similar languages

Wong   Wed Sep 02, 2009 11:15 am GMT
<< The difference is comparable to Croatian and Serbian.


So, it's the same language :-) >>


If we Malaysians and Indonesians are being honest, yes.
User   Wed Sep 02, 2009 12:00 pm GMT
Hmmm....If Malaysian and Indonesian are the same language, and this language is spoken by almost all people in these countries, the Malay-Indonesian speakers are over 270 million.

I read that it is also spoken in Singapore, Brunei, Timor, Thailand, south of Burma, etc. So, this language is probably 6th most spoken language of the World, after Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, English and Arabic.

But in the lists of the most spoken languages, I always see less speakers. I think this language is underestimated.
Lubango   Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:08 pm GMT
Capeverdean from Santiago, Brava, Maio and Fogo sounds like Brazilian Pt., very vowel-friendly.

Capeverdean from St. Vicente, St Antão, St Nicolau, Sal and Boavista sounds like Continental Portuguese, very harsh, consonant-heavy.
Lubango   Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:51 pm GMT
Danish and Norwegian are like Brazilian Portuguese and Continental Portuguese. In the written form both are very similar (but Danish don't understand well written Nynorsk just like Portuguese people don't understan well written Brazilian vernacular (examples: Macunaíma by Mário Andrade and books by Guimarães Rosa). When spoken, Danish people better understand Norwegian than the other way around, just like Portuguese people better understand Brazilians than the other way around (Portuguese sitcoms are dubbed into Brazilian prior to showing in Brazil, and Portuguese singers/songs are not popular in Brazil due to lack of comprehension of the lyrics). I gave a zouk music CD to a Brazilian friend of mine, sung in CapeVerdean creole, and she asked me if the singer was Portuguese, because the didn't understand a word LOL.
Passado   Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:11 pm GMT
<<I gave a zouk music CD to a Brazilian friend of mine, sung in CapeVerdean creole, and she asked me if the singer was Portuguese, because the didn't understand a word LOL. >>
I'm not portuguese speaker,but some words I understand:

Sô na madrugada di um note sem fim
Na estrada na lua cheia
Na terra di ninguem
Bô parcê um cantar di sol na nha ôie
Luar na nha sonho
Noiva d'madrugada suave juvenil
Bô prendê'me nha alma
'M contá até mil dotes
Di beleza na bô
Qui dixá preso nha pobre coraçon
Ma na prisâo d'nha liberdade sem bô
Cu nha razâo magoado sem gosto
Na nha alma um vazio
Dum tristeza profundo
'M conchê um verdade dess mundo :
C'ma vida tem um sô vida
http://letras.terra.com.br/cesaria-evora/343748/
PepsiLight   Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:53 pm GMT
"Tudo pa bo"

Tudu ki bu presiza n'tene pa bo
Tudo ki bu ta dan e inkrivel mas e puru amor
Sima bo ka ten igual cherry bo nau

Ooh, bo nau
cherry bo nau, bo nau
Bo nau
baby bo nau, bo nau
Ooh bo nau
bo nau, nau

N'ta ser bu dama badja tudo tipu di dansa ku bo
Bu infermera n'ten remedi pa bo
Bu kumida i bebiba e mi
Kumen beben e pidi mas
N'ten mas pa bo

Ooh, bo nau
cherry bo nau, bo nau
Bo nau
baby bo nau, bo nau
Ooh bo nau
bo nau, nau

You're too good to be

You're too good to be true
You're too good
Mmh babe you're too good to be true
You're to good to be true
You're to good

Bu ten algu na bo ki sempri ta puxan pa bo
Bu simplisidadi e nha frakeza
Kada ves un novu expriensa ku bo mmm

You're too good to be true
You're too good

Tu es si sensuel

You're too good to be true
You're too good

Tu es si sensuel

E un sensasau hora ki bu ta
Shake your body, shake your body
E un sensasau apart jhora's ki bu ta
Move your body, move your body
Wong   Wed Sep 02, 2009 6:09 pm GMT
I didn't know that Indonesian/Malaysian was spoken in the south of Burma.
curious   Wed Sep 02, 2009 6:49 pm GMT
Danish and Norwegian are like Brazilian Portuguese and Continental Portuguese

There is a lot of sense in your statement. I have always thought the same. What about Swedish and Danish or Swedish and Norwegian?
Athusbascus   Wed Sep 02, 2009 7:44 pm GMT
How does the difference between all these close languages compare to the difference between US English and the English of England, or perhaps Scotland.
Wong   Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:47 am GMT
Malaysian and Indonesian are comparable to European and Brazilian Portuguese or Norwegian and Danish too.
PARISIEN   Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:39 am GMT
<< How does the difference between all these close languages compare to the difference between US English and the English of England, or perhaps Scotland. >>

- US English and Estuary English, despite some well known differences, are one same language, like Mexican Spanish and Spain's Castilian, or European French and Canadian French.

For Brazilian and European Portuguese I don't know, but from what native speakers say I understand there is a considerable divergence.

The best comparison (between Danish and Swedish) would be with Standard German / Swiss German.

The parallel with Scottish makes sense. I remember people in Glasgow understood perfectly my English but I could hardly grasp a few words of what they said! I felt like a Berliner in Zürich, or someone from Uppland in Copenhagen...
rep   Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:38 pm GMT
<<The parallel with Scottish makes sense. I remember people in Glasgow understood perfectly my English but I could hardly grasp a few words of what they said! I felt like a Berliner in Zürich, or someone from Uppland in Copenhagen... >>
Maybe Berliner in Rheiderland?
Wong   Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:43 pm GMT
<< How does the difference between all these close languages compare to the difference between US English and the English of England, or perhaps Scotland. >>

The difference between Malaysian and Indonesian is indeed comparable to the difference between American English and British English, of which each in itself exhibits great varieties.
A main difference between Malaysian-Indonesian and American-British is the extent of mutual exposure they have.
Most Brits, or people in this world for that matter, are quite familiar to American English through the media.
The same thing can be said about Americans' exposure to British English, or at least certain accents of British English, usually from southeastern England. Many Americans in fact still have difficulty understanding accents from other parts of the British Isles.

Malaysians and Indonesians do not have a mutual exposure comparable to that between British and Americans, yet even then, from my experience as an Indonesian, I've never had any difficulty communicating with Malaysians. Both Indonesians and Malaysians, if we were being honest, would admit that our languages are way over 90% the same. The estimates me and my Malaysian interlocutors made reached 97%. As to whether you want to call them the same language or not, is for each one to decide. After all we also have Croatian & Serbian, Urdu & Hindi (which even have different writing systems), Lao & Thai, and numerous other cases.
PARISIEN   Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:37 pm GMT
<< Maybe Berliner in Rheiderland? >>
-- Noch zutreffender: wie ein Münchner in Rheiderland...