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tsuwm #189195 02/11/10 08:20 PM
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Originally Posted By: tsuwm
aren't those MPs crying "hear hear" in agreement?



i think so. for some reason this made me think of the ubquity of English. Watching Pakistan in a Test match recently all the mundane chit chat on the field was in Urdu of course, but the instant a batsman skied a ball, eleven Pakistani voices were shouting as one "catch it!". it made me smile and showed how english has strong claim to lingua franca.

tsuwm #189198 02/11/10 09:58 PM
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Originally Posted By: tsuwm
aren't those MPs crying "hear hear" in agreement?
Gleason would bellow 'har de har har' in derisive laughter.

smile I bet that 's what they have been doing for ages: hear hear har har hear har... a strange ritual.

latishya #189204 02/12/10 12:45 AM
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Originally Posted By: latishya
for some reason this made me think of the ubquity of English.


This reminds me of a tale I read once about a Sesame Street type program that was part of an attempt to instill a colloquial pan-Arabic. Liturgical Arabic is pretty much understood throughout the Muslim world but it isn't quite up to handling many modern situations. Colloquial Arabic is pretty variable across the Arabic speaking world and the Arabic of the western ends of North Africa is pretty much incomprehensible to speakers of, say, Iraqi Arabic. This show was trying to bridge that gap and the show itself was entirely in this pan-Arabic. The language in the control room was English.

Faldage #189207 02/12/10 01:42 AM
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In india, the 'common language' that is used when 2-3 other languages exist that all might not know diffrs with the region. In the south, it is firmly English. From Maharashtra up, it is Hindi. In India such a 'everybody understands' language is necessary with 15 official languages. I read somewhere that in switzerland it is not so. The Swiss speak to each other in their own language - German, french or Italian. That makes a lot of sense. It is easy to understand the other language and easier to speak your own.
Is there a word for this "pan lingua language"?

Avy #189211 02/12/10 02:46 AM
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Originally Posted By: Avy
The Swiss speak to each other in their own language - German, french or Italian. That makes a lot of sense. It is easy to understand the other language and easier to speak your own.


very true. a sensible approach.

latishya #189212 02/12/10 03:20 AM
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...but Switzerdeutsch isn't quite German, na?

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Originally Posted By: wofahulicodoc
...but Switzerdeutsch isn't quite German, na?


a friend who speaks both tells me that this is like saying that hindi is not quite russian. eek

latishya #189216 02/12/10 07:26 AM
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That different? I always thought Swiss German and German were different but similar like Hindi and Bhojpuri.

Avy #189217 02/12/10 07:39 AM
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Originally Posted By: Avy
That different? I always thought Swiss German and German were different but similar like Hindi and Bhojpuri.


i think it was exagerated the swiss seem proud that they can understand high german but not the other way round.

latishya #189218 02/12/10 09:19 AM
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Here are two links to Schweizer Deutsch. The second is a fairy tale you can listen to. About a swineherd. I've listened three times. It is closer to German than Frisian is to Dutch. It starts like most fairy tales with "Lange her"..... Long time ago.
(sorry, always like to see/hear what we are talking about)
woerter

fairytale

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