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I prefer to think of it as a complete translation. it's like how in Tolkens stuff, the language of rohan wasn't actually Saxon, but it was used ans the explination was "because it bares the same relation to english, as the tounge of rohan does to the common tounge"

 oldravenman3025 wrote:

Not necessarily. The pseudo-Latin (with some "Latinized" Greek words) is likely what High Gothic actually is. It looks, sounds, and feels imposing, ancient, and foreboding. Which fits the Imperium of Man to a tee.


As for the second, I don't subscribe to that idea. Everything we've seen so far indicates that the Roman alphabet is still used, especially in writing High Gothic (among other languages). And if something isn't written exclusively in the Roman alphabet, or uses Arabic and Roman numerals exclusively, then it's in ancient Greek lettering, Egyptian-inspired glyphs, or in mathematical symbols. These symbols and alphabets have survived millennia IRL. There is no reason to believe that they wouldn't be continued to be used, in some form, for many more millennia in the future, regardless of language evolution or linguistic drift.

But the IoM could be speaking something imposing and foreboding that we really wouldn't be able to make out, and then it is translated into something also imposing and foreboding, but which we can make out.

Well, plain English appears anyway.


Many ancient Greek alphabets, and Egyptian coptic script are no longer used. Maybe the Roman alphabet meets a similar fate sometime in the far future.

But, okay, let's assume that the Roman alphabet survives. What does it look like when they use the Roman alphabet to write the Gothic dialect that's totally unlike English?






Automatically Appended Next Post:

BrianDavion wrote:
I prefer to think of it as a complete translation. it's like how in Tolkens stuff, the language of rohan wasn't actually Saxon, but it was used ans the explination was "because it bares the same relation to english, as the tounge of rohan does to the common tounge"

Like a linguistic analogy!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Anaerian wrote:
Maybe its done that way so people relate more to the Imperium as ourselves. that would explain why races get their own languages we can't read because the Imperium as a whole i.e. the basic guardsmen couldn't.

Well GW has never said anything on why they do it.

Put it this way. If they wrote Horus Rising all in low gothic, or even just the speech (because lets face it, that's what they're all speaking) and you couldn't understand a word of it, would you be happy? Probably not if there wasn't an accompanying English (or your preferred 2017 language) translation on the opposite page. What about an artwork of say, a man standing, shoulders slumped, head down in front of a dark building, with an unintelligible language over the door? Would it not have more meaning to the viewer if it says even just "factory" or "recruitment office" over it? Now quit yer bitching about non-issues and recognise the simple answer that if you are trying to write or draw something and get people to relate to it they need to be able to understand it.
Before you start, the reason, as I think has already been said, for the SW or necrons having runes and alien script is to project an otherness. When the artist/author wants us to feel distance to the characters portrayed, they put that barrier up. If they want us to connect to them (say, any normal human and most space marines in the imperium, or even aliens if the story is from their point of view) they're gonna remove the language barrier.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
Put it this way. If they wrote Horus Rising all in low gothic, or even just the speech (because lets face it, that's what they're all speaking) and you couldn't understand a word of it, would you be happy? Probably not if there wasn't an accompanying English (or your preferred 2017 language) translation on the opposite page.

I'm not asking for a Gothic language version of all the speech in a novel. After all, we have to read the speech when reading a novel.

It might be cool if they teach us a few Gothic words though.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
What about an artwork of say, a man standing, shoulders slumped, head down in front of a dark building, with an unintelligible language over the door? Would it not have more meaning to the viewer if it says even just "factory" or "recruitment office" over it?

It could, but it also could have artistic value if there were some Gothicky inscriptions over the door.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
Now quit yer bitching about non-issues

Hey, I'm not "bitching". Let us please discuss respectfully and disagree respectfully.

We shouldn't ask each other to "quit" because we don't agree with each other.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
the simple answer that if you are trying to write or draw something and get people to relate to it they need to be able to understand it.

Not strictly necessary. It could be through the lighting, the surroundings, the poses.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
Before you start, the reason, as I think has already been said, for the SW or necrons having runes and alien script is to project an otherness. When the artist/author wants us to feel distance to the characters portrayed, they put that barrier up. If they want us to connect to them (say, any normal human and most space marines in the imperium, or even aliens if the story is from their point of view) they're gonna remove the language barrier.

