[Setekh]

I was talking to Sandwich and his brother Jed the other day, and it only just hit me that both of them can speak and write fluent Hebrew. I myself can speak and write my fair share of flavours of Chinese; and obviously everyone here is pretty good with their English (WHIT a few notable exceptions  ). I know Venom speaks French (euoohè)... Anyone else speak any different languages?  

Anyway, that got me thinking further (*gasp!* first real exercise my grey matter's gotten for a while...  ). Terrans have so many languages and dialects - thousands and thousands of different variations - and so wildly diverse that one language (eg. Japanese) can sound completely alien to another (eg. Russian). if that is so with us, why  shouldn't it be so with the Vasudans? Or have the Vasudans decided on a language like 'Vasudan Standard', comparable to our own English? (All international aircraft pilots are required to learn English so that they can communicate with international airports, as well as recite the International Alphabet - Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc. - which also happens to come only in English.)

And, what about Shivans? So far all we've heard from them are a few unintelligible chirps from a cruiser in the nebula. How does ETAK interpret their language?

Lastly (big plate tonight), why has the human race produced so many wildly different languages? Let's disregard the Tower of Babel event for a moment and see if there is any other possible explanation.

IIRC, there are two major types of language - glyph-based (eg. Egyptian, Chinese) and alphabet-based (eg. Hebrew, English). Someone correct me if I'm wrong   But, what could cause a change from one to another? Why would one group of people choose one type of language over another? For that matter, assuming we began with a glyph/symbol-based language first (ie. cave paintings), how did we even develop an alphabetic sequence in the first place?

(No religious discussion, please. I have my own opinion abotu most of this and I believe it to be true, but I'd like to see what you can guys can come up with.  )

Okay, now I'll sit back and wait while you digest all that.  

[Shrike]

Hmmm, there's more than 2 main groups of language.  We only touched on those in Europe in my European History class last semester, but there was one main one (Indo-European) and at least one other.  And this was in Europe alone. Languages also 'pollute' one another.

As for the 'Zogs, I think at some point they ended up with 'Vasudan Global' or some such, because their language is very complex and is dependent upon distance from the Emperor, rank, time of day, temperature, so on and so forth.  

[Warlock]

*sigh*

All I speak are English, Drunkenese, Dog and the accasional cat phrase or two.

[Thorn]

I usually act as a Drunkenese translator when I myself am not speaking it...
"gemmeh da!" = "Beer me!"
"uhhhhhh -guh- uhhh" = "Move it, I'm gonna puke."

[WMCoolmon]

quid?
tu bibis vinum? tu es multuus stultior quam mortuus canis. eheu! Setekh est contendit ad foro! nunc sum mortuus! ego incitavi flamma pugna...
"What?"
"You drink wine? You are much stupider than a dead dog. Oh no! Setekh is hurrying to the forum! Now I am dead! I started a flame fight..."
No, they are not in the right word order...  
BTW, did you know "et cetera" is Latin? It means "And the rest", and I think "ad hoc" is also Latin...literally, "to this" if it is  

[This message has been edited by WMCoolmon (edited 01-11-2002).]

[CODEDOG ND]

Sé hablar español y sé algunas palabras alemanas también

 

All I know is that English if ya look at it looks more likes improved german.  Most of the words are very common and when you say them they sound fairly similar.

[mikhael]

 

Originally posted by CODEDOG ND:
Sé hablar español y sé algunas palabras alemanas también

 

All I know is that English if ya look at it looks more likes improved german.  Most of the words are very common and when you say them they sound fairly similar.

English being primarily germanic in origin might have something to do with that.

Also, Steak, you mentioned a seperation between glyph and alphabet based languages. This, however, is an artificial distinction. With the exception of one, alphabets are simplifications of glyphs. Hirigana and katakana's origin in simplified kanji, and kanji's origin in unsymplified chinese glyphs are a perfect example. Even the alphabet used by english speakers the world over is glyph based at its roots. A good example is the letter A from its roots as the hebraeic aleph.

------------------
--Mik
http://www.404error.com
ruhkferret on ICQ/AIM

"Your guy was a little SQUARE! You had to use your IMAGINATION! There were no multiple levels or screens. There was just one screen forever and you could never win the game. It just kept getting harder and faster until you died. JUST LIKE LIFE." --Ernie Cline

[Carl]

Bzzt.

[WMCoolmon]

For example, take this phrase:
"ja, und mein Deutsch ist nach so gut"
"Yeah, and my German is not so good"
Or so the person said...

