twincityhacker: hands in an overcoat's pockets (Default)
Which language(s) do you currently speak? If you could learn only one other language, what would you choose, and why?

The only language I'm fluent in is American English. I can muddle though in Mexican Spanish. I've studied standard Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, and Southern Welsh. I also like to think I have a good grasp of British English, but I'm open to disagreement. = P

If I could only learn one other language, I would learn Welsh. All three dialects, obviously, as the differences between North, South, and Patagonian Welsh are really interesting and a good case study on how languages and their populations interact. Southern Welsh has borrowed some English phonemes that Northern Welsh hasn't. Patagonian Welsh is being heavily influenced by Argentinian Spanish. But! They are still comprehensible to one another.

This is baring time travel. If I could learn any language EVER, I'd learn the First Human Language. After poking around and seeing if there was a monogensis of language or not, obviously.
twincityhacker: hands in an overcoat's pockets (Default)
Idea for creating space languages: just violate a few rules of Universal Grammar. Having a few rules that differ from all known languages should make them feel alien enough with not a lot of creative effort.

I feel the need to award bonus points for not including something that Pirahã has, since Pirahã is the most stripped down natural language I can think of. Like it doesn't have a number system. If you're wondering how on they count, the answer is that they don't count, or even grok the notion of counting. Trading with the Pirahã depends a great deal on the honesty of the outsider.

And maybe some phonemes that that humans can't produce for kicks. I can't remember exactly what they are, but there's two places in the IPA chart that are blocked off because it would eventually end with the human performer choking on their tongue.

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twincityhacker: hands in an overcoat's pockets (Default)
twincityhacker

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