Whats your favorite Germanic language?

hwanmig   Sat Apr 29, 2006 1:51 pm GMT
I watched this TV special about this DJ(Tiesto) and I thought what language is he speaking. First I thought it was German but this sounded like a crappy version of it. Then he mentions Amsterdam and then i realized its Dutch.

Anyway English is my favorite and then German, I can't recall ever hearing any of the Scandinavian languages so I don't know if they sound better than English but I can say for certain Dutch is arghhhhhh!!.
Fredrik from Norway   Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:36 pm GMT
It's hard to describe, but I really like Dutch because of its domesticity. When I read or hear Dutch I get the (false) impression that this is not the language for high-flying speeches, propaganda and immortal literature. Rather it seems like a "keukentaal", the language you would use when chatting in the kitchen, petting your cat, sitting on your "stoep" reading the paper and greeting passing neighbours etc. There is something so bourgeois, so domestic, so gezellig about it...
Just gotta love it.
Fredrik from Norway   Sat Apr 29, 2006 11:33 pm GMT
Yes, Dutch certainly sounds homey.

German might of course also sound homey, but usually only when spoken as a dialect, like Badisch, in Freiburg, where I live for the moment.

That German sounds scary when yelled (for historical and perhaps also linguistical reasons) is well-known. Less known is perhaps that Hochdeutsch often sounds gay! This is a common opinion in the Netherlands and after having lived in Germany for some months I have to agree to a certain extent.

This is probably because Hochdeutsch was/is an artificial literary norm, not really the native dialect of any German region. Thus, when somebody speaks clear and good Hochdeutsch they sound a bit artificial and über-correct, something that may sound a bit gay, especially in young male students, who in Germany (probably for historical reasons) are very soft-spoken. (In women it sounds more stuck-up and spinster-like.)
Dhuiran   Sun Apr 30, 2006 12:34 am GMT
My favorite is Icelandic. I like the Nordic languages in general.
Ed   Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:48 pm GMT
> Afrikaans is the purest and most beautiful of the Germanic languages. What Dutch will sound like in 100 years time.

I agree with you Dawie. I'd say Afrikaans is the 'purest' of the Germanic languages because it has taken the evolutionary trend seen in all the Germanic languages further than any other. It has lost superfluous features such as grammatical gender, strong verbs and much inflection. Spelling is also very regular and has done away with redundant letters C, Q and X.

The sound to me is 'friendlier' than German with softer and more interesting vowels and diphthongs and and purer consonants without the slight sloppiness or stodginess in forming words I hear in Dutch.

To me Afrikaans is very expressive; words expressing beauty are often beautiful sounding, and those expressing uglyness can sound particularly nasty while the diminutives are interesting too. Although having some words of interesting non-Germanic origin such as from Malay such as baie (many, much), piesang (banana), blatjang (chutney) it also has a purism that has prevented the wholesale influx of (bad) English in the recent period. So we have words like tuisblad (homepage), rekenaar (computer), skakel (link) and sellulêre telefoon/selfoon (mobile phone) for recent inventions rather than nasty pseudo-anglicisms like 'Handy'.
Ed   Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:29 pm GMT
> I say Swahili because I don't speak it.

Hmm, since when was Swahili a Germanic language?
Bijoux   Mon May 01, 2006 1:28 am GMT
Flemish is my favorite German language. It sounds very warm and friendly.
Listen to the song ''Liefde Is een kaartspel'' by Lisa del Bo
Guest   Mon May 01, 2006 2:56 am GMT
I would say Tamil.
Bijoux   Wed May 03, 2006 3:36 pm GMT
Eurosong 1996 [in Norway]

Representing: Belgium

Title: Liefde is een kaartspel
Performed by: Lisa del Bo

Placing: 16th (22 points)



Charmes had je bij de vleet
Brandend wist ik wat je deed
Maar mijn huid verlangde
Naar die wilde handen
Ik was gewoon van streek

Ook al zag ik jou bij and'ren staan
Ook al ging je met hen aan de haal
Ik wou en zou je krijgen
Je aan m'n degen rijgen
Al speelde ik met vuur

Liefde is een kaartspel
Met jokers en pokers
Liefde is een steekspel
Van geven en nemen
Liefde is een kaartspel
Van dames en heren
Liefde is een kansspel
Voor winnaars zoals jij

Passie won van tederheid
Furie van gezelligheid
Wou je mij verslinden
Zonder je te binden?
Mij raak je nooit meer kwijt

Ook al ga je graag je eigen gang
Jou verlaten maakt me niet meer bang
Ik wil en zal je krijgen
Je aan m'n degen rijgen
Al speel ik nog met vuur

Liefde is een kaartspel
Met jokers en pokers
Liefde is een steekspel
Van geven en nemen
Liefde is een kaartspel
Van dames en heren
Liefde is een kansspel
Voor winnaars zoals jij

Jij en ik, jij of ik
Jij met die weet-ik-wie
't Is genoeg
Speel je niet, speel je wel?
Speel je spel
Jij bent hartentroef

Liefde is een kaartspel
Met jokers en pokers
Liefde is een steekspel
Van geven en nemen
Liefde is een kaartspel
Van dames en heren
Liefde is een kansspel
Voor winnaars zoals wij
Ed   Fri May 05, 2006 10:05 am GMT
I'll have to have a search for Liefde is een kaartspel when I get home.

