Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Invented Linguistic Distinction

 Invented Linguistic Distinction
type
FeatureClass
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
label
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
page
InventedLinguisticDistinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
comment
In Real Life, even when people from different places speak what is considered to be the same language, they don't always all talk the same. People from different regions, ethnic groups, and socioeconomic strata have different pronunciations, rhythms, slang terms, and idioms. In some works of fiction, this isn't true; they adhere to the Planet of Hats linguistically. On the other hand, there's this trope, where a work creator has created variety within the languages used in The 'Verse, typically as a means of Worldbuilding.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Bob, from New York, speaks with an American accent. This contrasts him with Aerith, who comes from a magical alternate reality hidden inside of a wardrobe, who speaks with a British one, despite not actually being from Britain. All of the people from Aerith's world speak similarly to herself, with maybe some variation between the different kingdoms or social classes of her land. The point is, people from Aerith's world have linguistic quirks that set them apart from people in the Bob's world as a result of the distance between them. Though the quirks in this example are inexplicably borrowed from a real world place that supposedly also exists in the setting, the proper creative intention is there and it still counts as an example.
If Bob and Aerith are both from fictional places, say they're both from two different planets in a sci-fi setting totally disconnected from the real world, and these differences still apply, then that's also an example of the trope. If the author goes a step further and has them speaking in two different real world languages, or using two different real world writing systems, or even both speaking and writing in their own separate made up languages, that also applies. The point is that the author invents unique linguistic traits for a fictional group of people, whether they be recycled real world linguistic traits or made from scratch, to make them more realistically foreign to the audience and/or each other.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })The creative decision to more realistically define a fictional culture through language, where such distinctions do not already inherently exist due to the culture not existing in the real world, or existing in the real world, but being far enough in the future that major changes in language are justified, is key to the trope. Localizing linguistic differences to characters based solely on personality or to more accurately depict real world locations and cultures is not this trope. If Aerith only sounds British to show that she's a genius, not because she's fictionally foreign, then that isn't the trope. If Bob is from modern New York and Aerith is from past France and they both sound appropriately different and accurate to what a person from those times and places should sound like (or they don't, but that was the intent) that's just regular old realism, not the trope. It has to be fictional cultures, but realistically utilized linguistics.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })A Subtrope of Multicultural Alien Planet. Compare Aliens of London, another trope that deals with giving accents to fictional races. Contrast Smart People Speak the Queen's English, where an accent is used as a shortcut to show a character's personality rather than because of their nationality, Aliens Speaking English, where people from fictional populations from outside of Earth speak Earth languages without explanation, or Anime Accent Absence, a tendency in Japanese media to not bother giving foreign characters distinguished accents at all. See also Fictional Accent.
Examples:
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
fetched
2023-01-21T18:12:59Z
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
parsed
2023-01-21T18:12:59Z
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to AwesomeAussie: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to BraveScot: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to BritainIsOnlyLondon: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to CreepyMonotone: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to FullNameBasis: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to FunetikAksent: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to MerchantCity: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to OopNorth: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to TheKidsAreAmerican: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to TheQueensLatin: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to TranslationConvention: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingComment
Dropped link to runninggag: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1520783f
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1520783f
comment
The War of the Masters
The dominant local language of Moab III is Viet, which is Vietnamese mixed with various human and alien tongues including Klingon and Hebrew. (It's usually rendered as Romanized Vietnamese due to Translation Convention.)
Recurring character Captain Sandra Pickens has a thick Funetik Aksent (based on Appalachian West Virginia) due to her upbringing on the Earth colony Beaumonde.
In "Remembrance of the Fallen", Kojami Sobaru notes Kanril Eleya, both of them Bajorans, to speak their mother language Bajor'la with Kendran accent. In Create Your Own Fate Eleya notes that Reshek Gaarra has a Dahkuri accent.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1520783f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1520783f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The War of the Masters (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1520783f
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1a8119af
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1a8119af
comment
Dragon Quest VIII features many accents to liven up the various regions of the world, most European in origin. The most common one is the standard British accent used for King Trode, Jessica, Angelo and many NPC's. Other examples include the people of the snowy Orkustk region having Russian accents, Morrie having an Italian accent, people from Pickham such as Yangus and Red having Cockney accents, Ascanthan natives having a Yorkshire bent to them, People from Baccarat having American accents, and Dragovians having a Chinese accent to emphasize the distance their land has from the rest of the world among other accents held by notable NPC's.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1a8119af
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1a8119af
featureConfidence
1.0
 Dragon Quest VIII (Video Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1a8119af
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1f40d0b4
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1f40d0b4
comment
NiNoKuni has each game’s earthling character speak with American accents while the residents of the world where the game takes place have British accents. The fairies have heavy Welsh accents.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1f40d0b4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1f40d0b4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ni no Kuni (Video Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_1f40d0b4
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2616ce
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2616ce
comment
In Krypton, all the Kandorians have British (or in one case Irish) accents. While English Kryptonians have appeared before (Susannah York's Lara; Terrance Stamp's Zod; David Warner's Jor-El, Terrance Stamp's Jor-El...), the consistent use here appears to be at least partly to distinguish them from the one Earth character, Adam Strange, who is American. Episode 5 introduces a Kryptonian sect living in the Outlands beyond Kandor who have vaguely middle-European accents (although still played by British actors).
