Language Megathread 1.0

[dudeman162]

spanish was easy for me to learn because it's latin based just like english

English is a Germanic language, but it borrowed many of its words from Latin.

[Ad Bot]

[Flatflyer]

I rarely paid attention in French class :/

the only thing I remember in French is how to say "can I go to the washroom"

[Tonkka²]

Here's the languages i speak

Finnish
Swedish
German
English

[Pie Crust]

Exact spanish-english translations will give you a bad time. Exact spanish-italian translations are OK. English has too many rules.

[Gumba Jonny]

Spanish and portuguese are way different.

yeah i know but
he's a comedian
it's a joke

but it's a very fitting description otherwise

[sir dooble]

I speak English, being born into the language.
I apparantly have a 'posh' accent, according to a number of my friends, but this might be a misjudgment of me, since I'm a little bit refined (which mainly comes from being shy), and my native accent is Oxfordian.
But, I've not lived in Oxford for over 10 years, so I don't think I have a proper Oxford accent anymore. I probably have a half-North Devonian/half- Oxford, plus those random bits I've picked up from TV and film, and my slight lisp.


Other than my native language, I can technically speak French (or am atleast qualified at a basic level in French, with a C Grade GCSE).
But I'm not very good and haven't practiced any speaking/writing/reading or listening in the past 3 years.
If you're interested in the history/power/growth of Language, then I highly suggest Stephen Fry's Planet Word, a give-part documentary series on Language.

I don't have any links to watching it, but I'm sure you can google some.
And I know it is currently available on Netflix (at least on the Xbox 360).
Here's the programme's BBC page though. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015h1xb

[otto-san]

English is a Germanic language, but it borrowed many of its words from Latin.

most of english seems to come from greek/latin/latin-based languages

i guess it just keeps the germanic model

[sir dooble]

most of english seems to come from greek/latin/latin-based languages

i guess it just keeps the germanic model

Not really.

I think proportionally it is much closer to Germanic than Greek/Latin.

It's predominantly taken the backbone of language from the Germanic Anglo-Saxon language when they entered the British Isles following the retreat of the Roman Empire.

On top of that it takes influence from Nordic Viking languages who also pillaged and settled in the Isles, and then finally it's got a big heap of Norman French (which isn't too similar to actual French, which is a modern language) following the Norman Invasion in 1066.


The entrance of Latin/Greek words mainly comes in through Science and Religion, as churches used Latin text due to it's connection to Rome, the Vatican and the Holy Roman Empire.
For the common language it doesn't take too much from Latin/Greek, as most of those words were generally used by the minority upper classes in the writing of religious material and law.

The more common words that share Latin heritage tend to come from Norman words, since they, being related to the various French languages in France were still Romantic languages and had that Roman background.

That's why English isn't a Romantic language, like French/Spanish/Italian.
Instead it's a predominantly Germanic stew of languages from Northern and Western Europe.

[Gumba Jonny]

french and norman especially had both had a very profound influence on english to the extent where old english is pretty much unintelligible to normal modern english speakers

french was the upper class language of england for hundreds of years too where english was spoken by peasants

[sir dooble]

french and norman especially had both had a very profound influence on english to the extent where old english is pretty much unintelligible to normal modern english speakers

french was the upper class language of england for hundreds of years too where english was spoken by peasants

It's worth noting though that French in the forme of Middle English is almost unrecognisable compared to modern French.

Modern French, as they speak in France today, is a new language and has only been codified in the last 100 or so years.
Before that different parts of France all spoke different languages and dialects, which might be similar, but are distinct.
In that same way, Norman French was very different to that spoken on the Mainland at the same time, and even more different than French spoken today.

[Gumba Jonny]

damn
dooble turning up with the facts

that thing about official french being codified only 100 years ago or so kind of sounds like how florentine tuscan was made the official language of reformed italy where all the seperate kingdoms previously had their own

[GhostStar]

I can cus in russian

Сука

and in german I know how to say stuff  but idk how to spell it

[$trinick]

I know English and enough Japanese that I could make my way home if I had a The Hangover-esque encounter that left me stranded in Tokyo.

and in german I know how to say stuff  but idk how to spell it

Scheisse or scheiße. Since American keyboards don't have an esset key, scheisse will do just fine.

[Electrk.]

alt 0223

I'm learning German in college. I'm currently finishing up my second semester.

[/Pacha]

I can cus in russian

Сука

Курва