I’ve been wondering whether there are some traits in certain languages which make them almost universally ugly to outside listeners.
Personally I can’t stand Cantonese - it’s one of the most irritating languages I’ve ever heard. It sets my teeth on edge. Perhaps it’s just the way some Hong Kongers speak it, and not a function of the actual language itself, I don’t know. I was talking to Funk500 about this the other day and he nominated Welsh as an ugly language.
So, my question has two parts. Firstly - what makes a language ugly? Guttural sounds? Nasal vowels? Tones? Secondly, which languages do you find ugly?
I agree with you on Cantonese, but I think there are other elements at play, such as the godawful stench of mothballs that tends to be associated with the sound of the language in a live setting, the distasteful stumpiness of the speakers and the overwhelming spiritual ugliness that befogs the soul in their presence. Oh, and the way lift doors tend to slam in your face at the sounds of gleeful Cantonese yabbering.
Oddly enough, I used to like kiwi accents but heard someone the other day and got thinking about how horrible it really sounds, so I guess things can change. I also once quite liked the sound of Canto . . . until I lived here.
I know what you mean about guttural sounds, nasal tones, etc., but I also think the old expression “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” comes into play on this one to some extent. In this case, the reverse is often true, with ‘ugly’ depending on who is the listener.
I know French is called the language of love, but I can’t stand it. When I hear French songs, I cringe. There’s some car commercial currently on the TV here with some woman singing in French that just horrifies me.
On the contrary, I love the sound of Japanese. It just flows. I don’t understand a lick, but I love it all the same.
A lick is when you put out your tongue and rub it over the surface of something you want to taste, test, or tickle. Even in Japan.
I always thought Cantonese was a language especially designed to be used at full volume hurling insults across a crowded market place, and it works very well.
Guttural sounds, phlegm spitting pronunciations, a multitude of barely recognizable tonal shifts…these do it for me.
Which ones rate this…there are quite a few. Some European, some South American, some Middle Eastern (a lot of ME Arabic derivations & dialects - although Farsi is tolerable…barely). Most Asian lingo, IMO, don’t go to the guttural extremes…but the spitting can be there.
I was going to post that in the “What prevented you from learning Taiwanese?” thread…for that same reason… it’s “ugly” to me… hate the way it sounds… grates on my ears and nerves as much as Cantonese.
Someone once wrote that you should speak Italian to a lover, English to your attorney, German to your enemies, and Spanish to God.
I guess technically one should speak Hebrew to God, but the change I’d make to the list is that one should speak Cantonese to the neighbor whose TV is too loud. Can’t imagine the ideal time to speak Korean.
Great, from now on I just speak my native language when I walk throught the streets here and even more when I have to drive.
I don’t think there are ugly languages, just some sound more usefull for some areas. I guess russian is perfect for this harsh military guys, even japenese can sound like this.
French and italian have kind of nice melody in them, so good for areas related to that.
Maybe it’s because I come from a small country with lot’s of tourists from everywhere, makes us kind of proud to here all this languages so we respect them (and the money which comes with them).
I hate when Taiwanese is spoken in the double-throated, Tibetan-monk style favored by Taiwanese politicians. It makes me think of Rod Stewart, gargling with sand, and how your voice feels after you’ve smoked a pack or two of Marlboro reds in quick succession.
That stupid old bag in my office who hasn’t figured out that the telephone on her desk is not made of yoghurt pots and string makes Chinese sound like the nth level of hell. I’d rather listen to ‘Fur Elise’ a la rubbish van all day than her strangled 2000 decibel squeals. And that’s just the tone of her voice. Don’t even get me started on the utter, toxic stupidity that envelopes her desk like a foul miasma of black death, radiating outward across cubicle city like sleeping gas.
