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Thread: Best languages on earth

  1. #16
    Artist and Bibliophile stlukesguild's Avatar
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    I have to agree with Loka. Some languages just strike me more on an aesthetic level than others. Russian has long seemed crude and brute-like to me... but then again it may just be due to the Russians I have heard speaking. Then again... the right individual can work wonders with the language... even when singing a Russian translation of Italian:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOSjjx6TVMM

    I have a book of Paul Valéry's poetry in which the translator spoke of the act of translation as akin to that of transcription in music. French, he suggested, was more nasal... full of vibrato... lilting... not unlike the violin, where in the opinion of the translator, English, with its far greater vocabulary, was more akin to the piano. German can be incredibly precise... and of course brutal when shouted by a certain Austrian... yet when the lyrics of Goethe, Heine, Schiller, Holderlin, etc... are set to the music of Schubert, Schumann, Strauss, or Mahler, it strikes me as an exquisite language.
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  2. #17
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    well, yeah, some languages have sounds that others dont, but but if you take 2 very similar languages, Spanish and Portuguese, the language is only as good as the talent of the person using it. The "literary" status of spanish writers are clearly superior to portuguese writers. It is because the language? While Portuguese is even a more strict language, derivated from Camões kind of portuguese, a more stylish writer than the one who "symbolizes' spanish, Cervantes. Take arabic, a language which is meant to be rythimic writen or recited since it is the Quran language.

    Strikes me that a language to be great must be european. Other than this, lets praise someone who is so familar with all those languages (about 40) that he have an opinion and even a ranking about it.

  3. #18
    Clinging to Douvres rocks Gilliatt Gurgle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Emil Miller View Post
    I think this scene has probably given many of the men that saw it a similar fantasy judging by the hilarious comments.

    http://youtu.be/d4nc5GXC0Is
    děkuji for posting that pair again Emil.
    I recall you had shared that video with us during last year's discussions on peasant women and orbs on the Bigfoot thread.
    and in return... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpmDAu_47OE
    "Mongo only pawn in game of life" - Mongo

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKRma7PDW10

  4. #19
    Registered User Emil Miller's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gilliatt Gurgle View Post
    děkuji for posting that pair again Emil.
    I recall you had shared that video with us during last year's discussions on peasant women and orbs on the Bigfoot thread.
    and in return... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpmDAu_47OE
    Vielen Dank for the Twinnies video Gilliatt; a very cute start to the day.
    I couldn't remember whether I had posted the Sophia Loren clip before. Did you know that she was nominated three times for a Golden Globes award?
    "L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.

    "Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.

  5. #20
    Registered User kev67's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by deguonis View Post
    My Top 10:

    1- Finnish: Best language this planet has. It should be officialy declared so by some important agency. It's so elegant. A masterpiece. It has no errors.
    2- Hungarian
    3- Estonian
    4- Irish (Sadly underrated and neglected.)
    5- Scottish Gaelic (Dangerously underrated and neglected.)
    6- Manx (Dangerously underrated and neglected.)
    7- Cornish (Dangerously underrated and neglected.)
    8- Breton
    9- Welsh
    10- Basque (Unjustly underrated and neglected.)
    11- Malagasy (Highly Recommended)
    12- Maltese
    13- Greenlandic
    14- Luxembourgish
    15- Afrikaans
    16- Georgian
    17- Icelandic
    18- Czech
    19- Croatian
    20- Romanian
    JRR Tolkein was a lover of Finnish, wasn't he? Didn't he base his Elvish languages on Finnish. I hear it has a lot of different cases, and that it is unrelated to any other European language except Magyar (Hungarian).

    I don't know about Irish and Scottish Gaelic being neglected and underrated. Irish children have to learn Irish at school. However, most Irish literature has been written in English. Most Irish broadsides are sung in English (because they were written in English I suspect). Some Irish airs are sung in Irish. I am pretty sure Scottish television is required to transmit some programmes in Gaelic. I do not know about Manx, but Cornish died out. It was revived by small groups of enthusiasts, but I wonder whether a native Cornish speaker from centuries ago would actually understand it as it is spoken now. Maybe it would take them a few minutes to work out they were trying to speak Cornish. Cornish and Breton were similar. Cornish fishermen could understand Bretons. I think Cornish and Welsh were similar too. Children are required to learn Welsh in Welsh schools. The Welsh are famous for their poetry and singing.

    Basque is unrelated to any other European language, which makes it interesting.

    I would have thought Greenlandic was very similar to Danish.

    I am surprised Afrikaans is on your list. Afrikaans evolved from Dutch. Dutch is not a very pretty language IMO (no disrespect).

    A problem with a lot of those languages is that they were rarely written down. They were languages spoken by peasants.
    Last edited by kev67; 04-01-2014 at 05:50 AM.
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  6. #21
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    Imagine what would have happened if Dickens, Shakespeare, Lewis Carrol had written their works in Cornish.
    Most of us would be reading translations from the Cornish.

  7. #22
    Pretty funny stuff....

    Just my personal flavour, but I like the sound of the Irish (southern) accent the best, followed by...French. If any female was to whisper in my ear, sexily, that they had sorted my sock drawer for me in either of those 'languages' I would be very happy indeed! I love fresh socks. Also I wouldn't say no to that in Italian too.

  8. #23
    Artist and Bibliophile stlukesguild's Avatar
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    Hmm... Irish? How does that play out with your being English? Sleeping with the Enemy? Or perhaps you are just imagining those waif-like folk singers you've posted before?

