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So, I realize that a lot of people who speak other languages already talk in other languages when using Tongues or Reading Ancient Runes, but I think it would be smart to make a community-made Golarion to Earth Language Translation Guide. Here's what I've come up with so far while reading forums and using my brain:
Abyssal: Russian or Slavic (for their sharp, rough sound)
Aklo: Korean (for it's very difficult pronunciations and spellings)
Aquan: Hawaiian (this one was mentioned by someone in the 10 Questions thread)
Auran: French (it's very flowy and light)
Celestial: Latin (rather flowy, and also when of the older known languages)
Common: English, or whatever your native language is, I suppose
Draconic: Greek or Chinese (both of these cultures have some of the oldest dragon legends. Seems fitting they get the language)
Druidic: Gaelic (the language of the Celts. You should know why)
Dwarven: Irish or Icelanic
Elven: Croation, perhaps French would be better
Giant: Hebrew (I'm thinking David and Goliath)
Gnome: Japanese (fast paced and rather complex)
Goblin: Honestly, Goblin should just be complex grunts and screeches
Gnoll: Much like Goblin, this should just be barking noises
Halfling: Maori (one of the prominent languages of New Zealand. I shouldn't have to explain why)
Ignan: Arabic or Swahili (i didn't know what to do, so I chose hot places)
Infernal: Mandarin Chinese (the new international trade language. Sounds like a good language for makin' deals)
Orc: Czech or German (again, rough and gruff)
Sylvan: Spanish (it's fast, but sounds very Happy and Romantic)
Terran: Indian or Vietnamese (these cultures just remind me of earth, and their languages reflect that)
Undercommon: The African Clicking Language (for deep underground echolocation)
Ancient Osiriani: Egyptian (of course)
Varisian: Italian
So, let me know what you guys think and feel free to leave your own suggestions, as well as any languages I might have missed. What do you think of the system in general? Thanks guys!
If Celestial is Roman Latin, then Infernal should be Catholic Latin. It fits the 'fallen angel' motif, and mirrors Dante's Inferno. Alternatively, just make Infernal Roman Italian.
Varisian should be Romani, since that is the cultural basis. Alternatively, an eastern-European Slavic language, since Varisian is also the primary language of places like Ustalav, which has a distinct 'Transylvania' steak.
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There's a whole lot of national and ethnic stereotypes there...
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If Celestial is Roman Latin, then Infernal should be Catholic Latin. It fits the 'fallen angel' motif, and mirrors Dante's Inferno. Alternatively, just make Infernal Roman Italian.
Varisian should be Romani, since that is the cultural basis. Alternatively, an eastern-European Slavic language, since Varisian is also the primary language of places like Ustalav, which has a distinct 'Transylvania' steak.
That's a smart plan.
I was going to put Romani, but I forgot the word for the Gypsy language, because I put Italian, because of the Sczarni "Mob" influence.Most of the languages came from Google Translate, so that I could translate on the fly.
The only consistent one I use is that old Taldan = Latin, and the various nations that descend from Taldor speak Romance languages. Cheliax is Spanish, Galt is obviously French, and Taldor itself is Italian. Varisian and Andoran are more heavily influenced by others - Andoran is a melting pot of languages, as is Varisia. This is mostly in terms of accents and naming conventions, though, rather than actual languages being used at the table.
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The only consistent one I use is that old Taldan = Latin, and the various nations that descend from Taldor speak Romance languages. Cheliax is Spanish, Galt is obviously French, and Taldor itself is Italian. Varisian and Andoran are more heavily influenced by others - Andoran is a melting pot of languages, as is Varisia. This is mostly in terms of accents and naming conventions, though, rather than actual languages being used at the table.
I don't really understand Cheliax being Spanish. I see them more as Roman Latin or Greek, or something similar. I understand Andoran being a melting pot (I imagine there's a lot of imagration and migration), but no some much Varisian. I love the idea of Varisian being romani.
I compare Cheliax to Inquisition-era Spain, with the cult of Asmodeus taking the place of the Catholic Church of that era. I think it fits pretty well. Where do you get the Latin and Greek influences? I've seen some thoughts on Taldor as being Greek-influenced, particularly some of the later stuff after the Classical period (East Roman Empire/Byzantium).
