What does English sound like to foreigners?

[Wulfhere]

Does it have that typical gutteral sound common to all the other Germanic languages, or is it different in that respect? Is it a sing-song language like Scandinavian ones, or dead-pan like German? Or does it not sound like them at all? Does it even resemble French in some way, given the influence that French has had on it? Or does it resemble none at all? And can foreign-language speakers tell the difference between an English person and an American, or even Australian, etc., when they're talking?

[Äike]

Does it have that typical gutteral sound common to all the other Germanic languages, or is it different in that respect? Is it a sing-song language like Scandinavian ones, or dead-pan like German? Or does it not sound like them at all? Does it even resemble French in some way, given the influence that French has had on it? Or does it resemble none at all? And can foreign-language speakers tell the difference between an English person and an American, or even Australian, etc., when they're talking?

English is rather similar to French and I can personally tell a difference between an Australian, an American and an Englishman.

Knowing English has been rather helpful while learning Latin. Some random statistics: If you look at the vocabulary, then Estonian is as Germanic as English, in both languages, 30% of the vocabulary is of Germanic origin.

English is the least Germanic language of all the Germanic languages, that's my opinion. :p It definitely isn't similar to the Scandinavian languages and it is rather different from German.

[Aces High]

Like this....if you dont speak or understand Italian then skip to 1:35.....this is fucking bizzare.:eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT7dM7UqBGU

[Wyn]

I am not a foreigner, but growing up I noted that English sounded like it was 'in between' French and German. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of foreigners thought the same.

[Arthur Scharrenhans]

Does it have that typical gutteral sound common to all the other Germanic languages, or is it different in that respect? Is it a sing-song language like Scandinavian ones, or dead-pan like German? Or does it not sound like them at all? Does it even resemble French in some way, given the influence that French has had on it? Or does it resemble none at all? And can foreign-language speakers tell the difference between an English person and an American, or even Australian, etc., when they're talking?

I can usually tell British and American English accents apart pretty well. Probably I couldn't tell an Australian and a British accent apart, though.

I think English sound nothing like French: yes, it has lots of French vocabulary, but it pronounces them in a very different way.

Overall, while very different from both German and Scandinavian, English still sounds 'germanic' to my ears, and extremely different from the sound of Romance languages. (I feel that British English tends to sound a bit 'more germanic' than American, but I'm not sure I can explain why.)

[mymy]

Well, I wouldn't say English sound similar to French... French sounds lovely, passionate and romantic, while English is more business language.. Speaking about tone.

Maybe some words are only similar, but only that.

To me English sound closer to German (but again not so close) than to French.

[Grumpy Cat]

Like someone simultaneously vomiting and shoving doughnuts in their mouths.

[Bloodeagle]

As an American I cannot differentiate between the various English accents of Britain and those of Australia and New Zealand, but American and Canadian English are very similar.

[Ouistreham]

English sounds just homosexual. Too much high pitched tones. And the tendency to carefully avoid any 'r' sound is awfully effeminate (unless it was meant to make English easier to Blacks, I don't know).

Less so for American English, which is less stress-timed and pronounced more evenly.

On the other hand female British English is razor sharp, very palatable and pleasant (female U.S. English is too shrill, especially in the South, and generally positively horrible).

Some English dialects may have some kind of a Germanic taste. The harshest variants of Northern and Scottish English suggest some parentage with Dutch. Maybe it was the way Olde English used to be pronounced.


English is rather similar to French

You want me to blow a fuse?!?!

[Blossom]

American English: Pretty melodic, nice and easy language to be used. :) Love it.

British English: Pain in the ass for its accent, just so damn funny..I usually laugh about the accent but well..

[Bloodeagle]

And the tendency to carefully avoid any 'r' sound is awfully effeminate (unless it was meant to make English easier to Blacks, I don't know).


I am curious to your meaning of "avoid any r sound"? I for one, use many words with the r sound. :confused:

[Wulfhere]

I am curious to your meaning of "avoid any r sound"? I for one, use many words with the r sound. :confused:

He's presumably referring to rhotic and non-rhotic dialects. Americans would pronounce the r in "car", for example, but not some English people (though West Country dialects do). All types of English speakers pronounce the r in words like "red", however.

[Äike]

You want me to blow a fuse?!?!

lol...

As I said, learning Latin has been easier for me, because I speak English and English has a lot of French influences.

[Libertas]

He's presumably referring to rhotic and non-rhotic dialects. Americans would pronounce the r in "car", for example, but not some English people (though West Country dialects do). All types of English speakers pronounce the r in words like "red", however.

Also Southern English is annoying with "Africar" and "Asiar" for Africa and Asia.

