Language quiz

Here’s a recording in a mystery language.

Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?

December 4th, 2011 in Language, Quiz questions

Comments (11)

praseDecember 4th, 2011 at 6:17 pm

Telugu. Just a guess.

SathyarthiDecember 4th, 2011 at 7:24 pm

- Nope, definitely not Telugu or a Dravidian language..!

FDecember 4th, 2011 at 7:51 pm

I hear the word ‘school’ many times and something that sounds like “Venice College” near the end — pretty sure about the ‘college’ part. I also hear a lot of ɯ and retroflex consonants. No idea what the language might be, but somewhere with English influence.

P.December 4th, 2011 at 10:31 pm

My guess would be Wolof.

andreDecember 4th, 2011 at 11:50 pm

It sounded a lot like an Australian Aboriginal language, and at first because of the ‘s’ (which indeed is only in ‘school’ here) I would have said Kala Lagaw Ya, the only one with fricatives… But without any other information and without further study yet they all sound exactly alike to me…

Trond EngenDecember 5th, 2011 at 12:33 am

All sorts of leads but no conclusion:
- My children heard school and Venice too. Coincidence, I said, but then I relistened and heard College. Relistening once more I think I hear Benny: Benny’s college, and Benny’s school earlier on.
- She seems to be saying Kenya twice initially.
- The background music in the room (convention centre?) is American.
- It’s something about the vowels that make me think she’s influenced by English.

D.JayDecember 5th, 2011 at 12:14 pm

Is it some kind of French creole?

sdaDecember 5th, 2011 at 2:16 pm

Maybe Some Turkic languge?
I have no idea.

SimonDecember 5th, 2011 at 2:35 pm

Here’s a clue – this is a Nilotic language.

DaydreamerDecember 5th, 2011 at 11:25 pm

With that clue there’s not much left to chose from. Think it’s Maasai.

SimonDecember 6th, 2011 at 10:20 am

The answer is Dinka (Thuɔŋjäŋ), a Western Nilotic language spoken mainly in southern Sudan.

The recording comes from the YouTube.