Battlestar Wiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:Language in the Twelve Colonies/Archive3

2006-03-30T03:23:12Z

Haecceity: /* Other Accents */

==Radio Alphabet==

''Discussions moved to [[Talk:Colonial Wireless Alphabet]] by [[User:Joe.Beaudoin|Joe Beaudoin]] at 20:07, 10 October 2005 (EDT).''

==Aerelon Accent==
:''(It is probably some subtle nuance that a Colonial character like Baltar could notice, but that is indistinguishable from an American accent to the audience).''

No, listen. None of these characters are actually speaking English. The whole thing is a conceit to make it intelligable to the viewer. I'm sure that in the fictional universe of BSG, Boomer does speak with a "trace of an Aerelon accent", but since the show chooses to represent this as Standard American English, there's little point speculating about phonological variations that we can't hear. It's not a matter of Baltar being able to hear something we can't, the showmakers have just chosen not to give us the information. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 01:38, 10 September 2005 (EDT)

: Yeah. I tend to agree. My agreement is influenced by a couple of things in addition to the above.

: '''One:''' I have a BA in Linguistics. I know a bit about accents and the sounds of human speech, etc. I'm also somewhat used to hearing differences in sounds that most Anglophones aren't used to (like distinctions that are meaningful in other languages, but not in English). These two things make it hard for me to believe that, after reading about this theory and listening to Boomer speak with the purpose of hearing an accent, I'd somehow be unable to hear it simply because I'm ''missing'' it.

: '''Two:''' I'm a rather large Tolkien dork and am familiar with the idea of "translating" something into English for the benefit of English-speaking viewers (to say nothing of over-dubbed versions of this show for non-English-speaking viewers. Additionally, being familiar with Tolkien's special flavor of language-centric crazy, I don't get that, well, vibe from RDM. He seems much more interested in the story and the cinematics than correctly representing the names of people from Dale as corrupted Old English names in order to show their long-ago linguistic connection to the Rohirrim, whose language is tacitly represented by Old English--as he should be.

: If, for whatever reason, the BSG production/directoral staff were interested in drawing parallels to Colonial accents with the use of English accents, it would be much more apparent. What is more likely is, as Peter posits, they aren't giving us the information. That's been screened out if for no other reason than the fact that they didn't really think about it. It's not a big deal. I think this is evidenced by Baltar's remark about Boomer's accent, actually. If they were keeping tabs of language enough to care about accents, they would realise the extreme unlikelihood that even a stereotypically recognized majority of an entire planet's population would have an accent that was the same. I mean--What's the most common (and thus, best seen as stereotypically Earthly) accent on our world? Chinese. Which is, you know, not precisely an accent. ;o)

: I think, actually, that the BSG crew ''are'' paying attention to accents, however. It's just not in a way that identifies characters geographically or--whatever. They pick accents that will predispose American and British (and, thus, probably Australian) viewers to certain preconceptions about their characters. Baltar speaks, more or less, the Queen's English, which will predispose Westerners to assume he's intelligent, wealthy, well bred and well educated. Baltar ''is'' these things. Kara Thrace speaks pretty standard American English and does it with a fairly high volume. She assumes the stereotypes of the loud American, so to speak. Notice, too, that the reporter had an English accent. At the end of her documentary, I half expected her to say, "This is D'anna Whatever, BBC news." I don't even ''get'' the BBC in Texas.

: This is getting absurdly lengthy. I apologize. I tend to do this when words are at issue. Anyway, one final point: I don't think the same thing can be neccesarily said for "race". Since where your genes are from, geographically, is a rather more visual thing, I tend to think that this would more easily occur to a TV producer as something worth keeping track of. That doesn't mean that it did and they are, but that most of my arguements here don't apply to that case much. I'll, ah, I'm done now. ;o) --[[User:Day|Day]] 03:31, 10 September 2005 (EDT)

::Well said. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 04:01, 10 September 2005 (EDT)

It is true that Grace Park is a fluent speaker of Korean, but her English--either as Sharon Valerii or as herself in interviews--bears no trace of a Korean accent whatsoever. I am married to a native Korean speaker, have friends and colleagues who speak Korean either as their first or second language, and have been studying the language for a few years myself, so I am absolutely certain that Korean has no bearing on what might or might not be considered an Aerelon accent. --[[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]]

:I tend to agree, but felt like someone would bring up her bilingualism inevitably and that it would be better to address it directly. If Grace Park (and thus Boomer) has a trace of ''any'' accent, it ought to be Korean, so I felt it worth a mention. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 02:31, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

::You said that Grace Park's bilingualism would come up eventually. I would recommend limiting discussions of her bilingualism to the actress' bio page. The label "Korean" doesn't meaningfully describe anything that's going on when Sharon/Boomer is speaking. My own Korean is getting good enough that I'm approaching true "bilingual" status, but nobody would use "Korean" to describe my English. --[[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]]

:::Discussing Park's bilingualism on the actress' bio page would not shed any insight for a reader of this page, nor would it allay any questions that such knowledge might raise. I understand that her spoken english is flawless, but the fact that it is not actually her first language is at least marginally relevant here, and is given the footnote it deserves.

