Best languages on earth

[deguonis]

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

Definitely interesting languages but not very stylish, fun or sexy: Albanian, Armenian, Turkish, Arab, Farsi, Nahuatl, Guarani, Zulu, Yoruba, Xhosa, Swahili, Siswati, Hausa, Wolof, Kinyarwanda, Ewe, Samoan, Somali, Northern Sotho, Galego, Malay.

Good languages yet extremely overrated: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin & Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Russian.
I hope there is justice someday in this planet. That day, there will be more poetry in Maltese, Manx, Malagasy, Dhivehi, Dzongkha and other underrated languages. What would have happened if Shakespeare had written all his works in Maltese? What about W. B. Yeats writing his poetry in IRISH?

Lousy and/or ugly languages (With all due respect): Catala, Northern Sami, Scots, Kannada, Telugu, Pashto, Urdu.

I know I left many other languages unmentioned. Dutch is actually a GOOD language. Navajo is worth thinking about it too.

[Scheherazade]

What is the measure of "goodness" where languages are concerned?

And how many of those listed (under any category) do you speak to pass such judgement?

[MANICHAEAN]

Since when is "Scots" a language?

Perhaps you refer to the different forms of Gaelic spoken by many inhabitants in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

If so, I would take issue with you as to them being "lousy," (not exactly a word in the English language assailing the heights of erudition!)

[Lokasenna]

What is the measure of "goodness" where languages are concerned?

And how many of those listed (under any category) do you speak to pass such judgement?

My thoughts exactly.

Also, what do you mean by this:


It's so elegant. A masterpiece. It has no errors.

And, indeed, this:


I hope there is justice someday in this planet. That day, there will be more poetry in Maltese, Manx, Malagasy, Dhivehi, Dzongkha and other underrated languages. What would have happened if Shakespeare had written all his works in Maltese? What about W. B. Yeats writing his poetry in IRISH?

Why would Shakespeare have written his plays in Maltese? Yeats, at least, had his reasons for writing in English.

[Iain Sparrow]

My thoughts exactly.

Also, what do you mean by this:



And, indeed, this:



Why would Shakespeare have written his plays in Maltese? Yeats, at least, had his reasons for writing in English.


I think the better question might be, why is it that the English language, clumsy and "overrated" as it is, end up with Shakespeare, Poe, Conrad, Wells, Shelley (that's Mary Shelley, not her ridiculous husband), Orwell, Harper Lee, Joyce... and a motley group of great and not so great names that would take me hours to list?


I suspect it's because the English language has a certain, oh I don't know... I think the French have a saying for it.:)

[AuntShecky]

I suspect it's because the English language has a certain, oh I don't know... I think the French have a saying for it.:)

That witty sentence right there demonstrates how English is an effective language for jokes and word play.

[Emil Miller]

All languages have their points of interest but some are better in certain circumstances than others. If any male LitNet members have ever had a female murmuring sweet nothings in their ear in French or German they will know what I mean.

[stlukesguild]

Indeed! How does one rate a language "good" or "bad"... let alone "overrated"? It seems rather as inane as rating colors. Magenta is the greatest color, bar none. Red's nice... but so overrated. And purple? My God! How pretentious can you be?! :rolleyes:

If we are to measure the "value" of a given language, it would seem to me that this would be found in its achievements. By that measure, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, etc... don't seem to fare all that well. English, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, etc... on the other hand...

All languages have their points of interest but some are better in certain circumstances than others. If any male LitNet members have ever had a female murmuring sweet nothings in their ear in French or German they will know what I mean.

Well... I suspect that having the right female murmuring sweet nothings in Klingon would be just as... "interesting".

Although perhaps not... if whispered by a Klingon.:D

[deguonis]

I"m sorry if I angered someone with this debate. These are just my opinions. English is a truly good language, even for literary purposes but it saddens me that Greenlandic, Maltese, Malagasy, Manx, Cornish, and other neglected and underrated languages have not many writers. Imagine what would have happened if Dickens, Shakespeare, Lewis Carrol had written their works in Cornish. What about Wilde, Poe, Dickinson writing in Greenlandic? Verlaine, Badeulaire, Balzac writing in Scottish Gaelic? (gaidhlig; not Scots leid, which is quite similar to English) Unfortunately, they would be not famous nowadays. English rocks but those underrated languages deserve more writers. Why are English, French, Italian, German, even Portuguese and Spanish more successful in the literary world (and even in the gastronomic world) than Manx, Basque, Malagasy, MALTESE, Greenlandic, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and other underrated tongues? I think it's not fair. It depresses me.

