There's plenty of variety among various languages. In some ways, the rules of two languages might not seem too different from each other. Other times, what occurs in one tongue is a totally foreign concept in another.
Personify the languages, imagine them having linguistics-related debates, and you get... today's blog post. Enjoy the insane ramblings of my brain.
Western languages: So these are all of the letters that make up our words.
German: ß
Western languages: What.
Languages: So some of us are fairly phonetic, and don't use many silent letters, or even have none at all!
French: What if we made, like, half the letters silent?
Languages: No.
English: So these are the rules for the letter 'W'. It's fairly simple. Just don't put it somewhere odd, like here, or over here, for example.
Languages: So some of us are fairly phonetic, and don't use many silent letters, or even have none at all!
French: What if we made, like, half the letters silent?
Languages: No.
English: So these are the rules for the letter 'W'. It's fairly simple. Just don't put it somewhere odd, like here, or over here, for example.
Welsh: Put 'W' there? Okay!
English: No! I said, don't put it there! What... what are you doing? That's a completely illogical place to... This word you created doesn't even have a vowel! Get back here!
Welsh: (runs away giggling)
English: So, the consonant combo 'NG' can appear at the end of words, or in the middle.
English: So, the consonant combo 'NG' can appear at the end of words, or in the middle.
Celtic tongues: What if we started words with 'NG'?
English: Are you even listening to me.
English: This is the alphabet.
Spanish: Pfft, look at all these single characters. You should spice things up a bit. Make letters with two characters, like 'LL' and 'RR'.
English: Make... two letters... a single letter...
Welsh: Yes! The alphabet should go like this: A, B, C, CH, D, DD...
English: I honestly don't know what to do with you guys sometimes.
Spanish: Pfft, look at all these single characters. You should spice things up a bit. Make letters with two characters, like 'LL' and 'RR'.
English: Make... two letters... a single letter...
Welsh: Yes! The alphabet should go like this: A, B, C, CH, D, DD...
English: I honestly don't know what to do with you guys sometimes.
Languages: Okay, we've passed out most of the letters, and we have some things left over.
Polish: I'll take them!
Languages: What use are you going to find for all of these random consonants?
Polish: You'll see! I'll find a place for them!
Polish: I'll take them!
Languages: What use are you going to find for all of these random consonants?
Polish: You'll see! I'll find a place for them!
Languages: You're just going to put them everywhere and confuse the rest of us, aren't you.
Polish: Maybe...
Polish: Maybe...
English: What sound does this 'LL' of yours make?
Welsh: Well, I know you don't use that phoneme, but surely you have a name for it over in the 'technical jargon' section somewhere.
English: Let me check. Oh, here it is. It's called a... voiceless alveolar lateral fricative.
Welsh: Wow, not complicated at all. Your linguists really know how to keep things simple.
English: No, it's not that difficult to understand! It's just, uh, well...
English: No, it's not that difficult to understand! It's just, uh, well...
English: ...You know, it's times like this when I really hate myself.
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