:::As for her "northwestern" accent, I don't truly believe that that's any different from General American / Standard Midwestern - the only phonological difference I can think of is the caught/cot merger, which is too subtle to deserve the name "accent". --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 03:00, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

:::: Perhaps it should be specifically noted here that her Korean fluency doesn't seem to have any impact whatsoever on her English accent. I agree with Peter that it's important to note it here, so that someone who doesn't know any better doesn't come along and think we missed that point and that they've solved our problem by mentioning a (non-existant) Korean accent. Sometimes, when you are making an argument or assertion, you have to mention some things that are, really, irrelevant in order to make clear that they are, indeed, irrelevant so that others will not wrongly think that they are. Make sense? --[[User:Day|Day]] 03:08, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

::::I was just about to say something like that. Thanks, Day! --[[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]] 03:10, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

:::::Tried to make it a little more forceful. You can tell that this wiki is great because we spend whole evenings discussing single sentences. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 03:18, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

:::::: Nice edit. And I hope you were being serious. I spent a lot of time in college working on a print publication and for the last couple years, I was the Editor in Chief (kind of a joke because there were only six of us on staff). In any case, it was a humor publication and sometimes we'd spend hours debating about the wording of a single sentence in order to deliver the most punch. It almost always paid off. In this case, we're not looking to be funny, but I still think it pays to make sure a sentence communicates exactly the information we intend: no more and no less. --[[User:Day|Day]] 17:48, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

::::::: Quite serious. Concision is nothing without precision. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 23:48, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

:::::::: So, you're not really the Concision Fairy. You're the Concision/Percision Fairy. Which is less concise, but more precise. Maybe you're the (Con|Pre)cision Fairy. Phleh. --[[User:Day|Day]] 16:16, 20 October 2005 (EDT)

==Racetrack==
Is it just me or does Racetrack have a vaguely Canadian accent in her scene on the Raptor early in [[Final Cut]]? --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 02:10, 10 September 2005 (EDT)

==Stating the obvious==

:''Mister (Mr), Miss, and Doctor have all been used, but Missus {Mrs} has not.''

The concision fairy frowns in disapproval. Why is this interesting? --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 02:26, 17 September 2005 (EDT)

Nothing much since we haven't seen anyone married. Given the gender equality in BSG, however, it may well be that "Mrs" is not used. --[[User:Redwall|Redwall]] 17:20, 17 September 2005 (EDT)

==Valley Girl Accent==

[[User:Day|Day]] and I believe that [[Pythia]] likely spoke with [[Wikipedia:High rising terminal|High rising terminal]]s, also known as a "valley girl accent". We have concluded this based on the fact that no less than 67% of the direct quotes from her book of prophecy begin with the coordinating conjunction "and", as in the following passage:

"And, like, the lords anointed a leader to like, guide the Caravan of the Heavens to their new homeland?, and, like, unto the leader they gave a vision of serpents numbering two and ten?, as like, a sign of things to come?, which is like, totally spooky. And then, like, the Arrow of Apollo will open the Tomb of Athena, which is totally ''boss'', but Zeus like, got all uppity and warned the leaders of the twelve tribes that any return to Kobol would exact a price in blood, which is totally ''gross'', 'cause blood is gross, y'know? And like, a real ''bummer'', since Kobol is hot shit."

So say we all. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 20:19, 17 September 2005 (EDT)

: NO, that was meant to sound religious, in the tone of "And the number shall be "three". "Four" be too many, and "two" be too few (unless though then proceedeth to "three"). "Five" is right out. ---Ricimer, 17 Sept, 2005

::The effect is, as noted, somewhat different when you read them all out in a list. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 20:39, 17 September 2005 (EDT)

:::Damn both of you. My deykoard is ruimed from spittake effect with kola! [[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 18:03, 23 September 2005 (EDT)

==General American==
On a somewhat smaller matter, there is no linguistically accepted version of English called "General English," with a capital G. I am willing to accept a lower case g, "general English," to indicate "common sense" notions about the accent/group of accents. --[[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]]

:You are correct. The article previously referred to Standard American English (SAE), which I have encountered in contrast to African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in sociolinguistics. As I'm sure you can tell, I intend to refer to the midwestern "newscaster accent" used throughout the entertainment industry.

:As for Wikipedia, they referred to this accent as [[Wikipedia:Standard Midwestern|Standard Midwestern]] until last February. It was then [[Wikipedia:Talk:General American#move to "General American"?|moved]] to [[Wikipedia:General American|General American]] based on [[Wikipedia:User:Angr|User:Angr]]'s statement that "the accent is not standard in any official sense, nor is it limited to the Midwest."

:Since they are serving as our primary reference, I am inclined to follow their conventions on the matter. Perhaps you could take up your point with them? I realize that we are not powerless to employ our own terminology, but consistancy strikes me as a self-evident virtue. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 02:31, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

:: Sigh. General American bothers me. I'd ''much'' prefer Standard American English. I mean--that's a term that linguists use when discussing American accents. I wish Wikipedia had a page entitled that, but I don't want to get into a land war there (or, really anything there as time is finite). A few things have to be understood about SAE (or, as it stands, General English):

:: 1) It doesn't really exist as a spoken dialect. No one grows up learning SAE the way one can grow up speaking Texan English or any of the various sub-dialects of AAVE or whatever. However, Americans seem to be able to sense what it is. This is still under research.

