Can you read this? REALLY AMAZING!!!

Rene   Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:52 pm GMT
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? OLNY 55% of pliope can...

I cdnuolt bleveiee taht I cloud aulacity uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervy lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
Sweet Madam   Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:40 pm GMT
Yes, I could read your letter as easily as if each word was written correctly
Benjamin   Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:57 pm GMT
So could I.

Me isrestnea si fnconiua en eoñpsal dndeo taods las plarabas se ersiebcn fnicétoo.
Joe   Thu Jul 06, 2006 6:30 pm GMT
Yes it does work in Spanish to a certain degree Benjamin, but then again I don´t know how to speak Spanish but Portuguese.
Here´s a question for you Benjamin why do Spaniards claim not understanding a word of Portuguese, When Portuguese can understand some Spanish?
Benjamin   Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:03 pm GMT
« Here´s a question for you Benjamin why do Spaniards claim not understanding a word of Portuguese, When Portuguese can understand some Spanish? »

I wouldn't really know, because I'm not Spanish and Spanish is not my native language.

However, when I went to Portugal, I found that I could understand much of the written Portuguese, but couldn't really understand what people were saying at all.
Gabriel   Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:04 pm GMT
<<why do Spaniards claim not understanding a word of Portuguese, When Portuguese can understand some Spanish?>>

I'm not a Spaniard but a native speaker of Spanish nonetheless. Without having ever formally studied Portuguese, I can read it rather well. Spoken Portuguese is an entirely different matter. It took me a couple of weeks in Brazil to get used to the nasal vowels, the rhythm of delivery and the elusive "r" sound ([R] for the most part I think). In the end I got better (or so my brazilian friends tell me) but I think that Portuguese phonology offers a lot more problems to Spanish speakers than Spanish phonology to Portuguese speakers. We have to learn how to distinguish between [e] and [E] and [o] and [O], get the nasal vowels right, and get used to the fact that, unlike Spanish, Portuguese does not have the one vowel letter - one vowel sound equivalence.
Kirk   Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:54 pm GMT
<<It took me a couple of weeks in Brazil to get used to the nasal vowels, the rhythm of delivery and the elusive "r" sound>>

It is quite elusive to Spanish speakers, I agree! My friend is Brazilian American (she was born in Brazil and growing up she alternated between living in the US and Brazil so her Portuguese is perfect) and she tried to teach me the 'r' sounds of her accent (she's from Brasilia, so a pretty standard accent). If I remember it correctly orthographical <rr> is /h/ for her, intervocalic <r> is alveolar tap /4/ for her, initial <r> is /h/, and final <r> is /x/. Thus for her:

<raro> ["ha4u]
<caro> ["ka4u]
<carro> ["kahu]
<falar> [f6"l6x]

Compare to the Spanish equivalents:

<raro> ["ra4o]
<caro> ["ka4o]
<carro> ["karo]
<hablar> [aB"la4]

One of the most striking examples of the orthographical similarity between Spanish and Portuguese and the pronunciation divide for me is the word "rã" in Portuguese and "rana" in Spanish. Both mean "frog" or "toad." As my friend says it in Portuguese it's [h3~] while in Spanish it's ["rana]. While there are clear sound correspondences between the words they are enough to inhibit comprehension in the spoken language even tho in the written language the connection is much more evident.
Kirk   Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:56 pm GMT
Sorry, those examples above should always have [6] for the the Portuguese ones (but that doesn't change my point--just a side note/correction).
Dude Who Knows   Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:31 pm GMT
Wow, that's really interesting. I even noticed right away that the word "pliope" in the first line should have been "pleope". That's not a criticism of the author, I just find it remarkable that I could instantly recognize a spelling 'mistake' in a paragraph where every word is spelled incorrectly.
Jack.Zhou   Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:16 am GMT
Yes, I can understand it, just some words upside down, so it's easy to distinguish. on the other hand, I think it Just a simple letter, so we can read it easily, if it complicated enough, I am not sure I can understand them all. But this message is definitely very interesting.
Gabriel   Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:37 am GMT
<<If I remember it correctly orthographical <rr> is /h/ for her, intervocalic <r> is alveolar tap /4/ for her, initial <r> is /h/, and final <r> is /x/.>>

I'm almost certain there is regional variability within Brazil. I heard [R] from one of my friends from Sao Paulo but [x] or [h] from various other people. I even noticed [r\] in the pronunciation of the word "cerveja" in a tv commercial.

<<Me isrestnea si fnconiua en eoñpsal dndeo taods las plarabas se ersiebcn fnicétoo.>>

I could get most of that except the last word. Is it meant to be "fonético"? If it is, there's something not quite right about word choice.
Jim   Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:44 am GMT
Guest   Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:25 pm GMT
Thanks for your input Kirk, but in Portuguese from Portugal the "r" is pronounced intwo different ways.
Were I live we pronounce the "r"´s.
The people that live in Lisbon or Porto will pronounce the "r" sound the same as the French if it is in the begging of the word or if there is a double "r"

<raro> ["ha4u] port[rcharo]
<caro> ["ka4u] port[caro]
<carro> ["kahu]port[carcho]
<falar> [f6"l6x] port[falar]

were "rch" denots the French "r"

On the other end were I live which is considerd the best Portuguese we pronounce all the letters

<raro> [raro]
<caro> [Karo]
<carro> [Karro]
<falar> [Falar]

We will just lengthin the "r" when we find a double "r"
With out a doubt there is quite a difference between Brazilian Portuguese and that spoken in Portugal.
Words that havwe "te" and "ti" are ponounced "tche" and "tchi" while in Portugal they are pronouced the same way as in English only lighter and "de"and "di" are pronounced "dge" and "dgi" will once again in Portugal they are pronounced the same way as in English.

Even the word Brasil is pronounced in a different manner from "Brazio" to "Brazil" in Portugal
james   Sun Jul 09, 2006 4:45 am GMT
<

if you can read this, you have a strange mind too. Can you read this? ONLY 55% of people can...

I couldn’t believe that I could actually understand what I was reading. The phenomenal power of the human mind, according to a research at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be in the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without a problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole. Amazing huh? yeah, and I always thought spelling was important! >


do i have a 100% strange mind ?
Joe   Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:20 pm GMT
Yes you do James, welcome to the club