Does English sound like other Germanic languages?
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As to this "Dutch sounds like German" thing, I don't really think so. Dutch and the Northern scandanavian languages sounds similar to me, but German sounds quite a bit different. I'm taking German in school, so maybe that's why I notice the difference :p <<
Interesting. To me (a native English speaker), Dutch does not sound even remotely like any of the Scandinavian languages. Also, different Scandinavian languages sound different, also dialect of them. Norwegian and Swedish are usually very pitch-accented. They do not sound harsh at all. Danish sounds very unique--most of the sounds are quite soft and smooth, with a few harsh ones thrown in infrequently. It also has a very different intonation. There are some Norwegian dialects that remind me of Danish. Once I was watching a preview to a movie that for the first few seconds I was sure was Danish, but then later I realized that it was Norwegian. Icelandic, in my opinion sounds the least exotic, and the most like English. Faroese sounds sort of like certain dialects of Norwegian. Dutch, on the other hand, strongly resembles German, and does not sound like the Scandinavian languages at all. In fact it seems more like a very harsh version of English than a Scandinavian language.
I myself at least would have to say that the languages that Dutch sounds the closest to IMHO are West Frisian and Low Saxon, with Central German (including Standard German) sounding not that far from Dutch at all aside from being High rather than Low and completely lacking the phone [ɣ]. While there are some English dialects that do sound closer to the Low continental West Germanic languages than the standard varieties of English, the similarity they have seems more superficial to me than the similarities between all the continental West Germanic languages and the Frisian languages.
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As to this "Dutch sounds like German" thing, I don't really think so. Dutch and the Northern scandanavian languages sounds similar to me, but German sounds quite a bit different. I'm taking German in school, so maybe that's why I notice the difference :p <<
Interesting. To me (a native English speaker), Dutch does not sound even remotely like any of the Scandinavian languages. Also, different Scandinavian languages sound different, also dialect of them. Norwegian and Swedish are usually very pitch-accented. They do not sound harsh at all. Danish sounds very unique--most of the sounds are quite soft and smooth, with a few harsh ones thrown in infrequently. It also has a very different intonation. There are some Norwegian dialects that remind me of Danish. Once I was watching a preview to a movie that for the first few seconds I was sure was Danish, but then later I realized that it was Norwegian. Icelandic, in my opinion sounds the least exotic, and the most like English. Faroese sounds sort of like certain dialects of Norwegian. Dutch, on the other hand, strongly resembles German, and does not sound like the Scandinavian languages at all. In fact it seems more like a very harsh version of English than a Scandinavian language."
To me Dutch seems kind of out of place. Personally, I think German and Swedish sound exactly alike, except of course German has a wonderful strong sound. Dutch, on the other hand, has an almost Scottish air about its sound. I wouldn't call it harsh. I would say more... energetic. It doesn't really have the same stout sound of German and Swedish, but more of an... energetic sound. Sorry, that's the only word I can think of right now.
"I myself at least would have to say that the languages that Dutch sounds the closest to IMHO are West Frisian and Low Saxon, with Central German (including Standard German) sounding not that far from Dutch at all aside from being High rather than Low and completely lacking the phone [ɣ]. While there are some English dialects that do sound closer to the Low continental West Germanic languages than the standard varieties of English, the similarity they have seems more superficial to me than the similarities between all the continental West Germanic languages and the Frisian languages."
I agree with Dutch sounding like West Frisian and Low Saxon, except for some reason I would say High German sounds more like Swedish than Dutch. Germany and Sweden are a little further apart than Germany and Holland. Maybe Danish sounds even more like German and resembles Dutch more, but I haven't heard it that much. About the English dialects only sounding superficially like other Germanic accents, I don't think so. I dare say Patrick Stewart sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger! Definitely a very Germanic air, to the core.
Interesting. To me (a native English speaker), Dutch does not sound even remotely like any of the Scandinavian languages.
Oh, I don't know about that at all. If it was me, I definitely wouldn't say "remotely." They certainly sound similar to me.
"Icelandic, in my opinion sounds the least exotic, and the most like English."
That's interesting, because I think Icelandic sounds more Latinate than other Germanic languages.
"Dutch, on the other hand, strongly resembles German, and does not sound like the Scandinavian languages at all. In fact it seems more like a very harsh version of English than a Scandinavian language."
Again, I certainly wouldn't say it doesn't sound like the Scandinavian languages at all. I also wouldn't say it's harsh. (not insult, not defense)
To my ears Icelandic sounds a bit like Italian :-)
I also agree that German and Dutch sound somewhat similar.
>> To my ears Icelandic sounds a bit like Italian <<
Italian? Oh my...
<<I was actually able to find another person imitating English. Here it is. -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Duh6Ox5QQ&feature=related
He imitates other languages, too, and they're perfect, so that tells you something. >>
OMG! Excellent link!!!! Blurb, I could not agree more with whomever did that youtube clip. All of those languages sound EXACTLY how he imitates them. =]
<<On a sort of unrelated note, has anyone noticed that pretty much everyone that speaks a southern European language tends to say "no" after everything when seeking confirmation, while people from northern Europe tend to say "ya" (excluding English speakers who say "right") while speaking English?
i.e. "This one is good, no/ya/right?"
Maybe I'm just imagining things... :p >>
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In English you will also hear a "yeah" at the end: "This is what you need, yeah?"
<,- presence of "ing" endings. "spelling", "speaking", "nothing"
- presence of "k": "spoken", "think", "speaking" "spoken", "
- presence of "sh"
- presence of many consonant endings
- presence or double "o": look, too, >>
Also, the combination "tch" (batch, catch, ditch) is a dead ringer to Romance speakers that English is unlike their language.
I guess this would apply to "dge" (bridge, edge, dodge) as well...
Leasnam... have you ever heard Portuguese? :D
<<Leasnam... have you ever heard Portuguese? :D >>
Indeed I have. My pastors were once missionaries to Brazil and they have familiar ties there. We often host guest speakers from Brazil and our Pastor's wife or brother translates for them.
Don't certain northern French dialects have tch and dj?
So there you go. Bz Portuguese has loads of tch, ch, dge sounds, which, on a regular basis, confuses the americans. Apparently, they find it very very difficult to split the words from a sentence with all the shh's, especially with the 'Carioca' (Rio de Janeiro) accent...
I found that out not long ago, after growing more close relations with the American people, and I would not see that before, because both Port and English are my mother tongues.
PS: 'from RJ' means 'form Rio de Janeiro', although I'm a Londoner ;)
<<Bz Portuguese has loads of tch, ch, dge sounds>>
Ahh, yes, but if I remember correctly (and that post was a while ago) I was referring to the spelling and not to the sounds--referring to the bookstaved consonant clusters "tch", "dg-", which the other poster had brought up too regarding "oo", "sh", etc :)