:: 2) When used in a non-scholastic setting (like this wiki), saying someone speaks SAE generally means that the region they learned English in is not identifyable by the way they speak. Apollo speaks SAE, for instance. However, Jamie Baber or however it's spellt, is British and really speaks some form of British English dialect (I've not heard him speak myself).

:: With these two trhings in mind, using a term like SAE to refer to dislects of characters is perfectly fine. I mean--the dialect is a kind of mental construct and so doesn't really exist and the characters, likewise, don't really exist. ;) Okay. That was a joke. My problem with the term "General American" is that I've never seen it before in a linguistic context. "Standard American English" is a term used in all caps like that in many texts by various authors. I'm tired and I think I'm losing coherancy. Does my point about, for lack of a better word, officialness come across clearly? I sure hope so. --[[User:Day|Day]] 03:04, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

:::I would be happy to have the relevant links marked as Standard American English and go to Wiki's General American article through pipes. The term General American was introduced on October 8th by [[User:Troyian|Troyian]] - I'd like to know if he is personally in favor of the term, or was just matching wikipedia's terminology. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 03:09, 19 October 2005 (EDT)

==Sanskrit to do==
*Link to credible text repository & audio recording.
*Transliterate Sanskrit properly, using IAST. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 00:53, 14 November 2005 (EST)

Hopefully the Don Davis sources may be of help to others in further translation from his Matrix Revolutions tracks (noted in our article now). Enlightening stuff--I use the "Navras" track and its chant in my daily workouts--gets my heart rate up. I was wondering why Elosha's chant seemed so damned familiar, and now I know why. Wild how my favorite SF topics and music merge like this. Speaking of which, I think a music article on BSG will be due sometime... --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 10:09, 14 November 2005 (EST)

:Am I the only one who finds this matrix stuff to be badly off-topic? Davis's transliteration isn't very good, either. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 14:04, 14 November 2005 (EST)

::I'm going to strike this. If anyone wants to make a note of the coincidence on the references page, that would be fine. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 21:12, 14 November 2005 (EST)

==Other Accents==
:What about all of the Canadian accents? I'm no linguist, but the way Tigh speaks sounds very different to the way Adama speaks. Besides, many characters on the show are played by Canadian actors like Aaron Douglas, Tricia Helfer, and Tahmoh Penikett, each with varying degrees of accent. --[[User:Drumstick|Drumstick]] 19:51, 17 January 2006 (EST)

::Many Canadian accents are very similar to the Midwestern SAE used in Hollywood. If you can name a character with a particularly strong accent, I'd be happy to identify them here, but Hogan, Douglas, Helfer and Penikett don't seem to fit the bill.

::Note that place of origin and accent do not necessarily coincide - nobody would claim that Lee Adama speaks with a British Accent, although Jamie Bamber certainly does. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 20:32, 17 January 2006 (EST)

:::I've always felt that Hogan's accent is somewhat obvious, but again, I'm not much experienced with Canadian-accented English. (I only know two or three Canadians myself.) Besides, you make a good point: even if Hogan's accent ''is'' strong enough to be considered noticable, it is no where near as different from SAE as, say, Baltar's. [[User:Drumstick|Drumstick]] 21:35, 17 January 2006 (EST)

:::: For me, Tigh's just got a few words that stick out. Unfortunately, the only word that comes to mind off the top of my head is one that doesn't really exist: Kobol. Everyone else says it as if it were some American saying Co-Ball (['kou.'bol]) or something (equal stress on both syllables), whereas he seems to say ['kou.bl] (with the syllabic l at the end). That's hack-IPA, there, because I've yet to take the time to figure out the way the thingie for it works, here. --[[User:Day|Day]] 23:51, 17 January 2006 (EST)

:Michael Hogan may be Canadian, but his accent sounds to my ears more like American Irish. The Canadian accent at any rate owes a lot to Celtic influences (that "aboot" that Canadians say is straight from Scotland/Northern Ireland), so it's possible that it's Canadian but it doesn't sounds like Canadian accents that I'm familiar with. The name "Tigh" is Gaelic for "house". He's also a drinker. So my sense is that his character has been outfitted with a Scots/Irish-American persona. For what it's worth, I'm a Scot living in the States myself, and profoundly lacking in confidence in the average American's ability to recognize accents. I'd say 95% of Americans guess that I'm Irish, when no one from the UK or Ireland would make that mistake.--Haecceity

==Texas Accent==
Y'know, Baltar's Six definitely refers to his "nucular device" in "[[Epiphanies]]". --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 14:49, 21 January 2006 (EST)

: Actually, that's not a Texas thing. We talked about that specifically in one of my classes, since that's such a common misconception due to G. W. Bush's hailing from our state and and pronouncing it thus. Apparently that's common in many Southern dialects (as in "The South" which includes states as far north as Virginia, but not, say, New Mexico). Not that Texas is really ''excluded'' from that list, I just thought I'd point out that it's more common than many city-dwellers think (including myself before I attended the afore mentioned lecture). Personally, I say it "NEW-clee-er" only slightly more often than "NEW-cue-ler". I feel like I"m rambling on, so I won't go into what factors contribute to a dialect switching the L and the following vowel in this word. --[[User:Day|Day]] 23:57, 21 January 2006 (EST)

