World Languages -

Plaque and ague

You might think that the definition of ‘bad’ words would be similar around the world. You wouldn’t be entirely right. Strong language – swearing, profanity, whatever you want to call it – is special

gerardM a écrit:
(click pic to enlarge)

Weird things there, no?
I need to consider more thoroughly.

Language is a funny thing. There are about 500 million people who speak English on this planet, and it’s not even the most common language in the world (Mandarin tops the charts at over a billion). Yet, on the other end of the scale, there are somewhere close to 2,000 languages that are spoken by less than a thousand people each. Some of them are more similar than others, but the thing about different languages is they’re always familiar within your realm of experience—to an English speaker, Mandarin sounds like well-structured gibberish (and probably vice verse) until you begin to learn the rules behind the language, then slowly it eases further into your experience, and eventually it becomes just as easy—just as familiar—as English. You become fluent.

At least, that’s what’s supposed to happen. These languages, on the other hand, are almost beyond comprehension. Strange yet beautiful, here are 10 of the most bizarre languages still spoken in the world.