this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026
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Memes

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[–] CyanideShotInjection@lemmy.world 31 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I understand how letter combinations in french are hard to get at first and there are sometimes many ways to write a sound, but once you learn them you will always know how a new word is pronounced. English is such a joke of a language that you never know how a word is pronounced until you hear it or you happen to know its ethymology...

[–] Transform2942@lemmy.ml 21 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

So what you gotta do is settle the island with a bunch of Germans, then get conquered some centuries later by the French. Steal all the vocabulary from French - especially the vocabulary of the nobility - but keep the German grammar. Then just for fun when you are about to standardize your spelling with the invention of the printing press import a bunch of Dutch people to do your spelling for you

[–] Daryl76679@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Don’t forget getting converted by St. Augustine bringing Latin and Greek words!

[–] Transform2942@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

And who could forget grabbing all available loanwords from The Colonies

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Insert booze at every step.

[–] Transform2942@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago

The limeys need their grog or its mutiny

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 18 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

How do you even read Russian if you don't know its alphabet

[–] lemonwood@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago

You can just learn the alphabet without learning any vocabulary.

[–] Darkenfolk@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

without understanding a single word

[–] calmblue75@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago

I know greek alphabet since I studied physics, but can't read greek text to save my life. If you give me a single word I'll read it by 5-10 minutes.

[–] ChaosMonkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 weeks ago

Watching Alice in Italian wonderland was pretty fun!

[–] stardustpathsofglory@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Slavic languages: nothing is silent. We write as we speak. For this we will also write your name as we think it should be written.

Example: Hju Džekman

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Fun fact, Poles in their infinite wisdom switched from using Cyrillic alphabet which naturally maps to Polish sounds https://www.omniglot.com/conscripts/polishcyrillic.htm

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Huh. NATOpedia tells me that the Latin has always been the predominant script for Polish. But it only traces this back to the 13^th^ century or maybe the 10^th^, coinciding with the Christianization of Poland. Supposedly it was only a spoken previously, which sounds to me like historical revisionism to erase a Cyrillic predecessor.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago
[–] lauha@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

"Write as we speak"

The biggest lie of the russian language.

In theory yes, but pronounciation of о depends on if it has stress or not and stress of the word you have to just know.

[–] folaht@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Funny, but that last one counts for Gaelic, not French.

[–] some_designer_dude@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Came for this. Like… Gaelic reads like it’s some kind of prank on the rest of the world.

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago

Funny, because Welsh, at least from what I can tell, seems reasonably phonetic

[–] WhyIHateTheInternet@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Aye whundher why

[–] Trex202@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Without reason, sure, but with a gender

[–] Wren@lemmy.today 4 points 2 weeks ago

As someone learning french, all you gotta do is take an english word, add a bunch of vowels, and Vièoulâh!

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I swear the French just pronounce their words based on vibes

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 weeks ago

Although it's rich criticizing them in the bastard of a language that is English

[–] SuDmit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Spanis? Eglish? ?

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

ils huent = they boo

only the u is needed

[–] 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

There are 8 letters in that phrase, and 5 of them are silent....

I dont know italian, but the time i spent there, i get the impression that there are almost no silent letters.... just read the words out loud as is