::Sounding off for a minute: the pronunciation is officially "New-clee-er", and Bush is yet again and embarrassment for pronouncing it wrong, then refusing to correct himself because he believes that he is infallible. --[[User:Ricimer|Ricimer]]

::: See, now you're gonna start arguing right and wrong with a [[Wikipedia:Descriptive linguistics|descriptive linguist]]. We're not your [[Wikipedia:Prescription and description|prescriptive]] Highschool English teacher. *wink* --[[User:Day|Day]] 15:29, 22 January 2006 (EST)

==Names==
I don't think its worthwhile to discuss the "meaning" of names that were borrowed from TOS here. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 23:17, 15 March 2006 (CST)
:Not sure that's entirely true (obviously :-) ), since in several cases Larson clearly borrowed those names from Hebrew/Greek himself, deliberately, and RDM is following in his footsteps.--[[User:UncleMikey|Uncle Mikey]] 23:20, 15 March 2006 (CST)
::I think we need to edit down "Names" a lot for relevance/concision. --[[User:The Merovingian|The Merovingian]] 23:58, 15 March 2006 (CST)
:::I can accept that—some days I'm good at concision, other days, not so much. I'd actually originally intended to merely provide a couple of key examples, and I kinda got carried away :-)--[[User:UncleMikey|Uncle Mikey]] 10:14, 16 March 2006 (CST)
:::By the way, Merv—thank you for your additions/clarifications to the names. And you may be right about the Roslin entry not really being highly relevant. I'll admit I just thought it was an amusing coincidence. And it may be more relevant than you think. The Cylons are clones, of a sort (albeit not clones of real human beings, but of 12 synthesized templates), and a Cylon-hybrid child saved Roslin's life... OK. It's a stretch :-) I can be convinced to remove the Roslin entry without much arm-twisting.--[[User:UncleMikey|Uncle Mikey]] 13:21, 16 March 2006 (CST)
::::Well RDM saying he deliberatley chose Dualla and Gaeta's names knowing their meaning is from the podcast of "Final Cut"; I think the Zarek thing is from the companion book. --[[User:The Merovingian|The Merovingian]] 17:08, 16 March 2006 (CST)

Language in the Twelve Colonies

2006-03-28T00:59:58Z

Haecceity: /* Ersatz */

{{Twelve Colonies Series}}
English, or some language that is universally translated into it (à la [[Wikipedia:Westron|Tolkien]]) is standard. Loanwords from foreign languages ("fascist", "karma", "esprit de corps" etc.) occur with normal frequency, as do chronologically enigmatic borrowings such as the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Columbia]]''. Most religious terms are explicitly shared with ancient greek beliefs (either antecedent to or descendent from them).

==Vocabulary==

===Anachronisms===
[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]] uses many terms from modern day naval aviation, which appear somewhat anachronistic but also lend the show a flavor of realistic jargon. These include:
*[[Combat Air Patrol]]
*[[Commander Air Group]]
*Planes
:'''Adama:''' You keep my planes flying. I need my planes to fly. ([[Litmus]])

===Ersatz===
In contrast to its [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|predecessor]], the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' employs relatively little in the way of ersatz vocabulary. It does employ a few terms outside of a normal american english vocabulary, mostly military jargon. These are mixed in haphazardly with the real-life naval aviation terms above.

*[[Colonial Wireless Alphabet|Constellation]] - [[Wikipedia:NATO phonetic alphabet|Charlie]] (As used in the sense of radio alphabetic code, e.g.: "Alpha, Bravo, Constellation".)
*[[Dradis]] - [[Wikipedia:RADAR|Radar]]
*[[Fumarella leaf]] - [[Wikipedia:Tobacco|Tobacco]]
*[[Frak]] - A bowdlerized version of "Fuck" (c.f. "[[Wikipedia:Frell|Frell]]" (Farscape), "[[Wikipedia:Frag|Frag]]" (Babylon 5), "[[Wikipedia:Smeg|Smeg]]" (Red Dwarf), "Gorram" (Firefly))
*[[G-4]] - [[Wikipedia: C-4 (explosive)|C-4]]
*[[Krypter]] - [[Wikipedia:Mayday|Mayday]]
*[[Morpha]] - [[Wikipedia:Morphine|Morphine]]
*[[Serisone]] - [[Wikipedia:prednisone|Prednisone]]
*[[Wireless]] - [[Wikipedia:Radio|Radio]]{{ref|wireless}}

===Invented Terminology===
As all science fiction shows must, Battlestar Galactica has a set of vocabulary referring to technologies and other items not shared with the real world.

*[[Ambrosia]] - a bright green alcoholic beverage
*[[Carom]] - the angle above or below the XY plane of a vessel, perpendicular to [[Wikipedia:Bearing (navigation)|bearing]] (c.f. "Mark" (Star Trek))
*[[Chamalla]] - an [[Wikipedia:Entheogen|entheogen]] used by priests
*[[Red Line]]

===Enigmas===

Language in ''Battlestar Galactica'' have terms whose origins are a curiosity due to chronology or uniqueness to the real-world Earth that likely wouldn't have a parallel of the same name in the Twelve Colonies. See [[History of the Twelve Colonies#Pre-History|an interpretation of the origin of humanity on Kobol]] that could support the derivation of these terms.