And yeah, I agree on Varisia being more Romani and Eastern Europe for the most part. I see them as having mostly rebelled against their Taldan roots.
I think it's because Cheliax has a 'spanish inquisition' thing going on, and allows you to parallel the development of the Romance languages in the real world.
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I compare Cheliax to Inquisition-era Spain, with the cult of Asmodeus taking the place of the Catholic Church of that era. I think it fits pretty well. Where do you get the Latin and Greek influences? I've seen some thoughts on Taldor as being Greek-influenced, particularly some of the later stuff after the Classical period (East Roman Empire/Byzantium).
OHHHHH... That makes a lot more sense. Yeah, when I think spanish, I think Mexico, not spain, so to me, that made NO sense. I also picture Cheliax being more Nazi-like, which is why I thought them and the Andoran despised each other so much. I always thought, as a Varisian:
"Wow, better not go to Cheliax. They hate us there. That and homosexuals. And (insert Pathfinder equivalent of Hebrews here). Yeah. Let's not go to Cheliax."I get greek because I have this other project where there are "Stone Elves" that live underground. They don't officially exsist, but they are demon worshipers and their culture is greek influenced. I worked on this same project (It's called "Mortalis") for so long, it's hard not to make the distinction.
Wait- the Varisians were once Taldan? With all the research of done, I've never heard that. I wonder if the Taldan have an Indian root... wouldn't that be cool.
Cheliaxians speak Common aka Taldane, because they're still close to Taldor, historically.
You could reflect this by taking a Renaissance-type approach and treating the major Common-speaking countries as being mutually-intelligible dialects, instead of actually being the same language. Andoran Common could be Catalan, for instance, as that is the official language of Andorra in the real world. Galtan Common, of course, would still be French. Cheliax and their Taldan cousins could get Spanish and Portuguese. (I realize that the real-world versions of these languages are not mutually intelligible, even though they share a lot of roots.)
Yeah, I can see Cheliax as Nazis as well.
I guess, after looking it up, that the ancient Taldan empire never covered Varisia like I thought it did. I had my geography screwed up (I thought Varisia was southwest of Cheliax and formed the outer edge of the Inner Sea - it's quite a bit north of Cheliax, and more in the position of England if you consider the Inner Sea to be the setting's Mediterranean Sea). The Taldan Empire once covered, by my understanding, the northern side of the Inner Sea and the countries that now occupy it, so Cheliax, Andoran, Taldor, and (I think) Absalom. I'm not sure how far north it went - I know it covered Galt, but not sure about Molthune, Druma, Isger, and Nidal.
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Yeah, I can see Cheliax as Nazis as well.
I guess, after looking it up, that the ancient Taldan empire never covered Varisia like I thought it did. I had my geography screwed up (I thought Varisia was southwest of Cheliax and formed the outer edge of the Inner Sea - it's quite a bit north of Cheliax, and more in the position of England if you consider the Inner Sea to be the setting's Mediterranean Sea). The Taldan Empire once covered, by my understanding, the northern side of the Inner Sea and the countries that now occupy it, so Cheliax, Andoran, Taldor, and (I think) Absalom. I'm not sure how far north it went - I know it covered Galt, but not sure about Molthune, Druma, Isger, and Nidal.
Oh okay. I was really confused. Trust me, geography in this game is a little confusing. For a while, I thought all the factions were countries, like Cheliax. Seriously, I thought Sczarni was a place.
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-I'd sugest you do some research on Language families. Your classification by 'sound' isn't really how languages work...for example you argue Druidic is Gaelic,and Dwarven is "Irish", but both languages are Celtic Languages and thus related, and why the hell would Giants speak Hebrew? Giants and Dwarves are generally considered to have overlapping cultures and shared vocabulary...
-Also Fantasy languages don't always have exact earth versions. Elvish is a mixture of Welsh, Finnish, and Old English, meaning you have Germanic, Uralic, and Celtic mixed together.
I think Jistkan might be a better analogue for Latin -- at least, Roman Numerals are definitely Jistkan-origin, looking at their entry in Lost Kingdoms.
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the inner sea world guide already has languages that are cultural analogues. some are combinations of cultural languages.
