The World's most beautiful/ugly language ?

[Takhisis]

I didn't vote (seriously, this thread is from 2005) but deep red-neck nasal American can make me cringe.

Try writing it. The grammar rules are INSANE.

Try writing a Celtic language.

When I was 11 and learning German for the first time, I was thrilled to learn that "vater" was German for "father" and was pronounced "farter". Better yet, "grandfather" was "groβvater", pronounced "gross farter". I've grown up since then

No, you haven't.

 

[Arakhor]

No, you haven't.

Hey! I resent that! I've grown nearly two whole feet in 20 years!

 

[W|M]

Try writing a Celtic language.

That´s easier to write than Portugese. There are just too many rules. Also, shout the Portugese word for ´knife´ in the street.

Spoiler :

It´s ´faca´

 

[Dachs]

When I was 11 and learning German for the first time, I was thrilled to learn that "vater" was German for "father" and was pronounced "farter". Better yet, "grandfather" was "groβvater", pronounced "gross farter".

...to a Brit, maybe...

 

[Bluemofia]

When I was 11 and learning German for the first time, I was thrilled to learn that "vater" was German for "father" and was pronounced "farter". Better yet, "grandfather" was "groβvater", pronounced "gross farter". I've grown up since then

Err... I was taught that it was pronounced "Vater" (as it's spelled), rather than "farter".

The only immaturity that we ever managed to do in German was "sechs", and the implications of the phrase "Ich bin Heiss".

And the results of a mispronunciation of "schuss" with "scheiss".

 

[Takhisis]

Hey! I resent that! I've grown nearly two whole feet in 20 years!

Prove it. As Lt. Kaffee would say, I WANT THE PROOF!!!

That´s easier to write than Portugese. There are just too many rules.

You do dare dispute against a language where you actually have to add several vowels and consonants which will never be pronounced and a single phoneme may be represented by a handful of letters?

Also, shout the Portugese word for ´knife´ in the street.

Spoiler :

It´s ´faca´

Which street? 'faca/facón' is a kinfe in Spanish, too. And they don't make such a mess here in Buenos Aires. Actually, a faca is a some sort of prison kinfe.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I thought "cuchillo" was the Spanish word for knife.

 

[Takhisis]

Both are valid.

 

[Danielion]

Just to piss you guys off:

Link to video.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Err... I was taught that it was pronounced "Vater" (as it's spelled), rather than "farter".

The only immaturity that we ever managed to do in German was "sechs", and the implications of the phrase "Ich bin Heiss".

And the results of a mispronunciation of "schuss" with "scheiss".

Brits have problems with rhotic sounds. I remember one on Counterstrike who kept saying "war". Turns out he meant "water".

 

[Danielion]

Isn't that more a problem mainly chavs encounter?

 

[Arakhor]

Err... I was taught that it was pronounced "Vater" (as it's spelled), rather than "farter".

Well, we were taught German by a native German woman, whose name amusingly was Frau Deutsch. Chances are, she knew what she was talking about!

 

[lolno]

Chinese sure sounds ugly for an outsider and as Chinese are - for the moment - only good at copying and obeying like slaves, I also assume it's a slave language.
They even let men scream like little girls in their operas:

"Chinese" isn't a language, there are several dialects. And China has more or less always been free- you can't dismiss widespread serfdom and slavery in Europe because "everyone else" was doing it. The peak slave population in Chinese history (4,200 years dynastic, another 6,000 in a civilized neotlithic with proto-writing and agriculture) is around 1.3% of the general population, while so-called "free" Europeans were 30% slave and another 20-30% serf. Germans were literally wiping themselves with their left hands, eating with their right, running around in the forests of Europe half naked and dying off to disease (due to Europe generally being- uh, shall we say unhygienic until the 1850s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZYU7l-At8s&feature=player_embedded)

Ugliest languages:
German certainly sounds ugly to non-speakers. Presumably a savage language as Germans are - in modern times - only good at putting people in death camps and undermining civilization in Europe, I would wager that it's a "sub-human" or otherwise "uncivilized" language- GASSEN DAS JUDEN! COOKEN DAS GYPSYVOLK! No matter how many times you say it, it sounds inappropriate.

Moderator Action: Warned for trolling.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

Most beautiful:
Eastern Tibetan
Middle Chinese
Manchurian

Decent:
Japanese

Most overrated:
Italian, various
French, various
"Proper" English

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

"Chinese" isn't a language, there are several dialects.

And they all sound ugly, IMO.

 

[Danielion]

"Chinese" isn't a language, there are several dialects.

I AM aware of that.

 

[lolno]

And they all sound ugly, IMO.

Not that you've heard more than one or two out of 100 or 2,000+ depending on how you define "dialect".

Truth be told most of the major divisions would be considered separate languages, if not for grammatical structure, held in place by script.

The only thing we know for sure, is that they sound better than the "scheisse" Germanic languages that sound as if they were developed, in one day, in the midst of very bad scat film in the caves of Northern France, IMO.

 

[Verbose]

Not that you've heard more than one or two out of 100 or 2,000+ depending on how you define "dialect".

Truth be told most of the major divisions would be considered separate languages, if not for grammatical structure, held in place by script.

The only thing we know for sure, is that they sound better than the "scheisse" Germanic languages that sound as if they were developed, in one day, in the midst of very bad scat film in the caves of Northern France, IMO.

Hey, you've grown soft. You didn't call them Nazis this time...

 

[lolno]

I realize there is more to the great Aryan Germanic culture than destroying civilization, concentration camps, and the invasion of Poland. Such as scat films, Armin Meiwes, and Josef Fritzl.

 

[bhsup]

Could have sworn I posted in this over a year ago, but I guess not.

Beautiful

• German
• Russian
• Romanian
• The Black tongue of Mordor

Ugly

• Italian
• French
• Thai

Ugliest languages:
German certainly sounds ugly to non-speakers. Presumably a savage language as Germans are - in modern times - only good at putting people in death camps and undermining civilization in Europe, I would wager that it's a "sub-human" or otherwise "uncivilized" language- GASSEN DAS JUDEN! COOKEN DAS GYPSYVOLK! No matter how many times you say it, it sounds inappropriate.

Most beautiful:
Eastern Tibetan
Middle Chinese
Manchurian

Decent:
Japanese

Most overrated:
Italian, various
French, various
"Proper" English

This is why I better never hear someone say there is an 'objectively' correct answer to this question.

 

[Bill3000]

This is why I better never hear someone say there is an 'objectively' correct answer to this question.

As the local language-nut, I can safely say there isn't. The best explanation that has been found is that it's tied to one's preconceptions of the speakers or where the language is used. For example, Southern American English is ugly because it's spoken by traitors, and English English is ugly because it's spoken by the people of a region that I loathe.