Are Rokugani and Common the same language or not?

[Katie Boundary]

The OA entry on Humans more or less states that Rokugani and Common are two different languages, with humans from OA speaking the former and humans from all other settings speaking the latter. Other playable OA races definitely speak one or the other; Hengeyokai, for example, are given Common as an automatic language, while Nezumi are given Rokugani. But then certain monsters are described as speaking "Rokugani (Common)", implying that they're the same language...?



Though, I admit that the idea of civilized humans being unable to speak Common is pretty silly.

[BWR]

Short answer, it depends.

'Common' isn't necessarily a specific language. It is, unsurprisingly, the most common language in a given area. It can be a uni/multiversal language if you want to play/run that sort of game, but that interpretation is not valid for all game or D&D settings. There are settings where what is considered Common varies from place to place, e.g. Mystara - if you live in Thyatis, Thyatian is the Common language even if there are several other languages spoken by various ethnic groups. In short, the insanely limited languages introduced in the PHB are for those who don't like to play with a **** ton of lanaguages (crazies), and to provide some basic tools to work with for generic campaigns (there is no real point in introducing all the varied tongues of Mystara or FR if you don't play in those settings).

Rokugan is not a D&D setting originally, and the OA adaptation is rather crappy. During most time periods, everyone living in the Emerald Empire will speak Rokugani of some variety, so in that sense it is the common tongue.
So when OA says that Common and Rokugani are two different languages, they seem to be saying that the the generic languages of the PHB (Common, Elven, Dwarven, etc.) are not the same as the specific languages of L5R (Rokugani, Nezumi, Naga, Senpet, Mekhem, etc.), and that is as it should be. If they then go on to say that Common is spoken elsewhere in the world of L5R, that is not canonically true. I suspect it's written that way if you want to add Rokugan to an existing D&D world.

[Katie Boundary]

In a D&D setting, "Common" is in fact a specific language, possibly created specifically to be an international trade language like Swahili, or possibly just whatever language Humans were speaking when they decided to start spreading out all over the world and shagging everything on two legs, taking their language with them.

[weckar]

It's... Really not. Faerun common and Eberron common would sound nothing alike. They are both still common, though.

[BWR]

In a D&D setting, "Common" is in fact a specific language, possibly created specifically to be an international trade language like Swahili, or possibly just whatever language Humans were speaking when they decided to start spreading out all over the world and shagging everything on two legs, taking their language with them.

I already covered this. It depends on the setting.

[Kelb_Panthera]

OA is as much a setting book as it is a supplement for the core game. Rokugani is the common language of the Legend of the Five Rings setting that OA is supposed to be presenting. Those entries mean that those creatures are intended to be present in the Lo5R, Rokugan setting and know Rokugani. If you instead port them to some other setting, change it to common. If you have a blended setting, the Rokugani Empire is part of a larger setting, choose one.

[Katie Boundary]

It's... Really not. Faerun common and Eberron common would sound nothing alike. They are both still common, though.

{scrubbed}

[BWR]

{scrub the post, scrub the quote}

Why do you have this opinion?
I suspect there is something you are misunderstanding or you lack some relevant information.

Because to us it seems like you posed a question because you didn't know the answer, then proceed to dismiss part of the answer for what is to us inexplicable reasons.

[GrayDeath]

{scrub the post, scrub the quote}

Why do you have this opinion?
I suspect there is something you are misunderstanding or you lack some relevant information.

Because to us it seems like you posed a question because you didn't know the answer, then proceed to dismiss part of the answer for what is to us inexplicable reasons.

THis.

Since all references to Common" and other Languages come from Settings, it is obviously setting dependant if "COmmon" is the same Language.

As I expect the huge mess that are 1st to 3rd party books never got a coherent ruling about it, I would say:

"All Settings that are on the same world and made by the same publisher mean the same thing if the say common, all others: YMMV".


I mean it should be obvious that 2 totally isolated human societies on different worlds that have no common origin except being human do not use the same lingua france. ^^

[HeraldOfExius]

In a D&D setting, "Common" is in fact a specific language, possibly created specifically to be an international trade language like Swahili, or possibly just whatever language Humans were speaking when they decided to start spreading out all over the world and shagging everything on two legs, taking their language with them.

