13 thoughts on “Language quiz

  1. Funny – When the clip started, before I’d turned off Radio 4, I thought I was hearing a very northern dialect of Welsh. But, no, it sure ain’t Welsh of any kind.

    I’m willing to guess that it’s a Semitic language, maybe from somewhere in East Africa. Having done a little reading, I’ll go a step further and say Inor.

  2. My guess would be a native North American language but I can’t be any more specific than that.

  3. I’d agree with Roger, definitely Native American, most likely in the Athabaskan grouping but I’ve no idea which language.

  4. Two things that make me think this isn’t a Pacific Northwest language:

    1) None of the long sequences of consonants without vowels that are such a typical areal feature.
    2) Nasal vowels [î] and [ã], which as far as I know (though I may be mistaken here) don’t occur in Pacific Northwest languages. They do appear in Siouan languages, like Lakhota.

    Add to this what sounds like high tones and I would be sorely tempted to think this might be Lakhota — except that as far as I know, Lakhota doesn’t have voiceless lateral fricatives, which abound in this recording. Hmm.

    Perhaps Tlingit, as Chris Sundita suggested, or Kwakwala? I’m still not sure because of those nasal vowels…

  5. I’m interested to hear the result, here.

    Another matter – off topic, I’m afraid.

    I’m trying to find which languages give glass a feminine gender – in as many ancient and modern (to 15thC) languages as possible.

    Not sure where to go to put the question. Most polygot chat- and mailing-lists seem to have ended back in the early 2000’s.

    If you could recommend a site where I might have a chance to contact linguists and put the question, I’d be most grateful.

  6. Spoken in Bolivia and Argentina Aymará would be a logical guess. But I’m pointing at Toba, cos I can’t hear stress on the penultimate syllable, which is said to be a feature of Aymará.

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