On November 2, 2010 at 00:32 in “Languages changing your native language”, Chung wrote:Tyr wrote: Has anyone else ever experienced languages they're learning influencing their use of their native language?
For me I do believe Swedish has done this rather a lot.
Firstly- I suppose I've become more gramatically correct and started talking of 'one' being able to do things rather than 'you' being able to do things.
Secondly- My word order is a bit more archaic. 'Should I happen upon' rather than 'If I should find'. That's the only example I can really think of right now but I'm sure there's more examples of that... and more examples of other stuff beyond!
Anyone?
Sure have...
1) Because of the influence from German, I maintain the subjunctive in English (i.e. "If I was..." sounds incorrect to me and I cringe inwardly when hearing it from other native-speakers. Since we say: "Wenn ich wäre..." I get enough reinforcement to say "If I were...")
2) Because of my exposure to all of the foreign languages that I've encountered, I will use conjunctions or relative pronouns whose use in English is often optional.
For example, I find it to be odd to say something such as "I think she wanted to tell me I'm crazy."
Instead I would use: "I think THAT she wanted to tell me THAT I'm crazy." on the model of several foreign languages.
E.g.
German: "Ich denke, daß sie mir sagen wollte, daß ich verrückt bin."
Hungarian: "Azt gondolom, hogy akarta nekem megmondani, hogy bolond vagyok."
Polish: "Myślę, że chciała mi powiedzieć, że jestem szalony."
English is the odd man out with only optional use of "that" for the subordinate clause. Every other language that I've learned requires a conjunction here corresponding to "that" in order to introduce the subordinate clause.
In the same way...
"The man whom we met is wise." instead of "The man we met is wise."
Czech: "Muž, kterého jsme potkali, je moudrý."
Estonian: "Mees, keda me kohtasime on tark."
Again, the relative pronoun is optional in English but is required in all of the other languages that I'm familiar with, and so I usually carry over the pattern into English.
3) On a related note, my knowledge of Hungarian has also sharpened my use of "who" as a relative pronoun when referring to people. I reserve "that" and "which" for antecedents that are not identifiable with a definitively or unambiguously personal antecedent.
For example, I find it odd to say or even wrong to say: "She's the friend that lives in Europe." I would use "She's the friend WHO lives in Europe. In addition, most of "my" foreign languages regularly decline personal pronouns. This means that I still distinguish between "who" and "whom" as applicable.
It may sound slightly odd to some native-speakers but I consistently use something such as "Whom did you ask?" or "To whom did we talk?" (or "Whom did we talk to?")
By analogy to certain languages I tend to avoid merging "who" and "whom" in English.
E.g.
Finnish:
- Kuka sä oot? = "Who're you?"
- Kenelle soitat? = "Whom are you calling?" / "Whom will you call?"
Saying something such as "Who are you calling?" or like from the song from "Ghostbusters": "Who you gonna call?" seems wrong to me and the influence from foreign languages helps me avoid the common merging of "who" and "whom".
Hungarian:
- Ki az? = "Who's that?"
- Az a lány, akivel tegnap beszéltem. = "That's the girl with whom I spoke yesterday." / "That's the girl whom I spoke with yesterday."
I would correct myself if I were to say: "That's the girl who I spoke with yesterday."
4) I have no reservations about using "I" to begin a sentence in conjunction with other people. For example it is considered "normal" or most frequent for native-speakers of English-speakers to say "My friend and I worked something out." However I sometimes say "I and my friend worked something out." In other languages, it's quite common (and "grammatically correct") to begin the sentence with "I". Even in an English caption for photos, I will use for example "I, [insert friend's name here] and [insert another friend's name here]." rather than "[friend 1], [friend 2] and I".