Worst sounding languages?

[roshan]

I don't understand why this thread was started.

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To discuss the worst sounding languages.

[thepixiesrock]

Or, maybe becuase you just wanted to tell us that story about the Vietnamese people.

[alanschu]

I can't really comment on the English language, since I speak it fluently.

[kumquatq3]

also, imo, the agreeability of the sound depends if a male or female is speaking it

[Darth Somethingorother]

German has always struck me as an abraisive language.  Very blunt.

 

It's not Gunther, it's G-OOO-nther

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I think english is more abrasive than german. German has all those nice sh sounds.

 

I have taken year in Latin.  It is a fun language for the most part.

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I thought that at first. Then I did it through GCSE (2 years) and A-Level (2 years)- six damn years including the two before GCSE. By the time I had taken my last exam in it, I was sick to the teeth with its crap grammar and irregular everything. It wasn't barbarians, or internal decay that ended the Roman Empire; it was A-level Latin students. That said, I still keep it up. And its nice spoken, and the poetry, especially Catullus and Virgil, is some of the best ever. Damnit.

 

Other than that, I like Italian, French, English (especially older forms) and Arabic (ancient Egyptian sounds nice too, if you can fimd someone who can pronounce it).

Can't stand German. I've always thought you can tell a lot about a language by the way it says 'I love you' and I hope nobody ever tells me 'ich leibe dich'. Welsh (either the language or accented english) makes me want to pull my own teeth out.

 

Never heard Finnish before that video, but I thought it sounded ok.

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Ich liebe dich (pronounced as ishleebudish, i think) sounds a whole lot better than Ay lav yOO. I think that to a lot of non native speakers, english is a very harsh language. I think the worst is the american accent(not sure which area, i think its the california one) where they substitute short o's for strong a's.

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I'm quite able to pronounce German, thank you . Fair enough if many non native english speakers find English harsh- it can be I agree, and as it is strongly related to German, that isn't surprising. However, I wasn't comparing German with English, I was merely remarking that I find the German way to say 'I love you' particularly uninviting, being full of harsh syllables.

(as an aside, I find the English way better because of the softer syllables, but I'll concede that mine is a biased opinion)

 

P.S. It's more Aye luv Yoo- as in the tennis score, rather than a urinal.

P.P.S. Totally agree on the American accent front.

Edited February 16, 2006 by Darth Somethingorother

[Meshugger]

Voi huhu....

[Surreptishus]

Unfortunately my opinion on the sonic aesthetics of different languages is heavily coloured by the perceptions I have of the speakers, be it people I know or sterotypes to which I am exposed. Coupled with what I think are the rules of intonation (as Steve pointed out) it would make for a bigoted view.

 

Having said that...

 

Nigerian accents are horrible as is the language when spoken by its countrymen. Condescending, judgmental and abrasive. these three attributes carry over into their speaking of English as well.

 

A woman berating anyone (especially a man) in a screeching voice sounds terrible but I guess that true with all languages.

 

Chavspeak. I get really annoyed when I can hear scumbag kids speaking in their drivel thats dereived from patois and american "urban" slang.

 

The oddest sounding languages are those of the Kalahari bushmen and Inuit tribes, lots of clicks and sounds in weird parts of teh mouth and throat.

[mkreku]

I'm a total clich

[Gorth]

The bushmen (or Khoi-San as they call themselves) language is kinda impossible to a western ear.

I always imagined that, this is what insects would sound like if they had an oral language :D

 

A couple of language prejudices, based on generalisations :lol:"

 

Swedish sounds like a drunk Dane

Dutch sounds like speaking with a hot potato in your mouth

Japanese love poems sounds like declarations of war

and finally, any french sounds like reciting a menu card...

 

Languages that I like the sound of (not that I speak any of them)

 

Irish (not english with an irish accent, mind you)

Finnish (I'm probably going to hear a lot for that one)

Italian (not sure why really, probably watched too much Sopranos)

and finally spanish (the fifth language I always wanted to learn)

[Gabrielle]

Sie sprechen Deutsches? German is a harsh sounding language but I like it. Gaelic and the romance langauges that came from Latin are other languages I like.