I think that "a D&D setting" is too broad of a category for any absolute rules like this. If Pathfinder and its default setting count (and it was originally "a D&D setting" before splitting off into its own game), then there's two languages called "Common" on opposite sides of the world: Taldane in fantasy-Europe, and Tien in fantasy-Asia. Of these two Commons, Taldane is a trade language, but Tien is just the language that was used by a continent-spanning empire and was widely used enough to stick around. "Common" isn't the actual name of a language as much as its how people describe the language that's the most, well, common where they live.

Now if your claim is that there exists at least one setting in which Common is a universal human language which was possibly manufactured for that purpose, then I can't prove you wrong. But it all comes down to setting, and OA assumes that people from completely different cultures will speak completely different languages.

[Ashtagon]

Think of it this way. In Faerun, they speak Louisiana English. In Rokugan they speak Newcastle English. In Krynn they speak a Caribbean patois that is still technically English. In Mystara they speak something that is way weird mixture of Australian "strine" slang and Cockney rhyming slang.

It's all technically English. And for m̡̞̠̪̙̺o͏̜ͅṣ̯̞̩̲t̯̫̭̺̤ ̺p̧r̲̭̟̳͍͇̜͝a̛̲̼͉͖͈̘c͎̪t͈̪̺͓̪i͙͝c̭̀a̺̼̩͈l̵͕̣͙͓ ̥͍̰ ͙ͅp̹̪̱̟̟̝u͈̼̼̞̦r̟p̸̹o̺͉s҉͇̼̼͍̼̮e̪̤̭̼͎ș̵̮͈͍,̼͞ ̠̲̩ ͙͠a҉̬̳͕ḷ̨͖̦̪̬l m̶̧͎͍͔̩̳̪̠̗̔́͆̇ͫ̔ͭ͡ų̷̞̪̗̙̰̪̖̈ͭ́̋ͯͧ͂̓ͤͪ̐ͬͪ̒̀̚͘͡t͊̋ ̼̞̥̭̦̘͉ͥ̕͢͝u͂̔ͣ͋͑͗̂ͯ̾̂͂́ͤ̀̓̀҉͡͏͇̦͈͙̥͉̝̲͖̞̭ǎ̇̽ͬͫͨ͒ ̨̦̰̹̝͖̺̬̘͈̃̂ͬ̐͐͒͘͟l̸̶͈͙̥̤̼̪̳͔̗͚̫͆ͦͭͦͮ͋̿ͮ̇͌̓ͧ̀̿̐̿͒̋ ̭̺̥̜̤ĺ̴̮̺̙͚͕̼͙̱̘̜̓̋ͧ̍̇͌ͯ̓̓ͧ͟y̏ͨͮ̋ͪ̓ͦ̀͗ͦ͏̶̬̟̜̩̳͚͖̮ ͙̺̪̲͚͓̗̪͔ ̟̜͚͚͎͉̼̟͊͗͋̿͒ͮ̀̕͜u̴̝̣͈̱̝͔̰̺̬͉̭͓͛̏͒͜n̷̴͐̌̌̈̽̑̌̿̊̋ͧͪ ̨̗̰͚̳̜̣͘i̶̸̷̛̲̠̻̪̱̠̣̼̣̩̩̦͇̾̒ͤ̈́ͬͅn̶̔̀̍ͥ̄́ͯ̓̄ͤ̽̂̒̚͟͝ ̯̩̞͖͓t̠̦̳̪̗͖̭̣̱̱̭̘ͪ̎ͨ̍̔̃ͣ̒̏̆́͠ͅễ̷̦͈̗̬ͦ̋̔͂̂̋̚͝lͮͬ ̢̱̬̭̥͈͙̠͈͈̭̤͇̮̥̅̀̎ͣ͒ͮ̈͌̇̄ͬ̃̒ͪͪ̒̔́̀́͘ļ̷̢̣̰̭̤͈̺͐̃͑͜ ̺̟̩̳̭͓̰̩͎̺͔̟͔į̙̫̝̰̥̖̇ͮ͋̕g̡̙̥̠̯̗̀ͫ͂́͢į̧̓͑̆̄ͮͣ͑́͘̕ ͎͈̮͈͔̙̬̝̩̝̙b̢̮̮̙̼͚̮͇̉ͬ̉͂͗ͦ̾͛͑ͤ͊ͣ̿͢͠lͭ̑̎ͤͦͮ̓ͧ̈͌ͤͬͥ̒ ̯̪͕̘̥̝̜̝̗̀͘͞ͅe̛̜͙̤͖͙̹̘̘͓̭̺̩̤̰͐̋̉̈͋̀ͣ̄̊ͮ̂̐͂̍ͬ̈́̐͜͜͞͡ ̟̖̰̰̩.̡̃̏̂̑̎̿́̃̈̿ͧͯ̆͏̨̨̠̹̝̻̥̹̥͎͕̠͈̦͈̲̘̤