* ''[[Columbia]]'': This battlestar name's origin is strange since its popular Earth derivation comes from Christopher Columbus, a man unlikely to have existed in the Twelve Colonies.

===Honorifics===
Although civilians use the honorific "Madam" or it's shortened form "ma'am", in the Colonial military all superior officers are referred to as "Sir", regardless of gender. According to RDM's [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/blogs blog] on January 20th, 2006, the series follows the system established in "[[MemoryAlpha:Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]", where the term "sir" has become gender-neutral in military usage. Thus, [[Laura Roslin]] is refered to as "Madam President" or "ma'am" in a civilian context, but in her capacity as Commander-in-Chief, she is always addressed as "sir".

===Names===
Many characters have names that include one or more components that appear to be a Biblical or Classical reference. It remains an enigma whether, and to what degree, these should be thought of as translations for the audience's benefit.

Some of these apparent allusions may have no intended meaning beyond sounding good. Others are known to have been chosen for a reason, and that's noted where verifiable.

* [[William Adama|William]] and [[Lee Adama]]: "Adama" is Hebrew for "earth" in its literal meaning—ground, dirt—from which "Adam", the Biblical First Man, derives his name. It is also the name of a large city in Ethiopia. Lee's callsign "Apollo" is of course a reference to the Greek (and apparently, Kobolan) god. Both "Adama" and "Apollo" are carry-overs from the original series, where they were chosen for their mythological significance.
* [[Saul Tigh]]: "[[Wikipedia:Saul|Saul]]" is a Hebrew name, which means "borrowed". Biblical references include both the first king of Judah and Israel, and the birth-name of Paul of Tarsus. "Tigh" appears to have been made up by [[Glen A. Larson]], but it is also Scottish Gaelic for "house." Originally the character was named "Paul Tigh", but when it was discovered that this could not be used for legal reasons, it was shifted to "''S''aul Tigh", a reverse of the name switch that Saul of Tarsus/St. Paul made.
* [[Richard Adar]]: "[[Wikipedia:Adar|Adar]]" is a month in the Jewish lunar calendar still in use today. It coincides roughly with the Gregorian month of March. It is a carry over from the original series.
* [[Kara Thrace]]: "[[Wikipedia:Thrace|Thrace]]" is a region in southeast Europe spanning Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, and Serbia. It was also the ancient name for the same area. The famous gladiator Spartacus was a Thracian.
* [[Galen Tyrol]]: "[[Wikipedia:Galen|Galen]]" was a famous Greek healer, the source of much Mediaeval medical knowledge (and misinformation). "[[Wikipedia:Tyrol|Tyrol]]" is a region that spans the border of Austria and Italy.
* [[Gaius Baltar]]: "Gaius" was the ''[[Wikipedia:praenomen|praenomen]]'' of the man we commonly call [[Wikipedia:Julius Caesar|Julius Caesar]]. "Baltar" was made up by [[Glen A. Larson]] for the original series.
* [[Sharon Valerii]]: "Sharon" is Hebrew for forest, although it's also a common English woman's name. The [[Wikipedia:Valerius|gens Valeria]] is one of the longest-running families in the history of the [[Wikipedia:Roman Empire|Roman Empire]]. Curiously, "valerii" is the masculine plural form.
* [[Karl Agathon]]: "[[Wikipedia:Agathon|Agathon]]" was an Athenian poet, a friend of Eurpides and Plato.
* [[Hera]]/Isis: "[[Wikipedia:Hera|Hera]]" was a Greek goddess, the wife of Zeus. "[[Wikipedia:Isis|Isis]]" an Egyptian goddess, the wife of Horus in early mythology; the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus later. This is one of the few Egyptian references in the new series.
* [[Helena Cain]]: "[[Wikipedia:Helena|Helena]]" is a common enough name, but is also a possible reference to Helen of Troy. "[[Wikipedia:Cain|Cain]]" in the Old Testament is the first murderer, and is a carry-over from the original series.
* [[Aaron Doral]]: "[[Wikipedia:Aaron|Aaron]]" is a Biblical Hebrew name, the older brother of [[Wikipedia:Moses|Moses]].
* [[Anastasia Dualla]]: The Greek word ''[[Wikipedia:anastasia|anastasia]]'' translates to "resurrection", and was a deliberate choice by [[Ronald D. Moore|Ron Moore]]. It's also not an uncommon Greek and Russian name. Dualla is the name of a region and people in sub-saharan Africa.
* [[Tom Zarek]]: "[[Wikipedia:Thomas|Thomas]]" is a deliberate biblical reference, after the doubting apostle, although strictly speaking that apostle's name was Jude the Twin, "Tau'ma" being Aramaic for "twin". It's also a common English name. Zarek is a Polish name derived from the Babylonian name Balshazzar meaning "Baal protects the king."

