Which Language is the Best?

[The Bacon Guy]

I studied German for a two years at school. I have recently returned to studying this language for the simple reason that everything in German sounds manly and badass

What is your favourite language and why?

[Autolykos]

Suomenkieli (Finnish). Probably the most beautiful language I've ever heard.

My least favorite language is either English or French.

- Rob

[bishop]

i've always loved the sound of japanese... it's a language that seems to have some innate strength to it, is nice and fluid, no annoying sounds, exotic, etc...

[PatrickHenry]

Hawaiian is best.

The evil spuds in Washington tried to surpress it, but it lives on. Hawaiian language was once the most literate of languages, because a higher percentage of Hawaiian speakers were literate than any other language group on Earth. About 1890...

Also very simple to spell, because all the words are pronounced uniformly. Only fourteen letters.

Very beautiful and flowing.

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/6794/

[phoenix_fire]

I'm going to have to go with Japanese as well:

Zankoku na tenshi no you ni Shonen yo, shinwa ni nare... Aoi kaze ga ima mune no doa wo tataitemo, Watashi dake wo tada mitsumete Hohoenderu Anata Sotto Fureru mono Motomeru koto ni muchuu de, Unmei sae mada shiranai itaikena hitom Dakedo itsuka kizuku deshou Sono senaka ni wa Haruka mirai mezasu tame no Hane ga aru koto... Zankoku na tenshi no te-ze Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu Hotobashiru atsui patosu de Omoide wo uragiru nara O-zora wo daite kagayaku Shonen yo, shinwa ni nare Zutto nemutteru watashi no ai no yurikago Anata dake ga yume no shisha ni Yobareru asa ga kuru Hosoi kubisuji wo tsukiakari ga utsushiteru Sekai-ju- no toki wo tomete Tojikometai kedo... Moshi mo futari aeta koto ni imi ga aru nara, Watashi wa, sou, jiyu- wo shiru Tame no Baiburu Zankoku na tenshi no te-ze Kanashimi ga soshite hajimaru Dakishimeta inochi no katachi Sono yume ni mezameta toki Dare yori mo hikari wo hanatsu Shonen yo, shinwa ni nare Hito wa ai wo tsumugi nagara rekishi wo tsukuru Megami nante narenai mama Watashi wa ikiru... Zankoku na tenshi no te-ze Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu Hotobashiru atsui patosu de Omoide wo uragiru nara O-zora wo daite kagayaku Shonen yo, shinwa ni nare

[Jimmy the Pro]

Koptic s/p? bc it has very deep Egyptian roots and is rarely studied or spoken anymore

[Autolykos]

Good choice, Coptic. I studied it a little, back in the day.

- Rob

[another day]

Of course everyone is biased on this...

As far as sheer complexity and richness, I believe English is the most evolved language but I could be wrong...but of course that doesn't make it the best because it is often ugly and bogged down with excessive catch phrases and stupid little sayings. I can't really say which is the best...

I will say that I hate french...it sounds so ugly and disgusting. When people speak it (especially francophones) it just sounds so stupid and annoying.

Also most of the asian languages are really ugly...not sure about Japanese but I know chinese and korean are just totally annoying and ugly.

The ones I like, well most of the european languages such as german, swedish etc. Spanish is cool too.

[Jimmy the Pro]

Quote by: Autolykos Good choice, Coptic. I studied it a little, back in the day. - Rob

Yeah Coptic, it's an endanger language. I'm joining the LPP and "Save the Cop's" (aka Coptic) is going to be my slogan

[tman_ndsu08]

Human beings can only make a finite number of sounds, correct?

Obviously, then, the perfect language would have a symbol for each sound.

That way, weather you spoke English or Mandarin, you could read and write universally.

[Milton Bradley]

Music.


I am also somewhat of a fan of the Japanese, dispite all of it's shortcomings. ( I am probably biased because I like the culture. )

[G. Adams]

English. We all don't like it because it is not exotic and we are overly familiar with it, but it is beautiful damn it. No other language has the richness of words, the nuances of meaning, the sheer pain in the assness for others to learn it. It may be ugly at times, but only because so many are clumsy with it. The potential to demonstrate it's magnificence is vast, but in todays race to the bottom of the genepool you rarely see it, anyone employing too many words is seen as either a queer, a luvvy or an egghead.

Besides English, Welsh and Irish. As long as I don't understand it, someone could be reading out the weather to me in Welsh and Irish and all I'd see is misty hills and gaping valleys.

[The Bacon Guy]

It's interesting that so many people like Asian and Germanic languages but nobody chose a Romance language. Most people I ask say they would like to learn Italian or French. (both of which I hate, by the way).

Es ist interessant. Viele Leute gernhat asiatisch und germanisch Sprachen aber keine Leute wählte aus romanische Sprachen. Meine meisten Freunde gernhaben das Italienisch oder das Französisch. (Ich hasse beide im Übrigen)

Man, translating stuff is harder then I thought.

[westcoastdog]

Japanese is a phonetic language, which makes it simple to pronounce, but it also is a hierarchal language as well as gender determined, and this makes it difficult to master. Next time you see a samurai movie, notice how high pitched the women speak and how low and gruff the voices of the samurai (Toshiro Mifune is a perfect example). I learned Japanese from women teachers, and Japanese men would tease me because I sounded like a woman, using a feminine vocabulary and intonation.

The hierarchal patterns are important, especially in business. A worker uses a subordinate vocabulary when talking to his boss, who uses the superior vocabulary. Similarly, parent-child each have their own word usage. There is even is a royal language spoken only in the emperor's household.

My favorite languages are French and Italian, although French is a challenge because it has more homonyms than any other language. I speak tourist Spanish but find it frustrating because of the many regional variations.

[Nono]

We're sure differing on criteria here.

Naturally I love English best because that's my mother tongue and langue de culture and therefore the one I can best express myself in. And I've had a lifetime to appreciate its richness (made all the more splendid by the breadth and numbers of people who use it -- a circumstance which may one day, paradoxically, lead to its extinction).

Italian probably sounds best (to me). Mandarin always makes me smile, though I don't understand a word.

I live in a French-speaking environment and it's a language I've learned to love in many ways, though like all Romance languages it's rather pretentiously abstract and thus bullshit-pone.

My vote for non-English language, though, goes to German. Can't say for sure why I love it. It certainly doesn't sound that nice. But it's wonderfully expressive and -- this is something that non-speakers can never believe -- German is a fabulous vehicle for irony. Trust me on this: it has all the shades.
And that's really something.

[Rive]

French, i've always loved it. It sounds so sophisticated and deep.

I'd give an example but my french is very rusty. I used to be able to get by, but now....not so much