[Asmotherion]

Real world example: in antiquity "common" for europe was Greek and Latin. That was not the case for Asia though. in the modern age "common" is univerasly English.

if your DM wants to enforce Language Bariers he will create distinctions between what language is common at each local. Because a fairly small effort (a single spell really) is needed to overcome this most DMs don't bother with it and assume an universal common language for ease of play.

[Biggus]

Didn't Spelljammer have people travelling between different settings? Does anybody know what that said about languages?

[Katie Boundary]

Let me put it this way: Thri-kreen are from Athas. Warforged are from Khorvaire. Kender are from Krynn. If my party includes a warforged, a Kender, and a Thri-kreen, they'll all be able to understand each other, because they all speak Common. If this wasn't the case, and "common"was actually a half-dozen different languages from different settings, then it would be impossible for people to play D&D because their characters wouldn't be able to talk to each other, which defeats the whole point of having a common language.

I mean it should be obvious that 2 totally isolated human societies on different worlds that have no common origin except being human do not use the same lingua france. ^^

Except we're talking about fantasy settings where the normal rules of probability do not apply.

Behold the greatest computer glitch of all time

[Recherché]

Let me put it this way: Thri-kreen are from Athas. Warforged are from Khorvaire. Kender are from Krynn. If my party includes a warforged, a Kender, and a Thri-kreen, they'll all be able to understand each other, because they all speak Common. If this wasn't the case, and "common"was actually a half-dozen different languages from different settings, then it would be impossible for people to play D&D because their characters wouldn't be able to talk to each other, which defeats the whole point of having a common language

Why do you believe that it's expected that a halfling from Athas and a warforged from Eberron should be in the same party and able to talk to each other? It's not assumed that these two people should ever be able to meet let alone talk to each other. It's far from impossible to play D&D with the assumption that Common is different languages in different worlds, as long as you also assume that people from different prime material planes almost never talk to each other.


Something to note is that "Common" in both Faerum and Eberron have a history, language family and dialects. They are completely different from each other. Either two different languages with two different histories and dialects somehow ended up being exactly the same or they're different languages.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Common

https://eberron.fandom.com/wiki/Common

[QUOTE=Katie Boundary;24199067]Behold the greatest computer glitch of all time[/QUOTE.]

That's not a glitch, it's a trick with the text that Ashtagon did intentionally.

[weckar]

Frankly, if 3 people so separated by space and time can share a language, why use the language system at all?

Some of us actually enjoy playing the language barrier game.

[BWR]

Let me put it this way: Thri-kreen are from Athas. Warforged are from Khorvaire. Kender are from Krynn. If my party includes a warforged, a Kender, and a Thri-kreen, they'll all be able to understand each other, because they all speak Common. If this wasn't the case, and "common"was actually a half-dozen different languages from different settings, then it would be impossible for people to play D&D because their characters wouldn't be able to talk to each other, which defeats the whole point of having a common language.

That is one way to do it.
Another is that communication is hard until everyone learns at least one language the others know.

Some of us prefer having a ****load of individual languages and tracking them.
And some settings, like Rokugan, don't really have this problem because in almost all circumstances there will be exactly one language around.

[GrayDeath]

Let me put it this way: Thri-kreen are from Athas. Warforged are from Khorvaire. Kender are from Krynn. If my party includes a warforged, a Kender, and a Thri-kreen, they'll all be able to understand each other, because they all speak Common. If this wasn't the case, and "common"was actually a half-dozen different languages from different settings, then it would be impossible for people to play D&D because their characters wouldn't be able to talk to each other, which defeats the whole point of having a common language.



Except we're talking about fantasy settings where the normal rules of probability do not apply.

Bolded for Emphasis.^^

What makes you think that different Settings, realistic evolution aside, use the same "common" if they dont even actually exist as seen from other settings?

