[General] Sound

[mawes12]

Does whoever is reading this think every sound is already created?

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.


Does whoever reads this think every sound has already been created?


No.

 

[mawes12]

Maybe you're right but I make some sounds in my head and it sounds like I'm using the alphabet. I'm bilingual if you wanted to know.

 

[emsr2d2]

Which two languages do you speak fluently?

 

[mawes12]

I speak Spanish and English. How about you? If it doesn't bother you for me to ask.

 

[Matthew Wai]

... spanish and english.

Proper capitalization is a must on this forum.
Not a teacher.

I make some sounds in my head

What sounds do you mean?

 

[mawes12]

I mean random sounds. When someone/something speaks/makes noises, they make sounds.

 

[emsr2d2]

Does whoever [STRIKE]will[/STRIKE] is read​ing this think every sound [STRIKE]is[/STRIKE] has already been created?

I speak Spanish and English. How about you (if it [STRIKE]don't[/STRIKE] doesn't bother you for me to ask)?

I mean random sounds. When someone[STRIKE]/something[/STRIKE] speaks, they make sounds.

Based on your English in this thread, I disagree with your assertion that you speak English fluently and are bilingual. I mean no offence but you brought up your being bilingual as somehow being relevant to your point. I didn't what what relevance you thought it had and I still don't.

"Things" don't speak so you can't say "something speaks". Only people speak so you can only use "someone" in that context.

It is impossible to say if all sounds have already been created or spoken by someone, somewhere on the planet.

 

[mawes12]

Based on your English in this thread, I disagree with your assertion that you speak English fluently and are bilingual. I mean no offence but you brought up your being bilingual as somehow being relevant to your point. I didn't what what relevance you thought it had and I still don't.

"Things" don't speak so you can't say "something speaks". Only people speak so you can only use "someone" in that context.

It is impossible to say if all sounds have already been created or spoken by someone, somewhere on the planet.

You didn't answer my question. When I said things, I meant animals/nature items making noises. But thanks for correcting me and when I said I'm bilingual, I think, I meant, there is different alphabets but it can have the same sound as other languages.

 

[mawes12]

So do you guys think there is more alphabets we can put in the alphabet list?

 

[Tdol]

You could generate any number of new alphabets if you wanted to, though languages that are creating writing systems tend to make use of existing ones and adapt them if needed.

 

[mawes12]

You could generate any number of new alphabets if you wanted to, though languages that are creating writing systems tend to make use of existing ones and adapt them if needed.

I think even though some languages have different languages, you can still pronounce other alphabets by using your alphabets. What do you think?

 

[Skrej]

Not necessarily, because some languages have sounds that don't exit in other languages, and vice versa. If you try writing your language in another alphabet, and you need to express a sound that alphabet doesn't have a symbol for, then you have to make a new one, or adapt the pronunciation, etc.

 

[mawes12]

Not necessarily, because some languages have sounds that don't exit in other languages, and vice versa. If you try writing your language in another alphabet, and you need to express a sound that alphabet doesn't have a symbol for, then you have to make a new one, or adapt the pronunciation, etc.

Can you make an example please?

 

[Skrej]

One example is trying to write English with an Arabic alphabet. Arabic doesn't have a /p/ sound, so you have to use the closest approximate sound in Arabic, usually the /b/ sound. But then the English words pig and big get transliterated exactly the same way.

The German alphabet actually has two of the same letters as English, V and W. However, in German the V is pronounced like English F, and the German W is pronounced like English V. So if you take the car brand of Volkswagen, or VW, in English it's 'vee-double you', but German it's 'fow vay'.

Hebrew has a letter for a sound that doesn't exist directly in English, the letter נ , which in English is usually written with the letters 'ch', as in Bach. It's a harsh sound in the back of your throat. So that's why you'll see the Jewish Holiday of נוכה sometimes written as Chanukah, or Hanukkah, or other ways in English.

Many Semitic languages don't write out the vowels in a language. You just write the consonants, or the root word. If necessary you can denote the vowels with diacritical marks, but that's not usually done. So I'd write 'cat' as 'tc' in Arabic or Hebrew (because they're written right to left), and you'd have to figure out from the context of the sentence if I meant cat vs. cot. vs. cut vs. cute vs. cote.

Xhosa, an African language uses tongue clicks, which are extremely rare in languages. This is a really good example, because of not only the tongue clicks, but the fact that Xhosa doesn't have its own writing system. How do you write your language in a language that doesn't have a writing system?

Then you have the problem that not all languages use alphabets as a writing system. Some languages are written with a syllabary, where you have one sound for every syllable in the language. So the English words 'son' and 'sun' would be written exactly the same way, because they have the same syllabic sound. Japanese is like this.

Other languages are logographic, meaning you have pictures for the words, and you combine the pictures to create words. You have a picture for the verb 'run', and a picture for the noun 'water'. Instead of a new word for 'river' you combine the pictures for 'run' and 'water', to meaning running water. Which could be a river, or maybe just water from the tap. Chinese and Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics are examples of this.

 

[Skrej]

Also, watch this video for some sounds which exist in other languages that don't in English.

 

[mawes12]

Thanks for the info. I feel like there's a way of forming words or sounds to make it sound like another language's word or sound. Maybe I'm confused.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Instead of a new word for 'river' you combine the pictures for 'run' and 'water', to meaning running water... Chinese and Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics are examples of this.

Speaking as a Chinese person, there is a single Chinese word（河）for 'river', which is not derived from the Chinese term（流水）for 'running water'.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks for the info. I feel like there's a way of forming words or sounds to make it sound like another language's word or sound. Maybe I'm confused.

I'm certainly confused as to what it is you're trying to do/say. Are you saying it's possible to write another language's words or sounds using English letters or that you think it's possible to recreate another languages sounds using sounds commonly used in the English language?

I'm fairly certain that, with a lot of practice, I could learn to say/vocalise/recreate the "clicks" from Xhosa even though the sound is not used when speaking English. With the best will in the world, I don't see how those "click" sounds could ever be written down using the English alphabet.

 

[mawes12]

Maybe Both. What I think I'm trying to say is that there might be a way to match your language with other languages because really you are just using your throat. Maybe I'm wrong. To me, that isn't really important and who you are is important but I just want to know.