 

Arabic, (the language that Isrealis speak), and the South Eastern Asian languages are down right annoying.

[Fairplay]

I agree about the Vietnamese language, even though I love the food. Somehow, I just find it annoying. I usuaully enjoy listening to foreign babble, but not Vietnamese. Chinese (all sorts), Japanese, Korean, French, German, Filipino all sounds fine to me. The only Vietnamese language I like is Chinese.

[Sabahattin Dere]

Anyone have any idea how Turkish sounds? I'd like to know what my own language is like, in terms of its pure sonority.

 

Once I heard someone speaking in Hungarian (is it called Magyar?) and it sounded surprisingly (uncannily, even) like Turkish. I know the languages are closely related, but I wouldn't expect the intonation etc. so be so similar.

 

I don't have a 'worst' candidate, but for me the best sounding language has to be German. Next would be London-area English (don't know what to call it exactly)

[Fairplay]

Children have incredible ability to learn. Difficulty of learning a language can be determined when grown up.

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Yeah. I think one of the theories is that true fluency can only be achieved before puberty or something. I'm not really sure what they mean by that, because I've seen lots of examples of adults learning foreign languages quite well.

[moreKOTORplz]

I agree about the Vietnamese language, even though I love the food. Somehow, I just find it annoying. I usuaully enjoy listening to foreign babble, but not Vietnamese. Chinese (all sorts), Japanese, Korean, French, German, Filipino all sounds fine to me. The only Vietnamese language I like is Chinese.

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sounds like a fight when too cambodians are speaking

[Diamond]

The only Vietnamese language I like is Chinese.

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[SteveThaiBinh]

I agree about the Vietnamese language, even though I love the food. Somehow, I just find it annoying. I usuaully enjoy listening to foreign babble, but not Vietnamese.

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:'(

 

Hoa sua.

[Gabrielle]

I agree about the Vietnamese language, even though I love the food. Somehow, I just find it annoying. I usuaully enjoy listening to foreign babble, but not Vietnamese. Chinese (all sorts), Japanese, Korean, French, German, Filipino all sounds fine to me. The only Vietnamese language I like is Chinese.

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Their language sounds like jawas babbling on.

[moreKOTORplz]

The only Vietnamese language I like is Chinese.

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i like cantonese compaired to mandrian, although all asian languages (expect japanese) have this whining quality to it which irritates me.

[Llyranor]

lol american

[moreKOTORplz]

lol american

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:cool: KUso

[Atreides]

I can't tell if people are speaking Thai, Vietnamese or Philipino. It's kind of weird because I can place Korean, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese crystal clear.

 

Korean and Cantonese sound rough though.

[moreKOTORplz]

guess no one speaks japanese in here

[roshan]

Or, maybe becuase you just wanted to tell us that story about the Vietnamese people.

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No.

[roshan]

Unfortunately my opinion on the sonic aesthetics of different languages is heavily coloured by the perceptions I have of the speakers, be it people I know or sterotypes to which I am exposed. Coupled with what I think are the rules of intonation (as Steve pointed out) it would make for a bigoted view.

 

Having said that...

 

Nigerian accents are horrible as is the language when spoken by its countrymen. Condescending, judgmental and abrasive. these three attributes carry over into their speaking of English as well.

 

A woman berating anyone (especially a man) in a screeching voice sounds terrible but I guess that true with all languages.

 

Chavspeak. I get really annoyed when I can hear scumbag kids speaking in their drivel thats dereived from patois and american "urban" slang.

 

The oddest sounding languages are those of the Kalahari bushmen and Inuit tribes, lots of clicks and sounds in weird parts of teh mouth and throat.

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Yeah. Ive heard people from places like Kenya, some of the other east african countries, sierra leone and others speak english, and its ok, even cool, but some people from africa have got this terrible way of speaking and pronouncing english, as if each syllable has to be carefully shouted out.

[roshan]

I'm a total clich