An English question: "Who did this severed head belong to?"

[lapsking]

Hi, I have a dialog option in my game which the player asks about a severed head. My English is not bad but I get confused if it gets complicated. I tried asking my question on Quora but thought why not here, there are very good writers on AGS forum.

So my question is "Who did this severed head belong to?" I even don't know if it's correct. What is the best way to ask this question? Thanks.

Edit: maybe "Whose severed head is this?" is better?

[Babar]

If I am understanding correctly, the question is asking who was the person who was made up of that head connected to a body, before the head was removed from that body. If that is correct, then your question seems to be ok. You could also make it simpler with "Who did this head belong to?" or "Whose head was this?" or "Who was this?" (while holding up or pointing to the head).

If I am not understanding correctly, and you are instead referring to someone who collected decapitated heads, and then you need to find that person, I suppose the question would still make sense, but context would play a much greater part.

Anyhow, I think your question is fine, and besides, your game is representing a person in a world asking a question, so if it is a bit of an ambiguous for us, it would be a bit of an ambiguous question for the people in the game, and you could have them react accordingly. Personally, I don't think it is that confusing, and I would usually take the first understanding I listed above.

[lapsking]

Yes your first understanding is correct. OK, I see. You used past since the person is dead now. "Whose head was this?" And you probably dropped severed since his head wasn't severed when it was his! Thanks. I also realized "decapitated head" doesn't make sense much, decapitated is used for the body which has lost it's head. Severed head is correct, so I changed it! Though still I think "Whose severed head is this?" can be correct too, not sure though.

[Babar]

I actually removed decapitated/severed because it didn't seem relevant to the question. If the Player character was holding it up or pointing to it, the decapitatedness of it would be obvious, and the ownership of the head wouldn't have changed if it was decapitated or not decapitated- if there were several heads in question, and only one was severed/decapitated, it might be more meaningful to add, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[Stupot]

I agree with Babar that it might sound more natural in dialogue without the word "severed". You can still call it "a severed head" in the label or item description. Try both and see what feels more natural in your particular game.

[lapsking]

Thank you Babar and Stupot. That's exactly what I did. "Whose head is that?" In dialog and severed head as object and item. I used present "is" cause even though the guy is dead but the head is still there, and I think it's more natural.

[heltenjon]

Using "whose severed head is this?" would work in a context of executioners discussing their technique or which weapons produce the desired effects, prompting a "It's one of mine" answer. I doubt this is relevant to the game you are making.

If you need some discussion to arise, one could always make a point of someone pointing out that in a given time, all heads are effectively the ruler's property, or perhaps that a slave doesn't own his head. However, this kind of bickering probably fits better for darkly humorous games, and I have an impression that your project is more serious than that. (The Norwegian word for salvation, "frelse", literally means "fri hals" - "free neck/throat", which in viking times meant that a thrall could be killed by his owner like any livestock unless he was given his freedom back.)

[lapsking]

Thanks heltenjon, the game is a bit satirical too. The soldier mentions "It's part of the Royal Collection." But the question is about who was executed, not the executioner. So I guess everyone disagrees with mentioning severed head in the dialog though it totally makes sense in Persian language but it seems it doesn't in English.