------------------------------
That is all for today. This English grammar lesson was brought to you by Norexan. Thank you for reading and I hope you can improve upon your English skills!
---------------------------------------------------
Hello class, the second lesson is up and running! Now sit down and pay attention!
6. Too vs. Either
It is important not to get these two mixed up as many people don't know how to use either correctly or just not at all. The first step to distinguishing them is to first think about whether the sentence is positive or negative.
"Too" is used in positive sentences to add an agreeing thought. It has the same meaning as "also," but its placement within the sentence is different. It is usually placed after a clause. For example, "I can speak Chinese too.", "Jane was scared, and Jack was scared too."
"Either" is used in negative sentences to add an agreeing thought. It is usually placed at the end of a clause. For example, "I can't speak Chinese either." "I wasn't scared and Jack wasn't scared either."
7.Too vs. To
These two also trips people up quite a bit on the internet, I have seen too used in place of to and vice versa.
"Too" means "also" and is generally used at the end of a sentence. "Too" also indicates too much of a particular quality. For example, "That car is too expensive for me!" "I'd love to come to the party, too "
"To" is generally used as a preposition. It is also used as part of the infinitive form of verbs. For example, "I gave the book to him." "She slowly made her way to the house."
Again, errors with these two can be easily avoided if you proofread what you have written. Read what you have written back to yourself and replace "too" with "also" and see if it makes sense.
8. Except vs. Accept
These two English words are sometimes confused even by native speakers. What causes problems for people is mainly how the two words sound similar when spoken.
"Accept" is a verb that means "to receive, admit, regard as true, say yes." For example, "She accepts her proposal." "I accept your invitation"
"Except" is a preposition that means "excluding. For example, "He bought a gift for everyone except me." "Except" is also a conjunction that means "if not for the fact that" or "other than. For example, "I would help you, except I'm too busy."
In fact, it's rather strange that they do get confused, because the meaning of "accept" and the meaning of "except" when used as a verb are more or less opposites. In the majority of situations, when you want to use a verb, that verb is "accept". "Except" is not used as a verb.
9. Then vs. Than
The English words than and then look and sound a lot alike, but they are completely different. If this distinction is harder than it should be, learn their meanings by reading the following.
"Than" is a conjunction used in comparisons. For example, "His car can go faster than mine" "English grammar is more important than you think."
"Then" can mean "At that point in time", for example "I wasn't ready then."
"Then" can also mean "Next, afterwards", for example "I took a shower first, then ate my breakfast."
"Then" can mean "In addition, also, on top of that", for example "This costs five hundred pounds, but then there's tax as well."
Finally, "then" can mean " In that case, therefore", for example "If you want to go see your girlfreind, then you'll have to finish your homework.
"Than" is used only in comparisons, so if you're comparing something use "than". If not, then you have to use "then". What could be easier than that?
10. Lose vs. Loose
The words "loose" and "lose" are mixed up in writing; for some reason, many people write "loose" when they really mean lose. Although the only difference between the way they look is an extra "o" but their meanings are very different.
"Loose" is an adjective, the opposite of tight or contained. For example, "My shoes are loose."
"Lose" is a verb that means to suffer the loss of, to miss. For example, "I lose, you win."
Simple carelessness leads people to write "loose" when they mean "lose". Just remember that "lose" has one o, and "loose" has two. The best way to avoid these errors is to learn their meanings!
---------------------------------------------------
Than you for attending another English grammar class, see you all next time!
---------------------------------------------------
The class is back! Now with brand new common areas in grammatical mistakes.
---------------------------------------------------
11. I vs. Me
These two words are usually mixed up because they have more or less the same meanings. However, they are used in different situations.
"I" is the first person singular subject pronoun, which means that it refers to the person performing the action of a verb. For example, "I would like a glass of water", "I plan to go to the cinema."
"Me" is an object pronoun, which means that it refers to the person that the action of a verb is being done to, or to which a preposition refers. For example, "A cookie was given to me." "He told me to leave."
