Version 13 (modified by Nescio, 4 years ago) ( diff )

Meroitic Wikipedia link

For other texts, see wiki:EnglishStyleGuide. For pronunciation of specific strings, see wiki:Audio_Voice_List.

This guide provides some ground rules to write specific names for 0 A.D.

Specific names are in the native language, not in English. Every language has its own orthography (conventions to write down a language). To avoid unnecessary confusion, be consistent and stick to the rules listed below. When in doubt, consult a dictionary (sound advice for any language).

Britons, Carthaginians, Gauls, Iberians?

Greek

Ancient Greek is the language used for the Athenians, Macedonians, Ptolemies, Seleucids, and Spartans.

There exist numerous systems to transcribe Greek; one is not intrinsically better than any other. However, consistency matters, so please stick to the system listed below:

  • consonants:
    • β, π, φ, ψ → b, p, ph, ps
    • γ → n (before γ, κ, χ, ξ), g (elsewhere)
    • κ, χ, ξ → k, ch, x
    • δ, τ, θ → d, t, th
    • σ/ϲ/ς, ζ → s, z
    • λ, μ, ν → l, m, n
    • ρ → r, but initial ῥ → rh
  • vowels:
    • α, ε, η, ι, ο, ω → a, e, ē, i, o, ō
    • ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ → ai, ēi, ōi
    • υ → u (after vowels and before ι), y (elsewhere)
  • accents and vowel length are ignored

Other things to take care of:

  • names are in the nominative; genitive is the case for combining nouns; also check the number (singular, dual, plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, neuter); adjectives should match the nouns they belong to

(See https://wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?/topic/25202-transliteration-of-ancient-greek-into-english/ for the choice made.)

Latin

Classical Latin is the language used for the Romans.

Writing Latin is easy, because, well, it uses the Latin alphabet. However, check to ensure:

  • dictionaries indicate vowel length, so do we; thus: hastātus, not hastatus
  • write ae and oe, not æ and œ, nor e; thus Caesar, not Cæsar or Cesar
  • differentiate between u and v
  • do not differentiate between i and j, both are written i
  • names are in the nominative; genitive is the case for combining nouns; also check the number (singular, plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, neuter); adjectives should match the nouns they belong to
  • sometimes words are plural only, e.g. insidiae “ambush”; check the whole string has the proper number

Meroitic

Meroitic is the language used for the Kushites.

Old Persian

Old Persian is the language used for the Persians.

When writing Persian, ensure:

  • check your strings are in the nominative
  • indicate vowel length (ā as opposed to a)
  • use x, not kh
  • use š, not sh
  • use ç, not ch
  • use θ, not th

E.g. Artaxšaçā (Artaxerxes), not Artakhshacha.

Sanskrit

(Vedic or Classical?) Sanskrit is the language used for the Mauryas; specific names ought to use the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST).

Bibliography

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