The only way for your definition to Common making any sense (and even then only mechanically/meta, not "rationally") would be if you play a Planescape Campaign and whoever DMs it declares ALL Settings to exist within Planescape.


Sidenote: (aside from the fact that "Fantasy Setting" and "all normal rules need not apply for entry"^^ are not synonimous.
Yes, a lot of "normal Rules" dont apply in a lot of settings of the big Genre "Fantasy", but at least I do only know of one that ignores all normal "rules" and Laws (Nobilis).

[rediridesence]

isnt rokugani like a naga language or something? iirc in the OA book certain creatures such as the greensnake naga/etc speak it, while other races speak common.

if that is the case wouldnt that make them different?

[BWR]

isnt rokugani like a naga language or something? iirc in the OA book certain creatures such as the greensnake naga/etc speak it, while other races speak common.

if that is the case wouldnt that make them different?

Rokugani is not naga language. It is the language of the human empire of Rokugan. Some naga speak it in order to communicate with those upstart weird naked ape thingies that popped up while they were sleeping.

Part of the issue is that OA introduced more than just Rokugan, and tried to juggle 'generic' Asian creatures as well as specifically Rokugani stuff in the same book, leading to some weirdness. So it makes more sense to say that Rokugani is common since most people will be playing a humanocentric L5R game. Again, if Rokugan was meant to be dumped in the middle of an existing campaign, it would make sense to say that Common =/= Rokugani, and in a straight L5R campaign it doesn't matter.

[Sutr]

Thread makes me think crisis on the materials game where common isn't the same but orc and goblin is might be fun.

[RatElemental]

The only way for your definition to Common making any sense (and even then only mechanically/meta, not "rationally") would be if you play a Planescape Campaign and whoever DMs it declares ALL Settings to exist within Planescape.

Well you could go any route that has all settings existing at once, whether they're within the setting you're actually playing or the one you're in is just another one within the meta-setting. Spelljammer was an attempt at this I believe.

[Jay R]

Like most questions about the setting, this is entirely up to the DM.

In the last game I ran, Common was Old English.

[One Step Two]

What an odd supposition, that the Common language should be the same across different settings. I know for a fact I speak English, but if I go to Yorkshire in England, where they too speak English, I will have have a hard time understanding everything they are saying. We use the same words, but context changes due to regional differences and slang. We have a Common enough understanding to be able to talk though, because of a shared history and lexicon.

Two different Material Planes of existence would certainly have a "Common" language for trades, but their history and how they came to be would be something unrecognizable to each other unless they had a split timeline. Even the the languages Orcs and Goblins speak across different settings would almost be unrecognizable to those racial groups.

The one example I have from play where languages differences were enforced was when my group was playing a 3.5 game set in the Roman Empire around Magic awakening again, our party spoke Common, which for us was Latin. We encountered magical creatures, who were mostly bestial but when we encountered Elves for the first time we tried to communicate. the Egyptian court magician (a wizard) became the translater because when we found that the language of Magic was something both races could understand. In game mechanics terms the Draconic Language and the Atlantean Language (which the DM granted to all Arcane casters) were very similar.

[weckar]

That's really cool. For me, in plane-hopping games, only the languages of the traditional outer planes are in any way universal.

[NNescio]

Think of it this way. In Faerun, they speak Louisiana English. In Rokugan they speak Newcastle English. In Krynn they speak a Caribbean patois that is still technically English. In Mystara they speak something that is way weird mixture of Australian "strine" slang and Cockney rhyming slang.

