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Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/24/2014 2:10:02 PM

Crouchingtiger77

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For those of you have studied a second language or more I have the following from my experience in Studying Mandarin and a question which follows.

In Chinese language, they have words and word structures which are exclusive for written, (meaning not spoken); and , other words exclusive to spoken, (meaning not written).

Have any of you encountered a second language which has the same type of situation? I was trying to think of any English word which is only used in written structure but not spoken.

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/24/2014 6:57:28 PM

Crouchingtiger77

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Humm
No one on CM has studied a second language and that second language doesn't have something about its sentence structure that is so different from that of English. I know that was not part of the original thread.

I'm adding this. for I'm sure Russian language has some huge differences or Japanese or Korean. But Chinese, what makes it difficult is not the writing of the pictures but the use of them whether speaking or writing only

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/24/2014 7:12:12 PM

MercTech

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The thing about Chinese is that there is one written language for several spoken ones.
I know Mandarin and Cantonese are two predominant ones but there are others.

The unspoken pictograph in Mandarin might well be a spoken word in another of the Chinese languages.

During my Navy time I did pick up enough of seven languages to order a meal, find the ship, find the bathroom, and get my face slapped.

BTW, the phrase for "how much is it" and "I love you" sounded way too similar to my western ear in Thailand.

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/25/2014 1:38:15 AM

DonGiovani

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5th semester Arabic (MSA / fasha)... sentence structure is fairly similar to english, illhamduallah. Having a hard time identifying another language that isn't, but I'm not familiar with asian languages. And there's also no "written / spoken" word-meanings.

So no help here.

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/25/2014 2:08:33 AM

AthenaSurrenders

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Probably not what you had in mind, but British Sign Language is structurally very different from written English. Different grammar and word order. I imagine it must present additional challenges to deaf children learning to write if they have been raised with sign language as their primary method of communication.

I can't think of any words we write but don't say in English, but sentence structure can be very different. If you've ever tried making a transcript of a conversation you'll see that we don't really talk how we write. We also use a lot of dialect words that we probably wouldn't write down unless it was in very informal correspondence we someone we knew fairly well. I can't imagine writing 'graunching' or 'chunnering' to anyone but my grandmother. So it's not the same but I think every language has different spoken and written rules to some extent.

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/25/2014 2:55:17 AM

DaddySatyr

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The only languages with which I'm familiar ...

French - Latin-based, spoken as written, getting to be more and more like English (i.e.; adjectives are appearing before nouns, as opposed to the converse, in classical French/Latin-based languages)

Spanish - Same as above with the exception of the noun-adjective juxtaposition

Italian - Same as above

German - Very "economical" language; written as spoken

Russian - I never learned to read it.

Polish - Ditto

Japanese - Ditto

Hindi - Ditto

I am ashamed to admit that I am illiterate in most of the languages that I speak.

ETA: American Sign Language has no gerunds. "I want go home" is understood as we would say: "I want to go home"

Screen captures still RULE! Ya feel me?

< Message edited by DaddySatyr -- 4/25/2014 3:28:34 AM >

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/25/2014 1:45:45 PM

Crouchingtiger77

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quote:

I can't think of any words we write but don't say in English, but sentence structure can be very different. If you've ever tried making a transcript of a conversation you'll see that we don't really talk how we write. We also use a lot of dialect words that we probably wouldn't write down unless it was in very informal correspondence we someone we knew fairly well. I can't imagine writing 'graunching' or 'chunnering' to anyone but my grandmother. So it's not the same but I think every language has different spoken and written rules to some extent.

Athena, and yes to everyone else, thank you all for your feedback, and you are perhaps correct we do not write how we speak. The thing is, what I just wrote I would also say.

We do not have a rule that says, "Say it this way but we write it the other way."

I am trying to think of an example of what I say, in one fashion, would be written in a different sentence structure.

Perhaps this is why my written grammar sucks, and it does. I write as I think and that is how I speak which does not possess the grammatical problems of my written structure.

I would like an example, a good one, of how what is said is so different from the written form. Oh yes, and we can't end sentences with a 'preposition, correct, as that is called dangling about , yes?

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/25/2014 2:12:40 PM

chatterbox24

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I speak 12 languages but they are all English.
And I understand picture books pretty well.
As far as speech it's a lot like hearing elly Mae call for jeffro for supper.
I don't know what kind of picture I just painted but I scared myself with it.

< Message edited by chatterbox24 -- 4/25/2014 2:13:13 PM >

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/25/2014 8:10:09 PM

metamorfosis

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Crouchingtiger77
For those of you have studied a second language or more I have the following from my experience in Studying Mandarin and a question which follows.

In Chinese language, they have words and word structures which are exclusive for written, (meaning not spoken); and , other words exclusive to spoken, (meaning not written).

Have any of you encountered a second language which has the same type of situation? I was trying to think of any English word which is only used in written structure but not spoken.

I don't think you're talking about onomatopoeia or punctuation, so no.

< Message edited by metamorfosis -- 4/25/2014 8:13:11 PM >

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/26/2014 9:25:44 AM

DesFIP

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I find this fascinating. With that said, there are words that are primarily used in writing papers for specific fields. Pam's suggestion of onomatopoeia for one. Barring a literature college course, I don't believe I've ever heard it used in conversation.

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/26/2014 10:10:58 AM

Crouchingtiger77

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The world of onomatopeiaic words filled his head as he wrote his newest short story

and that story is titled: Jason's Journey to the Land of Onomatopoeia

I would have to really work on pronouncing that so I can use it but I recall many many years ago as a little rug rat learning to love to use the word 'indubitably' all the time.

Now, I have found a way to use Onomatopoeia as often as possible after I learn to pronounce it.

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RE: Off Topic About Language Acquisition - 4/29/2014 5:56:16 AM

PyrotheClown

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DonGiovani

5th semester Arabic (MSA / fasha)... sentence structure is fairly similar to english, illhamduallah. Having a hard time identifying another language that isn't, but I'm not familiar with asian languages. And there's also no "written / spoken" word-meanings.

So no help here.

that is till you get to Quranic Arabic,but that's the equivalent to Old english....which we no longer use cause language is a living thing and renfairs get lame after awhile

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