Learning the differences between them is easy. But learning how to use them in conjunction with "and" and "or" may be more difficult. It simply boils down to this, don't use a subject pronoun and objective pronoun together.
He and I - correct: "He and I are going to see a movie."
Him and me - correct: "Judy told him and me about the situation."
Him and I - incorrect
He and me - incorrect
12. Either vs. Neither
Either and neither can prove confusing even to native English speakers.
"Either... or' is used to offer a choice between two possibilities. For example, "Either Dave or Eva will be here." "Either you leave or I leave."
"Either" can also be followed by (one) of + group of two. For example, "Either of us could go."
"Not... either" is used after a negative statement. For example, "You don't like coffee, me either."
"Neither... nor" is equivalent to "not... either... or." For example, "Neither Mike nor Lisa will be there."
"Neither" can also be followed by (one) of + group of two. For example, "Neither of them is ready."
It may seem confusing the first few times you try to distinguish the differences. But if you practice more you will eventually know which situation to use "either" and "neither".
---------------------------------------------------
New examples upon requests are in! Grab your seats!
---------------------------------------------------
13. A lot vs. Allot vs. Alot
This is quite problematic for many people and is just as frequently misused as "your" and "you're". They are actually very easy to distinguish from and most mistakes are made because people don't know how to spell correctly.
"A lot" (two words) is an informal phrase meaning "many." It can take an adjective, for example, "a sizeable lot. For example, "Karl needed a lot of time for the job."
You have no idea how popular "alot" and "allot" are when people really mean "a lot". Just remember, "allot" is a verb and "a lot" is made up of two words meaning "many".
14. Alright vs. All Right
The correct form of this phrase has become so rare in the popular press that many readers have probably never noticed that it is actually two words. Whether or not "alright" is correct is debatable, but it has become acceptable in casual usage.
Both words mean "being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition" and are expressions of agreement normally occurring at the beginning of a sentence.
Which one to use is up to you. But "alright" is commonly used as non-standard, conversational language. For example, "Are you alright John?"
"all right" is more formal and used in traditional writing. For example, "When the police arrived at the crime scene the family was all right."
15. Another vs. Other
"Another" is written as one word and is followed by a singular noun. For example, "another week" not "another weeks". It can also be followed by few or a number and a noun in the plural. For example, "another two weeks."
"Other" as an adjective, it has no plural form. For example, "where are the other cats?" "have you got any other questions?"
"Others" is used as a pronoun with the maning "other ones" or "other people". For example, "She left the others behind."
"An other" does not exist.
---------------------------------------------------
16. Stupider & Stupidest
"Stupider" and "stupidest" are not real words, they do not exist.
The superlative of "stupid" is "more stupid". So before you think of saying "stupider", think about "more stupid" and say that instead. For example, "I think this is one of the stupider threads I've read in a while" - is incorrect. "I think this is one of the more stupid threads I've read in a while" - is correct.
When you think of saying "stupidest", you actually want to say "most stupid" as "stupidest" is not a real word either. For example, "This is the most stupid person I've ever met" - is correct. "This is the stupidest person I've ever met." - is incorrect.
---------------------------------------------------
17. Alternate vs Alternative
Although these two words are very similar both in appearance and nature, they must not be confused as both words are not exchangeable in meaning.
"Alternate" means "one after the other" or "back and forth". For example, "The groceries store is only open on alternate days." It could also mean "substitute, backup". For example, "If this road is closed, take an alternate route."
"Alternative", however, is the adjective of "alternate". It means "a choice between more than one option". For example, "I suppose eating my fruits and vegetables is an alternative to going to the doctor."
The two words really have different meanings. To distinguish between them, start with verb "alternate" and try to apply its meaning of "one after the other". Most of the time, "alternative" is the adjective you want.
User Guides to the Languages of Discovery - AceJoker - 09-13-2011
Welcome community. This thread is dedicated to members who want to extend their knowledge about
german language, grammar and spelling, in order to keep their characters of rheinland origin authentical.
Here i'll show you the most common missunderstandings and how you can avoid them.
