Looking for a non-Indo-European language that sounds like English.
August 10, 2006 2:40 PM Subscribe
I was wondering if there are any non-Indo-European languages which would sound like gibberish, albeit English-like gibberish, to a native English speaker.
Preferably this language would sound pleasant to a normal English speaker, relatively speaking. It would also be helpful if it didn't contain many "illegal" consonant clusters (e.g. sr-, vl-). Do any such languages exist?
Preferably this language would sound pleasant to a normal English speaker, relatively speaking. It would also be helpful if it didn't contain many "illegal" consonant clusters (e.g. sr-, vl-). Do any such languages exist?
I honestly don't know what you mean by "English-like gibberish." If you mean "sounds like English but not quite intelligible," I seriously doubt there are any such languages.
posted by languagehat at 3:04 PM on August 10, 2006
posted by languagehat at 3:04 PM on August 10, 2006
I dated a girl from Singapore, who spoke Singlish. It's like a creole of English, Hokkien Chinese, and some others. It made me laugh hysterically. It sounds like a language that would be spoken by native English-speaking children who had lived on a desert island for years and built their own language on top of English.
posted by Brian James at 3:19 PM on August 10, 2006
posted by Brian James at 3:19 PM on August 10, 2006
Gullah? Written, it looks like you should be able to understand it, but spoken, not so much.
posted by padraigin at 3:22 PM on August 10, 2006
posted by padraigin at 3:22 PM on August 10, 2006
Sumerian. Read Snowcrash.
Although this may count as an Indo-European language... I'm not too sure.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:24 PM on August 10, 2006
Although this may count as an Indo-European language... I'm not too sure.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:24 PM on August 10, 2006
Tagalog.
posted by klangklangston at 4:18 PM on August 10, 2006
posted by klangklangston at 4:18 PM on August 10, 2006
I'll second the Gullah. My wife's family is Gullah. When I speak with her older family members (grandmothers, great aunts, etc.) I often have no idea what they are saying. I have to ask my wife afterward, "Baby, what was your Grandmamma talking about"?
Its a very fluid language and it often sounds like you should be able to understand it, but I at least, can't.
posted by anansi at 4:25 PM on August 10, 2006
Its a very fluid language and it often sounds like you should be able to understand it, but I at least, can't.
posted by anansi at 4:25 PM on August 10, 2006
civil_disobedient: finnish has some vowels that don't occur in english.
posted by aubilenon at 4:26 PM on August 10, 2006
posted by aubilenon at 4:26 PM on August 10, 2006
Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia look and sound a bit like English. And some of the Dravidian languages sound a little like a mumbled, drunken-slurred English.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 5:02 PM on August 10, 2006
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 5:02 PM on August 10, 2006
Bill Bryson wrote, in his European book, about the Dutch in this way. In fact, he wrote down what he thought he'd heard, to hilarious effect.
posted by cogat at 5:15 PM on August 10, 2006
posted by cogat at 5:15 PM on August 10, 2006
Perhaps this link to Wikipedia's article on Indo-European languages will help prevent more irrelevant answers.
Probably not.
posted by Acetylene at 5:18 PM on August 10, 2006
Probably not.
posted by Acetylene at 5:18 PM on August 10, 2006
My irrelevant comment was prevented by me knowing what Indo-European was! I was going to say Afrikaans, but then I realized it's actually a Germanic (and thus Indo-European) language so it doesn't count.
posted by easternblot at 7:41 PM on August 10, 2006
posted by easternblot at 7:41 PM on August 10, 2006
I knew a girl from Belize that spoke what she called Creole. Imagine the thickest Jamaican-style patois you've ever heard.
posted by frogan at 8:52 PM on August 10, 2006
posted by frogan at 8:52 PM on August 10, 2006
Unfortunately Basque sounds absolutely nothing like English and almost certainly contains illegal consonant clusters (involving 'x' and 'k' I imagine)
posted by patricio at 3:43 AM on August 11, 2006
posted by patricio at 3:43 AM on August 11, 2006
Malay DOES NOT sound like English. Not at all.
Singlish and Manglish rocks. And they pass as "English" for us locals.
posted by divabat at 4:58 AM on August 11, 2006
Singlish and Manglish rocks. And they pass as "English" for us locals.
posted by divabat at 4:58 AM on August 11, 2006
Actually, I would imagine that some slangified English (besides Manglish and Singlish) would fit your bill. British slang, Aussie slang, certain slangs of American English...they sound like you should understand them but you have NO CLUE what they're saying, even though it's basically English.