Common (Taldane) is actually more like Italian
Tien is all the Asian languages (with dialects that represent individual asian parallels.)
Polyglot is the African tribal languages
there are quite a few more examples, but I'd encourage you to check out Inner Sea World Guide and see how these cultural analogues work out in the different regions of Golarion. The racial languages are not meant to be based on human languages, they are meant to be unique to the races or race groupings that use them.
There's a whole lot of national and ethnic stereotypes there...No, its based on the sound of the language.
Orc: Czech or German (again, rough and gruff)
Yeah, right. I take it you only heard these languages in Hollywood movies? And yes, you should explain why Halflings supposedly speak Maori.
At least you didn't give Dwarves a Scottish accent...
Firstly if I recall correctly Halfling is a conglomeration of multiple different languages that have varied so far from their orrigional source as to be a separate language in and of itself. So maybe English?
Also I don't believe Cheliax has its own language. Council of Thieves gives the nation more of an Italian Renaissance feel, with Westcrown feeling more Venetian than anything else. Common being Italian makes sense as it, alongside German, was used as a trade language across much of Europe up to and during the Renaissance.
Also I don't believe Cheliax has its own language. Council of Thieves gives the nation more of an Italian Renaissance feel, with Westcrown feeling more Venetian than anything else. Common being Italian makes sense as it, alongside German, was used as a trade language across much of Europe up to and during the Renaissance.
Cheliax may not have it's own language, but it can have it's own Taldane dialect.
Just like British English; Scottish English and Irish English all sound different despite being neighboring countries, Cheliax, Andoran, Absalom and Taldor can have the same common language but each has it's own subtleties, idioms, accents, and so on.
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Okay. Lots of hate for no reason going around here, jeezus.
Look, some of these languages, I did sort of guess on.
And yes, you should explain why Halflings supposedly speak Maori
Maori is one of the primary languages of New Zealand, along with english. Since the original concept for Halfling in D&D were based on Hobbits, I thought it would be a fun to have them speak Maori. Sure, it might more sense for them to speak Irish, as "wee folk" stories in Ireland can be related to halflings, but I thought this would be fun.
why the h**l would giants speak Hebrew?
Admittedly, I had no clue what to do with giants. I originally thought Greek or Roman, because they have old stories that involve giants and giant-like things (Titans, Cyclops, etc.), but I already thought that Dragons should speak Greek. So, thinking of David and Goliath, one of the older "giant" stories, I figured Hebrew would be appropriate, as it is a Bible story. Now, if David and Goliath ISN'T a Jewish story, I'm sorry. I'm not Jewish, and I'm not even Christian. I just sort of put the two together mentally, as they share a lot in common with one another, and even have similar stories. After all, Christianity was based on Judaism, only adding certain fundamental values and the worship of Jesus Christ as the son of god.
If I messed that up, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know too much as a Buddhist.Look, I just put this together hoping to see what people thought. I was hoping people would add things, as some people did, but instead, people decided I was being racist or something. I'm not. It's based on language structure, what I know about the language, and how things sound. With certain languages, I didn't know what to put, so I guessed.
And yes, Gaelic is akin to Irish, but I don't think they are the exact same, as the Irish, and Scottish all descended from the Celts. You may say I'm wrong, but that's one of the family stories. I'm a McKell, dang it, I know things about my ancestry.
Also, I thought Croatia was an Island in Asia. I guess I'm wrong.
ALSO, German is a rather rough dialect. I speak quite a lot because I lived there for 3 years.
I'm not trying to be rude, or make stereotypes on a certain culture. I was just trying to make comparisons because I saw quite a few people also making comparisons on the forums (I don't see anyone yelling at them), and I thought: "Hey, what a neat idea!" but I guess I was wrong.
Just don't expect me to be a master linguist. I'm a high schooler for goodness sakes. A freshman at that. I'm not trying to offend anyone, and I'm sorry if I did. I just thought this would be fun.
I would just like to say thank you to the peeps who actually were constructive, instead of making me feel stupid. So thanks.
I think it's valuable to have a sound in mind for the various languages, so I think that's a valid thing to consider. The sound of the spoken language informs the accent that a native speaker has when they speak other languages, and impacts how their names sound, both of which are immediately relevant to your NPCs and how they're portrayed.
