4 ms·

Your "preference" is a simplistic translation of the term, specially due to ignoring the whole "sprach" of it. I think given the context of the article the usag

by caio1982 9y ago

Your "preference" is a simplistic translation of the term, specially due to ignoring the whole "sprach" of it. I think given the context of the article the usage of that german word is justified. Let's learn something new.

arghwhat 9y ago
The topic of language is carried by the context and topic of the entire post. Explicit emphasis is redundant. Now, sprachgefühl is more abstract (after all, it refers to the "feeling", which while similar is not strictly the same as "preference"), but I'd argue that "preference" is a decent replacement conveying everything that was intended, and the best fit given the English vocabulary. If you find a need to be more explicit, try something along the lines of "opinions on language aesthetics". "Sprachgefühl" is not a widely accepted loanword (it appears reserved for those that pick their own loanwords to show off their diverse linguistic skills—smartasses, so to speak), and it looks awfully out of place for those of us that understand German.
- eru 9y ago
  It might feel a bit weird to a German speaker, but English is their language and if they want to add to it, let them pick whatever source of inspiration they want. A bigger bug bear for me is the English pronunciation of French loanwords like accessoire. (And I do wonder how English speakers actually pronounce Sprachgefuhl. They probably mangle beyond recognition.)
  - arghwhat 9y ago
    Heh, loan words tend to fall into 3 categories: 1. Original pronunciation, but entirely different meaning 2. Original meaning, but entirely different pronunciation 3. Neither pronunciation nor meaning has anything to do with the original, but it's still spelled the same. I like Japanese. They do #2 out of strict necessity due to their very limited sounds, and shorten the result so that we can't easily recognize it (e.g., personal computer -> pasonaru konnputaa -> pasokon). As for sprachgefühle—I really don't think there is any need for that word. It's doesn't seem to fill a gap, other than an emerging love for German compounds.
    - eru 9y ago
      Even if it doesn't fill any gap at the moment, words that start out as synonyms have a habit of diverging in meaning to fill different gaps.
- Mediterraneo10 9y ago
  > (it appears reserved for those that pick their own loanwords to show off their diverse linguistic skills—smartasses, so to speak) As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, this is not the case. The word is an accepted loanword in linguistics jargon, and the linked article was written by a linguist mainly for other linguists. This German word was not picked to "show off" anything. Rather, since linguistics in the 20th century involved having to read material in, besides English, at least French and German as well, lots of German loanwords just naturally passed into the jargon of linguists because they seemed apt, not because anyone wanted to impress their peers (for it would hardly seem impressive, one’s peers being able to read German just as well).

arghwhat 9y ago

The topic of language is carried by the context and topic of the entire post. Explicit emphasis is redundant. Now, sprachgefühl is more abstract (after all, it refers to the "feeling", which while similar is not strictly the same as "preference"), but I'd argue that "preference" is a decent replacement conveying everything that was intended, and the best fit given the English vocabulary. If you find a need to be more explicit, try something along the lines of "opinions on language aesthetics". "Sprachgefühl" is not a widely accepted loanword (it appears reserved for those that pick their own loanwords to show off their diverse linguistic skills—smartasses, so to speak), and it looks awfully out of place for those of us that understand German.

eru 9y ago
It might feel a bit weird to a German speaker, but English is their language and if they want to add to it, let them pick whatever source of inspiration they want. A bigger bug bear for me is the English pronunciation of French loanwords like accessoire. (And I do wonder how English speakers actually pronounce Sprachgefuhl. They probably mangle beyond recognition.)
- arghwhat 9y ago
  Heh, loan words tend to fall into 3 categories: 1. Original pronunciation, but entirely different meaning 2. Original meaning, but entirely different pronunciation 3. Neither pronunciation nor meaning has anything to do with the original, but it's still spelled the same. I like Japanese. They do #2 out of strict necessity due to their very limited sounds, and shorten the result so that we can't easily recognize it (e.g., personal computer -> pasonaru konnputaa -> pasokon). As for sprachgefühle—I really don't think there is any need for that word. It's doesn't seem to fill a gap, other than an emerging love for German compounds.
  - eru 9y ago
    Even if it doesn't fill any gap at the moment, words that start out as synonyms have a habit of diverging in meaning to fill different gaps.
Mediterraneo10 9y ago
> (it appears reserved for those that pick their own loanwords to show off their diverse linguistic skills—smartasses, so to speak) As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, this is not the case. The word is an accepted loanword in linguistics jargon, and the linked article was written by a linguist mainly for other linguists. This German word was not picked to "show off" anything. Rather, since linguistics in the 20th century involved having to read material in, besides English, at least French and German as well, lots of German loanwords just naturally passed into the jargon of linguists because they seemed apt, not because anyone wanted to impress their peers (for it would hardly seem impressive, one’s peers being able to read German just as well).