Jump to content
Linguaholic

What language is this audio?


Hubird

Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...

It sounds very strange to me. The guy talks in a monotonous way making it quite difficult for me to figure out and make a good guess. Is that Russian? I think that is not French although I can hear some enunciations similar to it. Sorry I could not tell what language it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not Russian either, nor French. I think it's an Asian or an African dialect, but I may be wrong. However, if you pay attention at how words are pronounced, you can easily see that it's not an European language.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Qb-8X4rFGXM20tZ3ZpRUFMNm8/view?usp=docslist_api

 

I came here hoping someone could help ease my curiosity, is anyone able tell me what language the above audio is in?

 

I have it on reliable authority that it is not Thai, Vietnamese or Chinese that's about as much as I know.

It sounds Native American to me. It doesn't resemble any of the most common languages we might hear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree it's spoken in a pretty monotonous voice. But I haven't got the foggiest idea what language it could be, as it's very far removed from anything I know. At first I thought it might be something out of Eastern Europe, but now having listened to the whole audio clip, I'm not so sure. I can't wait to find out for real what it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

@Wanda...Sorry yes, you're right; totally different things! Not sure where my head was at; but what I actually meant to say was it sounded a little flat and monotonous to me, not tonal because I didn't get that. I couldn't pick up any distinct intonations and inflections in the guy's voice..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm probably good at picking out tonal languages because I speak 2 of them. If you listen carefully, you can hear him pronounce a high steady tone, almost like he's singing it, every few words. It's only a split second, but I bet you can pick it out if you listen to it again. It has more tones than that, but that high tone is the easy one to pick out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sounds like a Middle Eastern/South Asian language to me but I can't pin down the exact one. It sounds like it is a news broadcast though or maybe a movie clip? I am curious to know what this is!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm probably good at picking out tonal languages because I speak 2 of them. If you listen carefully, you can hear him pronounce a high steady tone, almost like he's singing it, every few words. It's only a split second, but I bet you can pick it out if you listen to it again. It has more tones than that, but that high tone is the easy one to pick out.

I don't speak any tonal languages, so you're probably better placed to pick them out. I'm hardly in a position to claim otherwise. He does have a soothing voice, that much I know LOL I don't think any amount of listening will help me, because I'm absolutely clueless. I don't think I've ever heard anything akin to what's on the audio clip. I wish someone would come along and put us out of our misery, because I'm dying to know exactly what language it is!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am coming back everyday to this thread as I'm really curious to know what this language is. Posting here to bump so hopefully someone with the answer can see it.

I have been going on Youtube to check which languages sound similar to it:

For comparison: Arabic / Persian / Turkish : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXI49Pefqp8

I think the original post is closely related to one of these.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on the background music from the very start of that audio file, it made me reminded me of some old cassette tapes of metal bands I once collected. It kind of sounded like some prayer in an ethnic dialect or an ancient language. After the heavy instrumental introduction, there was an echo all through out, so it made me think it was recited in a big hall or a structure like that of a church. First, I thought the language was in Japanese. But I played it again for a few more times and realized it was not Japanese. 

Based on a video I found on youtube (What Ancient Languages Sound Like - Forgotten Languages,) it kind of sounded like Sumerian or Akkadian to me..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well i'm completely stumped not only did I listen to the audio a couple of times but i also had my sister listen to it, and both of us were completely unsure of what that was it could Be Japanese (as my sister says) or the audio could be put in reverse maybe if you figure out a way to play the audio in reverse it might help... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I don't check every single day, but I do stop by from time to time to see if it's been confirmed what exactly this language is. It's surprising that nobody here's definitively said what it is! The curiosity is killing me LOL At a guess, I'd say It must then be a very old or rare language if nobody can say for sure what it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my! There is no answer to this yet! I'm just really eager to know. When I made my husband listen to it, he said it seemed like a prayer to him. His wild guess was Pope Francis as he said he sounded like him. LOL! But his language is Spanish as he is from Argentina. However, he can speak other languages when I searched in Google, like Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Ukrainian and Piedmontese (spoken in Piedmont, Northern Italy). He is also conversant in Latin. So... :smile: My daughter said it sounded dull so it must not be a European language. I was looking at the language profiles of all the respondents here so that I would know which languages to cross out. LOL!

Where did you get that audio file, anyway? Maybe your source can be a clue to us all. :wink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/26/2015, 6:07:16, foolsgold said:

I am coming back everyday to this thread as I'm really curious to know what this language is. Posting here to bump so hopefully someone with the answer can see it.

I have been going on Youtube to check which languages sound similar to it:

For comparison: Arabic / Persian / Turkish : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXI49Pefqp8

I think the original post is closely related to one of these.

I do not recognize it as an Arabic dialect. It does sound a lot like an East Asian or Native American dialect

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Trellum unpinned this topic
  • 1 year later...

This is almost certainly a Plains Native American language from the Siouan family, which includes Lakota. 

I'm basing this off a few distinguishing features:

- it's tonal

- it uses nasal vowels (like in "huh?", sort of)

- there are lateral fricatives (think "L" + "SH")

- the syllable structure is mostly CV (consontant + vowel) [this is a gross oversimplification, but you can contrast that with languages like English that often have more consonant-heavy syllables like the classic example of "strengths", which is CCCVCCC when you analyze the phonemes (sound components)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...