Considering that Golarion has so many real-world equivalent cultures I think it makes sense to borrow flavor from those languages where you can.
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As Taldane is Common & a significant majority of people playing are English speakers, I use English as Taldane.
As has been pointed out, Chelaxians are now almost the only Human Ethnicity in the game that don't get their own language. Taldan's don't count, they managed to con everyone else into learning their language as 'Common'.
Generally, I use Romanian as Varisian, yes, as has been pointed out up thread, it's stereotyping, but so is the Ethnicity...
After playing my first Kellid in WotR, we actually agreed on Maori for Hallit, simply because no one was using it for anything else/
Elf, I generally use Irish.
Dwarven, I actually use German.
Halfling, I go for Dutch; because Dutch, like English, shares a lot of grammatical rules with both French (which is a Romance Language) and German (Which is a Germanic), but English & Dutch wind up doing it in completely different ways; which emulates that, as was also pointed out up-thread, Halfling is as much a patois as an actual language. Also, when Google Translate switches from English to Dutch, I can still almost read what is being said, at least the general impression.
Goblin I actually use Haitian Creole because both languages read as quite lyrical to me. Yes, again, I acknowledge stereotypes in play.
Draconic, I wind up using Hebrew, mainly because the alphabet & grammar forms are sufficiently different from Latin derived alphabets that it looks cool. Yes 'rule of cool' is first rule for me.
Orc, I fluctuate between Hungarian, because another player suggested it & Icelandic, because it just looks metal. Refer my statements regarding Draconic.
Abysal I generally use Khmer, because when Google translate converts my text from English to Khmer I have no idea what is sounds like, but it just looks creepy & I figure Abyssal should really hurt to listen to if you aren't from the Abyss. Yes, stereotyping going on. When I meet a native Khmer speaker who says 'Don't do that. You're propagating negative stereotypes of my people.' I'll find a different language to use.
Celestial/Infernal I haven't used yet, although I do have a couple characters who speak at least one or the other, but I haven't had them speak either since I started posting actual text in languages other than English.
Tian, I use Simplified Chinese, as Tien is considered the 'Common' of Tian Xia.
Shoanti, well I haven't figured out a language for Shoanti yet, for much the same reason I hadn't figured out one for Hallit. Of all the Human ethnicities on Golarion, the Shoanti & the Kellid have the least correspondence with actual ethnicities in the real world.
Personally, I consider Cheliax to be most like present day USA, but then I'm bitter & cynical.
I haven't thought about Giant much, probably go with another Germanic derived language, they do share an alphabet with Dwarven after all.
Thassilonian, I believe I went with Greek, as Google Translate didn't have an 'Ancient Greek' option.
Don't believe I've used Skald yet, but if/when I do, it will probably be Norwegian.
Haven't thought about the other possibilities much yet. Of course, playing a character who happens to be the Linguist of the group, I probably will in time.
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As Taldane is Common & a significant majority of people playing are English speakers, I use English as Taldane.
As has been pointed out, Chelaxians are now almost the only Human Ethnicity in the game that don't get their own language. Taldan's don't count, they managed to con everyone else into learning their language as 'Common'.
Generally, I use Romanian as Varisian, yes, as has been pointed out up thread, it's stereotyping, but so is the Ethnicity...
After playing my first Kellid in WotR, we actually agreed on Maori for Hallit, simply because no one was using it for anything else/
Elf, I generally use Irish.
Dwarven, I actually use German.
Halfling, I go for Dutch; because Dutch, like English, shares a lot of grammatical rules with both French (which is a Romance Language) and German (Which is a Germanic), but English & Dutch wind up doing it in completely different ways; which emulates that, as was also pointed out up-thread, Halfling is as much a patois as an actual language. Also, when Google Translate switches from English to Dutch, I can still almost read what is being said, at least the general impression.
Goblin I actually use Haitian Creole because both languages read as quite lyrical to me. Yes, again, I acknowledge stereotypes in play.
Draconic, I wind up using Hebrew, mainly because the alphabet & grammar forms are sufficiently different from Latin derived alphabets that it looks cool. Yes 'rule of cool' is first rule for me.
