Translation Team: Please stop doing this...

[Viridiana]

The opposite I would think? Because her origin is kind of important to the meaning of the dialogue and plot.
He is correct about it pointing to origin. But incorrect in that it does in fact change meaning.

Hello. Hi. 'Ello. Hey. Heya.

Notice how the meaning hasn't changed at all, only the origin? And to use your examples, the meaning didn't change until you added a whole additional clause.

[KisaiTenshi]

I'd like to point out that writing something in a different dialect does not change the meaning of the words, it only changes the possible origin of the speaker.

I'd like tah point uut that writin' sumting in a dif'rent di'lect does not change da meanin' of da words, it only changes da possible or'gin of da speaka.

Its flavor, and the story still gets across the same, its just forcing the mind to apply an accent, much like Old English does. If you cannot read Old English then you should read more of it, or try writing bits of that format. Furthermore, isn't the reason in which Japanese dialogue is 'fluffed' as much as its a pretty literal language? I'm not a scholar in their language but I thought I read somewhere that their written language doesn't really have 'dialect' options. I could be completely wrong, its been a while since I looked in to it.

I think people are confused. At best, what we've seen in FFXIV is shakespeare level of obsolete English. Not old English, or even middle English. Most people who speak and read english can't read "old english" (Angelo Saxon) whatsoever. Lord of the Rings may have been inspired by what it sounds like, but it certainly isn't any dialect of English that people would speak.

In the context of FFXIV, anyone speaking "weird" is how an accent or verbal tic (-meow) is just flavor text and the average person who knows English won't pretend to know all the words being said, but they sound close enough to something we do know, so the mind fills in the blanks.

[SummerSkye]

Anyroad....

[Chasely]

Yeah. Urianger's speech is just painful to wade through. He could say the exact same thing in 1/10th the time if he just spoke like a normal person. He's so long-winded. his text just goes on and on and on and on... It's like he doesn't know when to shut up and just let things die; leave well-enough alone, you know? Just when you think he's done he goes on some more; like he just doesn't get that we're tired of hearing his face hole.

Also, must-needs is redundant.

[Averax]

That's not technically old english. Real old english is on a much higher level of confusing than how the NPCs talk.

Google the intro to the Canterbury Tales, that's a great example of it.

[TouchandFeel]

That's not technically old english. Real old english is on a much higher level of confusing than how the NPCs talk.

Google the intro to the Canterbury Tales, that's a great example of it.

The Canterbury Tales are Middle English, not Old English.

Old English was the language of the Angles and Saxons, as well as some of the other Germanic tribes that spread into and took over much of Western Europe, settling mainly in what is now England.
Angles/Anglo-Saxon -> Angoland -> England -> English.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English


An example of Old English in literature is the non-translated version of Beowulf.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales came much later after the language had altered due to the melding with the languages of other prominent tribes that had settled in Western Europe, primarily the Normans due to their conquest/occupation of England.
At this point the language had evolved into Middle English.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English

Shakespeare, while antiquated, is still just an earlier form of Modern English, often referred to as Early Modern English.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Modern_English

So, again Shakespeare is not Old English although it is old.
Canterbury Tales is Middle English, not Old English.
Beowulf is Old English.

Also somebody already posted the beginning to the Canterbury Tales in this thread on pg.11 and on pg.14 is my quick and dirty translation.

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(so priketh hem nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of engelond to caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

Yep, its pretty much the setup for all the other tales to be told as The Canterbury Tales are a collection of tales told to the narrator by people that he meets on the road.

Pretty much it says that during Spring, when the April showers begin and the world turns green and the flowers begin to bloom, people across the land go on a pilgrimage to Canterbury.

[Conradus]

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales came much later after the language had altered due to the melding with the languages of other prominent tribes that had settled in Western Europe, primarily the Normans due to their conquest/occupation of England.
At this point the language had evolved into Middle English.

My favorite quip on the subject is that Middle English was the product of Norman soldiers trying pick up Saxon barmaids. A little Googling reveals that H. Beam Piper came up with that one.

[TouchandFeel]

My favorite quip on the subject is that Middle English was the product of Norman soldiers trying pick up Saxon barmaids. A little Googling reveals that H. Beam Piper came up with that one.

Ha, I'd believe it and while somewhat of a joke, there is probably a grain of truth to it as the commonfolk of the time, being of Anglo-Saxon origin probably assimilated aspects of the Norman conqueror's language into their vernacular through their day to day interaction with them. So drunken Normans hitting on Saxon barmaids influencing the evolution of the English language, totally plausible.

[Conradus]

That's not technically old english. Real old english is on a much higher level of confusing than how the NPCs talk.

Google the intro to the Canterbury Tales, that's a great example of it.

I posted the first part of the intro to the Canterbury Tales. It's Middle English, not Old English. Google for the original text of Beowulf if you want a taste of Old English. It is quite literally a foreign language.

[MiniTofu]

http://i.imgur.com/b9J7It4.jpg

I understand it's a "fantasy" game but there's no need to use this really old and quite frustrating to read English...

please phase this out and start using normal words... Portendeth? I speak excellent English but I still had to google this word (even google failed to understand)

The whole limsa pirate thing was frustrating enough, sure it was cool but you're putting way too much effort into it... if you expect me to read all these quests at least make an effort to phase this weird ye olde english style out of the game and start using normal english.

Stop using "Thy" and "Thou" ...

Meant for deaf players. To get the feel of the voice.