A couple of years ago there was a song on Singapore radio by a Japanese duo (?? I think) which sounded like English but really wasn't. No one had a clue what they were saying.
posted by divabat at 5:00 AM on August 11, 2006
A couple of years ago there was a song on Singapore radio by a Japanese duo (?? I think) which sounded like English but really wasn't. No one had a clue what they were saying.
posted by divabat at 5:00 AM on August 11, 2006
For it to sound English-like, not only does it need similar sounds, it needs similar rules for which sounds can appear where in a word (i.e. in English the 'ng' sound can't appear at the start of a word) - called phonotactics.
Dutch is a pretty good candidate, and any of the English creoles would work too (they, generalising quite radically here, have English words and another language's grammatical forms). Rhythms and stresses are another matter, of course.
posted by Paragon at 5:43 AM on August 11, 2006
Dutch is a pretty good candidate, and any of the English creoles would work too (they, generalising quite radically here, have English words and another language's grammatical forms). Rhythms and stresses are another matter, of course.
posted by Paragon at 5:43 AM on August 11, 2006
Pidgin english is interesting and may fit your definition.
posted by JJ86 at 6:19 AM on August 11, 2006
posted by JJ86 at 6:19 AM on August 11, 2006
I second Tagalog. At least as it's spoken on the news on KSCI 18 in Los Angeles, it's a mish-mash of Spanish, English, and native Filipino languages. Eerily familiar to this American who spent most of his childhood living in Spain, and yet very certainly an alien tongue...
posted by msittig at 6:28 AM on August 11, 2006
posted by msittig at 6:28 AM on August 11, 2006
some slangified English (besides Manglish and Singlish) would fit your bill
Dutch is a pretty good candidate
Pidgin english is interesting and may fit your definition.
Those are all INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES! Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, not only was "non-Indo-European languages" featured in both the title and the original question, Acetylene took the trouble to point it out and link to a definition. Can't anybody read around here?
And will the original poster please show up to clarify the damn question? Because as written, I don't think there's an answer. (And Tagalog doesn't sound any more like English than Malay.)
posted by languagehat at 6:48 AM on August 11, 2006
Dutch is a pretty good candidate
Pidgin english is interesting and may fit your definition.
Those are all INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES! Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, not only was "non-Indo-European languages" featured in both the title and the original question, Acetylene took the trouble to point it out and link to a definition. Can't anybody read around here?
And will the original poster please show up to clarify the damn question? Because as written, I don't think there's an answer. (And Tagalog doesn't sound any more like English than Malay.)
posted by languagehat at 6:48 AM on August 11, 2006
Wikipedia said: Pidgin English was the name given to a Chinese-English-Portuguese pidgin used for commerce in Canton during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Chinese is Indo-European? I learn something new every day.
posted by JJ86 at 7:34 AM on August 11, 2006
Chinese is Indo-European? I learn something new every day.
posted by JJ86 at 7:34 AM on August 11, 2006
Divabat, is this Bahasa Malay? I would never mistake it for English, but it sounds somewhat similar.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 11:02 AM on August 11, 2006
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 11:02 AM on August 11, 2006
Languagehat contributions to the thread:
Trying to help the poster by keeping it on topic and encouraging him to drop by and explain further so we can help him better. If a poster asks "What nonalcoholic drinks can I serve that will keep people happy at a wedding?" and everyone's going "Dude, Budweiser!!" or "I like the 1987 Domaine St.-Jacques Clos St.-Jacques myself," I think it's helpful to point out the poster specified nonalcoholic, so all such suggestions, however well meant, are not responsive.
posted by languagehat at 11:38 AM on August 11, 2006 [1 favorite]
Trying to help the poster by keeping it on topic and encouraging him to drop by and explain further so we can help him better. If a poster asks "What nonalcoholic drinks can I serve that will keep people happy at a wedding?" and everyone's going "Dude, Budweiser!!" or "I like the 1987 Domaine St.-Jacques Clos St.-Jacques myself," I think it's helpful to point out the poster specified nonalcoholic, so all such suggestions, however well meant, are not responsive.
posted by languagehat at 11:38 AM on August 11, 2006 [1 favorite]
KAC: He's speaking in a mix of Malay and English, that might explain the "sounding like English" bit. Pure Malay doesn't sound much like English though.
posted by divabat at 2:15 PM on August 11, 2006
posted by divabat at 2:15 PM on August 11, 2006
Response by poster: Hi everyone,
I suppose it seems that what I am specifically looking for doesn't exist. Thanks anyway.
posted by Frankieist at 11:22 PM on August 12, 2006
I suppose it seems that what I am specifically looking for doesn't exist. Thanks anyway.
posted by Frankieist at 11:22 PM on August 12, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by aubilenon at 2:43 PM on August 10, 2006