As French, Many others consider the English language to be snobbish. Several people don't consider English beautiful or appealing. Why is English considered snobbish or aristocratic? Is it due to the Britain snobbism? The Queen and her son Charles? Or the nob and toff Tony Blair?
an argument, the futur English King Charles XXXIII of Hugspurth-Pittewnetweboth:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Time-magazine-cover-prince-charles.jpg
I've heard English spoken backwards; while not a perfect test, I think it gives us English speakers at least a general idea of how the language sounds to other people. It's the same sounds rearranged in such a manner as to be unintelligible.
By this test, I can attest that English is not a very pretty language; it sounds like we talk with our mouth full of marbles.
If you're talking about Received Pronunciation in particular? I'm not sure why it's perceived as snobbish, except that that's what the Royals and the Upper Class speak.
Why does every about one language in the language forum have to get a corresponding post about English, or vice versa?
<< I've heard English spoken backwards; while not a perfect test, I think it gives us English speakers at least a general idea of how the language sounds to other people. >>
If you mean playing a recording backwards, that isn't really a good test, because any language would sound different that way. But if you mean somebody actually speaking backwards, that might be a good test.
Some British accents, particularly but not limited to "posh" ones, do sound snobbish to me, mostly due to U.S. stereotypes. I mean, the worst they got in England is, y'know, drive-by... arguments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLQQhU9YjNo
- Kef
>><< I've heard English spoken backwards; while not a perfect test, I think it gives us English speakers at least a general idea of how the language sounds to other people. >>
If you mean playing a recording backwards, that isn't really a good test, because any language would sound different that way. But if you mean somebody actually speaking backwards, that might be a good test.<<
I strongly agree, because the distribution of allophones in English dialects is significantly asymmetric between syllable onsets and syllable codas, such as plosive aspiration, glottalization, and nonreleasing (as all aspirated plosives in English are in onsets and all glottalized and unreleased plosives in English are in codas, and playing English backwards would reverse their distribution while turning aspirated plosives from being postaspirated into being preaspirated and glottalized plosives from being preglottalized into being postglottalized).
"As French, Many others consider the English language to be snobbish"
The French calling other people snobbish is like the pot calling the kettle black.
And when (or if) Charles becomes King he would be King Charles III.
Or if he uses his middle name George (many monarchs have used their middle name) he would be King George VII.