The worst sounding natlang ever

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Ceresz
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Ceresz »

@Chagen: It's a huge stretch, IMO. But hey, if you interpret such a statement as racist without there being any other hint of racism from the one uttering said statement, that's your problem.
Thakowsaizmu wrote:That's like saying "you don't care for Thai food? Obviously you hate Thais! Racist!"
[+1]
Last edited by Ceresz on 05 Jul 2012 21:00, edited 1 time in total.
Thakowsaizmu
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

Ready to have your mind blown? I don't care for the sound of Cantonese. I am actively studying Mandarin and passively studying the differences between Mandarin and Cantonese so that I can eventually learn to read Cantonese as well.
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Ànradh
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Ànradh »

Chagen wrote:"I hate the sound of Chinese" ---> "I hate people who speak Chinese."

Not that far of a stretch.
Now you're just trolling.
Sin ar Pàrras agus nì sinne mar a thogras sinn. Choisinn sinn e agus ’s urrainn dhuinn ga loisgeadh.
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Chagen
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Chagen »

Having a different opinion than you != trolling.
Nūdenku waga honji ma naku honyasi ne ika-ika ichamase!
female-appearance=despite boy-voice=PAT hold boy-youth=TOP very be.cute-3PL
Honyasi zō honyasi ma naidasu.
boy-youth=AGT boy-youth=PAT love.romantically-3S
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Xonen
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Xonen »

Ceresz wrote:If all languages are equal, how can Japanese be one of the best sounding languages out there?
[>_<]

We just got that can of worms closed, why did you have to go and open it again?
Chagen wrote:"I hate the sound of Chinese" ---> "I hate people who speak Chinese."

Not that far of a stretch.
I... just... wow. [O.O]

Going from "I hate the sound of Chinese" to "I hate the Chinese language" would already be a huge stretch. For example, I (still) don't particularly care for the sound of French, but still quite like some other things about the language. The fact that someone's logic can work so utterly differently from mine that they'd even consider going to "I hate people who speak Chinese" in this context is just mind-blowing.
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Xonen
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Xonen »

Chagen wrote:Having a different opinion than you != trolling.
You're not just having a different opinion, though. You're making a somewhat insulting statement and backing it up with a kind of logic that's shared by absolutely nobody. I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you aren't intentionally trolling, but I also think it might be best to let this matter drop. Obviously, you don't share any common ground with anyone else on this issue, and hence, I doubt any useful exchange of ideas can take place. It's just gonna go downhill from here.
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hubris_incalculable
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by hubris_incalculable »

Chagen wrote:"I hate the sound of Chinese" ---> "I hate people who speak Chinese."

Not that far of a stretch.
Yes it is. I truly dislike the French language, because it literally gives me a headache. I don't hate the French.
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Ànradh »

Chagen wrote:Having a different opinion than you != trolling.
Having an aesthetic opinion on something niether intrinsic to a person nor to his race and vise versa != racism.
This is particularily absurd given you claim to like some languages more than others, ergo, you must dislike certain languages more than others. Applying your logic to this, you must dislike these peoples more than others as well.

Now, my white English cousin born to a white Irish man and a white Welsh woman would probably be confused to learn that I was racially discriminating against him because he speaks Japanese. Similarily, a Chinese decended class-mate might be shocked to discover that I was racially discriminating against him because I dislike the sound a language he doesn't speak (he would be further confused by the fact that I was doing so by spending much of my physics class speaking with him about video games and movies.)

I presume one should extend this further and presume I hate black people and Americans because I dislike the sound of gangster rap, which had its origin in black communities in America?

That you are continuing to seriously suggest that this absurd set of circumstances is logical, is a little hard for me to swallow.
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Chagen
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Chagen »

Well, I just see disliking a language is highly disrespectful to the people who speak it.

