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''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, κ, χ, ξ → g, k, kh, ks
  * 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 and diphthongs (use a dictionary to check vowel length):
  * α, αι, αυ, ᾱ, ᾳ, ᾱυ → a, ai, au, ā, āi, āu
  * ε, ει, ευ → e, ei, eu
  * η, ῃ, ηυ → ē, ēi, ēu
  * ι, ῑ → i, ī
  * ο, οι, ου → o, oi, ou
  * υ, υι, ῡ → u, ui, ū
  * ω, ῳ, ωυ → ō, ōi, ōu
Other things to take care of:
* accents are meaningful, therefore write the correct ones (which can change depending on position), differentiate between e.g. α, ά, ᾶ, ὰ. 
* 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

== 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. 

== Bibliography
* R. S. P. Beekes ''Comparative Indo-European Linguistics / An Introduction / Second edition'' [revised and corrected by Michiel de Vaan] (Amsterdam / Philadelphia 2011)
* P. T. Daniels, W. Bright (eds.) ''The World's Writing Systems'' (Oxford 1996)
* P. G. W. Glare (ed.) ''Oxford Latin Dictionary / Second edition'' (Oxford 2012)
* H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. Stuart Jones, R. McKenzie ''A Greek–English Lexicon / Ninth edition / With a Revised Supplement'' (Oxford 1940; 1996)
* P. O. Skjærvø ''An Introduction to Old Persian'' (Cambridge, MA 2016) [https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/OldPersian/opcomplete.pdf pdf]
* https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/