• @[email protected]
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    32 years ago

    I’m from Germany, so no native English speaker. Why does it still sound wrong in my ears? Is it the way we have to open the mouth to make those sounds, and it feels unnatural in a different order?

      • Lambda
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        122 years ago

        More specifically look up the term “ablaut reduplication”. There’s lots of great articles and honestly some pretty good YouTube videos on the subject. I’m honestly surprised how great the YouTube linguistics scene is, from Tom Scott’s language files to rob words and name explain (plus nativlang). Hours of infotainment on linguistics for those interested!

      • @[email protected]
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        12 years ago

        This is likely because of the different sound profile(not sure if this is the right word) of the words. Mork ends with a guttural letter that opens up for usage of a relatively open vowel like the “a” in “and”. Also, it’s one syllable, and it should be easier to start with the lower number of syllables and work your way up or at least keep it that count. Mindy, on the other hand, has those two syllables, and ends with a vowel that also I believe, making this up on the spot, shouldn’t open up for possibilities to follow up, which I think is why there’s not just barely quite as much usage for “y” as a vowel too. Add to that that saying “Mork and Mindy” makes ylu naturally slide “O-Æ-I-I’”, gradually opening up. Instead, saying “Mindy and Mork” will make you rather awkwardly jump around less open vowels: it’s stressing your mouth to close more. If you say it like “Mindy 'n Mark” it should be a slight bit easier to say. Finally, and is atonal, I believe, correct me if I’m wrong, and saying “Mork and Mindy” allows Mork to quickly slide to Mindy by merging “and” with “Mork”, whereas Mindy would force you to either pronounce a hiatus, or a glottal stop, forcing you to tonalize “and”, which is suboptimal. There’s many different rules at play than I-A-O. Why did I invest my time making a point through potentially incorrect information.

      • @[email protected]
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        102 years ago

        Good question. Maybe they did it deliberately to make it feel more alien and strange? Or maybe there’s another rule about the relative number of syllables (e.g., Tom and Jerry, Jak and Daxter, etc.)

      • @[email protected]
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        42 years ago

        That sounds normal when flipped to me. Swapping Rick and Morty for Morty and Rick sounds wrong but Mindy and Mork still has that right to it. I think they did it on purpose.

  • mookulator
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    2 years ago

    Bad boy, fat lip, cat toy, sad song, ad lib, bat wing, say so, far right, bar fight, fort night, lock pick

  • Mewtwo
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    12 years ago

    Damn, I thought it was because the old clocks literally sound like tick tock.

    • @[email protected]
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      52 years ago

      Not if you’re an EFL (English as foreign language) teacher and you needed a way to help your students understand adjective placement better: )

  • @[email protected]
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    92 years ago

    There’s no mystery here. Speech is uttered by bodies. Inhale, exhale, pressure starts high then drops. Muscles tense then release. A thousand muscles in complex patterns working together limits and shapes sound. That is the basis for underlying “rules”.

    TICK tock. Your mouth tenses for the first, relaxes in the second.

  • Ignacio
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    92 years ago

    […] opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose noun […] if you mess with that word order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac.

    And if I try to stick to that word order when I’m speaking I’ll sound like an obsessive-compulsive person.

  • @[email protected]
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    352 years ago

    Trying to explain this to non native English speakers at my work is hilarious. It’s a rule that I don’t even know the parameters of. It just is!

  • Digitalprimate
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    132 years ago

    I was literally just yesterday wondering how to find this again, thanks internet person/strong A.I.