[Wulfhere]

Also Southern English is annoying with "Africar" and "Asiar" for Africa and Asia.

When followed by words starting with vowels.

[Libertas]

English sounds just homosexual. Too much high pitched tones. And the tendency to carefully avoid any 'r' sound is awfully effeminate.

With respect, the French language sounds effete in a male mouth especially with all that nasality but very sweet in a female mouth.

[Wulfhere]

With respect, the French language sounds effete in a male mouth especially with all that nasality but very sweet in a female mouth.

I think French sounds constipated.

[Grumpy Cat]

With respect, the French language sounds effete in a male mouth

Not Canadian French. The Montreal dialect is sexy coming from a man.

[Foxy]

They speak like if they are eating a chewingum. It's becouse of the way they pronunce "L" and "R".

[Svanhild]

English sounds just homosexual. Too much high pitched tones. And the tendency to carefully avoid any 'r' sound is awfully effeminate.
Then you must love German language. We love to pronounce the 'r'. :wink

[Wyn]

With respect, the French language sounds effete in a male mouth especially with all that nasality but very sweet in a female mouth.

Definitely. It seems unfair to write off an entire group of speakers as sounding 'gay' but...yeah, male French speakers sound gay.

[Comte Arnau]

He's presumably referring to rhotic and non-rhotic dialects. Americans would pronounce the r in "car", for example, but not some English people (though West Country dialects do). All types of English speakers pronounce the r in words like "red", however.

You call that an r? The English r is lame because you don't even reach to touch the roof of the mouth with the tongue apex, you try but you can't. It's a handicapped r.

But I think the one complaining was a French... lol. That's not a proper r either, what kind of r is that produced in the throat, as if you were starting an engine... :rolleyes:

Serious r's are rolled. Catalan, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Greek... Macho languages.

[Libertas]

Interesting topic

[Peasant]

Rolled Rs sound like shit. Sounds like you've eaten a content cat or something.

[Efim45]

As a non-native English speaker, I can differentiate between a few English accents, the typical Irish accent, the typical Scottish accent, teh typical Australian accent, the stereotypical Canadian accent, and various regional American accents. And Welsh.

[Wulfhere]

You call that an r? The English r is lame because you don't even reach to touch the roof of the mouth with the tongue apex, you try but you can't. It's a handicapped r.

But I think the one complaining was a French... lol. That's not a proper r either, what kind of r is that produced in the throat, as if you were starting an engine... :rolleyes:

Serious r's are rolled. Catalan, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Greek... Macho languages.

We don't stick our tongues down our throats till we gag, if that's what you're on about.

[Comte Arnau]

We don't stick our tongues down our throats till we gag, if that's what you're on about.

No, that happens with the Portuguese final l.

Btw, Scots are the most macho in the English-speaking world, because at least they roll their r's sometimes.

[Gaztelu]

Before I learned English, that language sounded like the bastard child of German and French.

[Wulfhere]

No, that happens with the Portuguese final l.

Btw, Scots are the most macho in the English-speaking world, because at least they roll their r's sometimes.

They're also famously gay.

[antonio]

Then you must love German language. We love to pronounce the 'r'. :wink

That's not a merit, but usual at decent European languages. :D

Pd. Some day English speakers should explain the mess they do with normal Phonetics at Middle Ages. :D

[Comte Arnau]

Pd. Some day English speakers should explain the mess they do with normal Phonetics at Middle Ages. :D

Indeed. And the French, both should apologize publicly for it. Now there's no way one can learn their spellings properly.

[Aces High]

Btw, Scots are the most macho in the English-speaking world,

Oh rly....so why do the men wear skirts then....?

[Comte Arnau]

Oh rly....so why do the men wear skirts then....?

Skirts were manly before women copied and made them theirs. Now they're doing the same with trousers and we'll have to invent something new.

[gandalf]

English sound very funny in England ,
because they use a lot of variations , ups and downs in a phrase ,
very expressive and singing .

( I love welsh , scottish accents .)

It is the least germanic of germanic languages from its vocabulary ,
and as well with its sound , exiting and singing like italian .

It doesn't sound rough like german or french ,
witch are more guttural , deep , wierd .

American english I find it more easy to understand ,
as they speak slowly , with monocord voices ,
and it sounds more nasal , less singing .

[Svipdag]

The Boston dialect of American English omits "r" especially after "a" . One might hear a streetcar conductor in Boston say "This cah goes only as fah as Pahk Street." JFK, on the other hand, always pronounced Asia as "Aysher" and a former Bostonian with whom I worked, always called our secretary,Theresa "Treeser" .

