What's your favorite Germanic language?

[RobertColumbia]

This poll is inspired by the favorite Romance language poll and thread.

What is your favorite Germanic language, and, if you are willing, why?

You may base your favorite on anything - the phonology, look of the writing system, grammar, literature, music, or associated culture.

If you are a native speaker of a Germanic language (this includes you, Americans!), you may not pick your native language. If your favorite choice is your native language, pick your next favorite.

 

[mihaitzateo]

Why should someone have only a favorite Germanic language?
I like German,English and Dutch also Icelandic and I can not decide which I like more.

 

[RobertColumbia]

Why should someone have only a favorite Germanic language?
I like German,English and Dutch also Icelandic and I can not decide which I like more.

It's only a fun poll. Don't think too hard about it.

 

[arvistro]

Sweddish or English. The least h languages to my ear. Hate Dutch for that reason. Nederland is my fav country, but the language is awful to my ears.

 

[mihaitzateo]

I like Dutch language a lot,it preserved a lot from proto-Germanic,as Icelandic did.
Is very harsh language.
Do you imagine Vikings speaking today Swedish or Norwegians ?
Lol!
On the other hand,Icelandic,German,Dutch preserved the harshness of original proto-germanic language.
Tough languages,tough people!

 

[vandalorum]

I voted for Dutch but let listen this plattdeutsch please https://youtu.be/fDmhwBkuvTE

 

[RobertColumbia]

I like Dutch language a lot,it preserved a lot from proto-Germanic,as Icelandic did.
Is very harsh language.
Do you imagine Vikings speaking today Swedish or Norwegians ?
Lol!
On the other hand,Icelandic,German,Dutch preserved the harshness of original proto-germanic language.
Tough languages,tough people!

I feel that (High) German sounds much harsher than Dutch, which has a half-familiar musical chant-like quality to it, which it shares with Low German. A significant part of the reason could be that I am a native speaker of English, and English shares with Dutch and Low German a lack of participation in the High German Consonant Shift, which may actually be what I am sensing when I feel that it sounds "harsh".

 

[arvistro]

I like Dutch language a lot,it preserved a lot from proto-Germanic,as Icelandic did.
Is very harsh language.
Do you imagine Vikings speaking today Swedish or Norwegians ?
Lol!
On the other hand,Icelandic,German,Dutch preserved the harshness of original proto-germanic language.
Tough languages,tough people!

I listened to Icelandic and I liked it too. Not sure what is so harsh about it, pretty much like Sweddish. Maybe I got lucky the fragment lacked the ugly Dutch "h" sound which resembles grandpa with throat problems. When I try to repeat it, I feel like I am gargling...

I am not sure which sound was that - the one they mark as 'x' or the one they mark as 'ɦ'. Both of them do not occur in Icelandic?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_glottal_fricative
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_velar_fricative#Occurrence

 

[vandalorum]

Icelandic is quite interesting language, they have glugga, english - window, norwegian - vindu, danish - vindue, all of "wind" core, high german, swedish and dutch borrowed roman fenster / finestra

 

[Joey D]

Het nederlands....natuurlijk!!

 

[MOESAN]

I listened to Icelandic and I liked it too. Not sure what is so harsh about it, pretty much like Sweddish. Maybe I got lucky the fragment lacked the ugly Dutch "h" sound which resembles grandpa with throat problems. When I try to repeat it, I feel like I am gargling...

I am not sure which sound was that - the one they mark as 'x' or the one they mark as 'ɦ'. Both of them do not occur in Icelandic?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_glottal_fricative
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_velar_fricative#Occurrence

the Dutch 'ch' is like the German 'ch': /X/ often -
the Dutch 'g' is -in every position - a soft realisation of /X/, written in IPA as the greek sign for G (it could harden in unvoiced environment) - I red this sound exists in icelandic between vowels or in syllabe end - this Dutch 'g' is not an hardened /h/ because it is more precisely articulated in the mouth, I think, the mouth taking the same position as for the ordinary G position, only the occlusion being incomplete. Roughly said.