Uncertain references:
* [[Leoben Conoy]]: "[[Wikipedia:Leoben|Leoben]]" is an Austrian town where a preliminary peace in the Napoleonic wars was signed. "[[Wikipedia:Conoy|Conoy]]" is a Native American tribe, also known as the Piscataway. Both are pretty obscure.
* [[Laura Roslin]]: "[[Wikipedia:Roslin Institute|Roslin Institute]]" is where Dolly the Sheep was cloned. Roslin is a town in Scotland.
* [[Billy Keikeya]]: "Keikeya" appears to be made up.

==Accents==

Most characters speak with a [[Wikipedia:General American|Standard American]] accent, with some exceptions.

===English Accent===
Two characters speak with the [[Wikipedia:Received Pronunciation|Received Pronunciation]], Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]] of Caprica and ship's medic [[Layne Ishay]]. Other characters from Caprica do not share this accent.

===Canadian Accent===
Occassionally when Col. [[Saul Tigh]] is shouting or barking out orders, he exhibits a faint canadian accent. [[Michael Hogan]] is a noted Canadian actor, and on the show his speech is usually indistinguishable from Standard American English, but observant fans can occassionally detect a trace of an accent.

===Spanish Accent===
[[Giana]], a woman rescued from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] by [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon Valerii]], spoke with a Spanish accent, and inquired after the whereabouts of her husband, who she stated was "stationed on Gemenon". Her place of origin is unclear, but no other characters from either Caprica, [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Gemenon|Gemenon]], or anywhere else have shared this accent. The actress, Lymari Nadal, is from Puerto Rico.

===Aerelon Accent===
In the episode "[[Flesh and Bone]]", Baltar noted that Sharon Valerii spoke with a trace of an [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Aerelon|Aerelon]] accent. The actress who portrays her, Grace Park, is fluent in both English and Korean, but speaks Standard American English without a foreign accent.

===Kiwi Accent===
The reporter [[D'anna Biers]] speaks with a Kiwi/New Zealand accent (this is actually the accent that actress [[Lucy Lawless]] speaks with when off screen, because she is from New Zealand). However, the same episode revealed that D'anna is actually a [[Cylon agent]], and another copy of D'anna on Cylon-occupied Caprica does ''not'' speak with this accent, but a Standard American one. This seems to imply that D'anna's entire personality was for show, and that the Cylons seem to use more standardized pronunciation when amongst themselves ([[Final Cut]]; this subtle hint made by ''not'' using her Kiwi accent is also mentioned in David Eick's video blog). However, in her subsequent appearance in "[[Downloaded]]", D'anna/Number Three continues to speak with a Kiwi accent on Caprica (probably because Lawless wanted to keep using her normal Kiwi accent, after her character was turned into a recurring role).

==Liturgy==
During the funeral service at the end of the Mini-series, Priest [[Elosha]] chants a prayer in a foreign language. It is recognizable as a common Sanskrit prayer, found in Part I, Chapter III, Verse 28 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

:{|
| '''Devanāgarī''' || '''Transliteration''' || '''Translation'''
|-
| अस्तो मा सद् गमय || ásato ma sád gamaya || Lead me from unreal to Real
|-
| तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय || támaso ma jyótir gamaya || Lead me from darkness to Light
|-
| मृत्योन् मा अमृतं गमय् || mrtyór mamrtam gamaya || Lead me from death to Immortality
|}

Although the lyrics are identifiable, it should be noted that the actress's performance is closer to the chanting of biblical Hebrew, and does not resemble the traditional melody.

== Footnotes ==
# {{note|wireless}} This usage is not entirely unknown in Earth-bound English. As a synonym for radio or radiotelegraphy, it's more common in Britsh usage, according to [http://www.m-w.com/ Merriam-Webster]. It's also the source of the prefix 'Wi' in 'WiFi' and other similar wireless data standards now common.

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: Colonial]]
[[Category: Colonial Society]]
[[Category: RDM]]

Language in the Twelve Colonies

2006-03-28T00:51:14Z

Haecceity: /* Names */

{{Twelve Colonies Series}}
English, or some language that is universally translated into it (à la [[Wikipedia:Westron|Tolkien]]) is standard. Loanwords from foreign languages ("fascist", "karma", "esprit de corps" etc.) occur with normal frequency, as do chronologically enigmatic borrowings such as the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Columbia]]''. Most religious terms are explicitly shared with ancient greek beliefs (either antecedent to or descendent from them).

==Vocabulary==

===Anachronisms===
[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]] uses many terms from modern day naval aviation, which appear somewhat anachronistic but also lend the show a flavor of realistic jargon. These include:
*[[Combat Air Patrol]]
*[[Commander Air Group]]
*Planes
:'''Adama:''' You keep my planes flying. I need my planes to fly. ([[Litmus]])

===Ersatz===
In contrast to its [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|predecessor]], the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' employs relatively little in the way of ersatz vocabulary. It does employ a few terms outside of a normal american english vocabulary, mostly military jargon. These are mixed in haphazardly with the real-life naval aviation terms above.