Many New Yorkers, on the other hand, pronounce the name of their city
"Noo Yawk". The Deep South dialect [west coast of Florida, to be exact], e.g. "If ah'd a knowed thet, ah might could've borry'd y'all's cor." is almost as incomprehensible to a "furriner" as a Yorkshire dialect.

Surely, local dialects of both British And American English must confuse any effort to find similarities between "English" and various other languages.

[antonio]

Indeed. And the French, both should apologize publicly for it. Now there's no way one can learn their spellings properly.

But English lack the ellegance of French. What would be of France, even Europe, without French as we know it? Curiously modern English pronunciation is trying to be posh and cool and modern...but it's failing miserabely. It's like "Sex and the city"...everyone hates it.:cool:

[Comte Arnau]

But English lack the ellegance of French. What would be of France, even Europe, without French as we know it? Curiously modern English pronunciation is trying to be posh and cool and modern...but it's failing miserabely. It's like "Sex and the city"...everyone hates it.:cool:

Agree. But practicity cannot be elegant. Computer language must be in English for the sake of brevity and accuracy, while French works nicelier for diplomacy and perfume commercials. ;)

[Wulfhere]

English sound very funny in England ,
because they use a lot of variations , ups and downs in a phrase ,
very expressive and singing .

( I love welsh , scottish accents .)

It is the least germanic of germanic languages from its vocabulary ,
and as well with its sound , exiting and singing like italian .

It doesn't sound rough like german or french ,
witch are more guttural , deep , wierd .

American english I find it more easy to understand ,
as they speak slowly , with monocord voices ,
and it sounds more nasal , less singing .

A very good point. Why do Americans speak far more slowly, perhaps twice as slowly, as English people? And why don't they put any significant intonation into their speech?

[Wulfhere]

But English lack the ellegance of French. What would be of France, even Europe, without French as we know it? Curiously modern English pronunciation is trying to be posh and cool and modern...but it's failing miserabely. It's like "Sex and the city"...everyone hates it.:cool:

Modern English pronunciation is trying to be the very opposite of posh.

[Treffie]

You call that an r? The English r is lame because you don't even reach to touch the roof of the mouth with the tongue apex, you try but you can't. It's a handicapped r.



Not only that, but very few native English speakers are physically able to trill the `r`. As time goes on, rhotacism is decling even further. It's interesting to see that the higher levels of rhotacism are closer to the old Celtic areas.

1950s
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/RhoticEngland.png

Late 20th century
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/RhoticEngland2.png

[Comte Arnau]

Going a bit on-topic again...

Elvis' song In the Ghetto by El Principe Gitano. His singing is an example of Wachi Wachi English, or how English sounds to Spanish ears. Or how someone who speaks no English sings a song in English with all his love, even if the audience is laughing their asses off at him. In de ghetouu...


PGSgAfJQsic

[Wulfhere]

Here's Roger Whittaker, one of our last colonial Kenyans, singing Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now with Dutch subtitles. Reading the Dutch, it's astonishing how many circumlocutions they have to use in their language to say what English can say in a single word or two.

Vp8kKAGrhV0

[Treffie]

Reading the Dutch, it's astonishing how many circumlocutions they have to use in their language to say what English can say in a single word or two.

Lol

Schadenfreude = pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others

Hiraeth = homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed

Saudade = a somewhat melancholic feeling of incompleteness

[Wulfhere]

Lol

Schadenfreude = pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others

Hiraeth = homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed

Saudade = a somewhat melancholic feeling of incompleteness

Are they Dutch?

[Ouistreham]

American english I find it more easy to understand ,
as they speak slowly , with monocord voices , and it sounds more nasal , less singing .

— A very good point. Why do Americans speak far more slowly, perhaps twice as slowly, as English people? And why don't they put any significant intonation into their speech?

Because in the early 19th century Noah Webster introduced new ways of teaching English and its pronounciation, starting with single letters and then syllable after syllable. Young Americans were trained to spell and pronounce all of them.

This made American English a rather syllable-timed language, unlike stress-timed RP English.

Compare the U.S. and the UK ways of pronouncing a word like "temporarily" and you'll see right away what I mean.

[Bridie]

Seems weird to be talking about how English sounds to foreigners when there are so many, very different sounding English accents. But I've been told that to non-Anglos (English speakers) even the Irish accent is rather indistinguishable from the English from say, SE England. That sounds crazy to English speakers...


while English is more business language.. Speaking about tone.
Strange to hear that even the melodic, lively accents of the Irish, Welsh and Scottish, for example, (among some others to lesser or greater extents) could be described as "business like". :confused: They're far from being monotone...




