What does English sound like?

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-What is your native language?

French

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-What sounds represent English to you?

I'd say 'out' or the 'y' sound.

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-If you had to create a gibberish sentance to represent English, what would it be?

Er...

Dell, Pow gad out lilly is bat ?

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-Do you think English is pretty, ugly, somewhere in the middle?

I think it's rather ugly.

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-How hard was English to learn?

Rather easy, altough I'm nowhere near perfect fluency.

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-Do we speak quickly or slowly compared to your own language?

Depends, I'd say slower than Canadian French.

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-Is English grammar (not spelling) intuitive to you?

It's less retarded than the other grammars I know, but it's still pretty retarded.

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-What language does English sound closest to?

If I had to pick one, I'd say German, but I don't think it sounds like anything else. Neither does French.

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-Do you like English?

It's alright, it's efficient. There are retarded constructs like contractions that get in the way for me (Can vs. Can't always end up in "Was that can or can't ?" for me.)

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-What dialects/accents of English have you been exposed to?

Canadian, British and American English.

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-Are you able to distinguish between the different dialects/accents? Would you answer any of these questions differently for different accents or dialects? If so, please do so.

Yes. I'm sometimes able to split geographically in the US but not much. I can also differentiate people from New Brunswick/Newfoundland/Nova Scotia.

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-Do you consider American English a different dialect from International, or are the accents and spelling just different?

I think American english as spoken in the north of the US is what I think international English sounds like.

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Quote: -If you had to create a gibberish sentance to represent English, what would it be? Er... Dell, Pow gad out lilly is bat ?

That's a good gibberish sentance. Thanks for the insight. Would it be correct for me to say that you believe it's the Germanic words that make English, not the French or Latin derived ones?

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Original post by Drakkcon -What is your native language?

Spanish

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Original post by Drakkcon -What sounds represent English to you?

The "ing" termination of gerunds is the classic sound that distinguishes it for Spanish speakers.

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Original post by Drakkcon -If you had to create a gibberish sentance to represent English, what would it be?

something that sounds english but written in Spanish:
guil dis du? (will this do?)

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Original post by Drakkcon -Do you think English is pretty, ugly, somewhere in the middle?

Its something in the middle, its very functional and to the point,
perhaps closer to newspeak than spanish, though, with borrowed words like "Garage" or brand new ones like "Software", it holds well.

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Original post by Drakkcon -How hard was English to learn?

Not very hard, not having to think too much for verb conjugation is sweet!

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Original post by Drakkcon -Do we speak quickly or slowly compared to your own language?

about the same, maybe a tiny bit faster, though I think this is subjective depending on the person.

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Original post by Drakkcon -Is English grammar (not spelling) intuitive to you?

Yes

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Original post by Drakkcon -What language does English sound closest to?

German? though modern Japanese seems to borrow a lot from it.

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Original post by Drakkcon -Do you like English?

Yes

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Original post by Drakkcon -What dialects/accents of English have you been exposed to?

Mideast American in the flesh, all the gamut from Australian, passing throug England and all the way to Cali on the TV and movies, including southern American.

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Original post by Drakkcon -Are you able to distinguish between the different dialects/accents? Would you answer any of these questions differently for different accents or dialects? If so, please do so.

Some better than others, original English is probably the easier to spot.

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Original post by Drakkcon -Do you consider American English a different dialect from International, or are the accents and spelling just different?

I though there where different dialects even inside the USA.

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Original post by Drakkcon Quote: Quote: -If you had to create a gibberish sentance to represent English, what would it be? Er... Dell, Pow gad out lilly is bat ? That's a good gibberish sentance. Thanks for the insight. Would it be correct for me to say that you believe it's the Germanic words that make English, not the French or Latin derived ones?

Well, while there's a wealth of words of latin origin in the language, it seems to me like they are peripheral. Conjunctions, and prepositions are germanic, while words of latin origin are found in verbs, nouns and adjectives that are mostly found in somewhat recent additions or related to science.

What is your native language?
Chinese

-What sounds represent English to you?
all the sounds in english

-If you had to create a gibberish sentance to represent English, what would it be?
no ideas

-Do you think English is pretty, ugly, somewhere in the middle?
pretty

-How hard was English to learn?
damn hard, especially listening and speaking

-Do we speak quickly or slowly compared to your own language?
it depends, i would say same.

-Is English grammar (not spelling) intuitive to you?
nope

-What language does English sound closest to?
i don't know.

-Do you like English?
yup

-What dialects/accents of English have you been exposed to?
american english, british english, new zeland english, austrilia english, indian english

-Are you able to distinguish between the different dialects/accents? Would you answer any of these questions differently for different accents or dialects? If so, please do so.
yes, i can tell the difference, but i am unable to speak in different accents and dialects.

-Do you consider American English a different dialect from International, or are the accents and spelling just different?
american english and british english is most popular in china, we treat both of them r international english.