It's all technically English. And for m̡̞̠̪̙̺o͏̜ͅṣ̯̞̩̲t̯̫̭̺̤ ̺p̧r̲̭̟̳͍͇̜͝a̛̲̼͉͖͈̘c͎̪t͈̪̺͓̪i͙͝c̭̀a̺̼̩͈l̵͕̣͙͓ ̥͍̰ ͙ͅp̹̪̱̟̟̝u͈̼̼̞̦r̟p̸̹o̺͉s҉͇̼̼͍̼̮e̪̤̭̼͎ș̵̮͈͍,̼͞ ̠̲̩ ͙͠a҉̬̳͕ḷ̨͖̦̪̬l m̶̧͎͍͔̩̳̪̠̗̔́͆̇ͫ̔ͭ͡ų̷̞̪̗̙̰̪̖̈ͭ́̋ͯͧ͂̓ͤͪ̐ͬͪ̒̀̚͘͡t͊̋ ̼̞̥̭̦̘͉ͥ̕͢͝u͂̔ͣ͋͑͗̂ͯ̾̂͂́ͤ̀̓̀҉͡͏͇̦͈͙̥͉̝̲͖̞̭ǎ̇̽ͬͫͨ͒ ̨̦̰̹̝͖̺̬̘͈̃̂ͬ̐͐͒͘͟l̸̶͈͙̥̤̼̪̳͔̗͚̫͆ͦͭͦͮ͋̿ͮ̇͌̓ͧ̀̿̐̿͒̋ ̭̺̥̜̤ĺ̴̮̺̙͚͕̼͙̱̘̜̓̋ͧ̍̇͌ͯ̓̓ͧ͟y̏ͨͮ̋ͪ̓ͦ̀͗ͦ͏̶̬̟̜̩̳͚͖̮ ͙̺̪̲͚͓̗̪͔ ̟̜͚͚͎͉̼̟͊͗͋̿͒ͮ̀̕͜u̴̝̣͈̱̝͔̰̺̬͉̭͓͛̏͒͜n̷̴͐̌̌̈̽̑̌̿̊̋ͧͪ ̨̗̰͚̳̜̣͘i̶̸̷̛̲̠̻̪̱̠̣̼̣̩̩̦͇̾̒ͤ̈́ͬͅn̶̔̀̍ͥ̄́ͯ̓̄ͤ̽̂̒̚͟͝ ̯̩̞͖͓t̠̦̳̪̗͖̭̣̱̱̭̘ͪ̎ͨ̍̔̃ͣ̒̏̆́͠ͅễ̷̦͈̗̬ͦ̋̔͂̂̋̚͝lͮͬ ̢̱̬̭̥͈͙̠͈͈̭̤͇̮̥̅̀̎ͣ͒ͮ̈͌̇̄ͬ̃̒ͪͪ̒̔́̀́͘ļ̷̢̣̰̭̤͈̺͐̃͑͜ ̺̟̩̳̭͓̰̩͎̺͔̟͔į̙̫̝̰̥̖̇ͮ͋̕g̡̙̥̠̯̗̀ͫ͂́͢į̧̓͑̆̄ͮͣ͑́͘̕ ͎͈̮͈͔̙̬̝̩̝̙b̢̮̮̙̼͚̮͇̉ͬ̉͂͗ͦ̾͛͑ͤ͊ͣ̿͢͠lͭ̑̎ͤͦͮ̓ͧ̈͌ͤͬͥ̒ ̯̪͕̘̥̝̜̝̗̀͘͞ͅe̛̜͙̤͖͙̹̘̘͓̭̺̩̤̰͐̋̉̈͋̀ͣ̄̊ͮ̂̐͂̍ͬ̈́̐͜͜͞͡ ̟̖̰̰̩.̡̃̏̂̑̎̿́̃̈̿ͧͯ̆͏̨̨̠̹̝̻̥̹̥͎͕̠͈̦͈̲̘̤

I thought Cockney is Planar Standard Common (AKA Sigilite).

[Tiktakkat]

I thought Cockney is Planar Standard Common (AKA Sigilite).

Sort of but not exactly.
The writers deliberately "tweaked" some definitions in order to slip things past the censors. There are some Siglian quotes in PS books that are outrageously filthy as a result. You might want to be careful about using it directly among people who know the real world slang.

As for "Common", perhaps consider the actual definition in linguistics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koiné_language
With particular reference to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek
"Koine" means "common".

With that in mind, in regards to PCs communicating with each other, the "standard", both historically and in a good deal of fiction, is that characters speak multiple languages. Of course this can easily lead to putting skill points into languages becoming a skill tax. That can be complicated if dialects within languages are raised to the level of requiring skill points or skill checks to understand. The ultimate response to that is of course a tongues spell, or outright telepathy where socially acceptable.

[Katie Boundary]

Why do you believe that it's expected that a halfling from Athas and a warforged from Eberron should be in the same party and able to talk to each other?

Because that's what the players in the party picked for their races and oh look they all get "common" as an automatic language, except the Kobold, who will have to let the Wizard translate everything because the Wizard is the only one in the group who speaks Draconic.

