Omniglot - the blog

Name the language

Simon on 03 May 2008

Language and Quiz questions | Comments (22)

22 Responses to “Name the language”

1. Greg on 03 May 2008 at 4:13 pm #

   I would have to go with Frisian.

2. garance on 03 May 2008 at 4:52 pm #

   Frisian sounds ok, or from Luxemburg (has some deutch) it is from the Flemish family anyway I think.

3. Prietpraatprinses on 03 May 2008 at 8:38 pm #

   I think it’s Frisian, it’s no Luxembourgish at all. Dutch influences anyway.

4. Daydreamer on 03 May 2008 at 11:34 pm #

   If it’s not Frisian, it must be Afrikaans.

5. Matt H on 04 May 2008 at 12:43 pm #

   I don’t think it is Afrikaans. It is definitely obvious it is related to Dutch. I haven’t heard much Frisian, but I think it is close enough geographically to sound that similar to Dutch. Luxembourgish sounds like German with a Dutch accent, not like a regional variation of Dutch. I’ll have to go with Frisian… now which dialect of Frisian is it??? lol

6. xarxa on 04 May 2008 at 2:07 pm #

   its got to be afrikaans or something very similar

7. xarxa on 04 May 2008 at 2:08 pm #

   is this recording from the poetry international web site, by any chance?

8. garance on 04 May 2008 at 4:45 pm #

   I have not heard Afrikaans in fifty years (even then, just a few sentences), but it is a great suggestion

9. Aaron on 04 May 2008 at 7:47 pm #

   I’m probably totally off, but could this be Icelandic? I heard a ‘th’ in there, also the cadence and lisping sibilants remind me of Norwegian.

10. Leitbulb on 04 May 2008 at 9:57 pm #

    i am probably way off seeing as almost everyone here thinks it sounds like dutch or german (i dont) i think it sounds like french a bit. i am guessing breton, spoken in (i think) brittany, france.

11. neurolux on 04 May 2008 at 10:38 pm #

    It doesn’t sound Germanic to me. It sounds a little Semitic/Arabic but somehow European. Maybe it’s Maltese.

12. Aaron on 04 May 2008 at 11:31 pm #

    Wait… do I hear vowel harmony?

13. prase on 05 May 2008 at 2:10 am #

    Is it a contemporary language? If not, it could be Middle English.

14. d.m.falk on 05 May 2008 at 2:14 am #

    My first thought when hearing this- and I’m not saying I’m aiming to be right or wrong, mind you- was Old English (Englisc), although the poem sounds contemporary in structure. :)

    d.m.f.

15. BG on 05 May 2008 at 3:29 am #

    I’m pretty sure it’s Germanic, but not Middle or Old English ,although I thought it sounded a bit like English, especially the end “and laughs, and laughs, and laughs” (at least that’s what I thought I heard). I’m guessing Frisian.

16. LandTortoise on 05 May 2008 at 6:21 am #

    The ACCENT is so similar to Dutch but the words aren’t Dutch so I’ll opt for Frisian too. It’s not harsh enough to be Afrikaans.

17. Simon on 05 May 2008 at 10:33 am #

    The answer is Frisian (Frysk), which is spoken mainly in parts of the Netherlands and Germany. Well done to those who got it.

    The recording comes from YouTube and was made by Omrop Fryslân, a Frisian broadcaster based in Leeuwarden.

    Here’s an English translation of the poem:

    she lives in a burning house
    every storm takes a tile from the roof
    it’s cold her teeth chatter
    someone outside thinks up new rules for traffic
    an old man cycles on
    newspapers stuffed under his clothes
    she walks out with a basket full of washing
    black sheets black blankets black
    pillowcase she sees the fields are burning too
    no point in going out
    it’s better back inside the walls
    flames dancing on his portrait
    letters fall unasked through the door
    rustling down not reaching the mat her cat
    jumps onto her lap with a vegetable desire
    to be stroked she pours more meths
    over the photo albums wipes
    the ash from her glasses and reads
    and reads and reads

18. michael farris on 05 May 2008 at 5:58 pm #

    Without looking at anybody else’s answers the obvious guess is Afrikaans (or just maybe Frisian?) Something Dutch-ish at any rate.

19. BG on 06 May 2008 at 2:42 am #

    Oops, it was “and läst/lest” … not “and laughs”. Like German “lesen (liest)” it seems.

20. Matt H on 06 May 2008 at 10:42 am #

    Haha… after I posted my comment, I found this video on youtube. It confirmed that it was in Frisian, but I thought I wouldn’t spoil it for anyone…

21. Peter J. Franke on 07 May 2008 at 6:27 pm #

    Yes it indeed is Frisian (Frysk),not Friisk, Simon. Frysk is the name for the language spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland (Fryslân). It’s one of the roots of English. For instance: “Butter, brea en griene tsiis, hwa dat net sizze kin is gjin oprjochte Frys” (Butter, bread and green cheese, who cannot say this is not a genuine Frisian) is the password for Frisians. I’m not a native speaker of this language but since I lived there in my childhood and joined theatre and drama in this language I speak it fluently. I even joined in Shakespeare’s Mac Beth in old Frisian.

22. Adam on 09 May 2008 at 7:16 pm #

    Ek praat afrikaans en dit is nie afrikaans nie. Die afrikaanse taal niks so sneel is.

    I speak Afrikaans and it’s not afrikaans

    Nad yw’n Affricaneg gallaf eich sicrhau chi achos dwi’n siaradwr rhugl yn yr iaith.