-----
--- 21916569
>I find English a far finer language than Spanish. 
>>Why?
>There are many reasons. Firstly, English is both a Germanic and a Latin language, those two registers. For example, for any idea you take you have two words: Those words do not mean exactly the same. For example, lf I say regal, it’s not exactly the same thing as saying "kingly." Or if I say "fraternal," it's not saying the same as "brotherly," or "dark" and "obscure." Those words are different. It would make all the difference, speaking, for example, of the Holy Spirit--it would make all the difference in the world in a poem if I wrote about the Holy Spirit or I wrote "the Holy Ghost," since "ghost" is a fine, dark Saxon word, when "spirit" is a light Latin word. And then there is another reason.
>The reason is that I think that of all languages, English is the most physical of all languages. You can, for example, say, "He loomed over." You can't very well say that in Spanish. 
>>Asomo? 
>No, they're not exactly the same. And then, in English you can do almost anything with verbs and prepositions. For example, to "laugh off," to "dream away." Those things can't be said in Spanish. To "live down" something, to "live up to" something. You can't say those things in Spanish. They can't be said; it's a Romance language. I suppose they can be said in German, although my German really isn't too good.
--- 21916587
>anglophile loves the English language
more news at 11
--- 21916593
>>21916587
Provide a counter argument to his points.
--- 21916604
>>21916593
Counter argument for a linguistic preference? I don't think this is wise.
--- 21916647
>>21916569 (OP)
Read this in his breathless, soft, "no" spamming voice.
--- 21916648
>>21916593
It works both ways. Spanish has verbs that are composed of one word, while in english you have to describe the action of the verb and the same goes vice versa. 
If you find one more aesthetically pleasing than the other, you’ll describe it with words such as ”refined” or ”sophisticated”, as Borges does, when both languages are equally dumb and arbitrary in how they function. 
Personally i find russian and swedish more sophisticated than english and spanish, though the former is as slavic-isolate and spanish is latin-isolate and the latter is a dumb hybrid of old norse and french.
--- 21916650
>>21916569 (OP)
I do agree with these particular virtues of English.
--- 21916655
>>21916569 (OP)
>>Asomo? 
>No, they're not exactly the same.
Cope, but he's mostly right. Spanish sounds better to the ear, but english is better for writing.
--- 21916692
>>21916569 (OP)
>for any idea you take you have two words
HAPPENING!!! GET IN HERE BROS!
an absolutely assblasting mindblowing fartwhiffing discovery has been made by a negro 7th grader!
>English is the most physical of all languages
stopped reading there. Knows half a language and a quarter of another, has the audacity to speak of "all languages". Pathetic
--- 21916701
>>21916692
>Knows half a language and a quarter of another, has the audacity to speak of "all languages". Pathetic
Yea, I don't know why some people, particularly writers and so-called intellectuals, tend to make arrogant statements like that.
--- 21916704
Love them scrappy Germanic words, simple as
--- 21916709
>>21916692
>!!!
>!
>!
--- 21916720
>>21916709
God forbid people put SOVL into their replies.
--- 21916771
>>21916701
it's not even google-researched. It's obvious OP just had an apple fall on his head and felt compelled to post his brilliant idea. What does he actually say?
>synonyms with different connotations exist
so? I'd be surprised if a large language didn't have them. Are there such examples?
>"he loomed over"
I fail to see any uniqueness here. Most slavic languages can be more fluent in sentence construction than English.
>laugh off, live down
lmao. Ukrainian and Russian creates words with prefixes and suffixes, which would probably blow OP's head off if he's mezmerized by "dream away".
>>21916709
you'll have to excuse me!!! !
--- 21916775
>>21916569 (OP)
Spanish is a dirty poo language. Portuguese is worse though. Italian is the best Latin language, assuming French doesn't count.
--- 21916785
>>21916775
You don't know any of them.
--- 21916810
>>21916779
>seething
Not really
--- 21916812
>>21916648
>and the latter is a dumb hybrid of old norse and french.
Don't forget Low German, anon!
--- 21916827
>>21916569 (OP)
Man spanish must really suck if someone prefers english over it. 
His hole "two different registers" argument is bullcrap anyway, since it's impossible to fully stick to either.
--- 21916837
>>21916785
I know all of them.
--- 21916850
>>21916827
>Man spanish must really suck if someone prefers english over it.
Keep in mind that you're talking about an eccentric contrarian anglophile, not a normal person.
--- 21916864
>>21916837
You know nothing.
--- 21916885
>>21916569 (OP)
>I wrote about the Holy Spirit or I wrote "the Holy Ghost
you can say espiritu for spirit and fantasma for ghost in spanish
>f I say regal, it’s not exactly the same thing as saying "kingly."
yu can say regio for regal and real for kingly, also palaciego, dinastico, soberano etc
>"dark" and "obscure.
lobrego for dark oscuro for obscure

