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Ciarán12 wrote:other East Asian languages
vijayjohn wrote:Does that include Southeast Asian languages, or are there seriously people over there you know of who speak Mongolian or Ryukyuan languages or something(!)?
IpseDixit wrote:Vlürch wrote:and were known to beat and sexually abuse them
And nobody thought that maybe, just maybe, it could be a good idea to call the police?
Ciarán12 wrote:vijayjohn wrote:Does that include Southeast Asian languages, or are there seriously people over there you know of who speak Mongolian or Ryukyuan languages or something(!)?
I was including Southeast Asian languages in that, but I have heard Mongolian here on several separate occasions actually. No Ryukyuan languages though
linguoboy wrote:Last night I was in line at the grocery store behind a Black African man who was carrying on a cellphone conversation. I was tempted to ask him what language it was but I checked myself.
Ciarán12 wrote:I've never actually asked someone* what language they were speaking when I didn't know (despite occasionally wanting to) - what kind of reaction do you usually get?
linguoboy wrote:Bemused. They're often a bit surprised someone else even noticed. And when they see that my reaction is positive, it puts them at ease. (Generally I try to signal this before even asking.)
Ciarán12 wrote:Interesting. I'm always too self-conscious to ask. I'm always afraid they'll take it as an intrusion or even as if I'm being xenophobic and "calling them out" on speaking in a foreign language.
Ciarán12 wrote:I remember an anecdote John McWhorter mentioned in one of his audiobooks about asking some Jamaican Patois speakers what language they were speaking and he got a negative-ish response because of the social implications of patois (for those speakers, obviously for an American linguist the implications where quite different), which has only made me more weary.
Ciarán12 wrote:vijayjohn wrote:Does that include Southeast Asian languages, or are there seriously people over there you know of who speak Mongolian or Ryukyuan languages or something(!)?
I was including Southeast Asian languages in that, but I have heard Mongolian here on several separate occasions actually. No Ryukyuan languages though
Ciarán12 wrote:I'm always too self-conscious to ask. I'm always afraid they'll take it as an intrusion or even as if I'm being xenophobic and "calling them out" on speaking in a foreign language.
Vlürch wrote:[ow are there enough Mongolians in Ireland, random cities in the US, etc.
Vlürch wrote: How are there enough Mongolians in Ireland, random cities in the US, etc. for everyone to hear the language? I mean, Mongolian has literally less speakers than Finnish...
linguoboy wrote:Vlürch wrote:[ow are there enough Mongolians in Ireland, random cities in the US, etc.
How adorbs.
My "random city in the US" is four times the size of Helsinki. The associated metropolitan area has nearly twice the population of your entire country. Even so, I've only knowingly heard Mongolian here once.
Linguaphile wrote:Although in my case I guess you'd call it 'random' then, because my city isn't 'several times the size of Helsinki' (more like 'a bit smaller than Oulu' )
Ciarán12 wrote:Linguaphile wrote:Although in my case I guess you'd call it 'random' then, because my city isn't 'several times the size of Helsinki' (more like 'a bit smaller than Oulu' )
I think comparing settlement population sizes to Finnish cities should become a thing. Dublin is about half an Oulu away from a full Helsinki I think.
linguoboy wrote:I feel the same is true, mutatis mutandis, of many Dubliners.
Ciarán12 wrote:linguoboy wrote:I feel the same is true, mutatis mutandis, of many Dubliners.
That we're half an Oulo-ite away from a full Helsinkian?
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