Skandinav Hexaglot Senior Member Denmark Joined 6886 days ago 139 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Danish*, English, German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian
| Message 9 of 130 13 August 2006 at 3:07pm | IP Logged |
I would say Swedish or Czech are the most beautiful.
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lengua Senior Member United States polyglottery.wordpre Joined 6683 days ago 549 posts - 595 votes Studies: French, Italian, Spanish, German
| Message 10 of 130 13 August 2006 at 3:17pm | IP Logged |
I like the v'z and z's in French. I like the rolled r's in Spanish. I like the clipped, defined pronunciation of Japanese. I like the musical lilt of certain English accents. In almost all languages, however, I've noticed that I prefer the voices of female speakers to the voices of their male counterparts.
Edited by lengua on 13 August 2006 at 10:27pm
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Alfonso Octoglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6860 days ago 511 posts - 536 votes Speaks: Biblical Hebrew, Spanish*, French, English, Tzotzil, Italian, Portuguese, Ancient Greek Studies: Nahuatl, Tzeltal, German
| Message 11 of 130 13 August 2006 at 4:03pm | IP Logged |
I don't know how much this topic is related with what we have already dicussed in another thread "Most Beautiful Language".
Maybe the difference is that we are now focusing in the sonority and resonance of languages. It's difficult for me to say which language sounds the best, because I find that the sonority of each language has its own charming effect on me.
French is sophisticated, aristocratic, well-refined...
Canadian French is spontaneous, familiar, warm.
Italian is musical, harmonious.
German sounds energic, powerful.
Brazilian Portuguese is sweet, rythmical.
Spanish -my mother tongue- is soft, it's just beautiful.
Among the native Mexican languages Zapoteco is my favorite.
I also like the Slavic languages sound.
Untill now I haven't found one language I dislike completely.
Edited by Alfonso on 13 August 2006 at 4:04pm
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HyeLezûn Bilingual Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6682 days ago 33 posts - 41 votes Speaks: English*, Armenian* Studies: French
| Message 12 of 130 13 August 2006 at 8:13pm | IP Logged |
In response to an earlier post: yes I DO mean the Italian intonation. I said accent, and I don't know how accurate or inaccurate that was, but I did mean intonation and stress. Also, the Italian people are so warm and friendly, that it may also be their personality as a culture which colors the language so.
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Oboesparkles Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 6690 days ago 9 posts - 12 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Italian, Hungarian
| Message 13 of 130 14 August 2006 at 10:56pm | IP Logged |
I personally love the sound of Russian. I also am very partial to the sound of German. I really enjoy hearing Yiddish as well. It has such a warm quality. I find Mandarin quite beautiful, but I'm not partial to any other Chinese languages I've heard. I love all the african languages I've heard especially Swahili and anything with clicks.
The only language I truly dislike the sound of Hebrew, and I also quite dislike Spanish and Italian. They are both Sing-song and they iritate me.
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hagen Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6959 days ago 171 posts - 179 votes 6 sounds Speaks: German*, English, Mandarin Studies: Korean
| Message 14 of 130 15 August 2006 at 3:19am | IP Logged |
My favourite is still Cantonese and it's such a pity that I don't have enough reasons for learning it any time soon. French is high on my list too, and sooner or later I will get around to learning it.
The sound of Mandarin has lost some of its appeal to me. When I started learning it, I was fascinated by its exotic tones and fricatives. But now that those aren't so exotic any more, its sound has become less beautiful for me. I'm no particular fan of the sound of Russian either.
No offence meant to any native speakers, of course.
Edited by hagen on 17 August 2006 at 3:03am
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vilas Pentaglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6959 days ago 531 posts - 722 votes Speaks: Spanish, Italian*, English, French, Portuguese
| Message 15 of 130 15 August 2006 at 10:57am | IP Logged |
Brazilian Portuguese is musical, charming ,enchanting...
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Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6893 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map
| Message 16 of 130 15 August 2006 at 12:32pm | IP Logged |
Rather than present a list of my personal preferences I'd just like to make the general observation that it depends a lot on what you are used to and how much exposure and/or work you have put in.
Since I started learning Mandarin I find it grows on me more and more and I now find beauty where previously I could only hear unpleasant and chaotic combinations of noises.
I suppose it is the same as most things, not just accents and pronunciation. Digging into it deeper makes it more interesting.
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