Most beautiful/ugliest languages

[txmmj]

Which languages sound the best/worst to your ears?

I love the way Mongolian sounds. I really like Scottish Gaelic, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdPgrTlxnMc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJaAr9COe2c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6CuWD9k ... plpp_video

I don't like Spanish and southern American English is the absolute worst.

[Aurora Rossa]

I would say Finnish, Italian, and Japanese are the most beautiful to me. I find Afrikaans the ugliest language, though, and dislike southern American English as well (though obviously it does not count as its own language).

[Thry]

I don't like Spanish.

For anything in particular?

[Vuvuzela]

I like Mandarin. It sounds deliberate, like the speaker is proud of every word. And, while this may just be stereotypes intruding on my hearing, it sounds a bit wiser than other languages.
Anything said in European Portuguese sounds extremely bland to me, but it's not like I can't stand the language.

[txmmj]

I don't like Spanish.

For anything in particular?

I just don't like the sound of the language in general, no matter the dialect. I do find Spain Spanish more appealing, but honestly, it just sounds... plain ugly to me.

[Thry]

I wholeheartedly disagree (I'm horribly biased, though, Spain's Spanish being my L1).

But I tend to think it's at least a "clear-sounding language" (/a e i o u/ thing), spoken out loud and strong.
Have you heard some songs in the language? I couldn't imagine many people finding that this and that sound ugly.

Responding to the OP, I think every language can be beautiful if spoken and sung properly. I do find some traits uglier (i.e. uvulars and so Arabic), but nothing unbearable. I personally like my own (Spanish) and English (GAE); and I don't have strong feelings for others. Greek is also nice and sounds almost like Madrid's Spanish xD, at least vowel-wise.

[treskro]

Like: Cantonese, Mongolian, Castillian Spanish, Hindi, Mohawk, Russian, Welsh

Dislike: Thai, Italian, Beijing Mandarin (biased), French, Finnish

[Dewrad]

We have done this so many times, so let's cut to the chase:

People think the less mainstream languages are beautiful. Mongolian often gets a look-in here. Of course, we are all aware that this is basically linguistic hipsterism, and a desire to be different, a nod-and-wink expression of solidarity to those who are also "in the know" about Chukchi's vowel harmonies. Also, for some obscure reason, Celtic languages are frequently perceived as being beautiful. This in spite of the scientifically proven fact that Irish sounds like somebody with a severe head cold chewing toffee, while Welsh simply sounds like somebody spitting.

The consensus is that French is pretty ugly. Personally, I disagree. Of course, as most of us are native speakers, we all agree that English sounds "boring" or "ugly". Somebody will make a stupid comment about "gutteral" languages, someone will refute that, and blah blah blah I just can't even anymore.

Eddy always claims that he finds the languages of his current targets of bigotry/political bugbears "ugly", hence the sudden appearence of Afrikaans. So he's easily predicted.

So, I'm assuming that we can happily close the thread now?

[Pthagnar]

after pointing out that you can change french rap from being ugly to beautiful by having a noted authority [^] say it is breton

yes, you can close the thread once somebody does that

[GrinningManiac]

I consider Russian a very soft, pleasing-on-the-ear affair. I'l often spout gibberish just to listen to my (awful) rendition of the words.

French, or the just French accents, when spoken by women make me weak at the knees. Yes, I am a cliche.

Apart from that I refer back to Dewrad. We've done this before.

[Thomas Winwood]

words

I hypothesise that in general few people have any aesthetic considerations about particular languages or groups of languages at all; when they do, the magnitude of said considerations is vanishingly small compared to any opinions they hold relating to politics or culture. (Tolkien was a conlanger, but most conlangers are, shockingly, not Tolkien.)

As a result, the few people with strong opinions and/or ulterior motives end up trying to engage in an argument with people who have struggled to express an opinion they hold about as strongly as the gravitational force between two electrons.

[Legion]

words

I hypothesise that in general few people have any aesthetic considerations about particular languages or groups of languages at all; when they do, the magnitude of said considerations is vanishingly small compared to any opinions they hold relating to politics or culture. (Tolkien was a conlanger, but most conlangers are, shockingly, not Tolkien.)

As a result, the few people with strong opinions and/or ulterior motives end up trying to engage in an argument with people who have struggled to express an opinion they hold about as strongly as the gravitational force between two electrons.

