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Rihannsu dictionary or translator software needed

I am working on a Romulan Republic mission with the Foundry.
Since I want to use some Romulan words for authenticity, does anyone know of a online source for these?

Preferably one that works, the first few I tried were featuredbuggy or a website that had been inactivated.

An iPad app would also be acceptible.

Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad :'(

Comments

  • duncanidaho11duncanidaho11 Member Posts: 7,867 Arc User
    edited July 2017
    Memory Beta lists Diane Duane's Romulan vocabulary, though it's worth noting that Rihansu was developed for the Star Trek novels which are technically not included in the Foundry EULA as usable Star Trek properties.

    http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Romulan_language
    https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1009558/the-foundry-end-user-license-agreement/p1

    STO does follow along with a few components (atlai for example, it's a derivative of "aihai" or plains. Also, Armored hatham or "predators" and of course "Rihan") but not totally (there's only a few examples). I'd personally call this a grey area because I don't think it's clear (in the absence of a functional language, Rihansu hasn't been developed that far) how these terms fall within the bounds of a separate copyrighted work. Cryptic may have made a few direct references, and broadly used Rihansu for inspiration (mostly for names), but the safest interpretation for us at the moment is that we might not be able to use Duane's terminology beyond what's already been incorporated (unlike official Klingon which was developed into a useable language for the shows/movies, and any spare Romulan vocab you find floating about Memory Alpha).

    But Rihansu could still serve as a source of inspiration for your own creative take on the Romulan language (in the context of an STO Foundry mission, it's just as valid). You'd also have a lot more flexibility in writing, since what's available in Rihansu was developed based on what Diane Duane needed for her novels. You see this in Cryptic's approach too (see. Mol'Rihan, atlai.) So long as feels like it fits, you should still be able to have the full impact.

    This sort of thing is always up to the individual author for how best to approach, this is just what I recommend to another Foundry author. :)
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  • spiritbornspiritborn Member Posts: 4,248 Arc User
    it should also be noted that dialects might have different pronouciations or even different (though similar) terminology (for example compare US "generic" english and UK RP, both which meant to be "accent free" versions of english yet still are very different and that's ignoring local variants).

    Also a minor suggestion, but I would suggest that you'd use romulan terms only for names(where the direct translation doesn't matter) or for term that don't have direct translation into english, if your goal is improving authencity the 3 most common ways people "slip" into their native tongue when speaking another language are simple and common word that you use daily (like "yes" "no" and similar), terms they're not sure about the translation or doesn't have direct translation (typically in a form "it's *insert term here* in my native language but I don't know what it is in *insert language being used*) or swearing.

    A romulan speaking to a non-romulan wouldn't randomly slip into his native tongue, also the universal translator should make such slip ups impossible anyway. IMHO adding foreign language randomly into sentences doesn't make the text seem more authenic quite the opposite in fact, that said there are ways you can have romulans speaking their native tongue and still have it seem authenic by using cultural terms that don't have direct translation into english as long as you don't go overboard with it, as a rule of thumb the player should be able to understand the text without a dictionary.
  • tilartatilarta Member Posts: 1,798 Arc User
    Darn it, I was hoping that they'd developed an officially acknowledged Romulan language for Star Trek.
    So the Romulans have been around just as long as the Klingons, but in all that time, nobody ever wanted to compose them a language to use? :'(

    Mostly I was just trying to figure out a name for the Romulan Science vessel that I plan to incorporate.
    In English it was going to be something like Copy Destroyer, a hidden reference to what was going to happen later on in the plot.
    I was hoping if I could find Romulan words similar enough to those two, I could use them to name the ship.

    Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
    Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad :'(
  • zebgodwinzebgodwin Member Posts: 53 Arc User
    Well, with a bit of creativity, we might be able to work out a reasonable translation for "Copy Destroyer" based on the vocabulary we have. (source)

    Disruptor banks destroy things. The Rihannsu word for "disruptor bank" is "iehyakk".
    Replicators copy things. The Rihannsu word for "replicator" is "khlenai".

    So, run it through a blender set to "puree", and we get... khlen'hyakk "replicant disruptor".

    There you go. IRW Khlen'hyakk.
    Foundry Missions by @zebgodwin
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    The Mirror of Infinity: To save your ship, you must convince the descendants of the crew of the long-lost USS Infinity to work with their mortal enemies - their Mirror Universe counterparts. Part of the USS Infinity Foundry Roundtable Challenge.
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  • theyredeadjimtheyredeadjim Member Posts: 243 Arc User
    You might want to check out https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Romulan_Dictionary . The wiki indicates that the material is under Creative Commons licence.
  • tilartatilarta Member Posts: 1,798 Arc User
    zebgodwin wrote: »
    So, run it through a blender set to "puree", and we get... khlen'hyakk "replicant disruptor".
    There you go. IRW Khlen'hyakk.

    That turned out to be oddly appropriate, since my planned story is about replication.
    Thank you for the name.

    It'll probably take me a while to get the mission completed, I am not exactly an expert with Foundry.

    Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
    Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad :'(
  • jiralinriajiralinria Member Posts: 108 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    A Rihannsu mission, how nice :) Can't wait!
    Post edited by jiralinria on
  • mneme0mneme0 Member Posts: 498 Arc User
    www.rihannsu.org
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