[OT] Languages and cultures (was Re: survey)

[J. Landman Gay]

Bernard Devlin wrote:
> Every attempt I make at pronouncing a word in Thai is greeted
> with furrowed brows or hilarity (and often in that order).

A Cambodian acquaintance was telling me how Americans just can't hear 
the different intonations in their language. She gave as an example the 
words for "dog" and...um... male bits, which are identical except for 
the tonalities. I made her repeat the words several times and I could 
not for the life of me hear any difference at all. I tried to say "dog" 
and she exploded in laughter.

Which makes me quite certain that I never, ever want to inquire about a 
lost dog in Cambodia.

-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com