*Disclaimer: This thread is not meant to be considered as some sort of evangelium.
The thread's contains are an addition, not a necessity. I wrote this for the same reasons
which caused the creation of Norexan's English grammar class.
After I got lots of PMs, I clarify this issue once and for all:
This is not an RP guide. This is a basic grammar introduction. It's your decision if you want to use this
knowledge written in here or not.
For that fact, you won't find any suggestions/proposals about accents or dialects here.
*Note: Some grammar issues don't have crystalclear rules and it would take too much forum space to explain every
rule for every word with every exceptions in it, without learning the language itself. If you're unsure how your
spelling is, don't hesitate to contact the german player of your trust, or simply send me a PM and i correct your
spelling. Voluntary and for free.
We start with the very basics. The German diphthongs "ie" and "ei":
In German "ie" is pronunced [i:], which is a long "i" like in "feel", and "ei" is pronunced [ai], like in "eye". There are two possible combinations of the vowels "e" and "i",
that can appear in diphthongs like "ei" and "ie", e.g. "das Lied" and "das Leid". The difference between these two diphthongs is apart from their order and the pronunciation
the very meaning. In our example "Lied" means "song" and "Leid" means "suffering". Or "Riese" means "giant", but "Reise" means "journey". Also, there is no reason to replace
the "ei" with "ai". "Laid" instead of "Leid" or "Raise" instead of "Reise" doesn't exist in German and are completely incorrect.
"ai" is a completely different story with its own rules and exceptions, which i'll show you another time.
Capitalization of nouns:
The German language has a clear rule about capitalization regarding nouns. EVERY noun, name or any word changed into a noun (verb-derived nouns etc.)
is written with a capital letter in the beginning, even in the middle or at the end of a sentence e.g. "Ich nahm den Ball." ("I took the ball").
German definite articles "der", "die" and "das":
The most mistakes are made here. In German there are three different definite articles:
"Der", "Die" and "Das". In contrast to English each article marks the gender of a German word. "Der" is used for males e.g. "Der Mann" = "The man".
"Die" is used for females e.g. "Die Frau" = "The woman" and "das" is used for the neutrums. When exceptions are excluded you can say that it's used for objects e.g.
"Das Haus" = "The house". Unfortunaltely, it is difficult to say which definite article has to be used for a certain word cuz genders differ from country to country.
The problem is not the article, in fact it's the word's gender what's causing the problems. In French "The car" is female but in German it's a neutrum ("Das Auto").
So much for singular. Now plural terms are easy. In plural there's only one article, which is used for everything. It's "Die".
"Die Männer" = "The men", "Die Frauen" = "The women", "Die Häuser" = "The houses".
Again, if you are unsure refer to my note at the top of my post or send me a PM.
Now for labeling your ships (or things in general) a definite article is usually not needed -- just as in English a sign in front of a hospital will show "HOSPITAL" and not "THE HOSPITAL".
The same rule applies here as well. If you want to name your ship after the Abominable Snowman, you will name it "Yeti" and not "The Yeti" in Liberty,
and you will name it "Yeti" and not "Der Yeti" in Rheinland as well.
Gender of German Compounds:
Fortunately, in German it's very easy to know which definite article has to be used with certain compounds. The German compound "Eisenbahn" for example, consists of the two words
"Das Eisen" = "The iron" and "Die Bahn" = "The railway/train (in german it's used for both). Many non-native speakers tend to use wrong definite articles in German. But the rule here is simple.
The last word of a German compound marks the gender type of it. So with "Eisenbahn" you use "die" in "die Eisenbahn" as a definite article, because the last word "Bahn"
is a female noun and needs the definite article "die" in "die Bahn". "Das Eisenbahn" is incorrect.
That's all for today. Next time i'll tell you the "ai" thingy, the german equivalent of "sh" and the mutated vowels "ä", "ö" and "ü".
Any german or german-speaking player is free to correct me if i made any mistakes and anyone can make proposals what i should do next.
Thanks for your attention. Until next time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello again, community. Like I promised, we'll take another look into the strange depths of German grammar.
