Cantr linguist fun

[Junesun]

Updated the scores... Sociologist got a perfect score!!!

[Sparkle]

No fair!!

Junesun, what is your native language? Same question to Sociologist.

[The Sociologist]

No fair!!

Junesun, what is your native language? Same question to Sociologist.

English and a weirdly archaic near-dialect of Dutch. But I'll confess to having spent 20 years reading Dutch, German, French and Spanish newspapers. So maybe Junesun should disqualify me for being old and boring.
.

[Junesun]

Junesun, what is your native language? Same question to Sociologist.

My native language is German. I can speak English just as fluently, though my English is not always 100% correct. I'm presently studying French linguistics, literature and culture at university. Apart from English, German and French, I know Latin, Esperanto, Italian, some Chinese and Modern Greek.

Judith

[Sparkle]

Wow, that is very impressive Junesun. Since I was raised around broken French I always wanted to learn it. Most people that speak Creole don't know how to spell or write it. I'm hoping to take French up in college soon.
Is it hard to learn? Judging from this little puzzle, I will have some problems.

[Junesun]

Wow, that is very impressive Junesun. Since I was raised around broken French I always wanted to learn it. Most people that speak Creole don't know how to spell or write it. I'm hoping to take French up in college soon.
Is it hard to learn? Judging from this little puzzle, I will have some problems.

French Creole languages are quite different from standard French, namely the grammar is much simplified and some strange grammar items not found in European languages are added, sounds are simplified and the vocabulary comes from other European and African languages as well as French.

The riddle doesn't really tell you whether you'll find it easy to learn French... it only tells you how well you could learn French informally, if you rely only on comparing texts and translations rather than formally learning grammar and vocabulary and the like. I mean: it could be that you're very good at learning rules and applying them when they are spelled out to you, but not so good at deducting rules yourself, for example.

I found French relatively easy to learn. Nowhere near as easy as Esperanto, but also not as difficult as Greek for example. And definitely more predictable than Chinese, because all European languages are somehow alike. If you already know a Romance language such as Italian, Spanish or Portuguese, you will find it particularly easy to learn French. I learned Italian after studying French and found that 98% of the grammar is the same, including those pesky things like word genders or the conditions under which you'd use a certain tense. The vocabulary is also not too difficult if you know a Romance language already, or if you know Latin, but the Franks have completely messed up the pronunciation and cut many words short, so words don't appear very similar to Italian or Latin ones on first glance. You can probably pick up some conversion rules though.
If you just know English, you can still find more similarities in grammar, vocabulary and expressions than e. g. a Chinaman. French and English have influenced each other a lot. You will find that high-brow English words have more links to French than the rest. Some examples for transforming English words to French ones, which will give you a vocabulary of perhaps a thousand words to start with :

- Verbs that have no ending or end in -e or -ate in English end in -er in French (and -ieren in German, -ar in Spanish, -are in Italian and Latin).
- Verbs that end in -fy in English end in -fier in French (and -fizieren in German, -ficar in Spanish, -ficare in Italian and Latin), e. g. modify -> modifier
- Nouns that end in -tion in English stay the same in French and German (and end in -zione in Italian, -ción in Spanish, -cao in Portuguese and -tio in Latin), e. g. situation -> situation
- Nouns that end in -ty in English end in -té in French (and -tät in German, -dad in Spanish, -tà in Italian, -dade in Portuguese and -tas in Latin), e. g. liberty -> liberté ("freedom" is not such a "high-brow" word and therefore has no link to French. Think complicated if looking for a French word )

[Junesun]

Oh and some things that may just work for English<->French:

English -c becomes -que in French: e. g. fantastic -> fantastique
English -ious becomes -ieux in French: e. g. pious -> pieux
English -ief becomes -ef in French: e. g. brief -> bref
English -ary becomes -aire in French: e. g. necessary -> nécessaire
English -er becomes -re in French: e. g. November -> Novembre

[Sparkle]

You are corrct about Creole French. It is convusing when you learn French in school and then go to Louisiana and hear relatives talk Creole. If you listen carefully you may catch a few works, but for the most part you will get lost or confused.