borges is just being pretentious cos he likes to troll his fellow hispanic writers, you shouldn't think to deep about this shit
--- 21916913
>>21916885
And what's funny is that his actual English sucked. The English letters that he wrote were written in a 6th grade level at best. His spoken English wasn't brilliant either. So I don't know what he was on about. However tsundere he was about Spanish, it was all that he could master.
--- 21916932
>>21916569 (OP)
I don't think it's valid as a system but it's interesting to think about. I am struggling to find examples. It's more that the language is one big amalgam. "Book" is Germanic and yet a public collection of books is a "Library". But we don't actively use a word for a paper book that is anything like liber, we in English just call it a book. He's talking out of his bottom, methinks.
--- 21916968
>>21916885
>you can say espiritu for spirit and fantasma for ghost in spanish
yeah but you wouldn't say "fantasma santo" for "espíritu santo".
>you can say regio for regal and real for kingly, also palaciego, dinastico, soberano etc
don't forget palatino and áulico
--- 21917064
>>21916692
Big statements just signal his passion, if he were asked to clarify he'd take his time and give you your answer.
--- 21917136
>>21916771
>it's not even google-researched. It's obvious OP just had an apple fall on his head and felt compelled to post his brilliant idea. What does he actually say?
This isn't OP's opinion lol. It's Borges's opinion.
--- 21917162
>>21916885
Midwit, he's talking about the mixed pedigree of the English language (Romance & German). It's not as striking in Spanish as it is in English. He's not being pretentious. You're simply not thinking clearly enough. Let's examine your examples:
>you can say espiritu for spirit and fantasma for ghost in spanish
Latin & Latin (inherited from Greek)
>yu can say regio for regal and real for kingly
Latin & Latin
>lobrego for dark oscuro for obscure
Latin & Latin

You didn't even begin to grasp his point. Borges wasn't talking about the fact that there are multiple adjectives for a concept or even multiple categories of feeling for similar concepts.
--- 21917168
>>21916968
>yeah but you wouldn't say "fantasma santo" for "espíritu santo". 
Nta but in this case I agree, however Im sure there are plenty of examples of other phrases in Spanish with multiple differing wordings which in English are usually written in a single way.
Anyways the quote OP posted is stupid since he believes English is the only language with synonyms that have different origins and connotations
--- 21917170
>>21916692
>Assblasting
Harsh, Germanic
>Fartwhiffing
Soft, Latin

You have to admit, he had a point.
--- 21917182
>>21916692
And yet you’re using English in this post. Curious.
--- 21917200
>>21917170
ass: Latin. blast: Germanic
fart: Germanic. whiff: Germanic.

