[OFF TOPIC] Language Thread

[OlympicIRL 5,534]

  On 4/4/2021 at 8:24 AM, Olympian1010 said:

Still didn’t say anything about the “s” sound you noticed. During the Chicano English segment they talk about something to do with the “s” sound. Is that what you were talking about, or something different?

 

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Yes!! That’s exactly it. So while most would pronounce “chairs” with a z sound at the end (chairz) the Chicano influence has led the s at the end to be pronounced with an s sound instead of z sound. And that is what I picked up on in your accent. That’s so cool that it’s a thing after all  

[Olympian1010 8,070]

  On 4/4/2021 at 8:47 AM, OlympicIRL said:

Yes!! That’s exactly it. So while most would pronounce “chairs” with a z sound at the end (chairz) the Chicano influence has led the s at the end to be pronounced with an s sound instead of z sound. And that is what I picked up on in your accent. That’s so cool that it’s a thing after all  

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When listening to the video, I was trying to figure out if I did that or not. Apparently I do 

[Olympian1010 8,070]

In Californian English, there’s a few Spanish words that have been “borrowed” and used in place of/or alternatively to their English counterparts.

 

For example, it’s pretty normal for an English speaker to greet another English speaker with “Hola.” Likewise, is not unusual to hear an English speaker use “gracias” instead of thank you. 
 

This could also be limited to communities with a large Hispanic/Latin American influence like mine.

 

I’m curious to know if this happens in other languages? Like would Spanish words sometimes times be used instead of/interchangeably in Brazilian Portuguese?

[Olympian1010 8,070]

@Glen If you have time/get the chance, I’d love a run down on the language landscape in Malta.
 

Before my trip, I was under the impression that English was widely spoken in Malta, but I didn’t necessarily feel like that was the case while I was there. Maltese seemed to be the preferred language of many athletes and officials I spoke too. However, I did feel like younger athletes spoke better English, and overall seemed more comfortable with the language.

 

Also, is it typical for people switch between English and Maltese in the same conversation. I feel like sometimes I’d overhear people speaking in English, and then all-of-sudden it would become Maltese.

 

It also fascinated me how many of the road signs and government placards were in Maltese, but most commercial signage was in English. 
 

I never really felt like I figured out the language landscape while I was there, so I thought I’d ask some questions now that my trip is over. 

[hckošice 15,103]

I was always interested to see how other Slovaks do when learning french, because I know it from my own experience, it is damn hard for us ! It may not look so, but french is probably harder for us than Arab or Chinese lol, especially because of the french for us, a completely illogical composition of sentences and different tenses trust me it was first for me a real pain in the ass

 

So really pleasantly surprised to see a guy in 2 months doing quite well

 

[heywoodu 15,337]

Out of curiousity, what is the version/accent/whateveritscalled of English where for example medal and seven are pronounced middle and siven/sivven?

 

And another one: the one where for example is is pronounced with the 'a' from hat. 'As', basically. 'He is sixth' basically becomes 'He as saxth'in that one?

Edited July 30, 2024 by heywoodu

[Josh 11,051]

Another thread that I never knew existed 

[OlympicIRL 5,534]

  On 7/30/2024 at 8:11 AM, heywoodu said:

Out of curiousity, what is the version/accent/whateveritscalled of English where for example medal and seven are pronounced middle and siven/sivven?

 

And another one: the one where for example is is pronounced with the 'a' from hat. 'As', basically. 'He is sixth' basically becomes 'He as saxth'in that one?

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From your description sounds like New Zealand.

[Olympian1010 8,070]

  On 7/30/2024 at 8:23 AM, OlympicIRL said:

From your description sounds like New Zealand.

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That's what I was thinking too. The vowel swapping seems similar at least.

Edited July 30, 2024 by Olympian1010

[Olympian1010 8,070]

  On 7/30/2024 at 8:18 AM, Josh said:

Another thread that I never knew existed 

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Started by yours truly a few years back