Re: TRANSLATION: Grandfather and the dragon

Sally Caves wrote:

>taliesin the storyteller wrote:
>>
>> Listening to recordings of my own voice makes me nauseous, oh ick, so
>> I'll twist the sound a little, for my own well-being's sake :) Hmm...
>> I've only taped myself speaking Norwegian... have anyone noticed how
>> much the quality of ones voice changes when speaking foreign =
languages
>> (as in not L1)? When I started becoming fluent in English, I spoke =
about
>> two octaves lower than normal at first.
>
>I didn't know you were Norwegian.  When did you first start learning
>English?  And Tal, how on earth does anybody speak a full two octaves
>lower than normal?  Unless normal is in a high squeek?  Most people,
>when relaxed, speak at about the lowest tone they can hit in singing.
>I've just tried it.  I spoke the word "singing," and the "ing" was
>pitched
>at the lowest tone I can hit, which is low D flat.  (with a cold, or
>when tipsy, I've been known to get down to a low LOW B flat.) When I'm
>tense, which is almost always in normal discourse, my voice rises by
>about four tones (up to A below middle C), but two octaves?  No way,
>man!
>I don't believe you!  ;-) ;-)  Unless men are different in this
>respect.
>But I don't think so.  Unless Norwegian is pitched in ways that would
>amaze me!
Taliesin is exagerating of course. But Norwegian is indeed spoken in=20
a higher pitch than a lot of other languages. I myself noticed that I=20
speak in a much lower pitch when I speak Danish compared to my=20
English mother-tongue. The wierd thing about Scandinavian languages=20
is that, what corresponds to a rising tone in Norwegian, is actually=20
a falling creaky tone in Danish. Compare the word for 'water'; Danish=20
[v&n?] for Norwegian [vAn=B4] (or something like that, where [?] marks=20
the creaky offset in Danish and [=B4] marks the rising pitch offset in=20
Norwegian).

-kristian- 8)