*English*

[wildsweetone]

i guess i'm just hooked on accents.

Alex!!! yes of course you could write a dialect story. i'm not sure how widely read it will be, but please give it a go i tried that website... wow i can hear the words lol

wow what an interesting gadget that is Un-registered, Weird Harold might be interested in that

 

[jon.hayworth]

Kernewek boghan kewsel ow, neppyth dhe edrek.

That is about as much of my native tongue that I know - I keep meaning to sign up for classes.

Dialect wise, Down yer on t tip o this yer island we do spake in our ownway not like they emmetts from upalong furriners the lot of they.

From a mis-spent youth in the Merchant Navy I have a smattering of Swedish - I know a very dirty phrase but don't know what it means.

Some words of German. Enough to buy a beer or find a brothel.

Some French.

And Amo Amas Amat - a little Latin and I wish I knew / had paid more attention / realised how important it was for a historian. But at school I consigned it along with Algebra to the trash bin in my mind.

jon

 

[wildsweetone]

i read somewhere that there are 80 dialects of english in England. is that right?

 

[jon.hayworth]

80 - I would think that is just in England - don't forget the Welsh and Scots plus all the little islands - probably more.

In Cornwall there are at least 3 dialects, Newlyn and around the Penwith penninsular, which is different from the dialect around the mining area of Redruth and Camborne - then the Clay workers up around St Austell speak different again.

The first sentence of my last post was not a dialect - it was in very bad Cornish (Kernewek) which is Celt and very like Welsh and Bretton. Loosely translated it says I have a little bit of Cornish something I regret - because I wish that I knew more!

People of my gran's age and some who are younger say pre world war 2 they could tell what Parish someone came from by the way they spoke and the words they used.

Alex as for a dialect story - "goo fer i' bonny lad" SORRY that was a terrible pastiche but you know what I mean.

jon

 

[Svenskaflicka]

My first language is Swedish.
My second is English.
Then, in this order: French, Spanish, German, Italian.

Teach me Greek and I'm a friggin' EU-miniature!

 

[DVS]

I can speak English fairly easily but there are times when I have to struggle to say exactly what I mean.

Well, see that is where we Americans show our superior communication skills...at those times we tend to grunt and grope. It's fun, and sometimes it even works!

Somebody say we were inferior?!

 

[DVS]

My first language is Swedish.
My second is English.
Then, in this order: French, Spanish, German, Italian.

Teach me Greek and I'm a friggin' EU-miniature!

I'll teach you Greek sex, sweetie.

 

[DVS]

i read somewhere that there are 80 dialects of english in England. is that right?

And the British wonder why we Yanks wanted to start our own country.
But in all honesty, I am a sucker for a pretty redhead with an English accent.

 

[DVS]

English (American style) is my only language. I do know American slang, but that is constantly changing, and difficult to stay on top of. I guess you can say I know American slang, cirica 1975, revised.

I can also speak with an English accent. We had an Australian girl stay with us for a year, when I was in high school. She was from Perth. I guess I picked it up from her. And, I have always been able to sink into a southern 'thing' quite easily, and I don't know why. Does any of this count?

I also know the deaf sign language alphabet. I know some words, but I am very slow at all of it. I know the word slow, because I use it so much. I find someone who is deaf and try to talk to them...(we have a college for the deaf in a suburb, here) they think I am more advanced than I am and start speed signing!! I have to quickly sign the word 'slow', to let them know I am still learning. It can quickly put you in your place, learning another's form of communication.

Interesting enough, I do have a set of high ball glasses that have the deaf alphabet on them. So, I can study these while drinking. An interesting concept, I must say.

 

[Un-registered]

People of my gran's age and some who are younger say pre world war 2 they could tell what Parish someone came from by the way they spoke and the words they used.

I was brought up (US raised) between Derby and Nottingham (16 miles apart) during and just after WWII and when I was 18 we could place a gorl quite easily to within three or four miles from her accent and vocabulary.
Even in the last year, not having lived there for forty years, I got into a conversation in a bar in London and asked one of the men how things were in Ilkeston (a small town just north of where I lived). His reply was, "Not bad. Trowell actually. How did you know?" I had missed by all of two miles.

But don't ask me how I knew; I can't explain it, only do it.

 

[Alex De Kok]

My wife can tell the difference between a Geordie and a Mackem just by the way they say 'book'. I don't quite have her ear! Probably because my first ten years of life were shared between Newcastle, Ismailia (Egypt), Leeming Bar (N. Yorkshire) and Edzell (Angus, Scotland). I think I read somewhere that most speech patterns are formed in early life, so what chance for me? One effect has been that I seem to have a mild talent for mimicry.

I'm doubtful about a dialect story. I picked up a novel by Iain Banks (or Iain M. Banks - I cannot remember which name he uses for his SF) which was written in dialect. I managed about three pages before I had to abandon it. I found it unreadable.

But mebbe, kiddar. If aah diivvent faal in the clarts wi' tryin' tee hard.

Alex

PS: Mackem - denizen of Wearside

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I'll teach you Greek sex, sweetie.

I said Greek, not Geek, hon'!

 

[Quasimodem]

Of course Shaw said - In "Pygmalian" - that the ability to pick up new languages and dialects was the certain sign of an imbecile.

 

[DVS]

I said Greek, not Geek, hon'!

If I didn't know any better, I'd think you are playing a game of Svedish cat-n-mouse with me, sveedie. And, I don't know any better.
(I guess you knew that vas coming, eh?)