Orc, I fluctuate between Hungarian, because another player suggested it & Icelandic, because it just looks metal. Refer my statements regarding Draconic.
Abysal I generally use Khmer, because when Google translate converts my text from English to Khmer I have no idea what is sounds like, but it just looks creepy & I figure Abyssal should really hurt to listen to if you aren't from the Abyss. Yes, stereotyping going on. When I meet a native Khmer speaker who says 'Don't do that. You're...
Wow, this is smart. I think your list is better thought out than mine.
Just one question: Why is Elven irish? There's not really an explanation and I can't put it together myself. It's very possible you know something I don't.
I usually also think of Common as being English. There are some similarities between the Taldan (and later, Chelish) expansion and the British colonies that led to their respective languages becoming the most-spoken ones around the world.
Mostly, I imagine other regional languages from Golarion as their real-world counterparts, if possible. Sometimes it's easy, like Osiriani = Egyptian, Kelish = Arabic, Vudrani = some mix of Indian languages, Tien = some mix of Asian languages.
Sometimes it's a bit more difficult, like Shoanti, Hallit.
I haven't thought about Giant much, probably go with another Germanic derived language, they do share an alphabet with Dwarven after all.
Don't forget that there are actually different versions of German. So for example, you could use Swiss German for Dwarven (also fitting because of the mountainous origin, btw) and mid-Germany German for Giant. Those languages, although basically the same, are actually different enough that they sound like not being the same.
Speaking of differences, there's also a version spoken in the northern parts of Germany called "Platt" (I don't know any English expression for that), but I don't have any idea which fantasy-language that could be applied to. Would be fitting for some sea-dwelling race (as it's spoken in coastal regions).Assuming Gnollish has a some definite canine elements in it is not unreasonable.
Actually, hyenas are more closely related to felines than to canines. The most well-known sounds they produce are sounds that sound like mad laughter.
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So, thinking of David and Goliath, one of the older "giant" stories, I figured Hebrew would be appropriate, as it is a Bible story. Now, if David and Goliath ISN'T a Jewish story, I'm sorry. I'm not Jewish, and I'm not even Christian. I just sort of put the two together mentally, as they share a lot in common with one another, and even have similar stories.
Well, in the story, the giant is an enemy of the Jewish people, not a Jew, so using that as a basis for having giants speak Hebrew or a Hebrew-sounding language is going to be... problematic. :-)
It's one of the reasons to avoid putting real-world languages (or super-close analogues for real-world cultures) into game worlds wholesale; you can unintentionally end up saying some pretty ugly things by what you associate. E.g. if you say you're going to give orcs or trolls a language based on German, you're kind of suggesting that German is a brutish, unpleasant language.
Now, I think there's some cool stuff to be done by drawing on elements of real-world languages together -- saying, "I think Draconic functions sort of like German, where you can keep adding words together to make new words and add nuance to the meaning, because dragons live for such a long time, it feels like they'd have really, really long words in their language and be very concerned with the nuances of things." Or "In my head-canon, gnomes use a lot of kennings like in Beowulf, because they're playful and creative and that carries over to how they name and identify things." Or "Kellids have a really strong oral tradition about their history, so I imagine they have auxiliary verbs like in Tibetan, that indicate whether you know something you're talking about because you personally witnessed it, or if you were told about it by someone else, or if it's just something that's known by everyone/part of the tradition."
But yeah, I think if you just are straight-up associating real-world languages with some of the monstrous/non-human races, you're going to end up hitting on some ugly ethnic stereotypes, even if you don't mean to.
I actually think it's super-cool that you're a freshman in high school and interested in things like the sounds of languages and how they might relate to culture! :-) Might be a good reason to read some stuff on phonology (the Wikipedia article on it is actually a pretty good place to start), or visit sites like Omniglot to learn about the sounds that comprise different languages so you can better understand why certain languages sound the way they do and think about how to incorporate those sounds into the way you name things and characters in your games to make the cultures in your game world more rich and distinct.
Just one question: Why is Elven irish? There's not really an explanation and I can't put it together myself. It's very possible you know something I don't.
Mostly just legacy. I've been playing since [redacted]* & when I was starting out everybody always seemed to be using some variation of Gaelic for Elven names & suchlike.
