Language quiz

Here’s a recording in a mystery language.

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

Comments (8)

David EgerNovember 18th, 2012 at 11:51 am

Could it be something from the Finno-Ugric family?

DaydreamerNovember 18th, 2012 at 5:11 pm

Definitely not Finnic-Ugric, but a language that’s heavily influenced by Spanish.
It may be spoken in Central America or on islands in the Pacific Ocean: Guam > CHamorro or the Philippines > Tagalog.

Joe MockNovember 18th, 2012 at 10:45 pm

I’d say American of some sort – it’s not Tagalog or Chamorro

d.m.falkNovember 19th, 2012 at 12:11 am

It’s not Tagalog or Chamorro, but is a Spanish-influenced Malay language, si U’d say one of the other Philipine languages– Ilokano or Cebuano, for example.

d.m.f.

Joe MockNovember 19th, 2012 at 3:16 am

It may be a minor Philippine language, but it definitely is not Ilokano and I don’t think it’s Cebuano or any of the Visayan dialects.

SimonNovember 19th, 2012 at 5:18 pm

It seems nobody is going to get this one – the answer is Palauan, an Austronesian language family spoken in Palau, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The recording comes from the GRN.

LevNovember 19th, 2012 at 10:00 pm

Interestingly, the word for “Jesus” in this language is [jeʃuʃ] or [jesus]. Who converted them to Christianity? The Germans, who had Palau for 15 years?

ElliotDecember 1st, 2012 at 8:35 am

Lev, I didn’t hear the “sch” sound at all. I heard yésus. I’m not very good with IPA, but I know that the man in the recording was not using the sh sound.