Let's start with something easy.
English "sh", German counterpart "sch":
In German, the English "sh" like in "shout" is writen "sch" like in "Schall" = "sound" (the c here is mute). That's all about it. Easy, isn't it?
The German diphthong "ai":
The diphthong "ai" is pronunced in the exact way like "ei" (like "eye"), if the word is used in native German e.g. "der Kaiser" = "the emperor". The only exception here are foreign words.
Germanized words, like "fair", "training", etc, are pronunced like their English counterparts and even share the same meaning. "Fair" in English means "fair" in German and
"training" in English means "Training" in German and the pronunciation is nearly the same.
Eye candy for some, eye cancer for others: German Salutations:
Male salutations
Even though the straight translations might be correct, their meanings can be easily missunderstood. The salutation "Good day, Sir." is causing problems to many german speakers.
In German the term "Herr" is used for both "Mister" and "Lord/Master". The difference can be seen if "Herr" is related to someone in the sentence. If i say:
"Guten Tag, Herr." and nothing follows after the "Herr", then most Germans tend to understand it like a slave/underling/butler says "Good day, Master/Lord".
Same for plural "Guten Tag, Herren.".
In order to turn the meaning of "Herr" into a polite "Mister" you simply say the name too, e.g. "Good day, Mr. Smith" "Guten Tag, Herr Smith".
Now let's get more official. Polite and official German salutations are mostly accompanied with a possessive pronoun e. g. "mein" = "my", "der" = "the". In this case "Herr" changes its
meaning into "Gentleman". In singular the most common salutation that the German use is the "Herr *name*" issue. Now in plural cases or if someone has to say hello to more than one person,
instead of saying "Guten Tag, Herr X, Herr Y, Herr Z..." = "Good day, Mr. X, Mr Y, Mr. Z..." you just sum it up by saying "Guten Tag, meine Herren." means "Good day, gentlemen."
Now, military salutations are simple. You just say "Herr" followed by the person's rank e.g. "Good day, General!" = "Guten Tag, Herr General!" or "Jawohl, Herr Kapitän!" = "Aye, Captain!"
Of course it's not always necessary to write "Herr" in the military. In a report, usually the rank replaces the "Herr" e.g. "To: General Wurst" = "An: General Wurst".
Female salutations
Salutations to females are easier to remember. In German you use the diminutive form of "Frau" = "Woman", namely "Fräulein" = "little woman",
for "Ms." e.g. "Good day, Ms. Wurst." = "Guten Tag, Fräulein Wurst.", if you know that she's unmarried. For married women, "Frau" is used e.g. "Good day, Mrs. Wurst." = "Guten Tag, Frau Wurst."
But today the germans don't care much if the woman is married or not and use "Frau *name*" for both. So, using "Frau" for Ms AND Mrs are both correct.
Same in military style: For females, instead of "Herr General" you use "Frau General". And to sum it up, the public salutation "Ladies and gentlemen" in German is "Damen und Herren".
"Dame" means "Lady". Now "Dear Ladies and gentlemen" is in German "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren".
The mutated vowels "ä", "ö" and "ü":
In New High German the mutated vowels "ä", "ö" and "ü" are generally written in words that are related to other similar words with "a", "o" and "u". In most cases it marks the
change of a singular form of a word with a vocals "a", "o" and "u" e.g. "der Mann" = "the man" to a plural form "die Männer" = "the men".
"ö" "ä" "ü" exists also in diminutive forms of words, for example in words with a diminutive final syllable like "-chen" or "-lein", like in "der Mann" - "das Männchen" or
"der Mann" - "das Männlein". Both of them are diminutive forms of "The man".
But this is not a general rule.
In some dialects and in some machine-generated documents (like airline tickets) those mutated vowels don't even exist and are written ae, oe and ue.
So, Nürnberg and Nuernberg are both correct.