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To the OP, I enjoy using Bing translate when someone is speaking in a language none of the pc's know in my pbp-game. It gives the language a consistent sound and spelling pattern, instead of just typing gibberish.
I approve of what you did. Not that my approval should matter, but neither should other people's disapproval. Have fun and enjoy yourself without trying to offend people. Some people will still take offense, but that is their decision, and should not weigh on your heart, as long as you acted in good faith.
Am I the only one who keeps imagining Orc to sound like Klingon?
Even in ST:TNG I keep associating Klingons as Space Orcs. Warlike with a sense of honor.
I can also imagine Reavers from Firefly as a more savage version of space orcs.
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I though Space Orks just had a cockney accent.
An interesting fact about Khmer, it is a non-tonal language in an area where tonal languages are the norm...Stuck between Thai and Vietnamese.
If Celestial is Roman Latin, then Infernal should be Catholic Latin. It fits the 'fallen angel' motif, and mirrors Dante's Inferno. Alternatively, just make Infernal Roman Italian.
I'm wondering why you say this. Are you saying Catholics are 'fallen' or something? Catholic Latin is Roman Latin, the same used in Mass and that the Romans wrote in. The common people spoke Vulgar Latin, from which the romance languages are descended.
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Nota Bene: Aklo is actually a fictitious language from another, pre-Pathfinder mythos - or should I say Mythos, because it's the name given by some to the language of Lovecraftian creepiness ("ph'nglui mglw'nafh cthulhu r'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" being the sample sentence we all learn in Aklo 101). Thus, for Aklo and Elven (and possibly Orcish, Dwarven, and maybe Halfling, since Tolkien did exactly this kind of thing), you've already got ready-made, unique languages in their own right, well-constructed enough to practically be considered real languages (there's also Klingon, of course, and evidently, Na'vi as well now - I agree Klingon would be good for Orcish, and Na'vi might be good for Shoanti or Sylvan).
Note on Celestial: 100 years ago, a thing called "Enochian," supposedly the language of angels, was all the rage. It was honored with a passing reference in City of Villains, and here's a clip of Aleister Crowley giving us a sample!
If I wanted to construct an Infernal language, I'd take Enochian and violate it in the Orwellian Newspeak fashion, shrinking, simplifying, and mutilating it until it was incapable of conveying non-Lawful Evil concepts.
Hebrew and Arabic are "kissing cousins" at the least - "salaam" and "shalom" mean the same thing ("peace"), and so do the name components "Ben" and "Bin" ("son of"), for example. If you were to use these for fantasy languages, you'd probably want to use them for languages that are similarly super-close.
Javanese is a no-brainer for the Wayang language, since that's where the whole thing is from.
I though Space Orks just had a cockney accent.
I thought the inhabitants of Sigil spoke cockney.
ALSO, German is a rather rough dialect. I speak quite a lot because I lived there for 3 years.
Which German dialect would that be? They are pretty varied.
German is actually a very "open" sounding language, with regional dialects getting really soft (especially on the coast).
EDIT@Jeremias: I disagree that English is harsher than German. They are both pretty soft. If you want a harsh sounding language (and I don't mean this disparagingly), look to Arabic or Spanish.
But yeah: I find this whole idea rather silly, as well
If Celestial is Roman Latin, then Infernal should be Catholic Latin. It fits the 'fallen angel' motif, and mirrors Dante's Inferno. Alternatively, just make Infernal Roman Italian.I'm wondering why you say this. Are you saying Catholics are 'fallen' or something? Catholic Latin is Roman Latin, the same used in Mass and that the Romans wrote in. The common people spoke Vulgar Latin, from which the romance languages are descended.
Let's not even mention using Catholic Latin as Infernal. :) Prejudice does have it's way of sneaking up on us when we least suspect it.
To clarify, I was not trying to compare the Catholics to the Church of Asmodeus.
I was trying to contrast the Latin of the Roman Republic/Empire (a living language) with that used by medieval clergy (a fossilized, highly codified language.) I was also partially inspired by the fact that so much of medieval demonology was written in Latin, leading many named devils to have Italian or Latin-sounding names.
