The guttural realization of a lone rhotic consonant is typical in most of what is now France, French-speaking Belgium, most of Germany, large parts of the Netherlands, Denmark, the southern parts of Sweden and southwestern parts of Norway.
The Tuu and Juu (Khoisan) languages of southern Africa have large numbers of guttural vowels. These sounds share certain phonological behaviors that warrant the use of a term specifically for them.
Growls and cries are often described as guttural. The Latin word guttur, "throat or gullet," is the root of guttural. That's why sounds that are deep and croaked as if they come from the back of your throat are guttural.
Many languages are guttural, and it's just because that's how they evolved. German is not significantly more guttural than some of the neighboring languages, like Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian. And there are languages that are much more guttural than German, such as Hebrew and many dialects of Arabic.
Low German or Low Saxon (Low German: Plattdüütsch, Neddersassisch and other names) is a West Germanic language variety spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern part of the Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide.
The German Stereotype
Well, linguists say that when people talk about 'harsh' sounding languages, they're usually referring to tongues that make sounds using the back of the vocal track. This can result in a more throaty, guttural noise which gives the language a stronger sound which others don't seem to have.
The French language tends to be difficult to pronounce at first because there are simply sounds that native English speakers aren't used to making. To begin with, French is more evenly stressed. This means that while some parts of a word are stressed, it's not as distinct as in English.
Euphony, a rule of harmony. Another reason why people find FRench language charming is the intonation. French language has an ardent dedication to “euphony” or the quality of sounding harmonious. There are rules to make sure that French always sounds like a song or an old fashioned drama.
There is often a slight glottal stop at the beginning of words starting with H, but the sound is never, ever pronounced.
The guttural sound is made when CH comes after specific vowels – A, O, U, and the vowel combination AU. After any other vowel or vowel combination, CH makes the soft sound. Neither pronunciation has an equivalent sound in English. However, with practice, you can learn how to pronounce CH in German.
Both Old and Middle English had a letter yogh (ʒ) that represented a gurgling sound in the back of the throat. (Think of sounds like the final consonant of German ich and ach as approximately similar to it.) The sound of yogh died out in Modern English, and the letter yogh died away with it.
Different varieties of English use the glottal stop differently, but there's one primary way that it enters into most varieties: by T-glottalization. This means it's used as an allophone (or possible alternate) of the T-sound.
Not nearly as “homogeneous”-sounding as German, due to the wide range of foreign loan-words English incorporates. German: Very precise (at least Standard German), more intelligible over a distance than English. Sounds consistent, like one language, not “patched-together” like English, Swedish, and even Dutch.
Taa /ˈtɑː/, also known as ǃXóõ /ˈkoʊ/ (also spelled ǃKhong and ǃXoon; Taa pronunciation: [ǃ͡χɔ̃ː˦]), is a Tuu language notable for its large number of phonemes, perhaps the largest in the world.
The most spoken languages without any guttural sounds are Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and English.
French has 23 vowel sounds, compared to English, which has 14 vowel sounds. Since vowel sounds are made by allowing the breath to flow out of the mouth while closing the mouth, it all makes it sounds so breathy and irresistible.
FRENCH – MOST BEAUTIFUL SPOKEN LANGUAGE
French has been described as smooth, flowing, elegant and aesthetically pleasing. With its unpronounceable “r”, its nasal vowel sounds “en”, “in”, “un” and melodious intonation, it sounds extremely musical to the non-native ear.
Well, in a general sense, English vowels are more lax or short than the French tense or long vowels, and the French have many vowels which use rounded lips. French speakers also use far more nasal vowels, where the air is also released through the nasal passage.
So what exactly makes a language “harsh”? There is no singular defining element, but the languages that English natives tend to view as harsh, including German, Dutch, and Russian, incorporate many noises made at the back of the throat –– these are called uvular fricatives.
French tends to be easier for beginners, though it gets harder as you get into its intermediate and advanced layers. German has a tougher on-ramp for beginners, but gets easier as you go along.
With plenty of straightforward rules, German is not actually as hard to learn as most people think. And since English and German stem from the same language family, you might actually be surprised at the things you pick up without even trying! And on top of it all, it's definitely a useful one, too.
The commonly agreed upon quiet hours in Germany (Ruhezeit time period) are from 10pm and 6 or 7am on weekdays and the entire day on Sundays, although there can be some exceptions in different cities or if your landlord imposes other rules as well.
1. Quatsch! Pronounced like “Kvatch,” this is one of the more commonly used terms when showing your angry side.
Just like in English, German teens use it to describe a person or situation they find extremely embarrassing. But the German language also has its own term to express the feeling of being embarrassed because someone else has embarrassed themselves (without noticing): "fremdschämen" — secondhand embarrassment.