1) He wasn't talking about which one sounded "softer" or "harsher". He was talking about diversity and variety of vocabulary.
2) The word you call Latin is 100% Germanic. The word you call Germanic is 50% Latin.
--- 21917204
>>21917182
>You responded in English to an English post. That's so curious and interesting!
--- 21917214
>>21916692
I think he knows far more about either language than you do.
--- 21917236
>>21916569 (OP)
I have so many things in common with Borges, but I can't stand him and I after reading all his fiction I realized I didn't like it at all.
--- 21917239
>>21917200
Based autist calling me out on my misinformation. Unfortunately I will do it again in the future.
--- 21917246
>>21917236
I'm the opposite, I like his fiction and poetry but the man himself and his opinions is what I don't really like.
--- 21917247
>>21917182
it's obvious he's using english, after all, there are only imbeciles who speak that dirty language here nigger
--- 21917257
>>21917246
That's the norm among Spanish speaking lefties, García Márquez' quotes on Borges are hilarious.
--- 21917273
I like English but I also like other languages. Why does it have to be one or the other? It seems like base tribal shit like choosing a sports team or a political party.
--- 21917281
>>21917273
identitarianism is the opiate of the masses
--- 21917339
>>21916569 (OP)
Why didn't he mention that spanish is annoying as fuck?
--- 21917352
>tfw speak Russian, Georgian, and English
>hate my mothertongues and vastly prefer English
There is likely nothing that rivals Shakespeare in the world.
--- 21917357
>>21917339
Why would he? It's the language he used for decades and wrote beautiful stuff in. However, he did say that French was like Italian spoken by a person with nasal congestion.
--- 21917366
>>21917352
>There is likely nothing that rivals Shakespeare in the world.
Dante is better. 
>>21916579 →
--- 21917390
>>21916569 (OP)
Is it Borges who had that pic that was posted here where it's something like "if you could be anything, what would it be?" "Dead."
--- 21917395
>>21916569 (OP)
Only passable in the original Spanish with his own works, prosody wise. Odd sensibility in that light.
--- 21917397
>>21917390
Yea
--- 21917402
>>21917366
I've only read Dante in translation so I cannot rightly say.
--- 21917403
After returning to Germany, George first began to study Romance languages and their literature at Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin, where he remained for three semesters.[16]

At the time, George had serious doubts about the ability of the German language to say what he wished to say in his poems. For this reason, he preferred instead to write French and Spanish poetry and even invented a language which he dubbed Lingua Romana, which combined words from Spanish and Latin with German syntax.[16]
--- 21917455
>>21916569 (OP)
>English is the most physical of all languages
He's right. Read some Shakespeare if you still don't get it.
--- 21917533
>>21916692
>Knows half a language and a quarter of another, has the audacity to speak of "all languages". Pathetic
Yeah I agree, I can't take anyone seriously when they say stuff like that.
I can read about half a dozen different languages, and all it makes me realize is how little I know about the world's languages.

All the examples of English being very "physical" could be rendered equally well in German. 
Japanese has a very similar relationship to words taken from Chinese as English does to words taken from Latin and Greek.

Personally, I do actually prefer English over my native German, but I think that's just because I associate German with a lot of things I do not like (e.g. shitty people I have to spend time with due to work or due to living in the same neighborhood, shitty uninteresting stuff I was forced to read because of school) while I associate English with writings, media and people that I spend time with voluntarily and could easily avoid if I were so inclined.
--- 21917693
>>21916569 (OP)
You can say the same about French except for Latin and Greek instead of Latin and Germanic, which is far superior in my opinion.
For his example, you have a lot more variety in French depending on whether you are literal or metaphorical: Foncé, sombre, obscur, ténébreux, sinistre, lugubre, etc
The French civilized the English anyways.
--- 21917718
>>21916648
>slavic krokrunes
>börk börk börk
>sophisticated
l m a o
--- 21917733
>>21917455
Who are you quoting unironically?
--- 21917790
Which Romance and Germanic language should I learn?
--- 21917901
>>21916655
>>No, they're not exactly the same.

They're not the same at all. Asomar is like when you stick your head out a window.
--- 21917908
>>21917790
Italian & German if you want to be fancy, French & German if you're just a regular lad.
--- 21917954
>>21916569 (OP)
>English is both a Germanic and a Latin language

Beyond that, in English you are able to drop into French, Spanish or even Greek/Latin words without a problem.