*[[Colonial Wireless Alphabet|Constellation]] - [[Wikipedia:NATO phonetic alphabet|Charlie]] (As used in the sense of radio alphabetic code, e.g.: "Alpha, Bravo, Constellation".)
*[[Dradis]] - [[Wikipedia:RADAR|Radar]]
*[[Fumarella leaf]] - [[Wikipedia:Tobacco|Tobacco]]
*[[Frak]] - A bowdlerized version of "Fuck" (c.f. "[[Wikipedia:Frell|Frell]]" (Farscape), "[[Wikipedia:Frag|Frag]]" (Babylon 5), "[[Wikipedia:Smeg|Smeg]]" (Red Dwarf))
*[[G-4]] - [[Wikipedia: C-4 (explosive)|C-4]]
*[[Krypter]] - [[Wikipedia:Mayday|Mayday]]
*[[Morpha]] - [[Wikipedia:Morphine|Morphine]]
*[[Serisone]] - [[Wikipedia:prednisone|Prednisone]]
*[[Wireless]] - [[Wikipedia:Radio|Radio]]{{ref|wireless}}

===Invented Terminology===
As all science fiction shows must, Battlestar Galactica has a set of vocabulary referring to technologies and other items not shared with the real world.

*[[Ambrosia]] - a bright green alcoholic beverage
*[[Carom]] - the angle above or below the XY plane of a vessel, perpendicular to [[Wikipedia:Bearing (navigation)|bearing]] (c.f. "Mark" (Star Trek))
*[[Chamalla]] - an [[Wikipedia:Entheogen|entheogen]] used by priests
*[[Red Line]]

===Enigmas===

Language in ''Battlestar Galactica'' have terms whose origins are a curiosity due to chronology or uniqueness to the real-world Earth that likely wouldn't have a parallel of the same name in the Twelve Colonies. See [[History of the Twelve Colonies#Pre-History|an interpretation of the origin of humanity on Kobol]] that could support the derivation of these terms.

* ''[[Columbia]]'': This battlestar name's origin is strange since its popular Earth derivation comes from Christopher Columbus, a man unlikely to have existed in the Twelve Colonies.

===Honorifics===
Although civilians use the honorific "Madam" or it's shortened form "ma'am", in the Colonial military all superior officers are referred to as "Sir", regardless of gender. According to RDM's [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/blogs blog] on January 20th, 2006, the series follows the system established in "[[MemoryAlpha:Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]", where the term "sir" has become gender-neutral in military usage. Thus, [[Laura Roslin]] is refered to as "Madam President" or "ma'am" in a civilian context, but in her capacity as Commander-in-Chief, she is always addressed as "sir".

===Names===
Many characters have names that include one or more components that appear to be a Biblical or Classical reference. It remains an enigma whether, and to what degree, these should be thought of as translations for the audience's benefit.

Some of these apparent allusions may have no intended meaning beyond sounding good. Others are known to have been chosen for a reason, and that's noted where verifiable.

* [[William Adama|William]] and [[Lee Adama]]: "Adama" is Hebrew for "earth" in its literal meaning—ground, dirt—from which "Adam", the Biblical First Man, derives his name. It is also the name of a large city in Ethiopia. Lee's callsign "Apollo" is of course a reference to the Greek (and apparently, Kobolan) god. Both "Adama" and "Apollo" are carry-overs from the original series, where they were chosen for their mythological significance.
* [[Saul Tigh]]: "[[Wikipedia:Saul|Saul]]" is a Hebrew name, which means "borrowed". Biblical references include both the first king of Judah and Israel, and the birth-name of Paul of Tarsus. "Tigh" appears to have been made up by [[Glen A. Larson]], but it is also Scottish Gaelic for "house." Originally the character was named "Paul Tigh", but when it was discovered that this could not be used for legal reasons, it was shifted to "''S''aul Tigh", a reverse of the name switch that Saul of Tarsus/St. Paul made.
* [[Richard Adar]]: "[[Wikipedia:Adar|Adar]]" is a month in the Jewish lunar calendar still in use today. It coincides roughly with the Gregorian month of March. It is a carry over from the original series.
* [[Kara Thrace]]: "[[Wikipedia:Thrace|Thrace]]" is a region in southeast Europe spanning Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, and Serbia. It was also the ancient name for the same area. The famous gladiator Spartacus was a Thracian.
* [[Galen Tyrol]]: "[[Wikipedia:Galen|Galen]]" was a famous Greek healer, the source of much Mediaeval medical knowledge (and misinformation). "[[Wikipedia:Tyrol|Tyrol]]" is a region that spans the border of Austria and Italy.
* [[Gaius Baltar]]: "Gaius" was the ''[[Wikipedia:praenomen|praenomen]]'' of the man we commonly call [[Wikipedia:Julius Caesar|Julius Caesar]]. "Baltar" was made up by [[Glen A. Larson]] for the original series.
* [[Sharon Valerii]]: "Sharon" is Hebrew for forest, although it's also a common English woman's name. The [[Wikipedia:Valerius|gens Valeria]] is one of the longest-running families in the history of the [[Wikipedia:Roman Empire|Roman Empire]]. Curiously, "valerii" is the masculine plural form.
* [[Karl Agathon]]: "[[Wikipedia:Agathon|Agathon]]" was an Athenian poet, a friend of Eurpides and Plato.
* [[Hera]]/Isis: "[[Wikipedia:Hera|Hera]]" was a Greek goddess, the wife of Zeus. "[[Wikipedia:Isis|Isis]]" an Egyptian goddess, the wife of Horus in early mythology; the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus later. This is one of the few Egyptian references in the new series.
* [[Helena Cain]]: "[[Wikipedia:Helena|Helena]]" is a common enough name, but is also a possible reference to Helen of Troy. "[[Wikipedia:Cain|Cain]]" in the Old Testament is the first murderer, and is a carry-over from the original series.
* [[Aaron Doral]]: "[[Wikipedia:Aaron|Aaron]]" is a Biblical Hebrew name, the older brother of [[Wikipedia:Moses|Moses]].
* [[Anastasia Dualla]]: The Greek word ''[[Wikipedia:anastasia|anastasia]]'' translates to "resurrection", and was a deliberate choice by [[Ronald D. Moore|Ron Moore]]. It's also not an uncommon Greek and Russian name. Dualla is the name of a region and people in sub-saharan Africa.
* [[Tom Zarek]]: "[[Wikipedia:Thomas|Thomas]]" is a deliberate biblical reference, after the doubting apostle, although strictly speaking that apostle's name was Jude the Twin, "Tau'ma" being Aramaic for "twin". It's also a common English name. Zarek is a Polish name derived from the Babylonian name Balshazzar meaning "Baal protects the king."

