English sounds like singing?

Brian   Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:37 am GMT
I've heard many, many times from people who do not speak the language natively that English sounds singsong or musical? Why would this be? Is it the stress patterns of the language or something? Who here (non-native) thinks that this language sounds musical? It's strange because I've heard the opposite from different people. Many say it sounds musical, while I've also heard others say that it sounds rather monotonous.
Guest   Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:45 am GMT
Well, given that tastes for music vary so much (heavy metal, classical, harpsicord, the triangle), it's not surprising it sounds musical to some people... For me English'd be the triangle.
Guest   Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:14 pm GMT
Yes, musical, but only some dialects. RP English is not musical, it's stiff and affected.
Skippy   Sun Jun 29, 2008 1:48 pm GMT
Which dialects?
AJC   Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:05 pm GMT
Welsh English has something of a "musical" quality. The same is true to a lesser extent of North East England and also Indian English speakers. People imitating accents tend to get these 3 confused.
Brian   Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:09 pm GMT
Well which dialects sound like singing? Does NAE sound musical? What other languages sound musical like English?

Most people whom I've heard say that English is musical are native-speakers of languages like Chinese. They say English flows and sounds like singing. Compared to Chinese, I can understand why.
Wintereis   Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:54 pm GMT
I think it depends largely upon their native tongue. English tends to be a very middle of the road language . . . neither a lot of hard sounds nor a lot of soft sounds. It is not heavy in consonants like Slavic and German and it is not rich in vowels either like Italian or Spanish. It doesn't have a lot of silent letters in its spelling like French nor is every letter pronounced. Having studied a lot of poetry, esp. free form, I would be willing to say that English naturally has its own rhythms and cadences. It can be lilting and smooth, but there are languages that are far more musical than English. As others have said, certain dialects are more musical than others. But I think a lot of it is a matter of perspective.
KC   Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:05 am GMT
Practically almost all non-standard English accents have a bit sing-song quality in them. Broad Scottish, Scouse and Southern American in particular.
Guest   Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:07 am GMT
<<Practically almost all non-standard English accents have a bit sing-song quality in them. Broad Scottish, Scouse and Southern American in particular.>>

That's cos theyre non standard. If GA were only spoken on a little Island in Scotland people would find it much more exciting.
Guest   Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:38 pm GMT
<<That's cos theyre non standard. If GA were only spoken on a little Island in Scotland people would find it much more exciting.>>

That is very true.
TomF   Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:53 pm GMT
I've always thought that Jewish New York City residents sound almost like they are singing when they speak.

There is also a tendency in that speech, I think, to extend a word ending to bridge a momentary lapse in articulation. For example, if such a speaker is saying something like "If there is a red light at the corner, 'weee' should wait for the green." By the 'weee' I mean that the ending vowel of the word, 'we', is extended until the speaker remembers what he was going to say and is able to continue to a successful conclusion.