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tumblr post by seokoilua: it’s so wild to me that some people just speak english all the time… like they can’t switch it off to speak in a #real language when they need to
tumblr post by seokoilua: it’s so wild to me that some people just speak english all the time… like they can’t switch it off to speak in a #real language when they need to
Although I don’t think English is that great of a language overall, imo it’s very very powerful.
What it lacks in logical consistency it makes up for with lots and lots of words (and idioms) that mean similar things but are slightly different for different use cases.
It has a very powerful toolbox for describing things in a very direct, specific manner.
one of its “powers” is that it doesn’t belong to a certain nation (consider académie française for contrast)
it’s not even the “native” language of the country that made it globish. There are native speakers in different countries and none of these variations invalidate others.
consider Indian English, consider Tok Pisin! 🤯
I’ve never heard of this that’s incredibly interesting
I think other germanic languages are much better at that. Look at german or swedish, they often have much more precise constructions for concepts. Tho langauges are very complex and its very hard to speak generally about them like this. I still hate how english works even tho im basically a native speaker. Standing there and listeneing to a non-native trying to pronounce priests or trying to explain to them what shouldnt’ve means is painful. Of course my other first language being hungarian this is kinda hypocritical cause thats much more of a bitch to learners.
Really? My impression is that most of the time English is more imprecise with the meaning of words than my native language, and tends to overload them a lot
About the only language with more flexibility is Mandarin Chinese.
Its pretty much the defining feature of English. It has so many shared words, rules and logic and can borrow so effortlessly. That realistically speaking so long as you understand the language you can do some wild stuff.
The concept of “English doesn’t have a word to express x, y, z.” Is basically nonsense. English can absorb and adapt anything to it self.
It’s both why it’s such a mess and frequently clowned on as a language as well as its greatest strength.
English is just the borg of language.
That’s nonsense. Inflectional languages can modify the meaning of words in subtle ways by prepending prefixes or appending suffixes (often both), and this applies widely across the vocabulary. In place of that, English uses function words compounded with content words to form new terms, but these pairs are hard-defined. E.g. ‘get’ adopts different meanings if it’s ‘get on’, ‘get off’, ‘get up’, ‘get down’, ‘get in’, etc. But you can’t say something like ‘make in’ and expect it to have anywhere near the same shade of meaning as ‘get in’.
I do recognize and appreciate the flexibility of English, but isn’t that opposite to the “precision”? (I’m sure there’s a more appropriate linguistic term but that’s not my geek area)
As you said, all the borrowing allows it to express almost anything, but very often in ad-hoc, incoherent ways.
Btw, I didn’t mean that English doesn’t have a word to express X, just that several, very specific words in Italian often get translated to the same, broader-meaning English word (that can then become more specific with extra adjectives/qualifiers/whatever)
very specific words in Italian often get translated to the same, broader-meaning English word
That sounds like a translation issue.
Language shapes the way people interpret the world. If you think in Italian then this precision is defined by that language and may or may not exists.
The article you mention states:
I’d add you don’t think in any language. You express yourself in a language.
a multilingual can write what you wrote. Monolinguals are shaped by the limits of one language (and mostly a poor utilitarian corner of that language.) They can’t think of something with which they have no words for or don’t even feel like they’re missing words for something they need to communicate
Ooh, that sounds like a fun game. What are the words you’re talking about? I bet I could find a more precise word (or sometimes compound words or phrases) that expresses that concept very exactly.
I second this game idea. It sounds fun, and like it could be helpful for other non-native English speakers who want to learn more vocabulary.
Also, what a lot of non-native speakers might not understand is that sometimes, especially with English, the correct translation is to leave a word untranslated.
You know, since all words are English words, as long as you get the grammar correct 🤣
(joking but it’s kind of true though)
You’re right. English can be real tricky. I’ve known Spanish speakers to say “scape” instead of “escape,” because similar words in Spanish that have English counterparts usually drop the e-. For example, escuela -> school; estudiar -> to study; hell, even Español -> Spanish. There are loads of examples of this pattern, but a handful of words (like “escape” and “escalate”) defy it. It’s gotta be so confusing.
Yeah, I’m not sure where we got the e- prefix from, but once upon a time it seems to have been used to modify the meaning of words. Obviously it’s no longer in use, just a relic of lost grammatical rules.
And now we have a new e- prefix, such as email and e-bikes. I wonder if future linguists will think that “escape” refers to a digital lawn 🤔
The thing is that English can be precise, and often is in the written language, but people simply don’t speak like that. Indirect expressions and implied meaning are utilised more often than lengthy, often Latin or Greek based, terms in the spoken language of native speakers.
I use “big words” and “flowery words” sometimes when I speak. I’m not trying to be weird, just that sometimes those are the best words to fit the moment. I’ve had coworkers remark on my vocabulary, even making up a “word of the day” based on something I said, haha.
So yeah, most people don’t speak like that, but thankfully some of us are nerds. The words I use on Lemmy are the same words I speak (albeit formatted more coherently than the ungrammatical weirdness that sometimes escape my mouth.)
What’s your native language?
Italian
I saw a video of a Spanish author, fluent in English, who said in an interview that he preferred writing in English for more or less these reasons.
Found it: https://youtu.be/NJYoqCDKoT4
Oh, that was cool. Spanish is my second language (after English) and sometimes I’m not sure if I’m having trouble finding the right words because I just don’t know the terms, or if it’s because the terms don’t exist at all in the language.
Tangentially, it’s true what they say about one’s personality being different when they speak in a different language. I wish I could be as quick-witted and punny in Spanish as I can be in English, but between the words I don’t know and the processing time it sometimes takes to communicate ideas, it’s a challenge.