Re: Which language is difficult to tell if a speaker learned it as a second language?
Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 4:42 pm
So, maybe I’m the one whose wrong here, but I’m almost positive most of the responses are completely misunderstanding the question. If the OP wants to jump in and tell me I’m mistaken then I reserve the right to be corrected.
It seems that OP is wondering what pairs of languages have such similar phonology that the learner does not have to learn the much if anything in the way of new pronunciation. I’m not the best at explaining things so hopefully some examples will elucidate my meaning:
Greek <—>European Spanish
Vietnamese <—->Cantonese
European Portuguese <—> Polish/Slavic Languages
Japanese <—-> Maori/Hawaiian
Somali <—> Arabic
So with these languages pairs, both the phonemic inventory and syllable structure (let’s just throw phonotactics in there as well) share a tremendous amount of overlap that a learner would, in theory, have only a slight if noticeable accent at all. Obviously this is contingent on achieving an advanced command of the language.
Anecdotally, I’ve spoken with both Spaniards and Greeks and they’ve basically told me the same thing; Greeks almost never struggle achieving a native-like in Spanish accent and visa versa.
As I said, maybe I’m the one misunderstanding initial question, but I hope I didn’t haha.
It seems that OP is wondering what pairs of languages have such similar phonology that the learner does not have to learn the much if anything in the way of new pronunciation. I’m not the best at explaining things so hopefully some examples will elucidate my meaning:
Greek <—>European Spanish
Vietnamese <—->Cantonese
European Portuguese <—> Polish/Slavic Languages
Japanese <—-> Maori/Hawaiian
Somali <—> Arabic
So with these languages pairs, both the phonemic inventory and syllable structure (let’s just throw phonotactics in there as well) share a tremendous amount of overlap that a learner would, in theory, have only a slight if noticeable accent at all. Obviously this is contingent on achieving an advanced command of the language.
Anecdotally, I’ve spoken with both Spaniards and Greeks and they’ve basically told me the same thing; Greeks almost never struggle achieving a native-like in Spanish accent and visa versa.
As I said, maybe I’m the one misunderstanding initial question, but I hope I didn’t haha.