On May 5, 2008, at 6:53 AM, Benct Philip Jonsson wrote:

> Icelanders even speak to fast for *each other*. They say _Ha
> hvað segir þú?" [,Hak:_ha'sE:rDu], or just _Ha?_ after
> every third sentence or so -- although sometimes it probably
> means "What do you mean?"

Just wondering -- where does the [k:] come from?

>
> _Ha_ of course is a quick pronunciation of _hvað_ to
> begin with...
>
> As for being a better speaker than listener we're
> definitely alike!
>
> 2008/5/5 Mark J. Reed <[log in to unmask]>:
>> On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 5:58 AM, Benct Philip Jonsson
>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>  And yes, Icedlanders normally speak very fast.
>>
>>  *Everyone* normally speaks very fast from the perspective
>>  of L2 speakers (or non-speakers) of their L1.
>>
>>
>>> I had to say "Gjerþu svo vel að tala hægara" all the
>>> time. Probably they didn't believe me because I
>>> pronounced it as
>>>
>>>  [,k_jEs:'vEl a't_ha:l 'hai)ra]
>>>
>>>  I'm too good a parrot, you see.
>>
>>  I have a friend who had similar issues when he was doing
>>  phone solicitation in Atlanta. When someone answered the
>>  phone in Spanish, he would say "Lo siento, pero yo no
>>  hablo español" - except he got too good at saying it and
>>  they stopped believing him. Or else they were just
>>  cursing him out regardless. Phone solicitation does tend
>>  to elicit that sort of reaction.
>>
>>  I do definitely have the "better parrot than listener"
>>  problem with Spanish. I've never understood all the
>>  people who say they can listen and get the gist of
>>  something but can't say anything themselves; I've always
>>  had the opposite problem.
>>
>>
>>  --
>>  Mark J. Reed <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> / BP