Can you identify the language and where it’s spoken?
22 thoughts on “Language quiz”
wow, i havent got a clue. sounds vaguely somali-ish?
Sounds like a Semitic language. Other than that, no idea.
Hebrew? I heard the word xoven.
Didn’t sound Semitic at all to me, but rather Turkic/Altaic– I’ll hazard a guess and say it’s Uyghur. As usual, I could be wrong.
d.m.f.
Sounds vaguely Slavic. Honestly though, no clue. Props to whoever gets this one.
Mongolian perhaps?
For Andrew: This isn’t Slavic language!
Sounds like a drunk man talking!
I’ll go for Kazakh-Kirghiz-Uzbek.
With the consonant clusters and the gutturals (especially the voiceless pharyngeal fricative) I would guess Noxchi (Chechen) or something closely related.
Guessing something Caucasian, but beyond that I have no idea.
Christopher and Michael are on the right lines – it is a Caucasian language.
Georgian, maybe? Lots of guttural sounds…
I’ll take a wild guess and say Adyge (just cause it’s the first non-Georgian language of the reason that came to mind).
I was thinking maybe Adyghe as well, as an alternative; Ubykh perhaps? (These are just names of languages I know of in the Caucasus; otherwise I know nothing about them really.) If this is a language of the Caucasus, I don’t think it’s Kartvelic (i.e. closely related to Georgian). If one of the two above languages turn out to be Kartvelic, I request everyone to have a good laugh at my expense.
Maybe Azeri? Just guessing.
Abkhaz? Avar? Laz? Tsez? (yeah, I’m just throwing out names of languages off the top of my head…)
Abhkaz or Georgian?
It’s interesting to note how whenever a language appears that does not seem to fit any obvious category, so many people seem to jump to Georgian.
Although this is definitely not Georgian, I would still guess that it’s one of the northern Caucasian languagues; either NW, Central or NE. So in the neighborhood of Adyg, Chechen, Ingush or perhaps a Daghestani languages like Avar.
Myslím si, že je to tamilština.
The answer is Abkhaz (аҧсуа бызшәа), which is spoken mainly in Abkhazia in Georgia.
So, it’s a part – or an edited version – of this exchange:
– You got anything to say, stranger?
– I said it all at my trial. You didn’t believe me then.
– String him up! Kill the horse thief!
– You, uh … you wanna know my name before you hang me?
– Not particularly. Just your last words.
– I demand a re-count.
– We’ve been all through that before. It was your word against the Garrett boys, three of the finest men I know … born and bred right here in this town.
– Three of the finest liars you know?
– Stealing a man’s horse in this country is worse than stealing his wife. There’s been too much of this thing going on and I’m going to put a stop to it.
– Horse stealing or wife stealing, Judge?
– Let’s get on with it. I got some steers want brandin’.
– I’m a reasonable man, Judge.
– Give him a re-count.
– All right, Coley. Whatever you say.
wow, i havent got a clue. sounds vaguely somali-ish?
Sounds like a Semitic language. Other than that, no idea.
Hebrew? I heard the word xoven.
Didn’t sound Semitic at all to me, but rather Turkic/Altaic– I’ll hazard a guess and say it’s Uyghur. As usual, I could be wrong.
d.m.f.
Sounds vaguely Slavic. Honestly though, no clue. Props to whoever gets this one.
Mongolian perhaps?
For Andrew: This isn’t Slavic language!
Sounds like a drunk man talking!
I’ll go for Kazakh-Kirghiz-Uzbek.
With the consonant clusters and the gutturals (especially the voiceless pharyngeal fricative) I would guess Noxchi (Chechen) or something closely related.
Guessing something Caucasian, but beyond that I have no idea.
Christopher and Michael are on the right lines – it is a Caucasian language.
Georgian, maybe? Lots of guttural sounds…
I’ll take a wild guess and say Adyge (just cause it’s the first non-Georgian language of the reason that came to mind).
I was thinking maybe Adyghe as well, as an alternative; Ubykh perhaps? (These are just names of languages I know of in the Caucasus; otherwise I know nothing about them really.) If this is a language of the Caucasus, I don’t think it’s Kartvelic (i.e. closely related to Georgian). If one of the two above languages turn out to be Kartvelic, I request everyone to have a good laugh at my expense.
Maybe Azeri? Just guessing.
Abkhaz? Avar? Laz? Tsez? (yeah, I’m just throwing out names of languages off the top of my head…)
Abhkaz or Georgian?
It’s interesting to note how whenever a language appears that does not seem to fit any obvious category, so many people seem to jump to Georgian.
Although this is definitely not Georgian, I would still guess that it’s one of the northern Caucasian languagues; either NW, Central or NE. So in the neighborhood of Adyg, Chechen, Ingush or perhaps a Daghestani languages like Avar.
Myslím si, že je to tamilština.
The answer is Abkhaz (аҧсуа бызшәа), which is spoken mainly in Abkhazia in Georgia.
The recording comes from YouTube.
So, it’s a part – or an edited version – of this exchange:
– You got anything to say, stranger?
– I said it all at my trial. You didn’t believe me then.
– String him up! Kill the horse thief!
– You, uh … you wanna know my name before you hang me?
– Not particularly. Just your last words.
– I demand a re-count.
– We’ve been all through that before. It was your word against the Garrett boys, three of the finest men I know … born and bred right here in this town.
– Three of the finest liars you know?
– Stealing a man’s horse in this country is worse than stealing his wife. There’s been too much of this thing going on and I’m going to put a stop to it.
– Horse stealing or wife stealing, Judge?
– Let’s get on with it. I got some steers want brandin’.
– I’m a reasonable man, Judge.
– Give him a re-count.
– All right, Coley. Whatever you say.