Post by The DM on Mar 28, 2015 1:23:53 GMT
LANGUAGES
OVERVIEW
In the world of MDA, Earth is very different than you and I know it. But look closely at the countries, languages, and people of MDA, and you might recognize that it is more familiar than you might first thing. Most of the people and languages of MDA are partially similar to real life counterparts, though they are not exactly the same.
The languages of MDA are far less greater in number than in our world. They currently number at sixteen, with several dialects existing in each. The way languages work on this site is very simple: You color the text spoken in a certain language with a corresponding color of your choice. (You can use this website or this website for color reference). You then put the languages your character speaks in their signature under their profile, and color each with the color your character speaks it in. For example:
John Doe speaks Cretan, Drachman, and Amestrian
Furthermore, if you want to note that your character speaks in a certain accent, you may include that
Ex: Jane Doe speaks Cretan (with an Amestrian Accent)
This can help people you RP with know if your character sounds like he or she is foreign.
Some dialects exist in languages. Dialects simply note if your character came from a certain country or region or people apart from the main area which that language is spoken, and also allows your character to speak a certain way.
Ex: Anatoly speaks Drachman (Zemlyan Dialect)
Ex: But Nadya speaks standard Drachman, so in her signature she puts:
Nadya speaks Drachman
If you speak a standard version of a language, you are speaking what is typically the most common form, so you don't need to note anything at all in your signature.
Note that with few exceptions, non-standard dialects are less common than the standard language, and should only be spoken if your character hails from the region that dialect is found. Any two dialects within a language are mutually intelligible.
Lastly, we here at MDA do not expect you to actually speak the language your character speaks. MDA's de facto language for writing in is English. Even if your character speaks Amestrian, which is German, we wish for you to type in English, not German. But feel free to add German flavor to your text if you know some. Simple things like "ja" instead of "yes". Or a Xingese character saying "aiyaa" in a state of disbelief or shock. As long as others can still understand you, it should be fine.
The languages of MDA are far less greater in number than in our world. They currently number at sixteen, with several dialects existing in each. The way languages work on this site is very simple: You color the text spoken in a certain language with a corresponding color of your choice. (You can use this website or this website for color reference). You then put the languages your character speaks in their signature under their profile, and color each with the color your character speaks it in. For example:
John Doe speaks Cretan, Drachman, and Amestrian
Furthermore, if you want to note that your character speaks in a certain accent, you may include that
Ex: Jane Doe speaks Cretan (with an Amestrian Accent)
This can help people you RP with know if your character sounds like he or she is foreign.
Some dialects exist in languages. Dialects simply note if your character came from a certain country or region or people apart from the main area which that language is spoken, and also allows your character to speak a certain way.
Ex: Anatoly speaks Drachman (Zemlyan Dialect)
Ex: But Nadya speaks standard Drachman, so in her signature she puts:
Nadya speaks Drachman
If you speak a standard version of a language, you are speaking what is typically the most common form, so you don't need to note anything at all in your signature.
Note that with few exceptions, non-standard dialects are less common than the standard language, and should only be spoken if your character hails from the region that dialect is found. Any two dialects within a language are mutually intelligible.
Lastly, we here at MDA do not expect you to actually speak the language your character speaks. MDA's de facto language for writing in is English. Even if your character speaks Amestrian, which is German, we wish for you to type in English, not German. But feel free to add German flavor to your text if you know some. Simple things like "ja" instead of "yes". Or a Xingese character saying "aiyaa" in a state of disbelief or shock. As long as others can still understand you, it should be fine.