You call that an r? The English r is lame because you don't even reach to touch the roof of the mouth with the tongue apex, you try but you can't. It's a handicapped r. LOL! Reminds me that a Spaniard once told me that he speaks English with a much better English accent when he's drunk, since English speakers sound like they're drunk when they speak. :D



But I think the one complaining was a French... lol. That's not a proper r either, what kind of r is that produced in the throat, as if you were starting an engine... :rolleyes:To me, the French "r" sounds as though they're trying to puke or remove phlegm from their throats.

Nevertheless, I quite like the French accent.



Serious r's are rolled. Catalan, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Greek... Macho languages.
The way you guys pronounce the single "r" doesn't even sound like an "r", it sounds more like a "d" or a cross between our "d" and "t" sounds. :icon_neutral: But yes, both the single "r" and the rolled "r" as you guys pronounce them sound more masculine and stronger. It causes the accents that use such "r's" to sound sharper and bolder somehow.

[Wulfhere]

LOL! Reminds me that a Spaniard once told me that he speaks English with a much better English accent when he's drunk, since English speakers sound like they're drunk when they speak. :D


That's probably because they were drunk, especially if they were in Spain.

[Portukalos]

As a child I thought (like everyone here) it was like speaking with a chewing gum in the mouth.

I think it's mainly because of the American accent because it sounds really like they're chewing a chewing-gum. British English sounds rather more elegant.

[Comte Arnau]

The way you guys pronounce the single "r" doesn't even sound like an "r", it sounds more like a "d" or a cross between our "d" and "t" sounds.

Exactly. The single r in Catalan, Spanish and Italian sounds like the American flap. So the r in cara is like the t in water. Now, double r's as in carro are a different issue, and I'd say only some Scottish can pronounce it properly. :)

[Odoacer]

Pd. Some day English speakers should explain the mess they do with normal Phonetics at Middle Ages. :D

There's a combination of malefactors:

1) Norman French conquerors.
2) Flemish printers.
3) Grammarians.


Lol

Schadenfreude = pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others

Hiraeth = homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed

Saudade = a somewhat melancholic feeling of incompleteness


Are they Dutch?

Respectively, they are German, Welsh, & Portuguese.

[Kosovo je Sjrbia]

I like the accent of real English people like queen Elisabeth, while American English sounds outrageusly awful and inhuman.

[Bridie]

I like the accent of real English people like queen Elisabeth, :lol00002:

[Mordid]

It depends on your point of view and what sounds you prefer. My mom was born in Poland and while she was growing up, she thought English sounded exotic. Btw, I really admire Polish accent when speaking English. :D

[Portukalos]

. Btw, I really admire Polish accent when speaking English. :D

You probably admire how awful it is. I understand :D

[Aelred]

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AIZgw09CG9E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> There is no one American English, and no one British English - and some sound closer to each other over the ocean than to someone a county/state or two away. Having said that, RP *is* better sounding than "SAE". Of course, my own accent is some mangled American sounding thing that most Yanks or Brits cannot place: but I suppose it is better than speaking Potteries or Salopian as the ancestors surely did. (Though sounding like Lemmy isn't necessarily a bad thing :P .)

[MagnaLaurentia]

Not Canadian French. The Montreal dialect is sexy coming from a man.

Oh oui bébé!

[MagnaLaurentia]

Nothing better than Texan accent!

[bulgarian88]

I like the way girls from the Southern States speak, it's so rural and sexy. Simple and sophisticated at the same time.

[johngaunt]

The difference with English is , although there are many latin and French Norman words, all the dialect words from regional areas are Germanic and all the common words, used daily, 80% are Germanic, so in that sense, English is a germanic language.

Take for example Churchills famous speach in ww2..

We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, we shall fight them in the fields and in the streets, shall fight in the hills: we shall never surrender”. Every word is Old English save one: ‘surrender’ is French.”

The fact that surrender is French in origin may also have some meaning.

I was told by an Austrian guy he thought it sounded inbetween scandninavian, dutch and french - maybe quite accurate.

[Comte Arnau]

Take for example Churchills famous speach in ww2..

We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, we shall fight them in the fields and in the streets, shall fight in the hills: we shall never surrender”. Every word is Old English save one: ‘surrender’ is French.”

Street is also Latin, even if all non-nordic Germanic languages use it, from via strata. The Eastern Romance languages, Italian, Neapolitan/Sicilian and Romanian, use strada.

[Wyn]

the common words, used daily, 80%

In fact, of the 100 most common words in English, 96 are Germanic.

[Bridie]

In fact, of the 100 most commonly used words in English, 96 are Germanic.
I wonder if it's really only English vocab. that is significantly Germanic? (I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to linguistics.) Certainly English grammar and some other aspects of the English language differ greatly from other Germanic languages...

