On LAmush the default language is English and every character is assumed to speak English fluently. Of course not all characters originate from English-speaking countries or environments. The language system allows characters to speak in languages other than English, attempting to simplistically model different degrees of understanding of various languages, and how easy they are to learn. It provides commands to talk in foreign languages, and a functional interface so that it is possible to write notes in foreign languages, implement table-talk in foreign languages, etc.
The language system allows you to buy proficiency in languages ranging from a scale between 0 and 5. You can only speak and understand a language up to your level.
Language proficiency per level:
0. No proficiency at al
1. Can recognize the language and speak a few simple words; i.e. 2 words of 3 characters long
2. Can say simple sentences; i.e. 4 words, 5 characters long
3. Proficient; i.e. 6 words, 7 characters long
4. Semi-Fluent; i.e. 10 character long words, occasionally missing one
5. Fluent; i.e. anything you want to say
Commands for Language Use
| +lang | show which languages you know. The '+lang' command serves to display and select your current language. Without arguments, it displays the list of languages you know, what level you know them at, and a textual description of how well you speak the language. With an argument, it sets your currently spoken language to that specified. Note that although English is listed as a language you speak, you cannot select it with +lang. To speak English, use the normal 'say' command. |
| +lang <language> | select your current language. |
| +speak <text> | say something in your current language. The +speak command allows you to speak in the language you have selected. Words that are too complex for you to say will be replaced with asterisks and long phrases will be truncated and ended with .. to show the truncation. Thus if you have a poor skill, you will have to use short words and short phrases (using … to indicate pauses works, as does punctuation). Listeners will have what they hear limited by how well they speak the language. |
The Language database
| +language/show <language> | displays info on <language>. The '+language/show' command displays the info from the language database on <language>. It displays the language family, any related languages, where the language is commonly spoken, your skill level with the language, and how many language points you will need to learn another level of the language. |
| +language/list | lists most common languages. The '+language/list' command displays the list of languages which are reasonably commonly spoken in the Los Angeles area. It is _strongly_ suggested that characters choose their languages from this list. |
| +language/listall | lists all supported languages. The '+language/listall' command displays a list of all the languages in the database. Other languages can be added on request, if there is good reason. |
Learning languages
| +language/show <language> | displays info on <language>. The '+language/show' command is documented on the previous page, but is mentioned here because it shows how many language points it will cost you to increase <language>, among other information. |
| +language/points | displays your remaining language points. The '+language/points' command displays how many language points you have. Language points are allocated for levels of Linguistics skill at character generation, and may also be purchased for freebie and experience points. They are _not_ awarded if Linguistics skill is increased with freebies or experience points. |
| language/learn <language> | increases your level with <language>. The '+language/learn' command increases your level with <language> by one, and deducts the relevant number of language points. |
Note: Language cost is determined by 1) how difficult the language is, 2) whether you speak a language in the same family to a higher level, and 3) whether you speak a related language to a higher level.
Writting Notes in a different Language
| langnote(<language>, <text>) | The 'langnote()' function is designed to be used to write notes in other languages. It uses the language skill of the enactor (ie, the person reading the note). It returns "It's written in a foreign language" if the reader cant understand it, "It's written in <language>" if the reader can recognize <language>, 'In <language>, it says "<output text>"' if the reader can understand it. |
If there are commas in the input text, put a backslash before each comma.
For example, a note, written in French:
@desc note=[langnote(French,I love you\, Marie)]