 

[MOESAN]

for anglo-saxon descendants, I recall the most of Scot dialects has kept guttural sounds: licht (light), nicht (night) and so on.

 

[Northener]

I voted for Dutch but let listen this plattdeutsch please https://youtu.be/fDmhwBkuvTE

Thanks I'am Dutch....but my mother tongue is like hers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IV_NFyzo6A

 

[Joey D]

No love for Norwegian, I would have thought that Norwegian is even more musical than Swedish.

 

[MOESAN]

outside the question of "love", I think Dutch is the more "central" and etymologic language concerning Germanic phonetic except it lost the 'th' and 'dh' spired sounds, that icelandic and english kept.

 

[Joey D]

I'm wondering whether Frisian kept those sounds (I can't actually remember now).

 

[Joey D]

the Dutch 'ch' is like the German 'ch': /X/ often -
the Dutch 'g' is -in every position - a soft realisation of /X/, written in IPA as the greek sign for G (it could harden in unvoiced environment) - I red this sound exists in icelandic between vowels or in syllabe end - this Dutch 'g' is not an hardened /h/ because it is more precisely articulated in the mouth, I think, the mouth taking the same position as for the ordinary G position, only the occlusion being incomplete. Roughly said.

Northener will probably correct me here, but I think for the most part the "g" and "ch" are indistinguishable in modern spoken Dutch.

Both are harder and more gutteral than the German "ch".

Despite that very distinct Dutch sound (one of the other ones being the diphthong -ui-, which is pretty unique amongst the European languages), I find it a warm and friendly language.

The use of diminutives in everyday speech adds a lot of warmth, and reminds me a lot of my native Sicilian.

 

[Northener]

Northener will probably correct me here, but I think for the most part the "g" and "ch" are indistinguishable in modern spoken Dutch.

Both are harder and more gutteral than the German "ch".

Despite that very distinct Dutch sound (one of the other ones being the diphthong -ui-, which is pretty unique amongst the European languages), I find it a warm and friendly language.

The use of diminutives in everyday speech adds a lot of warmth, and reminds me a lot of my native Sicilian.

Not a correction, perfecto Joey!! Just one add the hard G/CH is Northern Dutch, Southern Dutch have a soft G/CH....

 

[MOESAN]

Northener will probably correct me here, but I think for the most part the "g" and "ch" are indistinguishable in modern spoken Dutch.

Both are harder and more gutteral than the German "ch".


Despite that very distinct Dutch sound (one of the other ones being the diphthong -ui-, which is pretty unique amongst the European languages), I find it a warm and friendly language.

The use of diminutives in everyday speech adds a lot of warmth, and reminds me a lot of my native Sicilian.

No, for I know Dutch 'ch' /X/ is the same as German 'ch' in back vowels environment - only German palatalizes 'ch' into a /ç/ sound (sort of /Xj/ sound) in front vowels environment, in official German (some dialects don't).
the Dutch 'g' is clearly enough distinct (softer) from the 'ch' for me, ONLY it's hardened into /X/in absolute final position or before a word beginning by a hard consonnant, as are hardened other consonnant (d>>t, b>>p) in the same conditions. The "offocial" Breton 'c'h' (not 'ch' which is like in French) knows the same variability as Dutch 'g' (spite the learning methods say it's a /X/ what is true only in hardening environment!); I red some Netherlandish dialects of Belgium had a softening of 'g' into 'h' or even a lost in some prefixes or common words (?).

 

[MOESAN]

Not a correction, perfecto Joey!! Just one add the hard G/CH is Northern Dutch, Southern Dutch have a soft G/CH....

I made my sincere answer to Joey D - I see you say otherwise; have you more details about your statement (it's true I was speaking for official Dutch as it's learned somewhere, you're living in the very country what is not the same! Have you some records of the common Northern Dutch (not the Saxon or Frisian dialects, but the way they pronounce Dutch? I heard Dutch people (army) in my country and I noticed it seemed as they were of different Germanic speaking lands!!!) It's more striking when all regions Dutch people as gathered together what a tourist cannot hear when travelling in the country region by region. Thanks beforehand.