What’s the frequent fuss about Panam not using contractions? Is this some native speaking thing I misunderstand?
What’s the frequent fuss about Panam not using contractions? Is this some native speaking thing I misunderstand?
23 Comments
I’ve seen multiple posts now discussing that Panam rarely uses contractions and how that is an immersive and elaborate way of showing the education level of nomads. This is literally the 10th time she’s using a contraction and I’ve just started this mission. Am I misunderstanding what a contraction is? Or is it about how she is saying it out loud vs the subtitles? Cause I don’t think I hear any difference. I’m confused.
I saw a lady on T.V. She was born without arms. Literally, she was born with her hands attached to her shoulders… and that was sad, but then they said, “Lola does not know the meaning of the word ‘can’t.'” And that to me was kinda worse… in a way… ya know? Not only does she not have arms, but she doesn’t understand simple contractions. It’s very simple, Lola, you just take two words, you put them together, then you take out the middle letter, you put a comma in there and you raise it up!
Mitch Hedberg
As an American, it’s very jarring to hear people say “I will go” instead of “I’ll go.”
It’s probably just a local thing because I noticed it immediately, and it sounded off to me.
Just English speajers being goofy with the English language once again
Native speaker here, I never noticed it either until those posts. I guess because she’s not in the big city they expect her to be dumb?
One of the things I’ve noticed?
When people consider themselves to be an outsider or need to prove their value to someone whom they consider either MORE valuable, or that they need to impress somehow, they formalize their speech.
Check out Goro’s speech patterns with V. You’ll notice he doesn’t use contractions, either, because he’s stiffly formal. It’s because he wants V to think of him as an authority, a formal person. But Goro’s from the slums of Megacity Japan, too. His whole demeanor is based entirely on going from nothing to the literal left hand man of the Emperor of Arasaka.
Panam is also someone who is out to prove she’s not from nothing.
The people who are comfortable with their identity or are much more “established” in NC use slang, contractions, and lingo. The people who “ain’t from here”? Don’t.
I only noticed her not using contractions when she is explaining things or discussing important topics, so it’s probably some habit of mentally putting herself in a “focus mode” so to speak.
A friend of mine that’s high functioning on the spectrum does something similar (and yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if Panam is some sort of neurodivergent)
I think it’s important to note that losing the “is” in this sentence doesn’t effect it’s legibility
How would you contract that particular sentence?
I don’t think it’s just the contractions. Panam’s mode of speech is kinda different and awkward at times, even when compared to the other nomads. I don’t know why.
It’s a way to highlight subtle cultural differences without resorting to contemporary accents. The way she speaks is just different enough to demonstrate that she’s not from Night City, but she is also not from a region we the players would recognize.
This happens in real life too. My wife’s family thinks my family speaks funny, but it’s just the difference in vernacular from the kinds of people we commonly speak with.
Her mode of speaking’s very jarring, because it’s not that she never uses contractions, she switches back and forth, but usually tends to speak very formally in situations where casual speech would’ve been more appropriate.
Literally only a complaint if you’re chronically online on Reddit. Didn’t hop on this sub until after beating the game and this never even entered my realm of thought
Could be the nomads relying on shit comms systems and so they have to speak as clear as possible to avoid fuckups and that just migrated to her speech?
I’ve never noticed it. Her speech seems normal to me.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/s/iqrM7BMbVE
> I believe they avoid contractions because of how much rides on understanding each other while talking over shitty/old comms tech. Clearly spelling out each word makes it easier to understand each other in that context.
> Also as some have pointed out, Nomads actually get a better education overall than most people in the city outside of corpos.
Just wanna say that I am an irl indigenous person, of the Catawba Nation, and, just–it’s not a AmerIndian thing. Lotta older westerns and shit portray natives as speaking very stilted and stuff, but that’s because they want to portray them as non-english speakers *without the cast and crew having to learn another language to *really* portray this*. The whole “native Americans speak slow and laconic, wisened but with a folksy, limited vocabulary” kinda shit is seriously just old Hollywood crap.
The actual answer as to why Panam speaking with fewer contractions than many other characters–one reason has been explained already: Nomad home schooling is better education than most ppl you encounter in the game, who had to suffer Night City public schools.
But it does also serve to differentiate her from the rest of the Night City chooms–she isn’t a city dweller, she’s a nomad. He speaking a little differently is a good, easy and subtle way to draw attention to and highlight this. Most folks probably won’t notice.
FINALLY: despite the lore reason, where Panam has gotten a better education and all…
One’s use of contractions says *absolutely fucking nothing* about how educated someone is or is not. Contractions are not at all a sign of being uneducated. That’s nonsense. So even if the lore suggests Panam was schooled differently and therefore speaks differently, it’s a mistake to try and correlate contraction usage and intelligence levels. In reality, at least
Honestly? I thought it was just an odd character quirk.
I’ve noticed stuff like that with Johnny and v as well but only in some instances. I always figure it was because different parts or the games were written by different people.
its basically as you’ve said. A lot of nomads who are born that way are raised on classic literature and various other “higher learning” sorts of things. Which leads them to a very distinct form of communication. Doesnt mean she CANT use contractions, just means she doesnt seem to use them in most cases. Similarly she seems to understand street slang but doesnt tend to use it much. She’s the only “born and raised” nomad we seem to see in the game, though thats just through assumption, so it makes sense she’d be the one to speak like that. Keep in mind as much as 3/4 of the Saul Aldecaldos have been killed as of the basilisk mission, so we dont really know much about the family beyond the vets.
Some people are making the link to Native American heritage, but i just dont see that at all. “Native American” as an identity only vaguely exists in 2077. Some people might be able to trace their heritage through bloodline and stories, but it doesnt really *mean* anything in the nightmare that is 2020/2077. River, someone who also has native heritage, doesnt seem to hesitate with contractions. Seems much more likely its a nomad thing.
Not really her speech pattern so kinda off topic but this particular scene she says Saul A LOT. It was borderline annoying. See that truck it probably carried Saul. See the building they’re probably keeping Saul there.
Panam is a replicant.
I always took it as a “Nomads, despite living in basically barren wastes, are more formal than city folk”