That's enough for today. Next time I clarify the "das Wilde"/"Die Wilden" issue, cuz most PMs i got is about that and I carefully scratch on the surface of the rules of linking elements like
the linking "s" in German compounds for example in "Vertragslage". Thanks for your attention. Until next time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome back. Today's lesson won't last long this time.
Das Wilde and Die Wilden:
Many players PMed me about getting confused when they read that faction's name. They can't divide between
the chars and anything other related to the wild. I won't show you here what the faction's name is meaning.
Ask wild players about it. Here I'll show you only the correct spelling in German.
The Wild - Das Wilde:
Das Wilde, written that way is a nominalized adjective. Used as an adjective it would look like this: The wild being = Das wilde Wesen, the wild style = Der wilde Stil.
Anything non related to the people.
The Wild - Die Wilden:
Die Wilden points directly to the people (members/players/chars). It's the plural form of "Der Wilde" (male singular) and "Die Wilde" (female singular).
So, in order to understand what is meant, just read the whole text. Pointing towards persons it can appear like those:
Singular (male/female): The Wild - Der/Die Wilde
Plural (both genders): The Wild - Die Wilden
That's all about it.
The linking element "s" in German compounds:
Like in other languages, in German a "s" is used as an link between two words. Unfortunately there are
more exceptions than rules, so I only can tell you what it is. It is a so called "epenthesis". Such things are
used for making pronunciation easier. Like in English instead of "a eye" you write "a[color=#FFFF33]n eye".
Since there's no easy way to figure out when you should use epenthesis in German without learning the language itself,
your best bet is to refer to my note on top of the post.
That's all for today. Thanks for any interest. If I found something german that needs to be clarified, I'll post it here. Until next time.
german language, grammar and spelling, in order to keep their characters of rheinland origin authentical.
Here i'll show you the most common missunderstandings and how you can avoid them.
*Disclaimer: This thread is not meant to be considered as some sort of evangelium.
The thread's contains are an addition, not a necessity. I wrote this for the same reasons
which caused the creation of Norexan's English grammar class.
After I got lots of PMs, I clarify this issue once and for all:
This is not an RP guide. This is a basic grammar introduction. It's your decision if you want to use this
knowledge written in here or not.
For that fact, you won't find any suggestions/proposals about accents or dialects here.
*Note: Some grammar issues don't have crystalclear rules and it would take too much forum space to explain every
rule for every word with every exceptions in it, without learning the language itself. If you're unsure how your
spelling is, don't hesitate to contact the german player of your trust, or simply send me a PM and i correct your
spelling. Voluntary and for free.
We start with the very basics. The German diphthongs "ie" and "ei":
In German "ie" is pronunced [i:], which is a long "i" like in "feel", and "ei" is pronunced [ai], like in "eye". There are two possible combinations of the vowels "e" and "i",
that can appear in diphthongs like "ei" and "ie", e.g. "das Lied" and "das Leid". The difference between these two diphthongs is apart from their order and the pronunciation
the very meaning. In our example "Lied" means "song" and "Leid" means "suffering". Or "Riese" means "giant", but "Reise" means "journey". Also, there is no reason to replace
the "ei" with "ai". "Laid" instead of "Leid" or "Raise" instead of "Reise" doesn't exist in German and are completely incorrect.
"ai" is a completely different story with its own rules and exceptions, which i'll show you another time.
Capitalization of nouns:
The German language has a clear rule about capitalization regarding nouns. EVERY noun, name or any word changed into a noun (verb-derived nouns etc.)
is written with a capital letter in the beginning, even in the middle or at the end of a sentence e.g. "Ich nahm den Ball." ("I took the ball").
German definite articles "der", "die" and "das":
The most mistakes are made here. In German there are three different definite articles:
"Der", "Die" and "Das". In contrast to English each article marks the gender of a German word. "Der" is used for males e.g. "Der Mann" = "The man".
"Die" is used for females e.g. "Die Frau" = "The woman" and "das" is used for the neutrums. When exceptions are excluded you can say that it's used for objects e.g.
"Das Haus" = "The house". Unfortunaltely, it is difficult to say which definite article has to be used for a certain word cuz genders differ from country to country.