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2616ce
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2616ce
featureConfidence
1.0
 Krypton
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2616ce
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2eb21bdd
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2eb21bdd
comment
Foundation - The Psychohistorians: When Dr Asimov wrote "The Psychohistorians", the only character in Foundation (1951) with a Funetik Aksent had been faking it. In the following decades, Dr Asimov would add several characters with genuine accents, so Jonathon Dalton took that idea and incorporated accents into the lawyers and Gaal Dornick.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2eb21bdd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2eb21bdd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Foundation - The Psychohistorians (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_2eb21bdd
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_5f71a70b
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_5f71a70b
comment
Xenoblade Chronicles:
Xenoblade Chronicles: The English dub has two examples. Though all of the characters sport accents from across southern England, most of them are distributed based on character rather than nationality (despite living together for most of their lives, siblings Fiora and Dunban speak in Estuary and Received Pronunciation accents, respectively, for example). The first exception and example of this trope is the High Entia race, who all speak in Upper Received Pronunciation accents and are the sole users of it. As a very long-lived and somewhat isolationist society of High Elfish people, the language difference checks out. The other example is the Nopon race, who aren't so different accent-wise, but speak in their own unique dialect full of broken English and strange terminologies.
Xenoblade Chronicles X implies that the various alien races encountered on the planet Mira have their own languages, but an unexplained phenomenon on the planet translates them all, so we mostly end up getting everyone speaking the same language in the same way. Some quirks still manage to make their way through though, such as the Ma-Non tendencies to repeat conjunctions or phrase sentences as questions, or the many oddities of the ever present Nopon dialect.
The English dub of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 kicks things up a notch by giving every one of the fictional nations of Alrest their own set of dialects taken from the real world:
Gormotti - Welsh
Urayans - Australian
Ardainians - Scottish
Leftherians - Northern English
Tantalese and Tornans - Received Pronunciation
Indoline - Mid-Atlantic
Blades - American
The Nopon return yet again sporting working class southern English accents, presumed to be the native dialect of the Nopon founded Merchant City of Argentum, as well as their unique broken speech patterns and terminologies.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Justified, as the two nations of Keves and Agnus are descended from the characters found in the worlds of the first and second games respectively.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_5f71a70b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_5f71a70b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Xenoblade Chronicles (Video Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_5f71a70b
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_7d8c61a2
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_7d8c61a2
comment
Star Wars: The Old Republic: In keeping with the films' frequent use of Evil Brit characters, Sith Empire characters in the game tend to speak in British- or British-descended accents, but with a much wider range than usual (everything from Scots to a couple of Australians). Republic-affiliated characters tend to speak with either American or Canadian accents. This gets lampshaded a couple times: at two points in the Imperial Agent storyline, Cipher Nine affects a "Republic" accent while undercover (both male and female Agents normally speak with an English accent), while Imperial PCs of all classes can pull a hilariously bad Brief Accent Imitation to make fun of a Republic character on Belsavis.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_7d8c61a2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_7d8c61a2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Wars: The Old Republic (Video Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_7d8c61a2
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a86
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a86
comment
Xenoblade Chronicles: The English dub has two examples. Though all of the characters sport accents from across southern England, most of them are distributed based on character rather than nationality (despite living together for most of their lives, siblings Fiora and Dunban speak in Estuary and Received Pronunciation accents, respectively, for example). The first exception and example of this trope is the High Entia race, who all speak in Upper Received Pronunciation accents and are the sole users of it. As a very long-lived and somewhat isolationist society of High Elfish people, the language difference checks out. The other example is the Nopon race, who aren't so different accent-wise, but speak in their own unique dialect full of broken English and strange terminologies.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a86
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a86
featureConfidence
1.0
 Xenoblade Chronicles 1 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a86
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a87
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a87
comment
The English dub of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 kicks things up a notch by giving every one of the fictional nations of Alrest their own set of dialects taken from the real world:
Gormotti - Welsh
Urayans - Australian
Ardainians - Scottish
Leftherians - Northern English
Tantalese and Tornans - Received Pronunciation
Indoline - Mid-Atlantic
Blades - American
The Nopon return yet again sporting working class southern English accents, presumed to be the native dialect of the Nopon founded Merchant City of Argentum, as well as their unique broken speech patterns and terminologies.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a87
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a87
featureConfidence
1.0
 Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a87
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a88
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a88
comment
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Justified, as the two nations of Keves and Agnus are descended from the characters found in the worlds of the first and second games respectively.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a88
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a88
featureConfidence
1.0
 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33a88
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33aad
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33aad
comment
Xenoblade Chronicles X implies that the various alien races encountered on the planet Mira have their own languages, but an unexplained phenomenon on the planet translates them all, so we mostly end up getting everyone speaking the same language in the same way. Some quirks still manage to make their way through though, such as the Ma-Non tendencies to repeat conjunctions or phrase sentences as questions, or the many oddities of the ever present Nopon dialect.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33aad
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33aad
featureConfidence
1.0
 Xenoblade Chronicles X (Video Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_8ec33aad
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90e2f673
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90e2f673
comment
BattleTech: The Inner Sphere generally speaks American English with very little variation. The Clans, on the other hand, have a very different accent. First of all, Clanners speak in a way which comes across as somewhat stilted and highly formal to the rest of us. There are also differences in vocabulary, most notably the use of "aff" and "neg" (abbreviated forms of "affirmative" and "negative") instead of "yes" and "no". Adaptations with recorded sound also tend to give Clanners British accents, to further hammer home the three centuries of linguistic drift in play.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90e2f673
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90e2f673
featureConfidence
1.0
 BattleTech (Tabletop Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90e2f673
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90f42a9b
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90f42a9b
comment
In The Wheel of Time:
Several mainland nations have linguistic quirks common to their natives, like Illianers' liberal use of "do" and "do be" as auxiliary verbs and Taraboners' tendency to end sentences with a "...yes?"
