I Figured Out What Language Elder Speech Is

[Eredin_Breacc_Glas]

I Figured Out What Language Elder Speech Is

Forgive me, if this has been discovered before, but I think I figured out what real-world language Elder Speech is.

When fighting a certain Wild Hunt boss that can teleport (Sorry...I don't know how to use spoiler tags, just yet.), he reaches for a girl that was knocked unconscious on the ice, and she disappears. As this happens, he says "Ysgarthiad!". I Googled it, and, as it turns out, it's Welsh for "excrement", more popularly known as "shit".

To verify, I translated "White Wolf" in-to Welsh, and it checks out.

This might explain why I can't place the Nilfgaardian accent; I've never someone with a Welsh accent, before.

Moderators: if this has already been discovered, feel free to delete it.

 

[Pug.]

Forgive me, if this has been discovered before, but I think I figured out what real-world language Elder Speech is.

When fighting a certain Wild Hunt boss that can teleport (Sorry...I don't know how to use spoiler tags, just yet.), he reaches for a girl that was knocked unconscious on the ice, and she disappears. As this happens, he says "Ysgarthiad!". I Googled it, and, as it turns out, it's Welsh for "excrement", more popularly known as "shit".

To very, I translated "White Wolf" in-to Welsh, and it checks out.

This might explain why I can't place the Nilfgaardian accent; I've never someone with a Welsh accent, before.

Moderators: if this has already been discovered, feel free to delete it.

Yeah, CDPR seems to like using Welsh as a place-holder for strange and exotic languages. There is a very obscure quest which @RivenII brought to our attention sometime back called "From a Land Far, Far Away." In it, the mysterious foreigners whom Geralt encounters are speaking a variant of what I presume to be Welsh. Here's a link to that thread in case you are curious: http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/57619-Spoilers-From-a-Land-Far-Far-Away
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/members/3793996-RivenII

P.S. The spoiler tags are activated by hitting the exclamation mark in the red box. Just type your text in between the two spoiler tags that appear. Cheers

 

[Riven-Twain]

Moderators: if this has already been discovered, feel free to delete it.

Not at all. Please, carry on. It's been quite a while since we saw this particular discovery appear anew -- several months, in fact. Ay, the Elder Speech is a somewhat modified rendering of Welsh. (Although, if I recall, the Nilfgaardians are meant to have a wee bit of Dutch in their accents. Rather curious, that.)

---------- Updated at 09:33 PM ----------

the mysterious foreigners whom Geralt encounters are speaking a variant of what I presume to be Welsh.

As for this, I believe their language has yet to be entirely satisfactorily identified.

 

[Alexius321]

I think I figured out what real-world language Elder Speech is

I think that Sapkowski created a mix. It is perhaps based on the old languages of Britain but is also modified by other languages. Here you have a list of words and translations http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Elder_Speech

Also, I think the song The Fields of Ard Skellig is based on the song Fear a' Bhata
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_a'_Bhàta

The song becomes even more beautiful once you understand what it is about. It is a wonderful adaptation in my opinion, the music is very atmospheric and emotional and the singer is superb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMqV869zcHw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHe2H2WOQXs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NknjE2SBPxw

There are many adaptations, but the one in the game blows them all out of the water (forgive the pun) in my opinion.

 

[Adonai-]

I always viewed it as being a mix of Welsh and Gaelic. However, I've never been sure if that was from the original or the work of translators, using languages that English-speakers may have a small amount of familiarity with. Is the Elder speech in Polish the same as what's presented in the English versions of the books & games?

 

[dragonbird]

As far as I'm aware, yes. It was Sapkowski who considered these languages to be sufficiently exotic to be fit for elves.

 

[Ghaisos]

This might explain why I can't place the Nilfgaardian accent; I've never someone with a Welsh accent, before.

Welsh sounds very different from the Nilfgaardian accents you hear in the game. The accent(s) are not consistent, either. The butler whom you meet in the palace in Vizima, for instance, uses a Dutch accent with a few (British) English influences. The reason I know this is that Dutch is one of my native languages. The Nilfgaardian soldiers, though, do not at all sound Dutch to me.

 

[dragonbird]

The accent(s) are not consistent

Agreed - they seemed to have miscellaneous European accents. Which isn't really surprising, given that the Nilfgaardian empire had absorbed so many other countries, so it could easily have a lot of regional dialects. (Just look at the number of different English dialects there are in the game)

 

[Ghaisos]

Agreed - they seemed to have miscellaneous European accents. Which isn't really surprising, given that the Nilfgaardian empire had absorbed so many other countries, so it could easily have a lot of regional dialects. (Just look at the number of different English dialects there are in the game)

True!

 

[Adonai-]

Yes, it's the Welsh language - very different to English - that is influential to the Elder speech.

The actual Welsh accent (speaking English) seems to be used in-game by peasants, particularly in Temeria. Listen to the people outside Flotsam in TW2 for a good example.

 

[TolleSache]

I personally think there could be a hint of traditional cornish mixed with Welsh, having grown up near Cornwall I have heard it numerous times and have visited Wales and both sound similar but once combining the two it sounds similar to elder speech