The problem is not the article, in fact it's the word's gender what's causing the problems. In French "The car" is female but in German it's a neutrum ("Das Auto").
So much for singular. Now plural terms are easy. In plural there's only one article, which is used for everything. It's "Die".
"Die Männer" = "The men", "Die Frauen" = "The women", "Die Häuser" = "The houses".
Again, if you are unsure refer to my note at the top of my post or send me a PM.
Now for labeling your ships (or things in general) a definite article is usually not needed -- just as in English a sign in front of a hospital will show "HOSPITAL" and not "THE HOSPITAL".
The same rule applies here as well. If you want to name your ship after the Abominable Snowman, you will name it "Yeti" and not "The Yeti" in Liberty,
and you will name it "Yeti" and not "Der Yeti" in Rheinland as well.
Gender of German Compounds:
Fortunately, in German it's very easy to know which definite article has to be used with certain compounds. The German compound "Eisenbahn" for example, consists of the two words
"Das Eisen" = "The iron" and "Die Bahn" = "The railway/train (in german it's used for both). Many non-native speakers tend to use wrong definite articles in German. But the rule here is simple.
The last word of a German compound marks the gender type of it. So with "Eisenbahn" you use "die" in "die Eisenbahn" as a definite article, because the last word "Bahn"
is a female noun and needs the definite article "die" in "die Bahn". "Das Eisenbahn" is incorrect.
That's all for today. Next time i'll tell you the "ai" thingy, the german equivalent of "sh" and the mutated vowels "ä", "ö" and "ü".
Any german or german-speaking player is free to correct me if i made any mistakes and anyone can make proposals what i should do next.
Thanks for your attention. Until next time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello again, community. Like I promised, we'll take another look into the strange depths of German grammar.
Let's start with something easy.
English "sh", German counterpart "sch":
In German, the English "sh" like in "shout" is writen "sch" like in "Schall" = "sound" (the c here is mute). That's all about it. Easy, isn't it?
The German diphthong "ai":
The diphthong "ai" is pronunced in the exact way like "ei" (like "eye"), if the word is used in native German e.g. "der Kaiser" = "the emperor". The only exception here are foreign words.
Germanized words, like "fair", "training", etc, are pronunced like their English counterparts and even share the same meaning. "Fair" in English means "fair" in German and
"training" in English means "Training" in German and the pronunciation is nearly the same.
Eye candy for some, eye cancer for others: German Salutations:
Male salutations
Even though the straight translations might be correct, their meanings can be easily missunderstood. The salutation "Good day, Sir." is causing problems to many german speakers.
In German the term "Herr" is used for both "Mister" and "Lord/Master". The difference can be seen if "Herr" is related to someone in the sentence. If i say:
"Guten Tag, Herr." and nothing follows after the "Herr", then most Germans tend to understand it like a slave/underling/butler says "Good day, Master/Lord".
Same for plural "Guten Tag, Herren.".
In order to turn the meaning of "Herr" into a polite "Mister" you simply say the name too, e.g. "Good day, Mr. Smith" "Guten Tag, Herr Smith".
Now let's get more official. Polite and official German salutations are mostly accompanied with a possessive pronoun e. g. "mein" = "my", "der" = "the". In this case "Herr" changes its
meaning into "Gentleman". In singular the most common salutation that the German use is the "Herr *name*" issue. Now in plural cases or if someone has to say hello to more than one person,
instead of saying "Guten Tag, Herr X, Herr Y, Herr Z..." = "Good day, Mr. X, Mr Y, Mr. Z..." you just sum it up by saying "Guten Tag, meine Herren." means "Good day, gentlemen."
Now, military salutations are simple. You just say "Herr" followed by the person's rank e.g. "Good day, General!" = "Guten Tag, Herr General!" or "Jawohl, Herr Kapitän!" = "Aye, Captain!"
Of course it's not always necessary to write "Herr" in the military. In a report, usually the rank replaces the "Herr" e.g. "To: General Wurst" = "An: General Wurst".
