Languages that feel cool
Re: Languages that feel cool
I generally dislike the phonology and morphology of English - all those diphthongs, yikes - but the richness of reading, watching, and listening materials available in it more than make up for that, IMO.
Re: Languages that feel cool
On the other hand, the English phonology looks cool to me. Indonesia's phonology looks boring. It looks like Average Joe phonology. However, Indonesian's morphology is the cooler one.
IPA of my name: [xʷtɛ̀k]
Favourite morphology: Polysynthetic, Ablaut
Favourite character archetype: Shounen hero
Favourite morphology: Polysynthetic, Ablaut
Favourite character archetype: Shounen hero
Re: Languages that feel cool
Indonesian phonology is a lot easier to learn, though.
I don't think the fact that you weren't immersed in Javanese is something you should be blamed for, and Navajo has never died and is one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages in the United States (but of course is still endangered). So I don't agree that you're a hypocrite.
Re: Languages that feel cool
Maybe the real problem with that guy in the comment was that in French, he can understand the lyricszompist wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 8:44 amNeither does English! We have loads of consonant clusters and some really clunky vowels.quinterbeck wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:15 am That's... absolutely bizarre, because it's the complete opposite of how English speakers typically think of the two languages. I can't quite believe someone would say this in earnest.
(That said, have you seen a phonetic transcription of French?? It certainly doesn't look melodious)
Of course, people make adjustments when singing, and a good singer can make any language sound great. (These would make an interesting study, in fact— has some linguist done so?)
I don't like La Femme's male lead singer voice much, and I don't think it'd be improved by switching to English. The other singer (a woman) is a lot better - Mycose compares very favorably to many New Wave Songs, even regardless of the lyrics. (*)
(*) It's about yeast infection. I find it funny. I got a sick sense of humor I guess.
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Re: Languages that feel cool
I really like La Femme... I was addicted to "Amour dans le Motu" for awhile. The lyrics generally suck, but I don't expect pop songs to have great lyrics.Ars Lande wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:00 amMaybe the real problem with that guy in the comment was that in French, he can understand the lyrics
I don't like La Femme's male lead singer voice much, and I don't think it'd be improved by switching to English. The other singer (a woman) is a lot better - Mycose compares very favorably to many New Wave Songs, even regardless of the lyrics. (*)
(*) It's about yeast infection. I find it funny. I got a sick sense of humor I guess.
(I like Quellenec too, but she has such a soft voice that it kind of spoils the concert videos.)
Re: Languages that feel cool
For me it's the other way around. I tend to be really annoyed by stupid lyrics in French, while I can easily ignore stupid lyrics in English. As a result, I rarely listen to French-speaking artists, apart from actually great lyricists such as Renaud or Georges Brassens. For the same reason, when I tried to write song lyrics, I couldn't do it in French (too hard: who am I, trying to follow Jean Ferrat or Jacques Brel??), but found easier to do it in English (after all neither the Beatles nor Led Zeppelin would win the Nobel Prize anytime soon).
Re: Languages that feel cool
A friend recently wrote a blog post about a similar topic.
My relation to English, bilingualism, and this blog
My relation to English, bilingualism, and this blog
Re: Languages that feel cool
I've found that the consonantal root system of Arabic gives me greater clarity of thought when thinking or writing in that language. However, English allows me greater precision in what I want to say, and its flexibility in coining new words absolutely beats that of Arabic.
Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.
Veteran of the 1st ZBB 2006-2018
CA TX NYC
Veteran of the 1st ZBB 2006-2018
CA TX NYC