5 ms·

Yes. I am a native German speaker, and apart from grammar (people usually have a bit of trouble with cases, articles and particles) there are a few nice words t

Yes. I am a native German speaker, and apart from grammar (people usually have a bit of trouble with cases, articles and particles) there are a few nice words to trip people up: - Streichholzschächtelchen (match box – diminutive): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:De-Streichholzsch%C3%A4chtelchen.ogg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:De-Streichholzsch%C3... - Austrians use a lot of different words, my favorite being Jänner and not Januar for the month January - Swiss German: Chuchichäschtli (small kitchen cup board) which is hard to pronounce, apparently Arab, Dutch and Hebrew speakers are at an advantage here.: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chuchichaeschtli.ogg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chuchichaeschtli.ogg - Another fun thing, different words for bread rolls depending where you are from: http://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/9_01h.jpg http://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/1...

netcan 7y ago
Funny on the the swiss example. I was just thinking: that's not hard to say! Hebrew is well adapted to dealing with words made mostly made from subtle variations of s, sh & t sounds... Which brings us full circle to shibboleth/שיבולת
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- fortran77 7y ago
  It's שבלת when referring to the biblical use. You got the modern spelling of the word for "oatmeal" from google translate. See https://www.sefaria.org/Judges.12.6?lang=bi https://www.sefaria.org/Judges.12.6?lang=bi for the source.
  - hermanKM 7y ago
    Both spellings are correct ( שיבולת and שבלת ). Netcan is using the standardized Rules for Spelling without vowel pointers (Niqqud) enacted by the Academy of the Hebrew Language, which is rejected by some Hebrew language purists. The rules: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ktiv_hasar_niqqud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ktiv_hasar_niqqud
trollied 7y ago
> different words for bread rolls depending where you are from This is also a British thing: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/food/articles-reports/2018/07/19/cobs-buns-baps-or-barm-cakes-what-do-people-call-b https://yougov.co.uk/topics/food/articles-reports/2018/07/19...
FabHK 7y ago
Allegedly, during the invasion of the Netherlands by Nazi forces commencing on May 10th, 1940, the Dutch used "Scheveningen" or "beschuit" as a shibboleth to distinguish German speakers from Dutch. I don't quite understand that, as most Germans don't speak Dutch, full stop, and it would be trivial to distinguish them thereby, while presumably if you have gone to the trouble of learning Dutch, you'd know how to pronounce "Scheveningen". At any rate, that story is often cited, eg in this insightful article that has many more examples: Mcnamara, T. "21st Century Shibboleth: Language Tests, Identity and Intergroup Conflict " Lang Policy (2005) 4: 351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-005-2886-0 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-005-2886-0
- hprotagonist 7y ago
  > while presumably if you have gone to the trouble of learning Dutch, you'd know how to pronounce "Scheveningen". It’s actually hard to do. This is a good choice of shibboleth. I’d propose “squirrel” as an english word to find german speakers. Famously, pacific theater allied forces occasionally used “lollapalooza” as a shibboleth, also for fairly obvious reasons.
  - leipert 7y ago
    Ha. That is nice, because Eichhörnchen (squirrel) is also a hard one in German.
    - hprotagonist 7y ago
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FRD4uq1mVw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FRD4uq1mVw both ways :)
    - mhink 7y ago
      The same issue exists in French, as well! "Écureuil" (squirrel) is somewhat difficult for English speakers to pronounce, and "squirrel" (écureuil) is somewhat difficult for French speakers to pronounce.
- indocomsoft 7y ago

netcan 7y ago

Funny on the the swiss example. I was just thinking: that's not hard to say! Hebrew is well adapted to dealing with words made mostly made from subtle variations of s, sh & t sounds... Which brings us full circle to shibboleth/שיבולת

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
fortran77 7y ago
It's שבלת when referring to the biblical use. You got the modern spelling of the word for "oatmeal" from google translate. See https://www.sefaria.org/Judges.12.6?lang=bi https://www.sefaria.org/Judges.12.6?lang=bi for the source.
- hermanKM 7y ago
  Both spellings are correct ( שיבולת and שבלת ). Netcan is using the standardized Rules for Spelling without vowel pointers (Niqqud) enacted by the Academy of the Hebrew Language, which is rejected by some Hebrew language purists. The rules: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ktiv_hasar_niqqud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ktiv_hasar_niqqud

trollied 7y ago

> different words for bread rolls depending where you are from This is also a British thing: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/food/articles-reports/2018/07/19/cobs-buns-baps-or-barm-cakes-what-do-people-call-b https://yougov.co.uk/topics/food/articles-reports/2018/07/19...

FabHK 7y ago

Allegedly, during the invasion of the Netherlands by Nazi forces commencing on May 10th, 1940, the Dutch used "Scheveningen" or "beschuit" as a shibboleth to distinguish German speakers from Dutch. I don't quite understand that, as most Germans don't speak Dutch, full stop, and it would be trivial to distinguish them thereby, while presumably if you have gone to the trouble of learning Dutch, you'd know how to pronounce "Scheveningen". At any rate, that story is often cited, eg in this insightful article that has many more examples: Mcnamara, T. "21st Century Shibboleth: Language Tests, Identity and Intergroup Conflict " Lang Policy (2005) 4: 351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-005-2886-0 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-005-2886-0

hprotagonist 7y ago
> while presumably if you have gone to the trouble of learning Dutch, you'd know how to pronounce "Scheveningen". It’s actually hard to do. This is a good choice of shibboleth. I’d propose “squirrel” as an english word to find german speakers. Famously, pacific theater allied forces occasionally used “lollapalooza” as a shibboleth, also for fairly obvious reasons.
- leipert 7y ago
  Ha. That is nice, because Eichhörnchen (squirrel) is also a hard one in German.
  - hprotagonist 7y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FRD4uq1mVw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FRD4uq1mVw both ways :)
  - mhink 7y ago
    The same issue exists in French, as well! "Écureuil" (squirrel) is somewhat difficult for English speakers to pronounce, and "squirrel" (écureuil) is somewhat difficult for French speakers to pronounce.
indocomsoft 7y ago