[Wyn]

I wonder if it's really only English vocab. that is significantly Germanic? (I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to linguistics.) Certainly English grammar and some other aspects of the English language differ greatly from other Germanic languages...

Aye, not sure myself. Although I do know that English grammar is starkly different to that of German, for example.

It would be interesting to compare things like word order, though. Sometimes I can make out great portions of written Dutch based on the words used and the similarities in word order. Not always, but sometimes. Frisian would probably be even easier.

[Bridie]

Sometimes I can make out great portions of Dutch based on the words used and the similarities in word order - not always, but sometimes. Frisian would probably be even easier.:eek: Are you serious? You're doing well, then. :D I've always found Dutch to be one of the most unintelligible European languages... well besides Russian, Greek and all of those Eastern sorts of weirdo languages. :p

[Wyn]

:eek: Are you serious? You're doing well, then. :D I've always found Dutch to be one of the most unintelligible European languages... well besides Russian, Greek and all of those Eastern sorts of weirdo languages. :p

Heh, I edited my post to specify written Dutch. :p When they start talking, yeah, it's all gobbledegook. :D

[Moustache]

My great-uncle's favourite song is "Kamilo kamilo" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwZsFKIXa8).

[johngaunt]

Street is also Latin, even if all non-nordic Germanic languages use it, from via strata. The Eastern Romance languages, Italian, Neapolitan/Sicilian and Romanian, use strada.

In many areas of England its gate, from gata, Norse for street, often the dialect version in common use in some areas is the Germanic version.

Found mainly in street names in towns/cities of the Danelaw, e.g. Kirkgate, Eastgate, Briggate, etc.

Even in most Germanic languages it is latin now, you are correct with that one.

[Grumpy Cat]

This is a video made by an Italian guy and it's supposed to be what English sounds like to foreigners. It kind of does. I've been speaking English since I was a little kid, 4 or 5 years old, but I cannot understand English when I smoke weed and this is kind of what it sounds like: :lol:

BZXcRqFmFa8

I don't really smoke anymore but I can listen to this to simulate being high. :lol:

[antonio]

To be frank it sounds mainly as shit. Dont know exactly when your ancestors missed the point, but it's clear that, for example, Gothic had to sound more straight and related to other Indoeuropean branches...as, to a certain extent, German of today.

[johngaunt]

To be frank it sounds mainly as shit. Dont know exactly when your ancestors missed the point, but it's clear that, for example, Gothic had to sound more straight and related to other Indoeuropean branches...as, to a certain extent, German of today.

Hm interesting you say that, ive spoken to los of foreign peopke who told me they like the way it sounds.

But there are some harsh sounds there, particualry when spoken by people outside the south east of England - it can sound abbrasive.

Not as bad as Dutch or German though.

[Äike]

I wonder if it's really only English vocab. that is significantly Germanic? (I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to linguistics.) Certainly English grammar and some other aspects of the English language differ greatly from other Germanic languages...

If you look at English vocabulary, then the small amount of Germanic vocabulary is quite visible. I'll bring an example, English is a Germanic language, but has as many Germanic words(in both languages, 30% of the vocabulary is of Germanic origin) in its language as Estonian, which isn't even a Indo-European language.

[johngaunt]

If you look at English vocabulary, then the small amount of Germanic vocabulary is quite visible. I'll bring an example, English is a Germanic language, but has as many Germanic words(in both languages, 30% of the vocabulary is of Germanic origin) in its language as Estonian, which isn't even a Indo-European language.

Does Germanic form the core of Esotnian is it does in English, thats quite interesting.

[antonio]

Hm interesting you say that, ive spoken to los of foreign peopke who told me they like the way it sounds.


At popular music it sounds right. But, the more I ear people speaking in other contexts, the more I dislike it. Specially, albeit not only, the topical posh females (including not native speakers) Regional English accents, somewhat the other extreme, dont sound also well to me.

Or maybe it's just me becoming specially picky at realizing that time goes by and the only language outside Iberia I'm somewhat skilled in is English. I would change it for French (Ive merely undertand it) without no hesitation.

[Äike]

Does Germanic form the core of Esotnian is it does in English, thats quite interesting.

No, Estonian is a Finno-Ugric language, contrary to English which is an Indo-European/Germanic language.

The thing is, the Estonians have had tight contacts with the Proto-Germanics/Scandinavians since 2000BC, thus a large part of our vocabulary is Germanic.

[Odoacer]

If you look at English vocabulary, then the small amount of Germanic vocabulary is quite visible. I'll bring an example, English is a Germanic language, but has as many Germanic words(in both languages, 30% of the vocabulary is of Germanic origin) in its language as Estonian, which isn't even a Indo-European language.

