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> Not liking a language seems like a very far-reaching thing. There are people who were born into that language and have little choice but to use that language
by chc 12y ago
> Not liking a language seems like a very far-reaching thing. There are people who were born into that language and have little choice but to use that language to communicate.
What does that have to do with anything? Nobody's indicting anyone for speaking a language. The question here is just whether some languages are generally more mellifluous.
> If indeed native speakers don't consider their own language ugly, then foreigners who think that seem to be exhibiting a kind of xenophobia.
Maybe, but it seems more likely to me that native speakers are just deaf to how their own language sounds to other people — similar to how most people don't think they have an accent, and are surprised what their voice sounds like recorded because they're used to hearing it rumble from within.
- jordigh 12y agoSaying something is beautiful or ugly is a value judgement, in this case a value judgement you're passing on what is usually an ethnicity's most common element: language. And this value judgement is upon a certain ethnicity. If you were to hear that Africans tend to be uglier than Swedes, wouldn't you consider that an uncomfortable value judgement to hear? Oh, but it's just your preference. There's nothing wrong with thinking that Swedes are prettier than Africans, and nobody should be considered racist or xenophobic for making such a claim. Going back to language, if you're saying my language is ugly because of how it sounds to you, all I hear is that you don't know anything about it and you're referring to something unknown as ugly. It just seems like ignorance. As to your second point, being unaware of one's accent and being unaware of one's own timbre are completely different things.