From: "Jens Bladt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 9:15 PM
Subject: RE: EuroEnglish (Was: Same lenses ...)
Lasse.
In English Jimmy is pronounced Djimmy or Gimmy. I have honestly very
rarely
heard Sweeds pronounce this with a D or G.
Yes, you are probably right. But then we're talking about how Swedes
pronounce the English "j", which I guess also was your intention.
My reply was regarding a general statement that Swedes "can't say "j" or
"Jack" - they say iack and Immy! Immy Hendix, and iack ionson."
Whenever I in Swedish say "Jack", I don't say "Iack". There is a difference,
although sometimes subtle, and Swedes will be able to perceive it and
generally be able to pronounce it differently.
(I might add that comparison may be difficult because the Swedish language
won't allow for these two letters to be interchangeable in any original
Swedish words. (There simply is no Swedish word "Iack"). It may also be that
if a "j" is followed by certain (tonlösa) letters, the "j" will be
pronounced like an "i".)
Anyway, I found your comment interesting, since I'm also into linguistics. I
don't recall having observed the "j" vs "i" phenomena much, although I must
have dealt with it when studying phonetics a long time ago. I've been
"tasting" various ways of pronouncing "j"- and "i"-words during the day and
I might look it up a bit closer somewhere.
(Btw. Has the Swedish language turned some of the Danish "i":s into "j":s in
common words? I seem to recall this being the case in comparison to
Norwegian (and Icelandic?). (Gosh, are we defectors? :-) )
I used to watch Sweedish televison a lot :-) I grew up on Bornholm and
until
the late sixties we could only recieve Sweedish television. Not the (only)
Danish chanel. I occationally till watch Sweedish TV which is often
excellent.
Well I can't take much credit for that, I guess :-) (although I did work as
a TV-reporter at TV-Aktuellt and at Öst-Nytt some fifteen + years ago).
Anyway, I always though that Sweden, Denmark, Norway and maybe Iceland, as
well as the Faeroes and the Aland Islands should establish a closer
politcal/administrative/cultural relationship than is the case - The United
States of Scandinavia. This would provide the public service television with
better funding.
As a compromise I suggest that we all adopt Swedish as the only language of
the union.
Lasse
> Jens Bladt
Arkitekt MAA
http://hjem.get2net.dk/bladt
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: Lasse Karlsson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sendt: 5. september 2005 19:50
Til: [email protected]
Emne: Re: EuroEnglish (Was: Same lenses ...)
Just in case it didn't get across - my comments to Jens were meant to be a
bit tounge in cheek.
Among us Scandinavians we often engage in friendly teasing of each other's
way of speaking, based on the fact that our languages are similar enough
to
be regarded as variations of one and the same "Scandinavian language".
In order for us non-Danish to be able to speak Danish, all we have to do
is
put a potato in our mouth and start speaking - and hear, hear - perfect
and
beautiful Danish! :-)
Lasse
From: "Lasse Karlsson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 3:01 AM
Subject: Re: EuroEnglish (Was: Same lenses ...)
From: "Jens Bladt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 12:31 AM
Subject: RE: EuroEnglish (Was: Same lenses ...)
We did this a long time ago. Photographer is fotograf in Denmark.
Photography is Fotografi.
The Norwegians are even better - they spell everything just like it's
pronounced.
In Iceland it's forbidden to use foreign words. They make new Icelandic
words all the time. For example software is called "Maskinånd" - meaning
"machine spirit". This is supposed to prevent this small language from
disappearing.
The Sweeds can't say "J" or "Jack" - they say iack and Immy! Immy
Hendix,
and iack ionson.
No, that's not true.
"j" is a consonant and "i" is a vowel in Swedish too.
We distinctly pronounce "j" and "i" differently.
Obviously some Danes find it difficult to hear this subtle difference...
Moreover, regarding Iack Ionson it's the other way around - a Swede would
tend to pronounce such an initiial "i" like a (Swedish) "j" - "Jack
Jonson" (in Swedish pronunciation).
And btw. "Jimmy Hendrix" is more known as "Jimi Hendrix" (not "Imi
Hendrix"). :-)
Lasse
