The World's most beautiful/ugly language ?

[Urederra]

Red Threat, you copied my sig... grrrr.....

 

[SonicX]

The Dutch most people know is probably "ABN" which is Dutch without an accent as is ruled by the elite language people. But the sound of the Dutch language in foreign ears can vary greatly Limburgian or Flemish Dutch sounds completely different from ABN. It varies so much I can't understand most Flemish dialects at all. And Limburgian Dutch is more a combination of German and Dutch and altough I can't understand it without listening very closely I think it's sound a lot prettier than standard ABN and sound more musical.

There are two types of AN, the Dutch AN you hear on the NOS and the Flemish AN that you hear on the VRT. You can't really unify it, certainly not since Surinaman is now also officially a Dutch dialect.

Personally, I'm a Limburgian Dutch speaker, so I must thank you for the compliments since we're usually the laughing stock of the Greater Netherlands Too bad the rest of the world will never hear our language, I must say this is sounds very different from Dutch, but we use almost the same words ... it's just very singy and soft

 

[stormbind]

I do not much appreciate wails, squeaks, squawks, clicks, rasps, gargles or snorts - especially when they are high pitched.

Americans combine with the most delightful of languages, all of the above

 

[stormbind]

There are two types of AN, the Dutch AN you hear on the NOS and the Flemish AN that you hear on the VRT. You can't really unify it, certainly not since Surinaman is now also officially a Dutch dialect.

Personally, I'm a Limburgian Dutch speaker, so I must thank you for the compliments since we're usually the laughing stock of the Greater Netherlands Too bad the rest of the world will never hear our language, I must say this is sounds very different from Dutch, but we use almost the same words ... it's just very singy and soft

Wuh? I do not comprehend any of that. I speak Dutch like someone from Nord Brabant, and have never clearly understood why many English assume that means I speak Flemish. Plus, I find the Amsterdam accent exceedingly difficult to follow... but that might be because I class all mouthy and slurd Dutch speakers as being from Amsterdam

 

[AceChilla]

There are two types of AN, the Dutch AN you hear on the NOS and the Flemish AN that you hear on the VRT. You can't really unify it, certainly not since Surinaman is now also officially a Dutch dialect.

Your right, altough when you write Dutch ABN the same as Flemish ABN, the sound is distinctly different. Flemish ABN is softer, with a soft "G". While the Dutch "G" is rather...unique

I think the Flemish ABN sounds more beatifull (less ugly) in foreign ears.

And Surinaman is not only an official dialect, their words are now also officially part of the Dutch ABN. Which I find pretty much nonsense.

Hey Swa, pass die Jonko ff door aan die Sma daar

Personally, I'm a Limburgian Dutch speaker, so I must thank you for the compliments since we're usually the laughing stock of the Greater Netherlands Too bad the rest of the world will never hear our language, I must say this is sounds very different from Dutch, but we use almost the same words ... it's just very singy and soft

Some of your words have been Germanized a little bit, I can't think of an example right now. But those words you wouldn't hear in a normal Dutch conversation. And everything below the great rivers is still kind of a third world country, altough their language sounds nice

 

[Truronian]

Good: UK English
Hindi
Chinese
Finish, I love the Fargo-esque accent in North Michigan and the area

Bad: Japanese - too manic
US English - too schreechy for me
Cornish - I doubt youll have heard of this, and thats probably a good thing

 

[stormbind]

Flemish ABN is softer, with a soft "G". While the Dutch "G" is rather...unique

I thought the Dutch G was soft - this is so confusing!

I say it like, erm... well it is like the sound of wind gliding across the roof of the mouth.

 

[SonicX]

Wuh? I do not comprehend any of that. I speak Dutch like someone from Nord Brabant, and have never clearly understood why many English assume that means I speak Flemish. Plus, I find the Amsterdam accent exceedingly difficult to follow... but that might be because I class all mouthy and slurd Dutch speakers as being from Amsterdam

Well, you've got three types of Dutch : North of the Rhine, South of the Rhine and Flemish. Noord Brabants is south of the Rhine and it's consonants sound a lot softer than North-Rhine Dutch, almost like Flemish, while it's vowels still sound Dutch instead of Flemish. I know, it's complicated

Some of your words have been Germanized a little bit, I can't think of an example right now. But those words you wouldn't hear in a normal Dutch conversation. And everything below the great rivers is still kind of a third world country, altough their language sounds nice

There are some Germanizations in my part of the country yes :
k -> ch (greek chi, russian kh)
s -> sh at the start of the word
very very soft r sound, not really rolling
n and t at the end of the word not pronounced
eu -> oi (german eu)
ei/ij -> ai (german ei)

The "schr" changes in "shchr" which ofcourse still is very difficult to pronounce for foreigners.

But speaking about speaking with a throttal tones ... try Richard Quest English (it's a category on it's own !)

 

[SonicX]

I thought the Dutch G was soft - this is so confusing!

I say it like, erm... well it is like the sound of wind gliding across the roof of the mouth.

That's a Flemish G.
A Dutch G sounds like the H in Ehud Barak in Hebrew.

 

[AceChilla]

I thought the Dutch G was soft - this is so confusing!

I say it like, erm... well it is like the sound of wind gliding across the roof of the mouth.

