Whats the best with your native language?

Sander   Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:15 pm GMT
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Linguist   Thu Jul 07, 2005 6:40 pm GMT
<<The possibility the Serbo-Croatian and Russian languages have with for example "glava", is it so for all Slavic languages or is it only for uniqe for them?>>

it exists in all slavic languages, i can't say if it is unique as i dont know much about non-european languages....but among european langs only slavic ones have such thing.

Oh and i forget about one more thing - Russian doesnt have the word "to be" in present, so
Table is white= table white=stol bjelyj
i am a good person = i good person = ja horoshij chelovjek

we have only one form of "to be" in prsent and it is used in specail constructions, but never like "to be".
Sanja   Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:27 pm GMT
>>Russian doesnt have the word "to be" in present<<

That's interesting. Serbo-Croatian has it.

Table is white - Sto JE bijel
I am a good person - Ja SAM dobra osoba

But it has different forms, depending on a few facts (if it is a first, second or third person, and also if it is a singular or plural). For instance:

I am - Ja sam
You are (singular) - Ti si
He is - On je
She is - Ona je
It is - Ono je
We are - Mi smo
You are (plural) - Vi ste
They are - Oni su (masculine), one su (feminine), ona su (neuter)
beverly   Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:51 am GMT
One of the best things about American English--probably about any language--is the abundance of exclamatory remarks that give the language some color:

Yeeeee-haaaaw! (to express having big fun at doing something)
Ooooo-weeee! (pleasure at seeing something)
Wow! (reaction of surprise)
Ah-pooh! (to express disappointment)
etc.

Some can be used in a variety of circumstances and some have more "colorful" "four-letter" versions.
Ed   Sat Jul 09, 2005 3:25 am GMT
What's the best thing about Bulgarian? Let's see...

It has a non-witness mood of the verbs that's not present in the other Slavic languages. It's used when you were tolkd about something, but didn't see it yourself or you're not sure about it.

Example:

Ivan gleda film (Ivan is watching a movie i.e. I know this for sure, I just saw him)
and
Ivan gledal film (Ivan is watching a movie i.e. I've been told, but I'm not sure)

Ivan shte hodi v Sofia (Ivan is going to go to Sofia i.e. He told me)
and
Ivan shtial da hodi v Sofia (Ivan is reportedly going to go to Sofia)

We also have that thing with one word being changed depending on your opinion:
glava - head
glavitsa - small head (endearing)
glavichka - same as above
glavishte - enormous head (mocking)

And another important thing is that we don't have any cases unlike other Slavic languages. Rather, we use prepositions.
Sanja   Sat Jul 09, 2005 2:20 pm GMT
"Ivan gleda film (Ivan is watching a movie )"

Wow, I can't believe it! That sentence is 100% the same as it would be in Serbo-Croatian. :) And also: "glava", "glavica" (pronounced "glavitsa").
Ed   Sat Jul 09, 2005 2:59 pm GMT
<<Wow, I can't believe it! That sentence is 100% the same as it would be in Serbo-Croatian. :) And also: "glava", "glavica" (pronounced "glavitsa"). >>

Haha, well, I guess we shouldn't be surprised. The languages are very close. However, a major difference is that in Serbo-Croatian the accent always falls on the first syllable, while in Bulgarian there's no fixed position.

For example:
glAva in Serbo-Croatian vs. glavA in Bulgarian.
glAvitsa in Serbo-Croatian vs. glavItsa in Bulgarian.

:))
Sanja   Sat Jul 09, 2005 3:03 pm GMT
True, the accent is usually on the first syllable. Not always, but usually. In longer words it might not be the case. But then again, different areas here have different accents.
Sigma   Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:40 am GMT
I think in spanish we can express our emotions and feelings in a extremely rich way... for example in english they only have a few ones like: "I love you" and "I adore you" for example .In spanish we have more words and each and everyone of them express a different grade of love, anger, or any other emotions for example:

Te quiero : When you love a person in a normal way by example between friends, or relatives it express a normal grade of love.
Te amo: It express a full form of love the love expressed here is so much greater that in the expression "te quiero" for example between husband and wife they said "te amo" instead of "te quiero". And it's the greatest expression of love in words.
Te adoro: It express a total devotion for the beloved one and its the I adore you from english.
Te aprecio: It mean I value, I praise you.
Te odio; I hate you
Te detesto: I hate you
Te aborresco: I hate you but in a extremely way... like you cannot even think in the hatred one.
No te soporto: I don't like you
Me chocas: I hate you in a light way
Me desesperas: You pist me off
Me irritas: You pist me off

You can compose a song in spanish with a lot of emotional impact so much more than in other languagues... and u can express things in spanish than in a more poor grammatical tongue its almost impossible.

Greetings
Suomalainen   Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:41 pm GMT
I think perhaps the best thing with the Finnish language is the rich system of derivation:
laulaa - to sing
laulahtaa - to sing only shortly
laulattaa - to have desire to sing
laulella - to sing without any special purpose
lauleskella - to sing a little bit without any special purpose
(veisata - to sing religious hymns)
The saami language(s) has/have still richer and more elaborate system of making new words from a root word.
Sander   Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:47 pm GMT
Ik mag je = "I like you"
Ik hou(d) van je ="I love you"
Ik bemin je = "I love you" in a extreme way,not sex,but eh...like in "I would die for you"
Ik waardeer je = It means "I value you","You're important to me".
Ik heb je lief = You are dear to me.
Je bent mijn alles ="You're my everything"
Ik haat je = "I hate you"
Ik mag je niet ="I don't like (the looks of) you"
Ik walg van jou = "You disgust me!"
Sander   Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:48 pm GMT
Dutch ^
greg   Thu Jul 21, 2005 6:57 pm GMT
Ce que j'aime bien dans la langue française ce sont tous les petits mots très importants du style 'en', 'y', 'à', 'dont', 'ni' etc. Ils permettent de relier des phrases complexes avec un maximum de légèreté.

J'aime bien aussi l'intonation du français : ça monte pas et ça descend pas, on reste concentré sur l'essentiel, le sens...
Sigma   Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:34 am GMT
Probablemente francés sea la langua del amor (la langue de l'amour), alemán la lengua de la ira e ingles la langua del sexo (esto último no recuerdo donde lo leí) pero sin lugar a dudas español es una lengua que difícilmente se puede igual en riqueza tanto de palabras como en la múltiples formas que ofrece para expresar emociones y sentimientos.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lengua_romance
Trawick   Mon Jul 25, 2005 8:19 pm GMT
A bit unrelated:

Sanja, why do so many Balkan people seem to speak English so well? This isn't just an empty compliment--I just find it odd since Slavic languages don't have much commonality with English. And yet I've met more than one person from that area who speaks the language nearly as well as a native.