Some things I have picked up just from the puzzle like any number that was plural ended in ans. I also notice that some words we use already as english words not knowing that they were french unless they were looked up in the dictionary. Like use is utilise (sp?). Also Mouchos Glasias (sp?). These are probably spelled wrong cause like I told you, we only Creole's mostly know how to pronounce the words but now spell or write them. Which make me wonder something. How would you say Hello or how are you doing in french. We were taught that it is "Bon jur".

[Junesun]

Updated the scores again... wow, 9 participants so far. One more and I'll post the final scores and a new riddle, in a language other than French of course. Probably German.

You are corrct about Creole French. It is convusing when you learn French in school and then go to Louisiana and hear relatives talk Creole. If you listen carefully you may catch a few works, but for the most part you will get lost or confused.

Wouldn't Louisiana speak Acadian (Cajun) French, rather than a Creole? When lots of people with different languages are forced to communicate with each other and don't have a common language, Pidgins develop. When the Pidgin becomes the native language of the children of those people, the language is called a Creole.
A well-known example: lots of slaves, mainly from the West coast of Africa, were imported to Haiti, which was a French colony. Because of language diversity in Africa (and also because the masters often made sure not to put people of the same language together, so that they couldn't plot), most of these slaves were unable to communicate with each other, and they didn't get the chance to learn more than just the most basic French words. So basically they were deprived of their language and had to develop a new one to communicate in, a pidgin containing words of French, Wolof, Fon, Ewe and other African languages. That pidgin became the language all slaves communicated in, and the native language of their descendants, Haitian Creole. It's now spoken by 95% of the population of Haiti, even though standard French is still considered a better language, the language you have to learn in order to show class.

Some things I have picked up just from the puzzle like any number that was plural ended in ans.

I don't get that one... you mean the words for 30, 40, 50 and the like, which end in -ante?

I also notice that some words we use already as english words not knowing that they were french unless they were looked up in the dictionary. Like use is utilise (sp?). Also Mouchos Glasias (sp?).

utiliser (= the infinitive, "utilise" is a conjugated form)
Muchos Gracias*, but that is Spanish, not French.

How would you say Hello or how are you doing in french. We were taught that it is "Bon jur".

Hello = Bonjour, Salut. Bonjour is more formal than Salut.
How are you? = Comment allez-vous? (formal); Comment ca va? (informal)

[SekoETC]

Hey people,

"ans" = years

For "Une femme d'environ vingt ans", the literal translation would be

"A woman about (the age of) twenty years"

So it's not a part of the plural ending.

[Sparkle]

Oh, well that shows how much I know. Commo sa va is what we mostly say to say hello. Sava bein is what we say to say it back. Bon jur is just what I learned in the 3rd grade when we had to take French and yes Junesun some of the people in Louisiana is consider Acadian, but it's more of what we call where we live. Acadiana. Creole is what most older black folks speak in Lafayette and in other citites in Louisiana. Most of our last names are French like Cormier and Chassion (which sounds nothing like they are spelled) and since the Language was so big amongst a certain type of african americans they are called Creole. Anytime you speak to them and ask them what they consider themselves little will say Acadians, most would say Creole.

Most Creoles are African Americans whos skin is rather light from the different races that they have. I am mixed with Indian, African American and Caucasian. Back home my family and I or considered Creole, but have never wanted to learn to speak French the way they do. I always wanted to learn regular French out of a text book, but you can't help picking up some words. Even if they're wrong.

[InsaneIrony]

This looks like fun. Its been... nine years since I learned to count 1 to 10 in french. That is the extent of my knowledge of the language. I'm better at spanish.
*gets to work on the puzzle of the day* I love translating stuff. ^_^

[Junesun]

Updated the scores again. And here's the Top Ten:

1. Sociologist - 20 points
2. Punker - 19,5 points
3. Revanael - 18,5 points
4. / 5. Nick and InsaneIrony - 17,5 points
6. Seko - 17 points
7. Oasis - 16,5 points
8. Sparkle - 16 points
9. Missy - 14 points
10. Anthony - 12 points

The most amazing fact is that nobody got less than 60% - Cantr can be proud to have so many intelligent players Very well done, everybody!

For those who think they could have done better: you'll get your chance for revenge this evening, when I'll post a new riddle. Everybody else is welcome to participate, too.

[Anthony Roberts]

Look at that! I'm #10! I'm the highest number! I'm the BEST!

[formerly known as hf]

Modern Greek for the next riddle?

Please?