1. Native Language
California English

2. What sounds represent English to you?
Southern English: the "awl" sound as in "y'all"
North Eastern English: the "aw" sound as in "caught"
UK English: Ts becoming (what I believe are) glottal stops
Australian English: The "e-i" diphthong as in "mate" and the "uh" sound as in "good"

3. Gibberish
I guess I could if I felt like pulling out my microphone, but I couldnt be bothered to do it for the above so I wont for this either. [smile]

4. Prettiness
No opinions here

5. Learning
I guess it was pretty easy. It only took me two years or something!

6. Speed
Southern English: Slower
North Eastern English: Slightly slower?
UK English: Same
Australian English: Same?

7. Similarity
I've studied (with the intent to learn) French, Spanish, and Latin but have also studied for Linguistic purposes Cantonese, Japanese, Swahili, Zulu, and Chichewa and can say that it sounds like none of these. It wouldnt be too hard, however, to find a list of languages that contain similar sound inventories as English.

8. Do you like English
As much as the next language

9. Dialects
Various dialects within the US, some dialects of UK English (although not enough of each so they are all lumped into one), and other misc dialects (like Australian which probably suffers from the same fate as UK English).

10. Distinguishability
For the ones more exposed to, yes

11. American English vs. International English
I claim there is no such thing as either American English or International English therefore this question makes no sense.



Note: people with different "accents" from yours are people who are speaking a different dialect from you.

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Original post by shawn72lee What is your native language? Chinese

I didn't think there was actually a language called Chinese. Are you just trying to dumb it down for us? I should probably look it up on wikipedia.

Isn't it Mandarin and Cantonese?

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Original post by LessBread Isn't it Mandarin and Cantonese?

yeah ,u r right, should be mandarin.

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Original post by Kwizatz Quote: Original post by Drakkcon -Do you consider American English a different dialect from International, or are the accents and spelling just different? I though there where different dialects even inside the USA.

The most prominent example of widespread dialect differences that I can think of would have to be what generic word people use to refer to carbonated soft drinks. In my area, people say "coke", west of here they say "pop", down south I've heard mostly "soda" and up north I've heard "soda pop".

The only Americans that I have trouble understanding are deep-fried Cajuns from Louisiana, but that's because they have a tendency to slip into Creole, a mishmash of French and English. The Amish in this area tend to speak in a cross between English and German called "Pennsylvania-Dutch", but they only do that amongst themselves and know better when talking to "The English" (as they refer to the rest of us). I can usually understand it though, because the German words they use are either very similar to the English translation, or I still remember a few words from college language study. I've known some Texans to throw Spanish words into their speaking, but it's usually only to cheese off non-Texans -- they knew the proper english words and would normally use them when speaking with other Texans anyway.

I haven't noticed any difference amongst Canadians, except the obvious Quebecois.

In the UK, Cockney is difficult, so is some Irish, but Welsh really throws me for a loop.

Talking speed: I would say that mid and north Atlantic people are the fastest English speakers on average. My southerner grandmother is constantly complaining that my sister and I talk "like northerners", i.e. "too damned fast." Compared to the mid-West, we're downright frantic.

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Original post by shawn72lee Quote: Original post by LessBread Isn't it Mandarin and Cantonese? yeah ,u r right, should be mandarin.

Must have slipped your mind.

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Original post by Drakkcon-What is your native language?

Danish

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-What sounds represent English to you?

-ish is the primary sound I associate with English

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-If you had to create a gibberish sentance to represent English, what would it be?

Eef ju hath to kveate ah jibberisj sentense to repræsent ænglisj, hvåt vud eet bii?

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-Do you think English is pretty, ugly, somewhere in the middle?

Somewhere in the middle

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-How hard was English to learn?

Pretty easy. I grew up with a computer not speaking anything, but English

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-Do we speak quickly or slowly compared to your own language?

Depends, British English is slow and certain American dialects are pretty fast

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-Is English grammar (not spelling) intuitive to you?

Somewhat. It feels like I'm just placing the words in reverse order which can be grammatically correct in Danish.

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-What language does English sound closest to?

Dutch

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-Do you like English?

Well, not really, but I couldn't live without it.

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-What dialects/accents of English have you been exposed to?

British, American(I can only distinguish between two different accents here; Texan and American :) ). Texan is not limited to people from Texas but more to that way of talking.

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-Are you able to distinguish between the different dialects/accents? Would you answer any of these questions differently for different accents or dialects? If so, please do so.

The primary difference is pronounciation, where Texan has a nasal pronounciation which is pretty hard to understand.
Second difference is speed

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-Do you consider American English a different dialect from International, or are the accents and spelling just different?

American is very different to English. Primarily in amount of slang. I would though prefer American English

-What is your native language?
Dutch

-What sounds represent English to you?
The th sound in the.

-If you had to create a gibberish sentance to represent English, what would it be?
I have no idea <= that's not the gibberish sentance :)

-Do you think English is pretty, ugly, somewhere in the middle?
It's alright

-How hard was English to learn?
Not that hard to write but the grammar was pretty awful, with present/past tense and all that.