In Spanish, they do not really allow for use of foreign words. You could say hoi polloi in English for example, or piéce de resistance, but a Spanish speaker would not know what the hell you're talking about.
--- 21917963
>>21917273
I believe my mother language to be the superior one merely because it's my mother language.
--- 21917992
>>21917954
>In Spanish, they do not really allow for use of foreign words.
There are plenty of foreign words in Spanish (club, bar, etc). What are not allowed are foreign phrases as they're usually translated and adapted (coup d'état = golpe de estado). French and Spanish are very similar so using untranslated French phrases is just pretentious and artificial.
--- 21918135
>>21916810
shouldn't you be on the frontlines, hohol?
--- 21919316
>>21918135
you:
>A. monitor surroundings
>B. potential trigger observed
>C. neuron activation
>D. produce a pre-recorded message
>E. return to state A
--- 21920603
>>21916569 (OP)
>No, they're not exactly the same.
*refuses to elaborate*
--- 21921274
>>21917733
Are you retarded?
--- 21921530
>>21917693
>You can say the same about French except for Latin and Greek instead of Latin and Germanic
based historically-illiterate retard
--- 21921566
>>21921274
not him but yes i am
--- 21921819
>>21917790
If you want to learn Latin but are apprehensive choosing it over sonething like German or French because it's not a modernly used, it will still be worth more of your time and bring you much more fulfillment. This goes for any lamguage. You can become very competent in about year for most langs and you probably have at least two decades left to use on learning at least one
--- 21921870
>>21916569 (OP)
There is also another aspect which he didn't mention: the brevity of the English language.
Try translating a Shakespeare sonnet into Portuguese decassílabos and you will quickly find out the job is impossible: you need to do it in alexandrines, if you're going to do it well, because the Portuguese words are simply longer, specially modal adverbs (which are terrible with their repetitive -mente endings).
I don't think English is the 'best' language. I think Italian, Occitan and Latin are 'better' - the first two because of the sound (I know of very few English poems that make you sing as even a minor Italian poet like Lorenzo de' Medici is able to do) the second because of the sound too, but also the order of the words which is more versatile due to more rigorous syntax, and renders it in fact more concise than even English. 
Of course, there are some disadvantages in English when compared to Romance languages too, such as the relative scarcity of rhymes.
Overall, however, it all depends on the poem you are writing: if the poem is supposed to be about some slow and magnificent event, such as the sunset, and you wish to express it classically, then, supposing you could write it in any language, you'd probably pick a romance one, or Latin, over the brief and barbarian English. It would be easier that way. But a great poet can do it in any language, and the result will be good.
In poetry, form and content are the same thing. If you found a good sequence of words in Spanish, then that's the right sequence to express what it, and only it, can express. This is why I use quotes when I say language X is 'better' than language Y. This only means that language X has features which, most of the time, tend to be desirable for a poet. Brevity, large number of synonyms, rhyme, sweet sounds, etc. these tend to be desirable, but this is only a tendency and not a rule, and depends too much on the specifics of the poem.
--- 21921879
>>21917790
>>21921819
Goes for any language really. My recs (besides whichever language you're most interested in or its literature) would be German and Latin. French is overrated, Italian is underrated but has a younger and smaller canon. German will give you more than enough modern thought and all French has to offer otherwuse are Romanticist works or a selection of not samey novels. Latin was used from the Roman empire (a lot of notable Romans did write in Koine Greek though) and throughout the middle ages and still prominent after Italian got its prestige in the Renaissance. Latin is literally foundational.
--- 21921912
>>21916593
My counter argument is that dutch is also a language that exists in an intersection of linguistic branches and it makes you sound retarded. 
>but he was talking about english
Yes fucktard and his arguments for why it’s better don’t work outside that language showing the arguments are bad.
--- 21921927
He's an idiot saying it's the best language. He can be valid saying it's better than a specific language. There's no universal objectively best language. A language syntax, phonology, grammar etc are ehat give it a character that can make it subjectively better than another based on desired aesthetic and use.
--- 21922066
>>21917790
spanish and german
--- 21922071
if it's not the best language then how come you fags itt are all speaking it?
check and mate