Sorry, I can't believe there is anything such as a germanic sound or a romance sound, because of the way these langauges were learned. Think of foreigners learning English and their accent is strongly influenced by the country they orginate from, so much that we that pinpoint where that person is likely to come from just from the accent. It's more likely the structure of the langauge that influences pronunciation more than anything.
Does English sound like other Germanic languages?
@Guest,
I disagree. Remember what Travis said about the features that English shares with other Germanic languages? I don't see wht foreign learners of English have to do with anything--unless you're talking about dialects of English that were learned by non. And then passed down to the next generation, like Indian English, and Singaporean English.
I disagree. Remember what Travis said about the features that English shares with other Germanic languages? I don't see wht foreign learners of English have to do with anything--unless you're talking about dialects of English that were learned by non. And then passed down to the next generation, like Indian English, and Singaporean English.
My point is that, for instance, English in it's early form (Anglo-Saxon) was learned as a second language by many of it's speakers who likely would have transferred some of their own pronunciation onto the language. Nobody argues that modern French pronunciation was not influenced by Gaulish dialects, so why should it be any different for English?
I just don't agree with the notion of a homogenized language "sound" existing at some point in time, and evolving away from this standard.
Actually most of the speakers during that time were native English speakers. The influence of foreign speakers would be rather small, as one does not pass on ones own non-native accent to ones children. My parents are both non-native speakers of English but I have no trace of their accent in my own pronunciation.
<<My point is that, for instance, English in it's early form (Anglo-Saxon) was learned as a second language by many of it's speakers who likely would have transferred some of their own pronunciation onto the language. Nobody argues that modern French pronunciation was not influenced by Gaulish dialects, so why should it be any different for English? >>
--This is the "English people are Celtic; not Anglo-Saxon" person speaking [can't you tell?]
same old same old recycled over and over again and again
--This is the "English people are Celtic; not Anglo-Saxon" person speaking [can't you tell?]
same old same old recycled over and over again and again
"--This is the "English people are Celtic; not Anglo-Saxon" person speaking [can't you tell?]
same old same old recycled over and over again and again "
I don't believe I said "English people are Celtic; not Anglo-Saxon", because that would NOT be true. I won't even go into the subject, but it's clear from reading the posts here, that some refuse to accept any ideas that challenge their pre-conceived ideas, even though the evidence is out there, and what I said is relevant to the topic.
Besides, anyway some marginal theories that little empirical evidence to back them up are argued to death and then again by some on here, but I guess it's okay only if those fit into people's narrow, pre-concieved world.
same old same old recycled over and over again and again "
I don't believe I said "English people are Celtic; not Anglo-Saxon", because that would NOT be true. I won't even go into the subject, but it's clear from reading the posts here, that some refuse to accept any ideas that challenge their pre-conceived ideas, even though the evidence is out there, and what I said is relevant to the topic.
Besides, anyway some marginal theories that little empirical evidence to back them up are argued to death and then again by some on here, but I guess it's okay only if those fit into people's narrow, pre-concieved world.
Take a person who doesn't know English. Have them listen to German, English, and French. Then ask them to say which language English sounds like the most. I bet, they would say that English sounds more like French then German.
I've actually done that with some of my Korean & Taiwanese friends. They were quick to say, that German and English sound very different from one another. They both agreed, that English and French were closer in the intestiny English was spoken, the rythem, the words, everything. And these girls, do not speak a word of German or English, and they could tell them apart. They could tell that the voice on tape A was English and the voice on tape B was German. Just based on the way the two languages sound. Not once, did they confuse them.
My point is, if English is close to a Germanic language, then, why is it that many people who don't speak German or English don't confuse the two? I mean, these girls could easily tell the two apart. They knew the languages were two different language. And, I did not tell them they were. I simply played the tapes, A =English, B=German and C=French, and they knew that A and B were not the same language, and said that A and C sounded more alike, then A and B...
So whatever. I am still a firm believer that English has a tone of it's own, and sounds like no other language.