The Seanchan invaders have a highly distinctive slow, drawling accent, and several of them remark on how mainland accents are incomprehensibly fast and clipped by comparison.
The Sharans speak in a Creepy Monotone when their army shows up out of nowhere to fight for the Shadow in the Final Battle.
The Aiel are on Full-Name Basis with everyone: among themselves, they don't have surnames and consider it a very intimate gesture to use an abbreviated pet name.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90f42a9b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90f42a9b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Wheel of Time
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_90f42a9b
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_959e88d
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_959e88d
comment
Dragon Quest XI takes it a step further than VIII by giving each city a consistent national accent: Spanish for Puerto Valor, Italian for Gondolia, Scandinavian for Sniffleheim, etc. It actually works for foreshadowing - you can figure out parts of several characters backstories before the relevant reveals from their accents, although at least one tries (with middling success) to hide his accent for just such reason.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_959e88d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_959e88d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Dragon Quest XI (Video Game)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_959e88d
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_a183d57f
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_a183d57f
comment
Futurama: In 1000 years, the English language has apparently changed very little, except Christmas is now called Xmas (pronounced "ECKS-mus"), and the word "ask" is consistently pronounced "axe".
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_a183d57f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_a183d57f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Futurama
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_a183d57f
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_ae7c4641
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_ae7c4641
comment
The Princess Diaries: Everyone native to Genovia speaks with a British accent.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_ae7c4641
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_ae7c4641
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Princess Diaries
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_ae7c4641
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_c77f330e
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_c77f330e
comment
In "Remembrance of the Fallen", Kojami Sobaru notes Kanril Eleya, both of them Bajorans, to speak their mother language Bajor'la with Kendran accent. In Create Your Own Fate Eleya notes that Reshek Gaarra has a Dahkuri accent.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_c77f330e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_c77f330e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Remembrance of the Fallen (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_c77f330e
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_d38fe19f
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_d38fe19f
comment
In Star Wars: Clone Wars, the Twi'leks all speak with French accents, likely to make their parallels to the real life French Resistance more noticeable.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_d38fe19f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_d38fe19f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Wars: Clone Wars
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_d38fe19f
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_e6267766
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_e6267766
comment
Star Wars Legends: In X-Wing: Starfighters of Adumar, the eponymous Lost Colony speaks a dialect of Galactic Basic with slightly different pronunciation: "Rad Flat" is heard in an early scene, referring to Wedge Antilles's Red Flight. Later, he greets another officer, who responds with an accent described in Wedge's Internal Monologue as "clipped, precise, Imperial", and Wedge recognizes him as being from the Imperial Remnant. (The latter references the Star Wars films' use of Evil Brit.)
Other works generally reconcile this (along with Obi-Wan and C-3PO's accents) as having a refined British accent as being the local pronunciation for the elite of Coruscant and those seeking to emulate them (such as Padme or Leia acting as a senator): a mark of prestige.
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_e6267766
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_e6267766
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Wars Legends (Franchise)
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_e6267766
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_fa85cc4f
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_fa85cc4f
comment
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes:
A minor Running Gag is that, despite the non-specific American setting, everyone uses an exaggerated Canadian pronunciation for the word "sorry".
Character always always pluralize "video game" as "videos game".
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_fa85cc4f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_fa85cc4f
featureConfidence
1.0
 OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
hasFeature
Invented Linguistic Distinction / int_fa85cc4f

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingCategory2
Accent Tropes
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingCategory2
Fictional Culture and Nation Tropes
 Invented Linguistic Distinction
processingCategory2
Language Tropes
 A More Flawed Gem (Fanfic) / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 A Thing of Vikings (Fanfic) / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 The War of the Masters (Fanfic) / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Dreams Of The Dying / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Foundation Series / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Rihannsu / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 X-Wing Series / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Late Night with Conan O'Brien / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Xenoblade (Video Game) / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Xenoblade Chronicles 1 (Video Game) / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game) / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Video Game) / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 Xenoblade Chronicles X (Video Game) / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction
 OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes / int_843bc349
type
Invented Linguistic Distinction