Language Begets Language?

Aug 23, 2009 15:24

 
I had a really cool experience today. Studying Vulcan, it seems, is helping my other languages.

Please read and comment -- has anybody else had experiences like or unlike this?

(Bonus: small language lesson at the end.)

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planetari August 23 2009, 23:08:54 UTC
Can't say I've had any experiences like that - particularly because I don't know that many languages and I haven't gotten to practise Vulcan that much :p but I understand the similarities between it and Japanese, especially in its grammatical flexibility. My mind relates the syntax in a Golic Vulcan sentence to that of an interrogative sentence in German as well, even though my knowledge of German is nil. But it helps me to get adjusted to the unusual verb-subject-object order.

It's cool that it's helping you with other languages though. I'm sure it is a consequence of speaking so *logically* ♥
Spread the word - learning Vulcan makes you smarter XD

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lifeisaglitch August 24 2009, 02:39:15 UTC
I had experiences like that when I was learning Japanese. It helped my understanding of language in general, and made me better at my Spanish.

However, I think my Spanish and Japanese experience may be getting in the way a little when it comes to Vulcan. I keep wanting to write things with a Japanese syntax and pronounce my Rs like Japanese Rs. Seeing as a Japanese R and a Spanish R is really not that different. But I'm still enjoying it.

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planetari August 24 2009, 10:28:18 UTC
I have the EXACT same problem with Japanese and Vulcan syntax! Is the Vulcan "r" pronounced exactly like in English by the way? Because just remembering T'Pau's accent that didn't seem very likely.

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lifeisaglitch August 24 2009, 10:40:57 UTC
I think I remember not being able to find anything on the matter. I figured the language was constructed by an anglophone, though, so I've been using and English "r" noise.

You're right about T'Pau's accent, though... Maybe I'll go back to Japanese "r" sounds...

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planetari August 24 2009, 21:41:29 UTC
edit: I just rewatched the Vulcan scene in ST Motion Picture and those Rs seem pretty rolled to me, more so than in Spanish. They're probably have been using an ancient dialect, though. They even used a sound very similar to European Portuguese "rr" at some point, which is a raspy sound made at the back of the throat.

IT SOUNDS SO DIFFICULT.

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