Strenght and Weaknesses of Major Languages

Guest   Sun Jun 10, 2007 1:36 pm GMT
<< It cannot coin own its term and therefore has the tendency to borrow." >>

I read that from Merit Students Encyclopedia. It said that English has the ability to borrow words from other languages.

Take for example the word "Czechoslovakia" when it can be spelled as "Checoslovakia". Obviously "Cz" is substituted over "Ch" and this isn't English it's Polish actually and the Czech/Slovak counterpart of this is "Č". So I'm wondering why the word is spelled like that.

One thing that I admire about the Spanish is when they borrow words from other languages is that they hispanize the spelling of borrowed words unlike in English that they don't anglicize the spelling.

Another thing is "oo". The pronounciation for such words as boot, tool, cool, stool is different from floor, door, and flood. What I mean even if English is not phonetic, it should be consistent in spelling. The sound of "oo" should only have just one sound not three to avoid confusion.

In my own opinion, English must undergo a spelling reform for the sake of its speakers .
furrykef   Sun Jun 10, 2007 4:21 pm GMT
Sorry... I DID read the message, I just misread it. You threw me off by quoting the incorrect versions, and by quoting them *after* the correct versions (we usually quote what we're responding to before we respond to it).
famous guest   Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:29 am GMT
i like spanish because it's a phonetic language! i've known some spanish speakers that are proud of their language mainly because you write ti just as you speak it or vice versa!, spanish; when it comes to spelling and pronunciation is stray forward but when you get in to grammar staff oh boy! it can be as hard as hell! yeah.. like hell is hard lol!
Guest   Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:34 am GMT
<< One thing that I admire about the Spanish is when they borrow words from other languages is that they hispanize the spelling of borrowed words unlike in English that they don't anglicize the spelling. >>

Russian too, russify the sounds of those words that they borrow from other languages therefore they sound as if they are real Russian words.
Guest   Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:32 am GMT
<<GERMAN Disadvantages: Numerous dialects exist.>>

Although there are numerous dialects in German, there is one standard form. I recommend these form if somebody decides to learn German.
As a non-native, you should always learn the standard form of the language you study.
Guest   Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:36 am GMT
Adam, check out the correct gender of the German words you provided.
Guest   Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:44 am GMT
<<In my own opinion, English must undergo a spelling reform for the sake of its speakers . >>

For the sake of its speakers and especially its readers and for the sake of the status of English as well, English spelling should stay the way it is!
Some languages adapt foreign words to their spelling / pronuncation habits, some don't. Thats life! Keeping the spelling as is in the original language makes it easier to recognice the word as a foreign one.
furrykef   Tue Jun 12, 2007 5:04 pm GMT
"Wiener" would look about as equally foreign if it were spelled "veener", and then the pronunciation would actually be correct. But if you say "veener" now, it sounds ridiculous, because it's spelled with a "w".
Guest   Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:16 pm GMT
<< "Wiener" would look about as equally foreign if it were spelled "veener", and then the pronunciation would actually be correct. But if you say "veener" now, it sounds ridiculous, because it's spelled with a "w". >>

Every European language that uses the Latin alphabet except English pronounce "w" as "v" for your information furrykef.
furrykef   Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:32 pm GMT
Welsh actually uses W as vowel, but I don't blame you for not knowing/remembering that. ;) Anyway, it doesn't really matter; the point is, people pronounce "wiener" with an English "w" sound because it's spelled with a "w". It would make more sense to me to change the spelling for the sake of pronunciation than to change the pronunciation for the sake of spelling. After all, writing is merely the representation of spoken language.

- Kef
Guest   Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:29 pm GMT
And how wopuld you feel if the Germans or the Dutch give a comment that English speakers pronounce the word "water" as it is in English rather than "vater"?

You see, every languages that uses the Latin alphabet has its own rules when it comes to spelling or ortography. You cannot expect the German language to adjust their spelling for the sake of the English speakers. The best thing you can do is when you're not sure about the pronunciation of foreign words, ask the native speaker rather than make a wild guess. You're an ignorant if that's the case.
furrykef   Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:15 pm GMT
<< And how wopuld you feel if the Germans or the Dutch give a comment that English speakers pronounce the word "water" as it is in English rather than "vater"? >>

"Water" isn't a loanword from German or Dutch; it's a native English word that is recorded in Old English. It's cognate with the German and Dutch words, but it doesn't come from them. On the other hand, "wiener" is clearly a modern loanword from German.

<< You see, every languages that uses the Latin alphabet has its own rules when it comes to spelling or ortography. You cannot expect the German language to adjust their spelling for the sake of the English speakers. >>

I'm not asking them to change their spelling. They can spell things however they like. What I'm suggesting is that *we* change the spelling when we import words into English. If we have a choice between importing the correct spelling and importing the correct pronunciation, but not both, it makes more sense to import the correct pronunciation, considering that writing is a representation of speech.

- Kef
Guest   Sat Jun 16, 2007 2:36 am GMT
<< I'm not asking them to change their spelling. They can spell things however they like. What I'm suggesting is that *we* change the spelling when we import words into English. If we have a choice between importing the correct spelling and importing the correct pronunciation, but not both, it makes more sense to import the correct pronunciation, considering that writing is a representation of speech. >>

Now that makes more sense to me. I'm glad that you are in favor of anglicizing those foreign loanwords.
Guest   Sat Jun 16, 2007 2:37 am GMT
<< I'm not asking them to change their spelling. They can spell things however they like. What I'm suggesting is that *we* change the spelling when we import words into English. If we have a choice between importing the correct spelling and importing the correct pronunciation, but not both, it makes more sense to import the correct pronunciation, considering that writing is a representation of speech. >>

Now that makes more sense to me. I'm glad that you are in favor of anglicizing the spelling of those foreign loanwords.
Guest   Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:30 pm GMT
I don't know so.