    Come to think of it... considering a certain opera singer, I can actually quite imagine sweet nothings whispered in Russian:

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  9. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by stlukesguild View Post
    Hmm... Irish? How does that play out with your being English? Sleeping with the Enemy? Or perhaps you are just imagining those waif-like folk singers you've posted before?

    Come to think of it... considering a certain opera singer, I can actually quite imagine sweet nothings whispered in Russian:

    Ha, ha. No actually, I don't think most Englishmen think of the Irish as the enemy at all really, no way. In fact I don't think there is any animosity towards the Irish at all generally from an English point of view. Guinness and Wilde. Full-stop! Maybe also the English are not that much bothered by the Scots or the Welsh, although generally I don't think they like that much the English! I don't know, it is all complicated and amusing. I think the English consider most as rivals still the Germans actually. Though I believe the Germans don't consider the English as rivals, but the French...so see what I mean?

    I'm not really interested in Irish folk singers - even though yes I did post some good examples a few months back - but just generally for me the soft, rural tilt of the Irish accent wins it for me - Neely I have just ironed your socks and can I fetch you another beer from the fridge?.... Also though I believe I am not alone, as the Irish accent came up no.1 in a recent poll of the most desirable here...so there you go, though maybe they didn't fantasise about socks and beer I don't know.
    Last edited by LitNetIsGreat; 04-21-2014 at 08:56 PM.

  10. #25
    Artist and Bibliophile stlukesguild's Avatar
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    Ha, ha. No actually, I don't think most Englishmen think of the Irish as the enemy at all really, no way.

    Of course it was all tongue-in-cheek. I suspect many Americans don't grasp any of the old European animosities... because we are made up of a mix of all of them. I believe we have more people of Irish descent than live in Ireland... and the same might actually be true of English.

    In fact I don't think there is any animosity towards the Irish at all generally from an English point of view. Guinness and Wilde. Full-stop!

    I must admit that I personally have some animosity toward the Irish... in spite of Guinness and Wilde. Of course it has to do with my Irish Great-Grandmother adopted into the Dole (as in Pineapples) family... only to convert to the Mennonite faith, leave her husband, and renounce all her worldly goods. I seriously would have had no problem having been born wealthy. And that damned red beard that always sprouted forth in my younger days whenever I attempted a fashionable goatee! My good stolid German ancestors would never have allowed either.

    I think the English consider most as rivals still the Germans actually.

    I was reading a book on Germany and German culture recently which explored the English/German relationship. It was suggested that World War II has remained a defining moment for the English to an even greater extent than the Americans... in spite of the fact that the war established the US as the single dominant economic/military/cultural superpower for a good many decades. I was suggested that WWII is seen as such a defining moment by many Brits due to their having triumphed over the greatest adversities against a superior foe. In some way it is seen as something similar to our triumph over the British in the Revolutionary War... with the added factor that it is far more recent history.

    Though I believe the Germans don't consider the English as rivals, but the French...

    I thought everyone hated the French.

    Honestly the closest we might have to the old European nationalistic animosities... which can't be helped by so many languages crammed into so little space... must be the festering wounds of the US Civil War. Our most recent elections followed the divide between the old North and South... and a good many have questioned whether the annexation of Texas was ever really a good idea.

    I'm not really interested in Irish folk singers - even though yes I did post some good examples a few months back - but just generally for me the soft, rural tilt of the Irish accent wins it for me - Neely I have just ironed your socks and can I fetch you another beer from the fridge?.... Also though I believe I am not alone, as the Irish accent came up no.1 in a recent poll of the most desirable here...so there you go, though maybe they didn't fantasise about socks and beer I don't know.

    Certainly fantasies involving an Irish accent, clean socks, and beer can't be all that off the wall... although my own fantasies commonly involve a Parisian Hotel room, black garters, stockings, and a bustier, an Italian accent, and some good British stout or Belgian ale.
    Beware of the man with just one book. -Ovid
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  11. #26
    Registered User Emil Miller's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neely View Post
    Pretty funny stuff....

    Just my personal flavour, but I like the sound of the Irish (southern) accent the best, followed by...French. If any female was to whisper in my ear, sexily, that they had sorted my sock drawer for me in either of those 'languages' I would be very happy indeed! I love fresh socks. Also I wouldn't say no to that in Italian too.
    I very much doubt that socks, sexily or otherwise, have ever been whispered into the masculine ear, although like most things in French, 'J'adore tes chaussettes' does sound very sexy when spoken by a female.
    "L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.

    "Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.

  12. #27
    Registered User Emil Miller's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by stlukesguild View Post
    ... although my own fantasies commonly involve a Parisian Hotel room, black garters, stockings, and a bustier, an Italian accent, and some good British stout or Belgian ale.
    Take it from me St Luke's, it's not all it's cracked up to be.
    "L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.

    "Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.

  13. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Emil Miller View Post
    I very much doubt that socks, sexily or otherwise, have ever been whispered into the masculine ear, although like most things in French, 'J'adore tes chaussettes' does sound very sexy when spoken by a female.
    Well then see, I told you so!


    I thought everyone hated the French.
    Yes maybe that is true in our general nationalistic postings. Though sometimes I must admit I feel a little more akin to the French than the English!...in some things. There is also a fair rivalry between the English and the Australians, but that mostly revolves around cricket (The Ashes) and the Olympics.

    Of course it is all fun, but seriously the beauty of the Irish accent for me is second to none; earthy and rural and soft and just lovely.

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