Zealian language

[Zaperking]

Aren't Archaic Scripts just the earliest known scripts? Like some people could say that the Roman Letters look like letters from Archaic Script.

Either way, they're proabably just trying to translate an early known type of script.
I doubt Zealian, or Zealot,is a language. The Earthbound ones talk to us. We understand that. If Lucca or Robo aren't in the party, no one else should be able to translate the language.

It's like how english has adopted so many writing rules and spelling of words from other languages.

[Chrono'99]

There's definitely a common spoken tongue (but with different accents) in the series which is known by everybody since 65,000,000 BC to the End of Time. The written language may have more than one script, since we see (in Chrono Cross) the texts written either in Occidental letters or Japanese kanji/hiragana/whatever or Dragonian symbols (even the Reptites and the Dragon Gods speak the common tongue). So Robo had to translate the stuff written on the Masamune but he never had to translate anything spoken by people in the whole game.

Aside from this common tongue, there's some language used for magic though. Magus spoke something weird like that when invoking Lavos.

[Daniel Krispin]

There is, in addition, however, several more languages. There is Latin, evidenced in the phrase 'Res Nullis' spoken by Miguel, and 'Angelus Errare' by Belthesar. Likewise, there is Greek, from which come names such as Crono and Chronopolis - though these could just be transliterations, come to think of it, as names often go through such a change.
The thing is, Latin itself is a development of earlier languages, going all the way back to its Indo-European roots. This opens the door for much of our own linguistic history, demanding the existance of a thousand tongues.

[Sentenal]

In CC, when Kid first talks to Harle, she tells her to speak "propa english."

[Chrono'99]

There is, in addition, however, several more languages. There is Latin, evidenced in the phrase 'Res Nullis' spoken by Miguel, and 'Angelus Errare' by Belthesar. Likewise, there is Greek, from which come names such as Crono and Chronopolis - though these could just be transliterations, come to think of it, as names often go through such a change.
The thing is, Latin itself is a development of earlier languages, going all the way back to its Indo-European roots. This opens the door for much of our own linguistic history, demanding the existance of a thousand tongues.

Yes there are Latin and Greek expressions too. Now that I read my post again, I think I didn't explain it well. What I wanted to say was that this common tongue is a mix of English and some special words. For us, those special words appear as words from other languages than English, but as far as the the people from the Chrono world are concerned, those words are just normal words from their common tongue. I mean, Res Nullius and Angelus Errare are just particular expressions, nobody in the game ever speaks a whole, complete Latin sentence. In the American version, some Japanese words are still used, but nobody ever speaks a full Japanese sentence. So I think those expressions are just part of their common language.

For instance, Harle is a diminutive of Harlequin, but in the Japanese version of the game the name was something like Tsukiyomi. For us Harle is a French word and Tsukiyomi a Japanese name, but for the Chrono people there is just one name which comes from their language and not some non-existant France or Japan.

(Well, maybe Res Nullius and Angelus Errare were not even called like this in the Japanese game.)

[Hadriel]

In CC, when Kid first talks to Harle, she tells her to speak "propa english."

That's probably the funniest moment of the game for me.

The reason it's Zealian instead of Zealot is that Zeal is a nation, and -ian or -an is a common suffix used to describe a resident of such a place i.e. American, Canadian, Mexican, Iranian, Brazilian, Argentinian, etc. etc.  The suffixes -ese and -ish are also used, but Zealese and Zealish sound dumb -- Zealian just seems to have stuck.  It's a feature of our language rather than something proper.

"Res nullius" and "Angelus Errare" are specific enough that they cannot be of the common tongue, unless the common tongue is in fact Latin.  Kid's remark to Harle is proof that the post-Dark Ages version of English is a common medium of communication in the events of the Chrono series -- which makes sense, given the time frame.  However, I'd be interested to know what Kid said in that sentence in the Japanese and European versions, if the sentence was even in there.

No one ever said France and Japan didn't exist in Chrono.  From an etymological perspective, logic dictates that they and any other countries/cultures that contribued to the language used in the series must have existed.  Though, as others have stated, it may be different in the other versions of the game.  If this is so, we get into the thorny issue of a canon hierarchy -- with something as complex as Chrono, that'd be nearly impossible to manage.

[Shadow_Dragon]

Criosphinx (criosphynx?) speaks full latin sentences, although I think that they were translated poorly, since I couldn't find one of the words that it used in a latin dictionary and the construction of some of the sentences didn't make sense

[V_Translanka]

I think a lot of that French crap came from the English translation...Like how Harle speaks with a French accent...not in the original version. Was Angelus Errere called something else in the Japanese version? I'd bet it was...

Also, now I buy the whole "Zealot" thing less...I mean, those Zealots weren't from a country called Zeal, right? So, they're just a group called the Zealots or whatever...I think with citizens of Zeal, it's a different story entirely.

And about Star Trek...The Universal Translator not only translates foreign tongue for you to understand, but also translates your own speech to others for their understanding...I believe...Or...mostly?

Why didn't they understand Klingon?

[Daniel Krispin]

In CC, when Kid first talks to Harle, she tells her to speak "propa english."

The reason it's Zealian instead of Zealot is that Zeal is a nation, and -ian or -an is a common suffix used to describe a resident of such a place i.e. American, Canadian, Mexican, Iranian, Brazilian, Argentinian, etc. etc.  The suffixes -ese and -ish are also used, but Zealese and Zealish sound dumb -- Zealian just seems to have stuck.  It's a feature of our language rather than something proper.

Leave it to Hadriel to refute something I was near dead-sure on.

[Aitrus]

... Zealot is still more fun.

In formal documents, though, Zealian is definitely the way to go.

[V_Translanka]

On the CT Hero's Medal, there are what looks like some words in whatever language (probably made up).



See it?

[Lord J Esq]

My two cents on this is that the problem of everyone understanding some common language is too big to explain away. Language is an evolving entity and cannot possibly remain static. The growth of a language group across fourteen thousand years, let alone sixty-five million, would effectively mean different languages in different time periods. And yet, nearly all dialogue in the Chrono series is in some dialect of English. There are only two ways to interpret this glaring inconsistency:

1. Ignore the problem entirely as a part of the suspension of disbelief.

2. Pretend that each time period spoke different languages, and that Crono & Co. found some means to communicate with the people on various continents in each time period. Most likely that would mean adding length to the Chrono Trigger adventure as Our Heroes sought to overcome communication difficulties by learning a bit of the native language each time. For all we know, even places like Porre and Choras have different languages. If the El Nido archipelago can have as many different dialects as it does, then perhaps the entire Chrono world is a veritable jungle of competing tongues, just like our own.

For the purposes of playing the games, I recommend option number one. For any attempt at a novelization, I recommend option number two.

P.S. A third cent of mine, on the word "Zealian." The adjective is arbitrary. I call 'em "Zealish" myself, because I think Zealian is silly and Zealot gives the wrong impression. In any case, call 'em whatever you like, because this problem is independent of the much bigger common language problem.

[Hadriel]

I prefer to accept option number two. Lucca made death rays, time machines, teleportation devices, and pretty much everything else.  A universal translator doesn't seem like much of a stretch.  All she'd need is a linguist, which is a function Robo could easily fulfill.

[GrayLensman]

Such a device could even have been picked up in 2300 AD.

[Zaperking]

I have to disagree with that.

In Chronopolis, the researchers still debate if Zeal even existed. There is no proof to it existing, hence a language would not have existed. If you make the language of Zeal its own language, thats like saying Ayla's "La means big and Vos Means fire" or whatever is its own language too.