BTW, I'm also assuming that Draconic is the same from one plane to another. And Elven is the same from one plane to another. And Abyssal is the same from one plane to another, and so on.

Something to note is that "Common" in both Faerum and Eberron have a history, language family and dialects. They are completely different from each other. Either two different languages with two different histories and dialects somehow ended up being exactly the same or they're different languages.

The five Elven subraces that you'll find in Dragonlance are completely different from the ones that you'll find in Forgotten Realms. Guess what? Elves are still all a single race (except for the Sea Elves; I think those guys might be an actual separate race just like Faerie Dragons aren't really dragons), and Elven is the same language on both planes.

Just accept the fact that fantasy settings don't give a rat's arse about probability, and take convergent evolution to an extreme.

Some of us actually enjoy playing the language barrier game.

Great! Then play as a race that doesn't get Common as an automatic language. There are plenty of those.

different Settings... dont even actually exist as seen from other settings?

{scrubbed}

The only way for your definition to Common making any sense... would be if you play a Planescape Campaign and whoever DMs it declares ALL Settings to exist within Planescape.

That's the assumption that I'm working with. How else do you explain Warforged and Thri-kreen ending up in Oerth?

What an odd supposition, that the Common language should be the same across different settings. I know for a fact I speak English, but if I go to Yorkshire in England, where they too speak English, I will have have a hard time understanding everything they are saying. We use the same words, but context changes due to regional differences and slang. We have a Common enough understanding to be able to talk though, because of a shared history and lexicon.

D&D already has an analogue of this. Githyanki and Githzerai are sometimes considered a single language (Gith), and sometimes considered two different but mutually intelligible languages.

Even the the languages Orcs and Goblins speak across different settings would almost be unrecognizable to those racial groups.

{scrubbed} Why? If that was the case, then they'd be assigned different languages.

As for "Common", perhaps consider the actual definition in linguistics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koiné_language
With particular reference to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek
"Koine" means "common".

We're not discussing ancient Greece, nor are we discussing the real-world linguistic concept of "a common language" with a lowercase c. We're discussing the fictional language, "Common", with a capital C.

HUGE difference.




--





EDIIT: For the record, I'm coming into D&D from Magic: the Gathering, and expecting things to work more or less the same way linguistically. In MtG, there's a guy named Ura, who spends several thousand years cruising around the cosmos and making a mess of things, and in every single plane that he visits, from Phyrexia to Serra's realm, the inhabitants speak more or less the same language, though Urza himself is stated to speak with a "clipped Argivian accent". A while later, the Weatherlight crew (with members from Tolaria, Benalia, Urborg, Talruum, and a bunch of other places) decided to visit the plane of Rath, where everyone from the Skyshroud elves to the Rootwater merfolk spoke the same language that was in wide use in Dominaria. On their way home, they stopped by Mercadia, where once again everyone spoke the same language. In-universe, this is partially explained by the fact that the Phyrexian language is basically a dialect of the ancient Thran language, Rath is a Phyrexian outpost, and Mercadia was settled by refugees from Thran during their civil war that led to their split from the Phyrexians, but still... the rule was "Common is Common, no matter what plane you're on".

[Recherché]

{scrubbed}

[RatElemental]

EDIIT: For the record, I'm coming into D&D from Magic: the Gathering, and expecting things to work more or less the same way linguistically. In MtG, there's a guy named Ura, who spends several thousand years cruising around the cosmos and making a mess of things, and in every single plane that he visits, from Phyrexia to Serra's realm, the inhabitants speak more or less the same language, though Urza himself is stated to speak with a "clipped Argivian accent". A while later, the Weatherlight crew (with members from Tolaria, Benalia, Urborg, Talruum, and a bunch of other places) decided to visit the plane of Rath, where everyone from the Skyshroud elves to the Rootwater merfolk spoke the same language that was in wide use in Dominaria. On their way home, they stopped by Mercadia, where once again everyone spoke the same language. In-universe, this is partially explained by the fact that the Phyrexian language is basically a dialect of the ancient Thran language, Rath is a Phyrexian outpost, and Mercadia was settled by refugees from Thran during their civil war that led to their split from the Phyrexians, but still... the rule was "Common is Common, no matter what plane you're on".

I mean, that's all well and good and all, but why would you expect that to hold up in an entirely different game that has roots in entirely different things made by entirely different people?