Yet 35 of the 54 words you used in this post are of Germanic origin; fully 65%. Incidentally, of the most frequent 7,476 words used in English, 57% of them are Germanic. :thumbs up

[Comte Arnau]

At popular music it sounds right. But, the more I ear people speaking in other contexts, the more I dislike it. Specially, albeit not only, the topical posh females (including not native speakers) Regional English accents, somewhat the other extreme, dont sound also well to me.

Or maybe it's just me becoming specially picky at realizing that time goes by and the only language outside Iberia I'm somewhat skilled in is English. I would change it for French (Ive merely undertand it) without no hesitation.

Well, English is actually the proof that people end up liking the sound of a language for the habit of listening to it and understanding it rather than for really objective phonetic reasons. :D

[Phil75231]

The more common everyday words tend to be germanic. The latin/french part tends to be more "sophisticated" in the "big words" sense. The names of the meat from animals is usually Normal French, the animal itself is a germanic name


Pig (gmc)/ pork (fr.)
Cow/Bull (gmc) / beef (fr)
Deer (gmc) / venison (obvious fr)
chicken (gmc?) / poultry (definite fr)

From government, most terms are french or latin-based

In fact, "King" and posibly "Queen" are the only germanic-based words associated with government. Captain, Capitol, Duke, Count (the last two i'm pretty sure, but not 100%. The first it's obviously french or latin .. "caput" = "head" in Latin.

In a sense, English is like Afrikaner-American Charlize Theron (mixed French, German, and Dutch -- yet is something greatly different from her ancestors many centuries before).

[Wyn]

In fact, "King" and posibly "Queen" are the only germanic-based words associated with government. Captain, Capitol, Duke, Count (the last two i'm pretty sure, but not 100%. The first it's obviously french or latin .. "caput" = "head" in Latin.
.

'Earl' and 'Lord' are both Germanic. If you consider 'knight' to be associated with government (which it came to be, obviously), then I suppose we would include that, too. 'Duke' and 'Count' are indeed Romance.

[Bridie]

Well, English is actually the proof that people end up liking the sound of a language for the habit of listening to it and understanding it rather than for really objective phonetic reasons. :D
Popular music is almost exclusively sung with an American accent. It is even considered to be rebellious or improper to sing commercial songs with a British accent.

[BiałaZemsta]

Before I learned English, that language sounded like the bastard child of German and French.

Luxembourgish ;)

[Nameless Son]

like this apparently :rolleyes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZXcRqFmFa8

[BiałaZemsta]

like this apparently :rolleyes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZXcRqFmFa8

Haha awsome perspective!

[Comte Arnau]

Q0USu20HmT8

[Contra Mundum]

Also Southern English is annoying with "Africar" and "Asiar" for Africa and Asia.


Have you heard an authentic Southern accent in person or only the very heavy and highly exaggerated accent in movies, TV and American country music?

[Treffie]

Have you heard an authentic Southern accent in person or only the very heavy and highly exaggerated accent in movies, TV and American country music?

I think Libertas was referring to the southern English accent of England.

[SaxonCeorl]

On a related note, I've always wondered what an "English accent" sounds like when native Englophones speak another language. Are there certain sounds we all seem to have trouble with? Do all native English speakers have the same accent when speaking your language? I realize the sample size may be small, as it's not every day you find Anglophones speaking another language ;)

[Ouistreham]

On a related note, I've always wondered what an "English accent" sounds like when native Englophones speak another language.

Doesn't matter if native English speakers are American, Australian, English, Irish etc. Their accent is recognizable at once. It must be the most difficult on Earth to get rid of, and is principally distinguished by two features:

• the seemingly irresistible tendency to diphtonguize all vowel sounds,
• 'r' sound more or less heard like a 'w'.


Are there certain sounds we all seem to have trouble with?

In addition to Continental 'r's, the most tricky sounds are the close front rounded vowels (like French 'u' and 'eu' or German 'ü' and 'ö'), but this difficulty is not specific to English speakers since very few languages feature those sounds (French, Germanic languages other than English, Finnish, Hungaric, Turkish).

[esaima]

English is too wellknown language to tell what does English sound like to foreigners.It certainly doesn't sound "Romance" to me although vocabulary is strongly influenced by French and Latin.English sounds English.

[Comte Arnau]

On a related note, I've always wondered what an "English accent" sounds like when native Englophones speak another language. Are there certain sounds we all seem to have trouble with?

