most weird language

more original   Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:23 pm GMT
If you learn another language, maybe you're fluent not till then you write at feeling instead of knowledge.
Caspian   Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:27 pm GMT
I would call 不 and 没 adverbs, not verbs - but it's silly to try to apply English grammar rules to Chinese.
12345   Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:25 pm GMT
«more original Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:23 pm GMT
If you learn another language, maybe you're fluent not till then you write at feeling instead of knowledge. »
I've studied German, English and French, and all of them seem to be more 'logical' than Dutch.
Xie   Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:16 am GMT
>>I would call 不 and 没 adverbs, not verbs - but it's silly to try to apply English grammar rules to Chinese.

Another special word is 白, as in 不看白不看. It can be both an affirmative and negative answer, without any contradictions. Things tend to be short on paper, but long in meaning... again, I can feel sentences, but I can hardly find hard-and-fast rules about all those.
Skippy   Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:47 am GMT
The "weirdest" language I've ever had any real interest in, I suppose, would be Hungarian.
Kess   Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:16 am GMT
most "weird"


it sould be the weirdest
and not the most weird
szep   Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:52 pm GMT
The "weirdest" language I've ever had any real interest in, I suppose, would be Hungarian

What's wrong with Hungarian? It's a very interesting and fascinating language. The more you learn it the less weird it is, like every other language. As a matter of fact, in my view, it's one of the most interesting languages in Europe along with Basque, Maltese, Estonian, Finnish, Lithuanian and Icelandic
szep   Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:04 pm GMT
I have forgotten Albanian*

Nobody ever talks about Albanian in this forum, but it's pretty appealing from a linguistic point of view....
Sarmackie   Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:40 pm GMT
I think English is weird. Our verbs are as messed up as you can make them.

Sink > Sank
Think > Thought
Catch > Caught
Attach > Attached

I'm surprised that any of us can keep this stuff straight.
socorro   Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:48 pm GMT
English is probably the easiest language from a morphological point of view. Those verbs just have 3 forms, ( to speak, spoke, spoken) not to mention regular verbs. This is pretty easy compared to other verbal systems (romance languages, Greek, some slavic languages, Icelandic)
12345   Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:40 pm GMT
«I think English is weird. Our verbs are as messed up as you can make them.

Sink > Sank
Think > Thought
Catch > Caught
Attach > Attached

I'm surprised that any of us can keep this stuff straight. »
As far as I know every germanic language has that

Zinken - Zonk - Gezonken
Denken - Dacht - Gedacht
Vangen - Ving - Gevangen

Attach is just a regular verb, catch is a strong verb.

We also have:
Lopen - liep - gelopen (to walk - walked - walked)
Springen - Sprong - Gesprongen - (Jump - Jumped - Jumped)

etc, I think English isn't that bad at all if it comes to irregular verbs.
Tok   Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:45 pm GMT
English is pretty weird...

"Fuck the fucking fuckers!"

"Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" (especially the way intonation makes this sentence fully understandable!)

think up/out/through/over - all different meanings
stand up/by/in/out/with/down/off


There are a lot more too...
Parsimonides   Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:01 pm GMT
"Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo"

Out of curiosity, What is the meaning of this?
szep   Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:08 pm GMT
Caucasian languages. They're a real nightmare
12345   Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:50 pm GMT
Hmm??

Toen zagen zagen zagen zagen zagen zagen zagen zagen zagen zagen.

And yep, you should use the right intonation.