Let's see... for the setting I'm working on, I'm actually trying to come up with "This would be close" languages for the languages of the world. It's based partly in aesthetics I'd go with (such as how I name the Big Name Alignment-Subtype Outsiders (i.e., archfiends, empyreal lords, etc.)) and partly on racial origins in this world (which is why certain racial languages will sound similar to one another to a non-speaker, once I've got it all written down).
My apologies. It was not my intention to offend anyone.
This thread makes me wonder: something in my bowels tells me that Golarion and Earth are connected in very subtle ways, and not just through Baba Yaga or Osirion's old gods. Humans are the dominant species of both planets, and both have some very similar cultures floating around (yeah I know it's because Golarion, like any other fantasy setting, has its Middle Eastern/European/Asian/other cultures, but given that Earth canonically exists in the same Material Plane is interesting).
So on to my actual thought: where on Golarion could people potentially hear Earth languages? You'd think nowhere for obvious reasons (Earth being a world where mysticism and magic are all but extinct). Maybe Irrisen, where Baba Yaga throws a few intelligent creatures from Earth into the land for no good reason.
Maybe it's just because I'm in the minority of people who actually doesn't mind a fantasy setting and Earth existing in the same universe (or even better, the same plane) and am trying to project this preference onto an impossibility, but hey, a man can dream dangit.
James Jacobs has said that one of the places one could most easily walk down the street and hear a non-Golarion language, such as English/Russian/Whatever, would be Kaer Maga.
James Jacobs has said that one of the places one could most easily walk down the street and hear a non-Golarion language, such as English/Russian/Whatever, would be Kaer Maga.
Really, for a city of only 8,000? It looks like James's answer was cleverly worded where he answered the part about places having huge amounts of languages, rather than languages from Earth.
Honestly I would be perfectly fine if there were no places on Golarion where no Earth languages were heard at all. Paizo put a massive dent in the fourth wall with Rasputin Must Die!, and any connections beyond subtle hints or indirect references would likely push it for some people, even for those who liked Rasputin Must Die!(certainly not me, but I'm not everyone).
But then, I've been told to never say never...
I think Auran is more like Welsh.
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A traveller from Earth - making some assumptions about her motives, which could be as widely varied as any human's - might gravitate towards a big, multiracial city with many diverse scholars and some influence of anomalous technology, such as Absalom, Katapesh, or if she arrived in Tian Xia, possibly Goka, or if she wanted to talk to people from other planets, Kyonin or the Mwangi .. they could be anywhere really.
Nota Bene: Aklo is actually a fictitious language from another, pre-Pathfinder mythos - or should I say Mythos, because it's the name given by some to the language of Lovecraftian creepiness ("ph'nglui mglw'nafh cthulhu r'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" being the sample sentence we all learn in Aklo 101). Thus, for Aklo and Elven (and possibly Orcish, Dwarven, and maybe Halfling, since Tolkien did exactly this kind of thing), you've already got ready-made, unique languages in their own right, well-constructed enough to practically be considered real languages (there's also Klingon, of course, and evidently, Na'vi as well now - I agree Klingon would be good for Orcish, and Na'vi might be good for Shoanti or Sylvan).
Note on Celestial: 100 years ago, a thing called "Enochian," supposedly the language of angels, was all the rage. It was honored with a passing reference in City of Villains, and here's a clip of Aleister Crowley giving us a sample!
If I wanted to construct an Infernal language, I'd take Enochian and violate it in the Orwellian Newspeak fashion, shrinking, simplifying, and mutilating it until it was incapable of conveying non-Lawful Evil concepts.
Yeah, I pretty much use all of those languages as counterparts in my games. Celestial is Enochian and Infernal is a corrupted version of it (they use the same alphabet, after all).
Another made up language that from what I hear is fully realized, although only two people fully speak it, that being Luc Besson and Milla Jovovich. The language Leeloo speaks in The Fifth Element. It's said they would have full conversations on set and the other actors were like "O_o"
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from IMDB ... "The language spoken by Leeloo was invented by director Luc Besson and further refined by Milla Jovovich, who had little trouble learning and developing it, as she was already fluent in 4 languages. By the end of filming they were able to have full conversations in this language."
Huh ...