Well the Dutch "G" doesn't really exist

Rougly you can say that below the great rivers it's soft. So in Noord-Brabant where you learned Dutch and south of that it is soft. like you describe.

In the West and norther part of the Dutch speaking area, we pronounce the 'G' like Arabs. It's sound like someone clearing their throat.

 

[Combat Ingrid]

In the West and norther part of the Dutch speaking area, we pronounce the 'G' like Arabs. It's sound like someone clearing their throat.

That reminds me of when some Dutch friends of mine tried to teach me how to pronounce "Grolsch" properly. I was waiting patiently but they just kept clearing their throats over and over again. Very rude people

 

[stormbind]

In the West and norther part of the Dutch speaking area, we pronounce the 'G' like Arabs. It's sound like someone clearing their throat.

That is how my dad speaks Dutch. I really cannot understand, and it sounds awful

In Noord Brabant, people used to claim he sounded like one from Amsterdam, which is why I classify anyone I cannot understand as being from there

I hope that is not offensive.

 

[SonicX]

That reminds me of when some Dutch friends of mine tried to teach me how to pronounce "Grolsch" properly. I was waiting patiently but they just kept clearing their throats over and over again. Very rude people

Marvelous

 

[Rhye]

Sound good:
Greek -> fantastic! Have you ever played Age of Mythology??
French -> it's a pleasure to hear
UK English -> the true english
Spanish -> Mainly because I can understand most of it
Chinese -> cool tonal system


US English, Hebrew, Dutch and Hungarian are very annoying in my opinion.

Don't mind the others.



I can't say anything about Italian, because it's my language and I can't see how it sounds to a non-Italian speaker. (I can only judge regional accents. That can vary from wonderful Florence accent to horrible Neapolitan)
Anyway I see it's one of your favourites. What's so special in it?

 

[Tomoyo]

Like: Japanese, Dutch, UK English
Ouch: Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish

I speak Mandarin fairly fluently, but when I speak it, it's like I'm holding my breath, and then after a while and my brain, due to the lack of oxygen, defaults some words into Cantonese.

 

[Maniacal]

Having only had little exposer to other leanguages besides french and spanish and of course the language I know best (by like 95% ) is Canadian English.

 

[Ramius75]

That it does. When I go home and attend reunions, other patrons in the restaurant would hear me and my high school buddies hamming it up, and get the impression that we were arguing. (The liberal insertion of expletives in our conversation doesn't help either. ) I dunno, it's not like we're consciously acting the part, we just speak Hokkien very earthy and rough.

yup, thats why i dont really like that language, almost the worse of the dialects, and i wish they will all just go away.

 

[Urederra]

Sound good:
Greek -> fantastic! Have you ever played Age of Mythology??
French -> it's a pleasure to hear
UK English -> the true english
Spanish -> Mainly because I can understand most of it
Chinese -> cool tonal system


US English, Hebrew, Dutch and Hungarian are very annoying in my opinion.

Don't mind the others.

Why do you distinguish between UK english and US english and not between Spain Spanish and Mexican Spanish? I don´t mind you in particular. I am talking in general.

But You can be right, IMHO It is easier for a Spaniard to understand mexican spanish than for a west coast american to understand scottish english. That´s one of the beauties of spanish.

BTW, You made a wonderful CIV III mod. Good luck with the CIV IV scenarios

 

[Rhye]

Why do you distinguish between UK english and US english and not between Spain Spanish and Mexican Spanish? I don´t mind you in particular. I am talking in general.

Because I don't know how Mexican sounds. I only know Spanish and Argentinian, and I like both.

 

[Riverburn]

hmmm... Well, I'm kinda a fan of French (Le langue de l'amour), German and Portugese. Portugese probably because I know a pretty cool guy from there.

Arab can be pretty nice as well. kinda sing song.

I usually don't keep myself busy with languages I don't like, so ehm... well, can't really tell which language I'd dislike. I once had an Italian screaming at me which didn't sound good at all (but then he was angry, and I don't think any language sounds good when angry)... but then Italian is one of the more beautiful countries in the world.

and about Dutch. I'd say every region has it's own Dialect. I'm from Brussels, and I speak Dutch mixed with french (bruxellois). A person coming from Gent has a complete different dialect from mine (but still very understandable dutch). A person coming from Brughe is virtually incomprehensible (and they use the exact same grammar as the rest does - they just don't bother pronouncing some letters like the G, or R). Antwerp also has it own ring to it, but very understandable for outsiders. Limburg is understandable for everyone (it takes a considerable longer time for them to speak - no insult intended ). People in Brabant can also at times use weird tones (certainly around Halle, Rode, Dworp, Buizingen and all).

Holland has it's own set of dialects. Apeldoorn totally differs from Utrecht, which is not comparable to Eindhoven which again is utterly different from Amsterdam and we haven't mention Limburg - Holland (you've got a Belgian and Dutch Limburg). But Holland has a Dutch that actually really is absolutely not dutch at all. People in the east north part of Holland (friesland) speak an almost complete different language. theit streetnames apparently have the normal Dutch version as well the the Fries version.
I heard it was a mix between Dutch and German, but I can't really tell.

But I bet that every language has it's own versions and dialects. Romanian people in the south speak an awful lot faster then Romanians in the North(and the difference between Transylvania, Moldavia, Wallachia, Bucovina). Italians from Bari can easily pinpoint people from the North etc...

Cheers