Here is an Afrikaans song I like by Eugéne Vermaak:

Laatmiddagliedjie

Daar sterf 'n kersflam in sy eie was
Daar brand 'n vuur en versmoor in sy as
Al brand jou lig nou sal hy ook vervlou
Elke bly fakkel verdwyn soos die dou

Daar bedaar die wind nou en sag sterf die reën
Ook dit is na alles van êrens geleen
Kan jy die see sien, sy wolke en blou
Elke bly brander breek tog so gou

Sal jy deur alles die wind van my keer
Laat skyn die somerson lou op my neer
Ek sal die stofpad vir ons albei vind
Tot waar hy eendag een word met die wind

http://www.sois.uwm.edu/jacques/afrikaans/musiek/laatmiddag.MP3
Serbo-Canadian in China   Fri May 05, 2006 5:29 pm GMT
1. Vlaams altijd den eerste,

2. norsk (bokmaal) den neste

3. Schwietzeduetz (possibly from Chur)

4. Noordhollands(ch)

5. Yiddish (but NOT the Ashkenazi degeneration of Hebrew!)

6. nynorsk

7. Scottish Lallands English

Don't know the Faroese; maybe it would qualify.
Fredrik from Norway   Sat May 06, 2006 12:59 pm GMT
Faroese proverbs:

A boatless man is tied up.
- Bundin er bátleysur maður.

Better be a good man's slave than badly married.
- Betri er at vera góðs manns frilla enn gift illa.

Better leave something than eating overly much.
- Betri lítið leivt, enn ovmikið etið.

Better to own it than asking your brother for it.
- Betri er sjálvur at eiga enn bróður at biðja

Big rivers are made out of many small brooks.
- Mangir løkir smáir gera stórar áir.

Blind is the bookless man.
- Blindur er bókleysur maður.

Burnt child fears the fire.
- Brent barn ræðist eld(in).

Done by oneself is well done.
- Sjálvgjørt er væl gjørt.

Hear about others, but make it cosy for yourselves.
- Hoyr um ein annan, hygg um teg sjálvan.

It is a poor mouse that doesn't have more than one hole.
- Ring er músin, ið hevur ikki meira enn eina holuna.

It's a poor bird that fouls its own nest.
- Tað er ringur fuglur, ið drítur í egið reiður.

Mad dogs get their skin torn.
- Galnir hundar fáa rivið skinn.

No one should forget old friends and old goats.
- Gamlar vinir og gamlar gøtur skal eingin gloyma.

Nobody is to eat the morsel of someone else.
- Eingin skal annans bita eta.

Nothing is as bad that it isn't good for something.
- Einki er so ilt, tað er ikki gott fyri okkurt.

Nothing ventured, nothing won.
- Hann, ið einki vágar, hann einki vinnur.

Small birds lay small eggs.
- Smáir fuglar verpa smá egg.

Swimming is easy if someone holds your head above water.
- Gott er at svimja, tá ið annar heldur høvdinum uppi

The crow thinks best of her own chickens.
- Kráku tykist best um unga sín.

The dog is as his master. (Like master, like dog.)
- Hundurin er sum húsbóndin.

The thief believes that everybody steals.
- Tjóvur trýr, at hvør maður stjelur.

There lies often falsehood beneath a pretty skin.
- Ofta býr fals undir fríðum skinni.

Things don't always go as planned.
- Mongum brestur ætlan.

Time runs like the river current.
- Tidinn rennur sem streymur i á.

When ale goes in, the wit goes out [Håvamål, v. 12].
- Tá ið ølið fer inn, fer vitið út.

Who does not eat till he is full, won't lick himself satisfied.
- Hann, ið ikki etur seg mettan, sleikir seg ikki mettan.

Who is reared at home fares wrong away from home.
- Heima alin er burtur galin.

Who rides first, controls the speed.
- Hann eigur reiðina, ið fyri ríður
Ich   Sat May 06, 2006 7:09 pm GMT
A interessante Besprechung. Ich verstehe nicht, was der Punkt sein sollte. A Lieblingssprache, was soll des heisen? Deutsch und English sind zweifellos die praktischten wegen des grossen Vokabulars. Beide enthalten rund 200.000 Wörter, doppelt die Menge der romantischen Sprachen. Der Nachteil des Englischen ist, dass es schwierig in der Sprache, neue Wörter zu schaffen, ohne auszuborgen, ist. Im Deutschen ist die Grammatik viel komplizierter, deshalb schwieriger zu lernen. Für mich sind die Melodien und Geräusche der Schwedischen am schönsten! Ich glaube, dass das Geräusch des Schwedischen nur besser wäre, wenn es das englische TH gäbe, so wie früher. Niederländisch, ugh, ich halte das für a Kehlekrankheit! Isländisch, nett, aber fast unmöglich zu lernen. Mindestens dreimal schwieriger als Deutsch, ohne Frage!

For English speakers:
German and English are the best, but Swedish is the most beautiful.
Toby   Sat May 13, 2006 2:41 pm GMT
Afrikaans is just plain old Dutch from hundreds of years ago, so it is most definitely not what Dutch will sound like in 100 years from now. Why go back to a rusty outdated version? I like Norwegian a lot, because it's fascinating how written Norwegian looks like Danish, and spoken Norwegian sounds more like Swedish.
Jav   Sat May 13, 2006 3:55 pm GMT
Afrikaans is all but old Dutch. Afrikaans derives from modern Dutch (the 17th century variant) . It is not Afrikaans that has remained closest to 17th century Dutch but (quite logically really) that's Dutch itself.

Afrikaans has evolved to an enormous degree compared to modern Dutch.

I bet it's Dutch that sounds "rusty and outdated" to Afrikaners rather than the other way around.