I've actually done that with some of my Korean & Taiwanese friends. They were quick to say, that German and English sound very different from one another. They both agreed, that English and French were closer in the intestiny English was spoken, the rythem, the words, everything. And these girls, do not speak a word of German or English, and they could tell them apart. They could tell that the voice on tape A was English and the voice on tape B was German. Just based on the way the two languages sound. Not once, did they confuse them.
My point is, if English is close to a Germanic language, then, why is it that many people who don't speak German or English don't confuse the two? I mean, these girls could easily tell the two apart. They knew the languages were two different language. And, I did not tell them they were. I simply played the tapes, A =English, B=German and C=French, and they knew that A and B were not the same language, and said that A and C sounded more alike, then A and B...
So whatever. I am still a firm believer that English has a tone of it's own, and sounds like no other language.
<<Take a person who doesn't know English. Have them listen to German, English, and French. Then ask them to say which language English sounds like the most. I bet, they would say that English sounds more like French then German.
>>
The thread is whether English sounds like a *germanic* language, not *German*.
German doesn't sound like the other germanic languages like English, Dutch, Frisian, Icelandic, Danish...
Hearing Dutch or Low Saxon you would definitely change your mind.
Besides, French sounds like a germanic language too. This may be why your friends think English & French sound alike :-)
>>
The thread is whether English sounds like a *germanic* language, not *German*.
German doesn't sound like the other germanic languages like English, Dutch, Frisian, Icelandic, Danish...
Hearing Dutch or Low Saxon you would definitely change your mind.
Besides, French sounds like a germanic language too. This may be why your friends think English & French sound alike :-)
Regina, that makes no sense. Portuguese and Italian are both Romance languages that I don't speak and I can easily tell them apart and would never mistake them. There you go.
why should English sound like High German? High German went through an additional consonant shift and English went through the Great vowel shift. Also German has front rounded vowels that English lacks. Also final consonants are treated differently. Therefore the phonology of the two languages has diverged quite a bit. English doesn't have the gutteral sounds that German has. English and French would naturally sound similar to a speaker of a non-IE language, unlike if you compared English and Hindi. Also it's kind of silly to ask if English sounds like the other Germanic languages. Does German sound like Danish? No, in my opinion quite different. I think that english sounds more like Icelandic than Icelandic sounds like Danish, even though they are more distantly related.
@Regina, there are many Germanic languages. standard German is one, English is another, Yiddish, Icelandic, and old Gothic are all Germanic languages. IMO, they all sound rather different. They all share a common ancestor, proto-germanic.
«CID Fri Feb 27, 2009 12:24 am GMT
<<Take a person who doesn't know English. Have them listen to German, English, and French. Then ask them to say which language English sounds like the most. I bet, they would say that English sounds more like French then German.
>>
The thread is whether English sounds like a *germanic* language, not *German*.
German doesn't sound like the other germanic languages like English, Dutch, Frisian, Icelandic, Danish...
Hearing Dutch or Low Saxon you would definitely change your mind.
Besides, French sounds like a germanic language too. This may be why your friends think English & French sound alike :-) »
But why so many people think Dutch is German when they hear it on Youtube?
I speak Low-Saxon with a bit of a Frisian accent at home, because I live very close to Frisia. In the office I speak Dutch of course :).
<<Take a person who doesn't know English. Have them listen to German, English, and French. Then ask them to say which language English sounds like the most. I bet, they would say that English sounds more like French then German.
>>
The thread is whether English sounds like a *germanic* language, not *German*.
German doesn't sound like the other germanic languages like English, Dutch, Frisian, Icelandic, Danish...
Hearing Dutch or Low Saxon you would definitely change your mind.
Besides, French sounds like a germanic language too. This may be why your friends think English & French sound alike :-) »
But why so many people think Dutch is German when they hear it on Youtube?
I speak Low-Saxon with a bit of a Frisian accent at home, because I live very close to Frisia. In the office I speak Dutch of course :).
I would have to agree there - overall, to me at least, Dutch sounds almost like German, but just without the High German sound shift and without aspiration. On the other hand, I have heard West Frisian and Low Saxon that has a bit more of an English-like sound to it than most of the Dutch I have heard.