Re: CHAT: Synesthesia and conlanging (was Re: The ConlangInstinct)
| From: | Grandsire, C.A. <grandsir@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Friday, December 3, 1999, 8:38 |
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Nik Taylor wrote:
>
> "Grandsire, C.A." wrote:
> > (hence the fact that most monolingual people are
> > unable to imagine people thinking in another language than their own)
>
> I remember wondering, when I was a young child, about what it must be
> like to think in another language, or, more to the point, what it must
> be like for English to be a foreign language. I knew that people who
> speak other langs think in those, but it seemed weird nevertheless.
>
I remember having the same thoughts. I even sometimes thought that it
was impossible and that everybody thought really in French! :)
> Speaking of which, for you non-native speakers of English, what was your
> original impression of English before learning it? Did you find it
> beautiful or ugly, and what gave it that impression?
>
When I was young, I mostly heard English in songs (every on TV is
translated in French, and my parents are monolingual). I found it
beautiful enough, but impossible to hear a single syllable out of it. It
was simply gibberish for me, a continuous stream of sounds without
pause. I still have the worst difficulties to understand songs in
English.
> > whereas we see language simply as a mean to express our thoughts, or
> > even as a piece of art, and so we have the right to create our own piece
> > of art or mean of expressing our thoughts (well, it's more complicated
> > than that, but I simplify for summary).
>
> I think that's a fair summary.
>
Thank you :) .
--
Christophe Grandsire
Philips Research Laboratories -- Building WB 145
Prof. Holstlaan 4
5656 AA Eindhoven
The Netherlands
Phone: +31-40-27-45006
E-mail: grandsir@natlab.research.philips.com