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Carpal Tunnel
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Has anyone else noticed that each language has it's own musicality? Rhythm if you will? Atomica defines what I mean very well : The patterned, recurring alternations of contrasting elements of sound or speech. Lyricists take language into account and I have noticed that the words are placed so the notes make it easier to sing them, especially "open" words on high or difficult notes. For example "Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz" by Franz Lehar, words by Ludwig Herzer and Fritz Lohner. That title phrase is MUCH easier to sing in German than it is in the English translation : "Yours Is My Heart Alone." (English translation of lyric by Harry B. Smith who got the sense of the lyric but made it harder to sing!) There are others, but that one leaps to mind as a real jaw breaker since I sang it in German then reprised it in English for the sake of the audience! Any singers among us who perhaps have had similar problems with American or English lyrics translated into another language? wow Let's see if I can do this without notes.  Key 2 sharps. Tempo C D- halfnote+dot)----Dein C D (8ths)----------Ist C B (8ths)----------Mein Ganzes A (quarter + 8th).-Hertz Standard EGBDF lines and FACE spaces.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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I don't sing, but I have noticed that songs and poetry sound better in the language they were written in. "To grandmother's house we go" is, in spanish, " A la casa de abuela de nosotros nosotros vamos".Notice that "we" must be repeated.
jimthedog
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Carpal Tunnel
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In another thread, someone suggested that music is a universal language.While it may have universal appeal, no two hearers get exactly the same message.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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A la casa de abuela de nosotros nosotros vamos
Wha' hoppen, compadre? Did Spanish lose the possessive pronoun nuestra while I had my back turned? And did the verb suddenly demand the subject? And now that I think more on it, do you now have to identify whose grandma in Spanish, whereas you don't in English?
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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I yield. Usted must know more spanish than I do. My other post is an improvement over what I originally thought, at least.
jimthedog
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Interesting but how about : The patterned, recurring alternations of contrasting elements of sound or speech
side of the post?
For example by listening to French speakers talking in English I noted that the rhythms of the sentences was different.
By mimicing the alteration of the rhythm of English by French speakers I greatly improved my accent when singing or speaking in French. (Hope that is clear ! ? !)
Comments?
wow
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old hand
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old hand
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Speaking of rhythms, has anyone else noticed that jazz is iambic?
edit: now that I think about it, since there are so many varieties of jazz I should specify. Swing is iambic.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
Swing is iambic.
Most blues is, too, and of the pentameter variety. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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One of the problems with English for speakers of other languages is that English is a stress-timed language while most languages are syllable-timed. What this means is that in a typical English sentence the stressed syllables come at roughly equal intervals and everything else is squidged in as best as may be, while most other languages are syllable-timed, each syllable gets an equal amount of time, hence their rat-tat-tat sound to English speakers.
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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English is a stress-timed language
Is this a ghostly remnant of the OE pattern, with verse construction based on stressed lines without much regard for number of syllables? If so, why is it not true of other Germanic PIE languages?
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