Uncertain references:
* [[Leoben Conoy]]: "[[Wikipedia:Leoben|Leoben]]" is an Austrian town where a preliminary peace in the Napoleonic wars was signed. "[[Wikipedia:Conoy|Conoy]]" is a Native American tribe, also known as the Piscataway. Both are pretty obscure.
* [[Laura Roslin]]: "[[Wikipedia:Roslin Institute|Roslin Institute]]" is where Dolly the Sheep was cloned. Roslin is a town in Scotland.
* [[Billy Keikeya]]: "Keikeya" appears to be made up.

==Accents==

Most characters speak with a [[Wikipedia:General American|Standard American]] accent, with some exceptions.

===English Accent===
Two characters speak with the [[Wikipedia:Received Pronunciation|Received Pronunciation]], Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]] of Caprica and ship's medic [[Layne Ishay]]. Other characters from Caprica do not share this accent.

===Canadian Accent===
Occassionally when Col. [[Saul Tigh]] is shouting or barking out orders, he exhibits a faint canadian accent. [[Michael Hogan]] is a noted Canadian actor, and on the show his speech is usually indistinguishable from Standard American English, but observant fans can occassionally detect a trace of an accent.

===Spanish Accent===
[[Giana]], a woman rescued from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] by [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon Valerii]], spoke with a Spanish accent, and inquired after the whereabouts of her husband, who she stated was "stationed on Gemenon". Her place of origin is unclear, but no other characters from either Caprica, [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Gemenon|Gemenon]], or anywhere else have shared this accent. The actress, Lymari Nadal, is from Puerto Rico.

===Aerelon Accent===
In the episode "[[Flesh and Bone]]", Baltar noted that Sharon Valerii spoke with a trace of an [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Aerelon|Aerelon]] accent. The actress who portrays her, Grace Park, is fluent in both English and Korean, but speaks Standard American English without a foreign accent.

===Kiwi Accent===
The reporter [[D'anna Biers]] speaks with a Kiwi/New Zealand accent (this is actually the accent that actress [[Lucy Lawless]] speaks with when off screen, because she is from New Zealand). However, the same episode revealed that D'anna is actually a [[Cylon agent]], and another copy of D'anna on Cylon-occupied Caprica does ''not'' speak with this accent, but a Standard American one. This seems to imply that D'anna's entire personality was for show, and that the Cylons seem to use more standardized pronunciation when amongst themselves ([[Final Cut]]; this subtle hint made by ''not'' using her Kiwi accent is also mentioned in David Eick's video blog). However, in her subsequent appearance in "[[Downloaded]]", D'anna/Number Three continues to speak with a Kiwi accent on Caprica (probably because Lawless wanted to keep using her normal Kiwi accent, after her character was turned into a recurring role).

==Liturgy==
During the funeral service at the end of the Mini-series, Priest [[Elosha]] chants a prayer in a foreign language. It is recognizable as a common Sanskrit prayer, found in Part I, Chapter III, Verse 28 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

:{|
| '''Devanāgarī''' || '''Transliteration''' || '''Translation'''
|-
| अस्तो मा सद् गमय || ásato ma sád gamaya || Lead me from unreal to Real
|-
| तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय || támaso ma jyótir gamaya || Lead me from darkness to Light
|-
| मृत्योन् मा अमृतं गमय् || mrtyór mamrtam gamaya || Lead me from death to Immortality
|}

Although the lyrics are identifiable, it should be noted that the actress's performance is closer to the chanting of biblical Hebrew, and does not resemble the traditional melody.

== Footnotes ==
# {{note|wireless}} This usage is not entirely unknown in Earth-bound English. As a synonym for radio or radiotelegraphy, it's more common in Britsh usage, according to [http://www.m-w.com/ Merriam-Webster]. It's also the source of the prefix 'Wi' in 'WiFi' and other similar wireless data standards now common.

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: Colonial]]
[[Category: Colonial Society]]
[[Category: RDM]]