Speakers of Anglophone background are a very recognizable group. The r is the most obvious, as it's a weird alien sound to Romance languages. Then the p's, t's and k's, which look to many as if they're spat, since they are aspirated when initial in English. Quality of vowels, final dark l's and intonation make the rest.

[Odoacer]

Doesn't matter if native English speakers are American, Australian, English, Irish etc. Their accent is recognizable at once. It must be the most difficult on Earth to get rid of, and is principally distinguished by two features:

• the seemingly irresistible tendency to diphtonguize all vowel sounds,
• 'r' sound more or less heard like a 'w'.



In addition to Continental 'r's, the most tricky sounds are the close front rounded vowels (like French 'u' and 'eu' or German 'ü' and 'ö'), but this difficulty is not specific to English speakers since very few languages feature those sounds (French, Germanic languages other than English, Finnish, Hungaric, Turkish).


Speakers of Anglophone background are a very recognizable group. The r is the most obvious, as it's a weird alien sound to Romance languages. Then the p's, t's and k's, which look to many as if they're spat, since they are aspirated when initial in English. Quality of vowels, final dark l's and intonation make the rest.

Do you notice the "broad A (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_A#Development_of_the_.2F.C9.91.CB.90.2F_phon eme)" sound (as in "father" - open back unrounded) being used by native English speakers in places where the vowel is properly open front unrounded? Also, English "T" & "D" are generally alveolar, where I think in many other languages (e.g., Spanish, French, Italian) they are usuaully more dental, so I wonder if that is noticeable as well.

[Comte Arnau]

Do you notice the "broad A (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_A#Development_of_the_.2F.C9.91.CB.90.2F_phon eme)" sound (as in "father" - open back unrounded) being used by native English speakers in places where the vowel is properly open front unrounded? Also, English "T" & "D" are generally alveolar, where I think in many other languages (e.g., Spanish, French, Italian) they are usuaully more dental, so I wonder if that is noticeable as well.

That's one of the things I meant by vowel quality. Many languages, but specially those which only have the simple system of five vowel phonemes (Spanish, Greek, Serbocroatian...), have an open central a. English has two types of a, but none is central. So English people speaking Spanish or Greek will do weird a's in some contexts, while Spaniards or Greeks speaking English will pronounce father and cat with the same central a sound.

[Grumpy Cat]

I personally find French spoken by native English speakers to be sexy.

[HungAryan]

If you ask me, English sounds like a cross between German and Italian.

[Amarantine]

English is just perfect.

[SaxonCeorl]

If you ask me, English sounds like a cross between German and Italian.

In a very general sense, that's almost what is really is; a hybrid Germanic/Romance language. :)

[Marmie Dearest]

I am curious to your meaning of "avoid any r sound"? I for one, use many words with the r sound. :confused:

As someone who minored in French at university and has tried to learn a little Russian, I can tell you that we as English speakers use nearly non-existent "r" sounds. R sound in other languages can be much more intense and pronounced, with harder tongue pressure on the palate.

I think it's funny that a Frenchman thinks English sounds feminine, though, because French sounds kind of soft and feminine to me, lol.

This is hilarious, and kinda catchy...someone already posted it, but his link didn't work anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZXcRqFmFa8

[Marmie Dearest]

If you look at English vocabulary, then the small amount of Germanic vocabulary is quite visible. I'll bring an example, English is a Germanic language, but has as many Germanic words(in both languages, 30% of the vocabulary is of Germanic origin) in its language as Estonian, which isn't even a Indo-European language.

English is 30% French.

(Norman invasion + cognates)

[Albion]

One thing about English is that there's really different vocabularies for different uses.


The "common speech" used daily is very Germanic.
Scientific writing becomes more based on Latin with some Greek and French
Then there's "scholarly English" which uses a lot of French words with fewer Germanic. This is usually used to convey further meanings which the Germanic core vocabulary cannot express easily.


Personally I quite like going between the Germanic and Romanic words, it makes the language interesting. I'd say Germanic defined the language whereas Romanic refined it.

[Caismeachd]

The way English enunciate vowels is very unique. It's meant to give the language more detailed nuanced (hyperfocused/romantic) and articulated expression with words. Unlike other languages where vowels are always pronounced the same. I think this is more from French influence than German. Actually, if you compare British English to American English the American English loses the enunciated detailed expression of words from British English and I wonder if this comes from some German influence in the US.

[Benacer]

English needs accentuation. Badly.

[Caismeachd]

English needs accentuation. Badly.

What do you mean?

British English accentuate words specifically (vowels mostly) in an extreme way compared to other languages. That's why it's such a hard language for foreigners trying to learn it.

[Comte Arnau]

He was próbably reférring to gràphic accentuátion. :)

[Benacer]

What do you mean?