I understand that. But what if they wanted to immerse us in a far-future setting where English is no longer the lingua franca, where psykers are born amongst us. I wonder what your thoughts would be if GW published a Gothic script.

An English to Low Gothic and English to High Gothic dictionary would be 2 seperate books to sell, plus if they put it in art and models, it would be more copyrigjtable?

Sorry, that was meant to be a joke regarding your username. And if they published a gothic script, I'd happily ignore it because all the books will still be in English and all the art and models will still have English on them. In all seriousness I don't think it would add anything, only detract from the experience.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
Sorry, that was meant to be a joke regarding your username. And if they published a gothic script, I'd happily ignore it because all the books will still be in English and all the art and models will still have English on them. In all seriousness I don't think it would add anything, only detract from the experience.

Oh, I see. haha.

With the release of a script, they would release new art of things with Gothic with written on them. Like the image of a Word Bearer with Colchisian runes that I posted earlier.

I do think it adds something. If not then why come up with Colchisian runes? But to each his own.


We could take it even further. I think it'd be fun to hang banners written in Gothic at WH40K events. Is that too nerdy though?

 Maximus Bitch wrote:

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
Sorry, that was meant to be a joke regarding your username. And if they published a gothic script, I'd happily ignore it because all the books will still be in English and all the art and models will still have English on them. In all seriousness I don't think it would add anything, only detract from the experience.

Oh, I see. haha.

With the release of a script, they would release new art of things with Gothic with written on them. Like the image of a Word Bearer with Colchisian runes that I posted earlier.

I do think it adds something. If not then why come up with Colchisian runes? But to each his own.

The runes of the Word Bearers are there to evoke a mysterious otherness and to enhance their association with dark rituals and daemons (an association which runes carry thanks to the early Church).
The Imperium meanwhile, are the guys we as 21st Century people are supposed to connect and relate to. They serve as our viewpoint into the setting. That is why they use English and the Latin Alphabet (or other languages if you read stuff in a different language), so we can actually understand them. Without understanding, there is no relatability and therefore little connection.
Sure, a cool script would be nice and artsy, but it is better to save that effort for Xenos, Chaos or others that are supposed to be enigmatic and mysterious or otherwise have a sense of 'otherness'.

 Maximus Bitch wrote:
We could take it even further. I think it'd be fun to hang banners written in Gothic at WH40K events. Is that too nerdy though?

Yes.

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 Maximus Bitch wrote:

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
Sorry, that was meant to be a joke regarding your username. And if they published a gothic script, I'd happily ignore it because all the books will still be in English and all the art and models will still have English on them. In all seriousness I don't think it would add anything, only detract from the experience.

Oh, I see. haha.

With the release of a script, they would release new art of things with Gothic with written on them. Like the image of a Word Bearer with Colchisian runes that I posted earlier.

I do think it adds something. If not then why come up with Colchisian runes? But to each his own.

The runes of the Word Bearers are there to evoke a mysterious otherness and to enhance their association with dark rituals and daemons (an association which runes carry thanks to the early Church).
The Imperium meanwhile, are the guys we as 21st Century people are supposed to connect and relate to. They serve as our viewpoint into the setting. That is why they use English and the Latin Alphabet (or other languages if you read stuff in a different language), so we can actually understand them. Without understanding, there is no relatability and therefore little connection.
Sure, a cool script would be nice and artsy, but it is better to save that effort for Xenos, Chaos or others that are supposed to be enigmatic and mysterious or otherwise have a sense of 'otherness'.

 Maximus Bitch wrote:
We could take it even further. I think it'd be fun to hang banners written in Gothic at WH40K events. Is that too nerdy though?

Yes.

Well, the Word Bearers have been made so relatable with all the novels written about them. They're human after all.

Chaos humans can still use the Gothic script. Well, I'm sure GW can muster enough manpower to create a script.


Haha, we mustn't be too nerdy, lest others laugh at us wargamers.