They can't change their native language, why hate on it? It just seems...wrong to hate a part of someone they can't change at all.
Nūdenku waga honji ma naku honyasi ne ika-ika ichamase!
female-appearance=despite boy-voice=PAT hold boy-youth=TOP very be.cute-3PL
Honyasi zō honyasi ma naidasu.
boy-youth=AGT boy-youth=PAT love.romantically-3S
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

Why is it disrespectful? The language a person speaks in no way defines them as a person.
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Chagen
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Chagen »

It's still an aspect of themselves they can't change. I don't care if it doesn't make sense, to me it feels wrong, and that's that.
Nūdenku waga honji ma naku honyasi ne ika-ika ichamase!
female-appearance=despite boy-voice=PAT hold boy-youth=TOP very be.cute-3PL
Honyasi zō honyasi ma naidasu.
boy-youth=AGT boy-youth=PAT love.romantically-3S
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

That's... interesting. And also false. People can change their native language.
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Allekanger »

I watched a Korean movie a few moths ago where these girls sounded really stupid and whiny ('blablablabla-yOOOOooooOOOoooOOooo' kinda). That kind of Korean was really ugly. But then I watched this other movie on cinema, where this lady spoke so beautifully and had the most genuine, loving laugh. That kind of Korean was very pretty.

I once saw this French speaking guy whose lips seemed to be stuck in the position of French u, like, really pouty(?)! Just held them in that position while spaeking, I don't know why... It was a bit disgusting! I hate French... But then this sexy and funny French woman and I fall back in love with French.

I think it really depends on the people speaking, like, whether or not I like them. As individuals, that is.

Not in some racist way or whatever you're discussing about...
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Chagen
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Chagen »

Thakowsaizmu wrote:People can change their native language.
What.

Your L1 will always be your native language. It's the first language you learned.
Nūdenku waga honji ma naku honyasi ne ika-ika ichamase!
female-appearance=despite boy-voice=PAT hold boy-youth=TOP very be.cute-3PL
Honyasi zō honyasi ma naidasu.
boy-youth=AGT boy-youth=PAT love.romantically-3S
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

No it will not.

My Uncle married a woman from Germany. She's lived in America for so long that she no longer remembers German. She cannot hold a simple conversation in the language, cannot read or write it. She has exclusively spoken English for longer than I have been alive. German cannot be considered her native language anymore because she can no longer use it to communicate. It may be the language she was raised in, but she does not consider it her native language.
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by thetha »

Both definitions of native language are acceptable.
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hubris_incalculable
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by hubris_incalculable »

Chagen wrote:
Thakowsaizmu wrote:People can change their native language.
What.

Your L1 will always be your native language. It's the first language you learned.
For the first 3 years of his life, my father spoke exclusively German. Then my grandparents taught him English, and now he struggles to get by in German.
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Xonen
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Xonen »

Chagen wrote:Well, I just see disliking a language is highly disrespectful to the people who speak it.
You may be overestimating how much value people in general place on their languages... Plenty of Finns have told me they don't like the sound of Finnish. And most have probably never even considered the matter at all, and would pretty much just shrug if someone told them Finnish was ugly. (Although Aszev telling us it sounds "silly" would probably get him killed, since he's a Swede, and Swedes don't get to laugh at us. Ever. Even if a Swede were in any position to call other people's languages silly-sounding. [:P])

And even the people who do sort of care about the language - like me - generally understand that this is a matter of taste, for fuck's sake. It's nothing to get that worked up about.
Thakowsaizmu wrote:Why is it disrespectful? The language a person speaks in no way defines them as a person.
Well... Language might actually have some influence on thought patterns; the jury's still out on that one. But it's no decisive factor in someone's personality, of course - and even if it were, we're still talking only about making aesthetic judgements on how different languages sound to us. As I said before, I simply cannot see how someone would see a connection between that and making judgments about the speakers as people.
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Ceresz
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Ceresz »

Xonen wrote:(Although Aszev telling us it sounds "silly" would probably get him killed, since he's a Swede, and Swedes don't get to laugh at us. Ever. Even if a Swede were in any position to call other people's languages silly-sounding. [:P])
How dare you [:P]!?

Yes, Swedish is indeed silly. I can admit that. I find Finnish to be quite silly too.
Thakowsaizmu wrote: Well... Language might actually have some influence on thought patterns; the jury's still out on that one.
Regarding that, Aszev sent me this link today.
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Xonen
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Re: The worst sounding natlang ever

Post by Xonen »

All of the above being said, though, I could note that I personally don't much care for the point of this thread, either. Bitching about matters of taste doesn't really serve that much of a purpose, IMO, and there's always the slight possibility of someone getting offended if you diss their favorite language or animal or bobbin lace pattern or whatever... And as I said in one of my previous posts, I really think pretty much any language can sound beautiful; it just depends on the speaker and the context.

However, these are just my personal opinions on the matter, and I really don't see anything even remotely resembling racism in this thread.
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