Re: CHAT: Synesthesia and conlanging (was Re: The ConlangInstinct)

Paul Bennett wrote:
>
> Dang! That's a very good question!  May I state it in a more detailed way?
>
> I'm aware of the various ways that different languages sound to English speakers
> who don't know that language (guttural, slurred, sing-song, fast, slow, hissing,
> etc).  What "stereotypical" features do other languages have to describe
> English?
>
        Well, let's try to remember how I felt with English before I learned
it. Well, the first thing for French people is that English is extremely
fast, soft enough but not hissing, kind of mumbled, as if English people
talked without opening the mouth, so that you can't distinguish any
sound but just a stream of noise, without any vowel or consonnant well
distinguished. Well, yes, I think "mumbled" would be the stereotypical
feature monolingual French would use to describe English I think.

> There's a tiny bit of "on-topic" in there, as I'm trying to get together some
> lang/culture stuff for describing the various perceptions of eachothers
> languages held by my concultures.
>
--
        Christophe Grandsire

        Philips Research Laboratories --  Building WB 145
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        Phone:  +31-40-27-45006
        E-mail: grandsir@natlab.research.philips.com