Now, I have this problem. I seem to be using Vs vhere Ws should be. Vhat do you think the problem could be, sveetie? Have I maybe caught a Svedish dialect?

 

[TheEarl]

Weird Harold impression - Answers for all

Iain M Banks is the sci-fi name.

Apparently the only sure-fire way to tell between a Gerodie and someone faking a Geordie accent is to make them say 'photocopier.' Strange, but apparently true.

Svenskaflicka: Kali mera (Greek for 'Good morning')

Jon: Experientia docet stultos. This means 'Experience teaches fools.' One of my personal maxims.

The Earl

 

[Quasimodem]

Now, I have this problem. I seem to be using Vs vhere Ws should be... Have I maybe caught a Svedish dialect?

I think perhaps, that the 'V' stands for the fact that you've had one Fifth too many

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Have I maybe caught a Svedish dialect?

You should be so lucky..!

 

[wildsweetone]

DVS is it American Sign Language you do? I do Makaton, I learnt it a while back to help special needs kids communicate

http://www.makaton.org/

having to brush up on it again now

by the way, you might want to check that your signing isn't actually upside-down.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

As with most languages, the only thing I know how to say in sign language is "I love you".

 

[DVS]

You should be so lucky..!

Well, many thoughts go through the mind on this.
And who would be the lucky one? It really depends on aim, angle of trajectory, and proper thrust!

 

[DVS]

DVS is it American Sign Language you do? I do Makaton, I learnt it a while back to help special needs kids communicate

http://www.makaton.org/

having to brush up on it again now

by the way, you might want to check that your signing isn't actually upside-down.

God, that tells you how much I know about this stuff. I assume it is the American sign language, because I only sign to Americans.

After you said this, I went checking. It seems there are different forms of signing, even. I don't know if they would be considered dialects, but I found a site that shows how to form some words (see second link). The way I learned some words is not how they do them, here.

The first link is what I really am familiar with, the alphabet. I am very slow, even at this. Some people sign so fast, I can't even tell individual letters in some words.

Some words have no sign, so spelling them is the only way to express them. And, some words have to be expressed by combining words. That second link shows that very well.

And yes, I do know some slang words that won't be in any web site or other organized form of expression of signing. I know the sign for "bitch" and the sign for "eat shit". Both of these can come in handy, at times.

In my search I found sites for American signing, International signing and signing for the handicaped. When it comes down to it, it is a language just as any other, and would need conversions for special situations.

I also think there are other types of signing for communication with gorrillas, chimps, dolphins and other animals we try to talk to. I have seen shows where they talk to chimps and it is only similar to ASL in some areas. I am sure it is more involved in some ways and more basic in others.

And don't forget the movie 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' where Richard Dreyfuss signed to the aliens as they stepped down out of their ship. And of course, they signed back. I don't know if that was actually based on factual signs or if it was just movie magic.

My all time personal favorite scifi was 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', but I think Klaatu only spoke to Gort, if I remember correctly. I don't think he signed any commands to him. Correct me, if I'm wrong.

Yet again I digress...
To answer your question WSO, yes it is American Sign Language.

Link to the ASL alphabet
http://where.com/scott.net/asl/

The more advanced site of forming words.
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm

 

[wildsweetone]

And don't forget the movie 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' where Richard Dreyfuss signed to the aliens as they stepped down out of their ship. And of course, they signed back. I don't know if that was actually based on factual signs or if it was just movie magic.

please excuse me while i interrupt you before you post another posting dear, but it was actual fact i think. they really did come here.

how rusty are you with your DVS version of ASL?
never mind don't answer that. lol

 

[DVS]

please excuse me while i interrupt you before you post another posting dear, but it was actual fact i think. they really did come here.

COOL! Did they land in kiwiville? And, I gather your kiwi women were raped by the alien men. I think I remember a story in the Enquirer...

how rusty are you with your DVS version of ASL?
never mind don't answer that. lol

Oh, I have to answer that. I am very good with my hands in that area.

Actually, I used to have two deaf cats. I couldn't yell at them when they got into things, so I ended up stomping on the floor so the vibrations would get their attention.

And, I also used more hand signals with them than you would with a hearing cat. When I got really upset, I would look like some sort of fancy fly swattin' machine that can't find the fly. So, now I guess I have a sign language for cats, too.

 

[wildsweetone]

COOL! Did they land in kiwiville? And, I gather your kiwi women were raped by the alien men. I think I remember a story in the Enquirer...

Oh, I have to answer that. I am very good with my hands in that area.

Actually, I used to have two deaf cats. I couldn't yell at them when they got into things, so I ended up stomping on the floor so the vibrations would get their attention.

And, I also used more hand signals with them than you would with a hearing cat. When I got really upset, I would look like some sort of fancy fly swattin' machine that can't find the fly. So, now I guess I have a sign language for cats, too.

did they land in kiwiville? oh yes *wicked grin* we kiwi women are so welcoming to foreign visitors... we have a very welcoming nature you know

i don't think it counts eh... sign language with your cats. the only sign language i use with mine is to tilt the chair to get him off it and then to nudge gently YES NUDGE GENTLY with my foot to guide him all the way across the miles of floor to the door way outside into the big wide world. he uses sign language with me though. i know exactly what he wants me to know at that point.

now, english... hmm
for some odd reason i can't think straight now...

 

[Quasimodem]

... i don't think it counts eh... sign language with your cats.

It does, but only if the cats 'sign' back. And I don't mean peeing on your sandals.