Female salutations
Salutations to females are easier to remember. In German you use the diminutive form of "Frau" = "Woman", namely "Fräulein" = "little woman",
for "Ms." e.g. "Good day, Ms. Wurst." = "Guten Tag, Fräulein Wurst.", if you know that she's unmarried. For married women, "Frau" is used e.g. "Good day, Mrs. Wurst." = "Guten Tag, Frau Wurst."
But today the germans don't care much if the woman is married or not and use "Frau *name*" for both. So, using "Frau" for Ms AND Mrs are both correct.
Same in military style: For females, instead of "Herr General" you use "Frau General". And to sum it up, the public salutation "Ladies and gentlemen" in German is "Damen und Herren".
"Dame" means "Lady". Now "Dear Ladies and gentlemen" is in German "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren".
The mutated vowels "ä", "ö" and "ü":
In New High German the mutated vowels "ä", "ö" and "ü" are generally written in words that are related to other similar words with "a", "o" and "u". In most cases it marks the
change of a singular form of a word with a vocals "a", "o" and "u" e.g. "der Mann" = "the man" to a plural form "die Männer" = "the men".
"ö" "ä" "ü" exists also in diminutive forms of words, for example in words with a diminutive final syllable like "-chen" or "-lein", like in "der Mann" - "das Männchen" or
"der Mann" - "das Männlein". Both of them are diminutive forms of "The man".
But this is not a general rule.
In some dialects and in some machine-generated documents (like airline tickets) those mutated vowels don't even exist and are written ae, oe and ue.
So, Nürnberg and Nuernberg are both correct.
That's enough for today. Next time I clarify the "das Wilde"/"Die Wilden" issue, cuz most PMs i got is about that and I carefully scratch on the surface of the rules of linking elements like
the linking "s" in German compounds for example in "Vertragslage". Thanks for your attention. Until next time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome back. Today's lesson won't last long this time.
Das Wilde and Die Wilden:
Many players PMed me about getting confused when they read that faction's name. They can't divide between
the chars and anything other related to the wild. I won't show you here what the faction's name is meaning.
Ask wild players about it. Here I'll show you only the correct spelling in German.
The Wild - Das Wilde:
Das Wilde, written that way is a nominalized adjective. Used as an adjective it would look like this: The wild being = Das wilde Wesen, the wild style = Der wilde Stil.
Anything non related to the people.
The Wild - Die Wilden:
Die Wilden points directly to the people (members/players/chars). It's the plural form of "Der Wilde" (male singular) and "Die Wilde" (female singular).
So, in order to understand what is meant, just read the whole text. Pointing towards persons it can appear like those:
Singular (male/female): The Wild - Der/Die Wilde
Plural (both genders): The Wild - Die Wilden
That's all about it.
The linking element "s" in German compounds:
Like in other languages, in German a "s" is used as an link between two words. Unfortunately there are
more exceptions than rules, so I only can tell you what it is. It is a so called "epenthesis". Such things are
used for making pronunciation easier. Like in English instead of "a eye" you write "a[color=#FFFF33]n eye".
Since there's no easy way to figure out when you should use epenthesis in German without learning the language itself,
your best bet is to refer to my note on top of the post.
That's all for today. Thanks for any interest. If I found something german that needs to be clarified, I'll post it here. Until next time.
User Guides to the Languages of Discovery - Username removed - 02-24-2012
Welcome to Xao's Japanese lesson 101.
(looks like the bad word filter doesn't like Japanese so I had to separate some letters in some of the words in order to avoid censoring the word)
[size=small]This post servers the purpose of giving basic information about the Japanese language which may serve you later in Kusari and/or Real Life.
We will start with introduction.
There are several ways of introducting yourself in Japanese, we will start with "watashi wa"
Now, how do you introduce yourself using your name? Many places teach "watashi wa ______ desu." but this has a couple of problems:
1. "watashi wa ______ desu." means both "I am ______." and "I am a ______." Unless the Japanese person you are introducing yourself to is familiar with your name (which isn't always too likely) they won't know that you are telling them your name. This is particularly a problem with names that have the same sound as actual words in the Japanese language. For instance, "jimu" (Jim) means "business" and "gym/gymnasium" in Japanese (depending on the context) so "watashi wa jimu desu." could also mean "I am a business." or "I am a gymnasium."
