Lizzern Diglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5908 days ago 791 posts - 1053 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Japanese
| Message 225 of 297 18 October 2009 at 12:39pm | IP Logged |
Lindsay19 wrote:
I'm kind of sad that so many people find the American accent ugly :( Sure, I can understand not liking those accents from Boston or the South (I really can't stand them), but even Californian English? (my accent). I'm also rather befuddled about the comments on the American "R". How is it distiguisable from the other English "R"s? Being American myself and so used to speaking it, I'm having a hard time figuring out its peculiarity. |
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I don't find it ugly - but the R thing might be because so many Americans butcher Rs in other languages cause they can't leave behind their American one. This goes for other dialects of English too. Doesn't sound very good! So maybe that's where people's feelings about English Rs come from...
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lynxrunner Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States crittercryptics.com Joined 5921 days ago 361 posts - 461 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish*, French Studies: Russian, Swedish, Haitian Creole
| Message 226 of 297 21 October 2009 at 3:31am | IP Logged |
Most beautiful? Well, I'll list some of my favorites sound-wise here:
English: Yes, I went there. I love the sound of English. Not just any English, though; I love the New 'Yawk' accent. It's such a shame that it's dying out, because it's the most amazing accent in any language ever.
Icelandic: It's such a beautifully flowing language. Each word seems like it belongs with the word after it.
Russian: It's got the rhythm of Italian with that Slavic fun thrown in for a deliciously awesome language.
Honorable Mentions:
Navajo: I'm not going to lie; I like Navajo. Not 'most beautiful' status, but it deserves an honorable mention.
Arabic: It goes great with music.
Yoruba: Angelique Kidjo makes any language seem awesome, but Yoruba sounds particularly cool.
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brunhild Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5509 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishC2 Studies: Japanese
| Message 227 of 297 24 October 2009 at 5:03pm | IP Logged |
I'll have to go with my native language, Portuguese (Brasilian)!
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sebngwa3 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6163 days ago 200 posts - 217 votes Speaks: Korean*, English
| Message 228 of 297 26 October 2009 at 4:41am | IP Logged |
Lizzern wrote:
Lindsay19 wrote:
I'm kind of sad that so many people find the American accent ugly :( Sure, I can understand not liking those accents from Boston or the South (I really can't stand them), but even Californian English? (my accent). I'm also rather befuddled about the comments on the American "R". How is it distiguisable from the other English "R"s? Being American myself and so used to speaking it, I'm having a hard time figuring out its peculiarity. |
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I don't find it ugly - but the R thing might be because so many Americans butcher Rs in other languages cause they can't leave behind their American one. This goes for other dialects of English too. Doesn't sound very good! So maybe that's where people's feelings about English Rs come from... |
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Its peculiarity comes from the fact that most languages' Rs are a flick of the tongue, while English R is a curl of the tongue without touching the palate. (I wonder how it came to be?) The only language that I know that has this kind of R besides English is Chinese (is there any other languages that have this kind of R?). British English sounds better to me because the Rs that follows the vowels are gone.
Edited by sebngwa3 on 26 October 2009 at 4:48am
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David130 Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5575 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes
| Message 229 of 297 26 October 2009 at 12:52pm | IP Logged |
I like Norwegian and Italian.
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Matteo Diglot Groupie Brazil Joined 5579 days ago 88 posts - 85 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English Studies: ItalianB1, German
| Message 230 of 297 26 October 2009 at 2:25pm | IP Logged |
All romances languages.
But i think Italian is the most beautful.
Edited by Matteo on 26 October 2009 at 2:57pm
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minus273 Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5764 days ago 288 posts - 346 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC2, French Studies: Ancient Greek, Tibetan
| Message 231 of 297 26 October 2009 at 2:32pm | IP Logged |
pohaku wrote:
Japanese, too. I might have to learn Japanese simply to be able to hold and admire and read one of their wonderfully printed books. |
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A page in a Japanese paperback is a real delight. So is a Reclams. I understand why it's the Japanese and the German that love to read.
It's a bit hard, though, when you can read and see that maybe they're just printing pretty mundane matter after all, in such beautiful typography.
Pohaku Sāhib, try once the gracious premodern Japanese books!
Ise Monogatari, of the high literature.
Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, a popular novel.
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