[Chucker]

I know basic spanish. But apparently it's more than AWACS knew. What does Muy bueno senor mean? Hmm...

As for the Vasudans, people don't have to speak in a language anywhere near our own to understand it, it's just a matter of learning it, or using translators...

I really can't offer a hypothesis about the difference in languages throughout the world. Maybe some people thought that their language sounded so much cooler than anything else that was being used at the time. Maybe it's also too late in the evening for me to think properly. Take your pick.  

[Fineus]

We am the ever. We speak the language of reason and of truth. Join us.[/i]

[USS Alexander]

Als het lente wordt gooien wij bommen op amsterdam bommen op amsterdam

[This message has been edited by USS Alexander (edited 01-12-2002).]

[Starwing]

Genau.

[Xelion]

I can speak Polish and my vocab in english is pretty kick arse.   I would say glyphs are much easy to decipher rather than alphabets. There are limitations to glyphs in terms of how many where created compared to alphabets that have vast amounts of terminology. Though most languages can be deciphered using several known techniques. (Which I will not disclose) . I think some of the main reasons into the diverse range of languages today is the secrecy, tradition and culture.

Well I'll be toodling off to.... ..hmmm this stuff I’m working on  

------------------
Max
Flash Developer
Ps6 Beginner

[Nico]

lol "euhoohè" was "away" Steak  

Franchement, est-ce ce que le français wous parait une langue extra-terrestre, à vous?

Honestly, does french sounds alien to you?
(stops for while, waiting for the the "yes" to stop being shooted)
Anyway, it sure appeals to foreigner chicks   (   to DC   )

[CODEDOG ND]

not really, if you know latin you can kinda make out some of the words.

[an0n]

It is a widely known fact that genetic determine physical attributes. It is also known to a lot of people (religious people) that at one time, when some ancient country was being flooded with immigrants pretending to be natives, that to determine the foreigners they asked them to say a certain word which, due to a common genetic factor, could not be pronounced as the foreigners had some slight difference with their tongue. My point being that depending on your ancestory you have the ability to speak a certain language more easily than you would many others and this would obviously affect the language in your country. Like how there's no 'th' in french.

The same goes for the writting. Ancient chinese people had a certain eye for the aesthetic and as such liked things to look good. They made their written language reflect this.

Note: A study was conducted a while ago to see which languages babies were most responsive too and when stuff was said in English it got a better response from the kiddys than a heap of other languages.

[Nico]

 

Originally posted by an0n:
It is a widely known fact that genetic determine physical attributes. It is also known to a lot of people (religious people) that at one time, when some ancient country was being flooded with immigrants pretending to be natives, that to determine the foreigners they asked them to say a certain word which, due to a common genetic factor, could not be pronounced as the foreigners had some slight difference with their tongue. My point being that depending on your ancestory you have the ability to speak a certain language more easily than you would many others and this would obviously affect the language in your country. Like how there's no 'th' in french.

The same goes for the writting. Ancient chinese people had a certain eye for the aesthetic and as such liked things to look good. They made their written language reflect this.

Note: A study was conducted a while ago to see which languages babies were most responsive too and when stuff was said in English it got a better response from the kiddys than a heap of other languages.

th like in "the" is "z" in french ( zephir )
th like in thought is "f" ( fourmi )

being able to talk a ceirtain way because of genetical stuff is buII****. It's all about prctice, try a demi doesn times to pronounce a word you're supposed not to be able to pronounce, and you will. The gene of pronounciating "th"  
Stop smoking weed.

[Pez]

 

Originally posted by an0n:
It is a widely known fact that genetic determine physical attributes. It is also known to a lot of people (religious people) that at one time, when some ancient country was being flooded with immigrants pretending to be natives, that to determine the foreigners they asked them to say a certain word which, due to a common genetic factor, could not be pronounced as the foreigners had some slight difference with their tongue. My point being that depending on your ancestory you have the ability to speak a certain language more easily than you would many others and this would obviously affect the language in your country. Like how there's no 'th' in french.

The same goes for the writting. Ancient chinese people had a certain eye for the aesthetic and as such liked things to look good. They made their written language reflect this.

Note: A study was conducted a while ago to see which languages babies were most responsive too and when stuff was said in English it got a better response from the kiddys than a heap of other languages.

I agree with Venom that the genetical stuff is BS. I think it's more about environment than your genes. You pointed out that your are dependant of your ancestors, which I believe is right but not because their genes.

[phreak]

Ich spreche English und ein Bißchen Deutsch.