2. This is not how the Japanese typically introduce themselves.
So what is the better way to introduce yourself? "watashi wa ______ to iimasu." means "I am called ______." and makes it very clear that the "______" is your name. It can be either your first name, last name, or nickname - whatever you want them to call you by.
For example:
Watashi wa Xao to iimasu.
I am called Xao.
Hajimemas-h-i-t-e.
Nice to meet you.
Although "hajimemas-h-i-t-e" translates as "it is a beginning" it is also the equivalent of "nice to meet you".
Basic Japanese Grammar:
Japanese grammar is quite simple and straight forward but very different from English grammar so most English speakers find it rather confusing. For instance, in Japanese grammar the verb always comes at the end.
The particles "wa" and "ga": The particle "wa" marks the topic of the sentence and the particle "ga" marks the subject of the sentence. In the example, "I know where you live" (watashi wa anata ga doko ni sunde iru kas-h-i-t-te iru), "I" would be the topic while "you" would be the subject.
The particle "wo": The particle "wo" (or "o") marks the direct object of a Japanese sentence. In the example, "I'm going to take her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni okuru), "her" would be the direct object.
The particle "ni": The particle "ni" can be used to mark the direction, time, or the indirect object of a Japanese sentence.
Note: The "watashi wa" in all of the example sentences used above would normally be left out as it is implied.
Greeting someone in Japanese(very important to assure you a nice time in Kusari).
Konnichi wa. Hajimemas-h-i-t-e.
Hello. Nice to meet you.
Although Konnichi wa would translate as "good day".
If you wish to tell someone "good morning" you should say "ohayo".
"Ohayo" although usually used in the morning, can also mean good day, hi, so you can basically say "ohayo" at any time of the day if you find "konnichi wa" to be too long, just don't say ''ohayo" in the middle of the night, or people may look funny at you.(Note, when talking to a person whom you got to respect then use the appropiate form for that time of the day:Ohayo-Good morning. Konnichi wa-Good day. Konnba wa-Good evening).
If you want to say good night then you should say "oyasuminasai".
This form is used when you wish someone good night when going to bed.
Sometimes even you may have to apologize to someone, do so by saying "gomennasai"
Transaltes as: "I'm sorry".
If you wish to know if someone's alright then ask "O-genki desu ka ?"
This would literally translate as "Are you in good spirits?". This is the most common way of asking "How are you?" in Japanese.
Example:
Konnichi wa Xao, hajimemas-h-i-t-e !
O-genki desu ka ?
Hai, genki desu.
Anata no o-namae wa?
Translation:
Good day Xao, nice to meet you !
How are you ?
I'm fine.
What is your name ?
Also let's not forget other sentences you may have to use a lot in Kusari such as:
"Arigato"
"Thank you"
"Douitashimas-h-i-t-e"
"You're welcome"
"Sayonara"
"Good bye"
"Gambatte kudasai"
(can also be written "ganbatte kudasai")
"Hand in there"
"Ki o tsukete kudasai"
(can also be written "ki wo tsukete kudasai")
"Be careful/take care"
Other words which may be useful for you to know:
"Baka"
Translates as "idiot" or "fool"
"Gaijin"
Translates as "foreigner" might have other meanings too but if they call you a gaijin then they likely mean that you are foreigner, which you are.
"San/sama"
This word is set at the end of a person's name to show respect.
San is for male, sama is for female.
For example "konnichi wa sensei-san"
Translates as "good day respectful teacher" in this context.
Don't put this at the end of your own name when introducing yourself though, this is sort of impolite and may get the Hogosha/AFA and Blood Dragons quite angry at you.
Congratulations.
Now you have made your first step in learning Japanese.
I hope you enjoyed this brief guide on basic Japanese.