I thought Scots was a language. What is this?:

A MILE AN A BITTOCK

A mile an a bittock, a mile or twa,
Abüne the burn, ayont the law,
Davie an Donal' an Cherlie an a',
An the müne was shinin clearly!
Ane went hame wi the ither, an then
The ither went hame wi the ither twa men,
An baith wad return him the service again,
An the müne was shinin clearly!
The clocks wis chappin in hoose an ha',
Eleeven, twal an ane an twa;
An the guidman's face was turnt to the waa,
An the müne was shinin clearly!
A wind got up frae affa the sea,
It blew the stars as clear's could be,
It blew in the een o a' o the three,
An the müne was shinin clearly!
Noo, Davie was first to get sleep in his heid,
"The best o freen's maun twine," he said;
I'm weariet, an here I'm awa to my bed."
An the müne was shinin clearly!
Twa o them walkin an crackin their lane,
The mornin licht cam gray an plain,
An the birds they yammert on stick an stane,
An the müne was shinin clearly!
O years ayont, O years awa,
My lads, ye'll mind whate'er befa'--
My lads, ye'll mind on the bield o the law,
When the müne was shinin clearly.

It's a poem by R. L. Stevenson in the Scots leid, which is not Gaelic. Scots leid resembles to English quite a lot, unlike Irish, Manx or Scottish Gaelic.

[stlukesguild]

Why are English, French, Italian, German, even Portuguese and Spanish more successful in the literary world (and even in the gastronomic world) than Manx, Basque, Malagasy, MALTESE, Greenlandic, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and other underrated tongues? I think it's not fair.

Art and genius don't necessarily follow some Egalitarian notion of equal disperse-ment among nationalities, languages, etc... You might also need to recognize that Artistic achievement often follows wealth and power. London, Paris, Florence, Venice, New York, etc... are cultural powerhouses due to their wealth and power. Such cultural centers have the advantage of the wealth needed to support the arts and art education, wealthy patrons with the luxury of free time and expendable income required to patronize artists, well-endowed arts institutions. etc... Such centers are open to and attract outsider... whether through trade, immigration, or military conquest. In turn, they also attract the most motivated... and in many cases, the strongest artists. Such great cities provide a grand stage upon which ones achievements are raised up and disseminated internationally. Had Michelangelo been confined to a medium-sized Hungarian town, it is highly unlikely his achievements would have been recognized and spread across the whole of Europe and beyond. But given the stage of the Pope's personal chapel...? It is also doubtful that Michelangelo... living in this Hungarian village would have been afforded the level of education which he gained in Rome and Florence, or the first hand exposure to the works of antique Roman sculpture and architecture, paintings by Giotto and Masaccio, sculpture by Donatello, and the work of other living "giants". The same certainly holds true of literature.

[Lykren]

Really, rating languages on aesthetic terms is a pretty asinine activity. The more people speak a language, the more likely it is that literary talent will emerge in that language. Other than that, all languages have quite a bit in common; there are verbs, nouns, adverbs, and adjectives. There is of course some variation in grammar and vocabulary since they have had to adapt to different circumstances, but I fail to understand how such variation renders one language more 'perfect' in any sense.

[Calidore]

I"m sorry if I angered someone with this debate. These are just my opinions.

I don't think you angered people, but including some reasons for your rankings would have helped.

[Lokasenna]

I don't think you've angered anyone - certainly not me! I'm just interested to know on what grounds you rate certain languages as better than others.

I think one can debate the aesthetic merits of various languages. I've always loved listening to German and Russian poetry and opera more than, say, Italian or French because to my ears they are more expressive and have a greater range of sounds - they have more of a sense of texture to me, though I'll freely admit that my opinion is both subjective and entirely unscientific.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I'm fond of listening to German, western Slavic, but I suppose Italian is my favorite, especially when spoken by the fairer sex.
I've always fantasized being scolded by Sophia Loren (circa '50s Sophia)

[Emil Miller]

I'm fond of listening to German, western Slavic, but I suppose Italian is my favorite, especially when spoken by the fairer sex.
I've always fantasized being scolded by Sophia Loren (circa '50s Sophia)

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

[stlukesguild]

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.

[JCamilo]

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.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

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

[Emil Miller]

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?

[kev67]

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.

[desiresjab]

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.

[LitNetIsGreat]

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!:yesnod: I love fresh socks. Also I wouldn't say no to that in Italian too.

[stlukesguild]

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:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7NZGapn3I0

[LitNetIsGreat]

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:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7NZGapn3I0
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.

[stlukesguild]

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.:hand:

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. :brow:

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.:yesnod:

[Emil Miller]

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!:yesnod: 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.

[Emil Miller]

... 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.:yesnod:

Take it from me St Luke's, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

[LitNetIsGreat]

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.