World's Stangest Languages

Brennus   Saturday, January 15, 2005, 06:27 GMT
Hello. What in your opinion are some of the world's strangest languages? Every language sounds natural and normal, even logical, to the people who speak it has their native tongue. However, foreign speakers often have different impressions.
Real Deal   Saturday, January 15, 2005, 07:48 GMT
English cause its computer language, however it sounds natural as you said. Why you can see in the thread As Russian comic said. its undisputable.... You are all computers
isna   Saturday, January 15, 2005, 08:20 GMT
latin
Damian   Saturday, January 15, 2005, 08:56 GMT
Chinese! That to me sounds the strangest......it does not seem as if it contains a full an proper alphabet. I enjoy listening to them though..there is a pretty sizeable Chinese community here in Edinburgh.
Damian   Saturday, January 15, 2005, 08:58 GMT
full an proper alphabet = full AND proper alphabet
Xatufan   Sunday, January 16, 2005, 21:18 GMT
English is pretty strange...
Easterner   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 09:14 GMT
First of all it should be defined what is meant by "strange". Is it the way a language sounds? Is it another aspect, like its grammar, vocabulary or spelling? Taken all together, I second Xatufan that English is the strangest language (of course, this is a strictly personal opinion). Just think of it: it has a set of sounds not present in any other language, it has a spelling which usually gives no clue as to pronunciation, to the point of being misleading sometimes, and it is a Germanic language which uses Latin words for the noblest or most sophisticated concepts. For Europeans, Chinese and South-Eastern Asian languages may seem equally strange, first of all because of their limited range of world forms, and their reliance on tonic stress for distinguishing meanings. As to syntax, for me Aboriginal American languages including Inuit (Eskimo) are the strangest with their polysyntethic structure. Just an example I remember from my university studies: in a Canadian aboriginal language, "Washagnihwehtonie' Bill" means "We made a snowsnake for Bill" (the sentence is in a rough English transcription, of course). Needless to say, in all cases "strangeness" is used in a positive sense, in a meaning similar to "unique".
Easterner   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 09:18 GMT
Sorry, it should be "word forms"
lls   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 15:01 GMT
English is the strangest language because it make the people who speak it think they are the best speakers in the world.
Toasté   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 15:02 GMT
I have always been intrigued by the various click languages in Africa. I looked for and found an interesting article on them.

http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/articles/clicks.html
Ed   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 15:55 GMT
"Strange" is a very subjective matter. What I may find strange, is normal to someone else, and vice versa.
american nic   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 23:09 GMT
FORGET BEING CORRECT! The post was to tell what YOU think are strange languages. Take it as you do.
Bergen   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 23:22 GMT
French is very weird, especially the pronunciation and spelling!!!
james   Thursday, January 20, 2005, 03:47 GMT
does anyone know where i might listen to one of these 'click languages"?
Canadian Adam   Thursday, January 20, 2005, 03:55 GMT
There is an old movie called 'The Gods Must Be Crazy' that has a 'bushman' in it who speaks one of those clicking languages.