Thank you for this meaningless and vacuous post, honorable posting person, it makes a valuable and appropriate addition to this thread.

[Rui]

We have done this so many times, so let's cut to the chase:

People think the less mainstream languages are beautiful. Mongolian often gets a look-in here. Of course, we are all aware that this is basically linguistic hipsterism, and a desire to be different, a nod-and-wink expression of solidarity to those who are also "in the know" about Chukchi's vowel harmonies. Also, for some obscure reason, Celtic languages are frequently perceived as being beautiful. This in spite of the scientifically proven fact that Irish sounds like somebody with a severe head cold chewing toffee, while Welsh simply sounds like somebody spitting.

The consensus is that French is pretty ugly. Personally, I disagree. Of course, as most of us are native speakers, we all agree that English sounds "boring" or "ugly". Somebody will make a stupid comment about "gutteral" languages, someone will refute that, and blah blah blah I just can't even anymore.

Eddy always claims that he finds the languages of his current targets of bigotry/political bugbears "ugly", hence the sudden appearence of Afrikaans. So he's easily predicted.

So, I'm assuming that we can happily close the thread now?

And of course, most people (besides Eddy) will base their entire opinions of how a language sounds on one short snippet of the language they heard once, or at the very least based on one speaker, even if it is a major world language such as German, French, or Spanish.

[----]

You can't speak German without sounding angry!

[Matt]

You can't speak German without sounding angry!

Just like you can't speak Russian without sounding drunk!

[Gulliver]

You can't speak German without sounding angry!

Have a German read you a children's book. Something rhythmical. It's like syrup on the soul.

[din]

German food commercials always make me want to run to the supermarket. They make things sound so delicious when they croon commercially fabricated compound nouns such as Knuspergenuß

[Viktor77]

Finnish and Estonian. Perhaps Portuguese and Romanian.

The ugliest, I don't know.

But I don't know what the first poster found in Mongolian. I think it sort of nondescript.

[----]

You can't speak German without sounding angry!

Have a German read you a children's book. Something rhythmical. It's like syrup on the soul.

I just can't win
I CAN'T DO IT

[Magb]

All languages are equally ugly.

[Dewrad]

Eddy always claims that he finds the languages of his current targets of bigotry/political bugbears "ugly", hence the sudden appearence of Afrikaans. So he's easily predicted.

Actually, on this note, it's always kind of puzzled me why Eddy has always liked Italian. I mean, these are the people who came up with fascism, for gods' sakes. Sure, we don't like German because it's shouty nazi language, Afrikaans because it's apartheidspraak, but we like Italian in spite of it being the language of the original fascists and a major working language of the Roman Catholic Church? And the language in which most of that right-wing elitist artform "opera" is produced?

(Also note how Japanese has crept back onto the "beautiful" list now he thinks we've forgotten the whole "Racist Japanese won't let me make manga" thing.)

[Aurora Rossa]

Actually, on this note, it's always kind of puzzled me why Eddy has always liked Italian. I mean, these are the people who came up with fascism, for gods' sakes. Sure, we don't like German because it's shouty nazi language, Afrikaans because it's apartheidspraak, but we like Italian in spite of it being the language of the original fascists and a major working language of the Roman Catholic Church? And the language in which most of that right-wing elitist artform "opera" is produced?

Perhaps that says something about the viability of your theory...

[Vuvuzela]

Figuring out if Eddy likes how a language sounds is really quite BASIC.
READY
10 LET G= racist rightists hellspwan from hell
20 IF uvulars OR pharyngeals OR epiglottals THEN GOTO 40
30 IF gemminates AND long vowels THEN GOTO 60 ELSE GOTO 10
40 PRINT "dislike".
50 IF speakers are G THEN GOTO 70 ELSE GOTO 40
60 PRINT "swoon"
70 PRINT "Evil, hideous language of the Colonizing Oppressors of Evil"
RUN

[sirred]

Can we work in a joke about C++ next?

[Rui]

Actually, on this note, it's always kind of puzzled me why Eddy has always liked Italian. I mean, these are the people who came up with fascism, for gods' sakes. Sure, we don't like German because it's shouty nazi language, Afrikaans because it's apartheidspraak, but we like Italian in spite of it being the language of the original fascists and a major working language of the Roman Catholic Church? And the language in which most of that right-wing elitist artform "opera" is produced?

Perhaps that says something about the viability of your theory...

Something something "the exception that proves the rule" -Eddy