Is the English Language weird?

1. 60

   OriginArtzposted 13 years ago

   Is the English Language weird?
   
   I am not making fun of the English Language. My father told me that the English Language is weird. Hmm...what's your opinion?

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2. 60

   HattieMattieMaeposted 13 years ago

   Yes it is weird in the sens it is always changing through time, if you look at old antique books words they used aren't in our dictionary, but than some are.  Than we have to new generation words coming in that no one really understands if you are passed the age of 50! lol

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3. 60

   Sgswangstuposted 13 years ago

   English is so weird cause the spelling isn't consistent with the sounds like it is in most languages.   No matter how much I write, I think I will always spell a few words wrong. English is unique to many other languages because it has been influenced by such a large variety of languages. I always wonder what English actually sounds like to people who don't speak it. For instance, I personally love the musical sound of Portuguese, but I'm not that impressed with the sounds of German or French. I wonder if English has a beautiful or ugly sound....it's hard to tell if you speak it.

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4. 59

   EnglishAccelerateposted 13 years ago

   Yes, English is weird!  :-)
   Im so glad it's my first language, to be honest.
   One of the biggest problems is that English is not a phonetic language, which means the spelling and the pronunciation don't match.  For example, look at the pronunciation of the letters ch in the following words - children, chaos, Chicago, yacht!  this is just one example of many!  So no wonder speakers of other languages find English pronunciation so difficult! Aren't we lucky ;-)

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5. 60

   kevin.bakerposted 13 years ago

   The weirdity of English has also given it its unique flavor. I have heard that English follows a musical format similar to jazz music. We constantly borrow from many different languages and we already have over 15,000 French words in the English language. To help with the weirdness, British English has 48 distinct sounds and American English has 45 distinct sounds. But what makes the language extremely weird is our ability to create new words at will. Did anyone like my new word "weirdity" ... just wait, it will be in the dictionary soon along with u and LOL.

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6. 69

   Angie Jardineposted 13 years ago

   I don't think 'weird' is the right word (it's derived from the Old Norse word 'wyrd' for a start and really means 'fate'). I think perhaps the right word is 'unusual'.
   
   And yes, it certainly is that. There are many inconsistencies but it is still an incredibly vibrant and lively language, if a bit tricky on the spelling side of things.
   
   Even so it's nowhere near as 'weird' as txtspk. Now how barmy (and lazy) is that language?

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