Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]
Discussion
Issi said:
Have the UK got the monopoly on regional accents?
We have the greatest variety but not a monopoly.Arabic language is an odd one. It's fundamentally the same in any Arabic speaking country but an Egyptian would not easily understand a Saudi.
It's only English that allows a play on words that leads to such gems as 'Four candles"
Issi said:
Dr Jekyll said:
Regional accents in the US are pretty obvious. People I know who speak French reckon Provence sounds different from the rest of France.
I'm aware that there is a marked difference between let's say Texas and Boston, but would a New Yorker immediately be able to know that another person was from Pittsburgh just after chatting for a couple of minutes?Thinking about it, in the cellar bar scene in Inglorious Basterds, the SS chap picks up on the good guys accents, and even mentions that he couldn't place Michael Fassbenders accent.
I think I've just answered my own query!
Leek has a distinct accent from Stoke 5 miles away, which again has a different accent from Crewe 10 miles away, which is different again from Nantwich 5 miles further.
4 completely distinct accents in a 20 mile straight line. This happens all over the UK, but doesn't in the US.
steveo3002 said:
in ww2 , say you were a non forces civilain in the uk so a farmer or whatever , and that the germans had invaded the uk , could you have killed the germans legaly or would it have been murder
Interesting question. I suspect that the answer depends on the outcome of the invasion.If the Germans had invaded Britain and forced a surrender they would then have installed a puppet government. It is possible that could have resulted in the prosecution of irregular soldiers.
If the German invasion had been repelled then I suspect it would not have been viewed as a crime.
Issi said:
Have the UK got the monopoly on regional accents?
Is a Frankfurt accent noticeably different than a Dusseldorf accent?
Are there the equivalent of Brummies or Scousers in Spain?
Do people from Poitiers make fun at those from Caen, because they speak funny?
Yes, Frankfurt fairly different from Dusseldorf, far South German accents are the comedy ones a'la Somerset farmers etc.. and don't even start on eg Swiss German, it's only barely the same language, suspect some German German speakers and some Swiss German speakers might have to resort to pen and pencil to understand each other... Is a Frankfurt accent noticeably different than a Dusseldorf accent?
Are there the equivalent of Brummies or Scousers in Spain?
Do people from Poitiers make fun at those from Caen, because they speak funny?
steveo3002 said:
in ww2 , say you were a non forces civilain in the uk so a farmer or whatever , and that the germans had invaded the uk , could you have killed the germans legaly or would it have been murder
The war cabinet were planning on using chemical weapons/poison gas on any Germans (un)lucky enough to survive a channel crossing.With this in mind I'd imagine if you were to call up the village bobby and tell him you'd given a German paratrooper the good news with the business end of your 12 gauge or confirmed that, like the Fuzzy Wuzzies, the Germans 'Don't like it up 'em!' The official response would be...
'Well done!'
Going back to my original comment, allegedly Arnold Schwarzenegger (whose surname translates as Blackploughman), didn't get the job to voice his Terminator roles into German, as his comedy Austrian accent would make the Terminator sound like Jethro, to German speaking folk.
'Oi'll be back, me luvver!'
'Oi'll be back, me luvver!'
Issi said:
Going back to my original comment, allegedly Arnold Schwarzenegger (whose surname translates as Blackploughman), didn't get the job to voice his Terminator roles into German, as his comedy Austrian accent would make the Terminator sound like Jethro, to German speaking folk.
'Oi'll be back, me luvver!'
'Oi'll be back, me luvver!'
excellent mental (aural?) image! Has he ever acted in German? If David Tennant can go pretty much standard posh Southerner for Doctor Who, then would an Austrian actor not manage hochdeutsch (sort of German RP AIUI) if needed?
BlackVanDyke said:
Issi said:
Going back to my original comment, allegedly Arnold Schwarzenegger (whose surname translates as Blackploughman), didn't get the job to voice his Terminator roles into German, as his comedy Austrian accent would make the Terminator sound like Jethro, to German speaking folk.
'Oi'll be back, me luvver!'
'Oi'll be back, me luvver!'
excellent mental (aural?) image! Has he ever acted in German? If David Tennant can go pretty much standard posh Southerner for Doctor Who, then would an Austrian actor not manage hochdeutsch (sort of German RP AIUI) if needed?
Issi said:
Going back to my original comment, allegedly Arnold Schwarzenegger (whose surname translates as Blackploughman),
You made me learn something today, thank you, and here it is... His name may translate literally as black egge (harrow) but the more likely etymology is from a place name - Schwartzenegg is in Austria and XXX-egg as dwelling place and XXX-egger as the family name are common forms:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=21...
StevieBee said:
Arabic language is an odd one. It's fundamentally the same in any Arabic speaking country but an Egyptian would not easily understand a Saudi.
Huh? That's news to me!Anyway - I'll nominate India. Let alone local dialects for each language, there are....
WikiP said:
According to Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. However, figures from other sources vary, primarily due to differences in definition of the terms "language" and "dialect". The 2001 Census recorded 30 languages which were spoken by more than a million native speakers and 122 which were spoken by more than 10,000 people.[7] Two contact languages have played an important role in the history of India: Persian[8] and English.[9] Hindi, the most widely spoken language in India today, serves as a lingua franca for much of the country.
Edited by Asterix on Monday 20th April 12:01
Asterix said:
StevieBee said:
Arabic language is an odd one. It's fundamentally the same in any Arabic speaking country but an Egyptian would not easily understand a Saudi.
Huh? That's news to me!Anyway - I'll nominate India. Let alone local dialects for each language, there are....
WikiP said:
According to Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. However, figures from other sources vary, primarily due to differences in definition of the terms "language" and "dialect". The 2001 Census recorded 30 languages which were spoken by more than a million native speakers and 122 which were spoken by more than 10,000 people.[7] Two contact languages have played an important role in the history of India: Persian[8] and English.[9] Hindi, the most widely spoken language in India today, serves as a lingua franca for much of the country.[img]
well.... thats a few!Asterix said:
StevieBee said:
Arabic language is an odd one. It's fundamentally the same in any Arabic speaking country but an Egyptian would not easily understand a Saudi.
Huh? That's news to me!Anyway - I'll nominate India. Let alone local dialects for each language, there are....
WikiP said:
According to Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. However, figures from other sources vary, primarily due to differences in definition of the terms "language" and "dialect". The 2001 Census recorded 30 languages which were spoken by more than a million native speakers and 122 which were spoken by more than 10,000 people.[7] Two contact languages have played an important role in the history of India: Persian[8] and English.[9] Hindi, the most widely spoken language in India today, serves as a lingua franca for much of the country.
Edited by Asterix on Monday 20th April 12:01
said:
Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world; 848 languages are listed for the country, of which 12 have no known living speakers.[8] Most of the population of over 7 million people live in customary communities, which are as diverse as the languages.[9] It is also one of the most rural, as only 18 per cent of its people live in urban centres.[10] The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior.[11]
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