-Do we speak quickly or slowly compared to your own language?
About the same.

-Is English grammar (not spelling) intuitive to you?
It's thought at elementary school upwards. So you learn it at an early age when learning languages is somewhat easier.

-What language does English sound closest to?
Fries, a language spoken in the province Friesland in the Netherlands.

-Do you like English?
I like it because it seems that everybody speaks it, so I can be understood in more countries than the Netherlands or Belgium.

-What dialects/accents of English have you been exposed to?
American English, English, (London English?) in real life, but in TV series of Movies you get to hear a mass of dialects and accents.

-Are you able to distinguish between the different dialects/accents? Would you
answer any of these questions differently for different accents or dialects? If so, please do so.
Somewhat, but I wouldn't answer differently since I use 'my own' version of English and don't care to differentiate in it.

-Do you consider American English a different dialect from International, or are the accents and spelling just different?
I think the accents and spelling is just different.

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Original post by StarikKalachnikov -What sounds represent English to you? The th sound in the.

When I first read the first post in the thread, I figured I'd see this more going through the responses.

Maybe that's just a Dutch and German thing.

-What is your native language?
German

-What sounds represent English to you?
TH as in the, soft endsounds (like the d in end, which would be pronounced like a t in German), some wide sounds (R specifically)

-If you had to create a gibberish sentance to represent English, what would it be?
[No idea ;)]

-Do you think English is pretty, ugly, somewhere in the middle?
To me, it's somewhere in the middle. I know, however, someone who likes both German and English both very well and think they're pretty languages, so this might not be representative. Personally, I like British English much better than American English.

-How hard was English to learn?
Learning English was rather easy (compared to French), maybe because it's not completely different from German. However, there are many pitfalls in English for a German speaker, especially false friends, and it's not easy to master it (as you propably see from this post ;)).
Interestingly, English is pretty similar to a dialect (sometimes referred to as a language of its own) from northern Germany, Plattdeutsch ("Low German" in English, I think). It sounds very different, but is written very similar.

-Do we speak quickly or slowly compared to your own language?
While English words are rather short compared to German, the actual speaking tends to be a little slower, I think, resulting in virtually the same amount of information in a given time.

-Is English grammar (not spelling) intuitive to you?
No. While it wasn't that hard to learn it, many rules are opposite to German rules.

-What language does English sound closest to?
No idea.

-Do you like English?
I like it, but I like German and French much more.

-What dialects/accents of English have you been exposed to?
Just American and British English, I think, if there were more, I couldn't distinguish them.

[Edit]Typos. I make more of them in English than in German :))[/Edit]

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Original post by capn_midnight In the UK, Cockney is difficult, so is some Irish, but Welsh really throws me for a loop.

Don't worry, Welsh even throws us off, despite living only a hundred or so miles away [wink].

Degra

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Original post by capn_midnight The most prominent example of widespread dialect differences that I can think of would have to be what generic word people use to refer to carbonated soft drinks. In my area, people say "coke", west of here they say "pop", down south I've heard mostly "soda" and up north I've heard "soda pop".

When I lived in Oklahoma things were coke. Up in Iowa it seems to be pop with some soda thrown into the mix.

Bump

Cool, a poll.

-What is your native language?
French

-What sounds represent English to you?
'th'. It's not there in French (like the 'r' in French being difficult to pronounce for non-native.).

-If you had to create a gibberish sentance to represent English, what would it be?
don't really know :) Think I've been speaking English for too long. It's even harder to write it down.

-Do you think English is pretty, ugly, somewhere in the middle?
it's fine. It's got a nice rythm to it, and varied in sonorities. But it's not as flowing as the nicer languages (african languages just flow, Italian is nice too). In the middle.

-How hard was English to learn?
pretty easy.

-Do we speak quickly or slowly compared to your own language?
slow

-Is English grammar (not spelling) intuitive to you?
No worse than French, but not really intuitive at first, words (adjectives) are back to front usually. But no gender confusion! It's got its quirks, like every old language. Sentence structure, punctuation, verbs, vocabulary, grammar, pretty close to French, or Latin in general, with some German (or Saxon) thrown in. Rings a bell?

-What language does English sound closest to?
Dunno... German.

-Do you like English?
fine.

-What dialects/accents of English have you been exposed to?
American South, American Texan, American 'Newsreader', American 'Dramatic Movie Trailer', Canadian, Irish, Cockney, Australian, Scottish, Scouse / Welsh, and foreign like Indian, Chinese, Pakistanese, Spanish, German... Loads really!

-Are you able to distinguish between the different dialects/accents? Would you answer any of these questions differently for different accents or dialects? If so, please do so.
Some. I would have a hard time separating a Texan from a northern American, Canadian is a bit of work to pinpoint it, Australian as little bit less, but Scottish, Irish, Liverpool (Scouse), cockney, no problem.

-Do you consider American English a different dialect from International, or are the accents and spelling just different?
Same to me.

[Edited by - oliii on January 15, 2007 10:44:08 AM]