British English accentuate words specifically (vowels mostly) in an extreme way compared to other languages. That's why it's such a hard language for foreigners trying to learn it.

Perhaps I chose the wrong wording for it. I mean using diacritical marks, such as ´`^~ etc. It's not always deductive for foreigners to tell which syllable should be stressed when speaking without previous knowledge of the word.

[Caismeachd]

Got it. Yeah, that makes things confusing. There is no marking when vowels are pronounced extremely different between words like in other languages.

Other languages have umlauts or double vowels to distinguish pronunciation but English doesn't have that at all.

[Comte Arnau]

Besides, as I showed, ` could be used for vowels that are not diphthongized, as in gràphic, and ´ for those which are, as in grápefruit. :)

[Benacer]

Besides, as I showed, ` could be used for vowels that are not diphthongized, as in gràphic, and ´ for those which are, as in grápefruit. :)

Very true, that does get confusing sometimes when it comes to new words as well.

[Comte Arnau]

Very true, that does get confusing sometimes when it comes to new words as well.

Yes, English is weird. I spent half my life diphthongizing the y in Pyrenees, as they do in the word "pyre", until I found out it didn't. :D

[Albion]

English needs accentuation. Badly.

'This good enough?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1tsJA787Dzo/T3RrCZH1dAI/AAAAAAAACyQ/9ScGgMNd7oc/s1600/Michael+Cianio+I+wish+the+English+lanugage+had+mor e+interesting+characters.png


Yes, English is weird. I spent half my life diphthongizing the y in Pyrenees, as they do in the word "pyre", until I found out it didn't.

It can be confusing. There's a town called "Shrewsbury" in Shropshire which has two different ways of pronouncing it depending on which side of the river you're on.
One side it's called "Sh-rows-bury", on the other it's "Shrews-bury". It also depends on whether you're a pompous pillock or not.

[juizdelinha]

I don't see the correlation between French and English.
It sounds like a soft German to me.

[MM81]

I've got some australian relatives, their accent was a pain in the neck for me in the early times, because some words sounded very different from the standard (british) english that I learnt at school. I can easily identify australians, americans and british now.
British english is absolutely the best sounding, it's got a very germanic sound, I know a bit of French and the two languages sound completely different, english is far "stronger".

[Albion]

Weird how Romance speakers say it sounds Germanic and Germanic speakers say it sounds Romance.
I suppose it must be the most unusual of the Germanic languages certainly.

[Rouxinol]

He was próbably reférring to gràphic accentuátion. :)

I'd put it like "He wâs próbably refêrring to gráphic accentuâtion".

[Benacer]

'This good enough?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1tsJA787Dzo/T3RrCZH1dAI/AAAAAAAACyQ/9ScGgMNd7oc/s1600/Michael+Cianio+I+wish+the+English+lanugage+had+mor e+interesting+characters.png


Absolutely! :P It also looks better aesthetically.

[Corvus]

It`s very close to German but with some French ingredients, which make it
so hard for every German native to speak proper Englsh.

[Hurrem sultana]

i don't hear anything french in english

but it does not sound germanic either,it is unique in its own way...but with many germanic words,making it very easy for a germanic speaking to learn it(at least i,with swedish and german could understand english very easy from young days)

[Corvus]

i don't hear anything french in english

but it does not sound germanic either,it is unique in its own way...but with many germanic words,making it very easy for a germanic speaking to learn it(at least i,with swedish and german could understand english very easy from young days)

You speak German. Didn`t know that. Do schau i oba ;)
A lot of words in English are going back to the Normans who intruduced French to the island. So a lot of vocabulary is still of French origin.

[Albion]

i don't hear anything french in english

but it does not sound germanic either,it is unique in its own way...but with many germanic words,making it very easy for a germanic speaking to learn it(at least i,with swedish and german could understand english very easy from young days)

Apparently English and Swedish are the easiest Germanic languages to learn.

[Virtuous]

English is just English to me, here we learn it at school from kindergarten to end of obligatory school.

It is our second official language after all.

Hail Britannia u.u o/

[MM81]

Weird how Romance speakers say it sounds Germanic and Germanic speakers say it sounds Romance.
I suppose it must be the most unusual of the Germanic languages certainly.

I can't figure out how germanic speakers find it romance :D
A couple of examples of pure romance pieces, french and ligurian (north-west Italy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYLTc3tGdzc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJViY4xjlpU

[Käpsele]

English also just sounds ..English to me. But when you pronounce it as if it were German ( if that makes any sense) it sounds terribly Plattdeutsch to me lol

[Antimage]

it doesn't sound anything german or french to me. it sounds english and that's it