In European literature, approximately from the beginning of the Renaissance, sighs and delights constantly sound on the theme of the melodiousness and melodiousness of the Italian language. In the Middle Ages, as far as I understand, Provencal was considered the standard of melodiousness (by the way, Old Provencal is not very different from its contemporary Italian dialects), although I personally did not come across written sighs and enthusiasm on this topic. In the Austrian empire of the times of Mozart and Salieri, there was a very active discussion on the topic of how "rough" German is suitable for high singing art (that is, opera), and both of the above-mentioned composers were officially listed as working in the imperial Italian opera.

In Russian literature, the melodiousness and melodiousness of the Ukrainian language are repeatedly spoken about. Almost everywhere in Europe, the melodiousness of Spanish is expressed with great sympathy. But English is considered more suitable for harsh and rough rock. By the way, I still remember how in the seventies of the last century (and millennia) they argued about whether the German language was too rough for rock. And then, in the eighties, they argued about whether it was possible to play rock music in Russian, which was not sharp enough for this.

In short, it was not without interest for me to try to find out what are the criteria for melodiousness or, conversely, the harshness of a particular language, and how these criteria really work. At least to my ears and tastes. I have no doubt that there are serious works on this subject, which I, due to my limitations, have not read. So let's reinvent the wheel. But his, blood.

One of the striking differences between the phonetics of the recognized "melodious" languages ​​and the recognized "sharp and rough" languages ​​is the ratio of consonants to vowels in the flow of speech, the consonant coefficient, KK. In the standard Russian text, KK = 1.38-1.43, depending on the style of the language (see, for example, Bondarko L.V., Zinder L.R., Stern A.S. Some statistical characteristics of Russian speech // Hearing and speech in norm and pathology. - L., 1977). The more vowels in the stream, the higher the melodiousness. In Germanic languages ​​(German, Dutch, Icelandic) CC can approach 2.0, in Hawaiian and some Polynesian languages ​​CC is in the region of 0.5.

And now let's try to look at the Russian words that science fiction authors of the Soviet period put into the mouths of representatives of gentle, refined and highly developed races (mainly Martians):

1. A. Tolstoy called his Martian heroine Aelita. QC=0.5.

2. (K. Volkov, "Mars is awakening)

Mana, - the astronauts repeated and wrote down in their notebooks: "Mana" - means "man" or "man". "Kiu" - means "woman", - the travelers wrote down. "Anta-mana," the Martian continued to explain, pointing to himself and his two companions. - The inhabitants of Mars are called "anta-mana", - Natasha noticed, carefully listening to the lesson. “Tot-mana,” the Martians explained, pointing to the men who had arrived from Earth. “Kiu-tot-mana,” they called the women.

We write out all the words in a row and calculate the CC:

mana, kiu, anta, that. QC=1.0.

3. ("Grandchildren of Mars" A.P. Kazantsev)
Slender, strong, unfamiliarly beautiful, she looked longingly at the trace of the ship melting in the air. And, stretching out her hands to him, she shouted loudly and melodiously: "Eoella!"

Eoella, KK=0.5.

True, a noticeable deviation from the average? This was very well expressed by Nikolai Gumilyov:

On Venus, oh, on Venus
There are no offensive or powerful words,
Angels speak on Venus
A language of only vowels.
If they say "Ea" and "Ai" -
It's a happy promise
"Wo", "ao" - about the ancient paradise
Golden memory...

Another important sign of melodiousness is the distribution of consonants in speech. A language that has a lot of consonantal clusters (continuously pronounced groups of consonants) sounds rough. In "soft" languages, clusters in which there are more than two consonants are prohibited, and restrictions are also imposed on the composition of these consonants. For example, groups tl, dl, cl, tr etc., which in Latin grammar were called muta cum liquida("mute with liquid"), in "soft" languages ​​are usually allowed. And here are clusters of two explosive consonants ( bg, tk, tp, pt etc.) are more often prohibited.

In modern Russian, three- and four-consonant clusters that drive foreigners crazy are often found: vzdr fired, matchmaker vstv about. In German, there are even more "terrible" groups: A ngstschw eiss"Sweat (from) fear"

At an absolutely professional (and very high-quality) level, the principle of "vocal melodiousness - consonant rudeness" was applied by R. Tolkien, in whose books in the Quenya High Elf language KK is not more than one, and only two-consonant clusters are allowed, only of the type muta cum liquida or liquida cum muta, and even then in the mandatory environment of vowels. In Sindarin, which is spoken by the somewhat worn elves of modern times, KK is higher, many other combinations of consonants are allowed in it. But in the rough languages ​​of the dwarves and, in particular, the orcs, CC goes off scale beyond all conceivable norms. Here are some text samples (in order to correctly calculate the QC, you need to examine all the available texts, but what a job it turns out! We will restrict ourselves to illustrations):

AI! laurië lantar lassi súrinen,

yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron!

Sindarin:

A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
silivren penna miriel
o menel aglar elenath!

(KK=1.18, but this is a good example of a sublime poetic text. In prose KK above.)

Khuzdul (language of the Dwarves)

Gabil gund Mazarbul Sigin-turgul Khazaddûmul. Durin Uzbad zahra.

"Black speech" orcs:

Ugluk u bagronk sha pushdug Saruman-glob búbhosh skai!

Well, as some illustration, a small Quenya video. I think it's very nice:

The answer to the question: “what is the most beautiful language in the world” is given by phonetic linguists. Disputes are led by students, composers and translators. The more a person knows foreign languages, the richer his perception of the world around him becomes, the easier it is for him to find a common language with speakers of other cultures. Today, thanks to digital technologies, you can learn almost any language without leaving your home and without limiting yourself in choosing a language center, teacher and schedule.

main contenders

It is called the language of love and friendship. They find grandeur and solemnity. sounds solid and unapologetically. Greek is like the sound of the sea. The languages ​​of the peoples of the East are musical and expressive. For example, Vietnamese has a key, and each vowel sound can be pronounced in six variations that change the meaning of the word. When writing, there are special icons. complicated by its hieroglyphs, but pronunciation does not cause difficulties for Europeans.

But what about "great and mighty"?

Some, when answering the question about the beauty of languages, argue that the most beautiful language for a person is his native language. I wonder how beauty is judged? At first, he frightens with his hissing sounds, and then amazes with the richness of his vocabulary and the ability to convey the subtle nuances of the Russian soul. Many seek to understand the works of Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Pushkin. Russian songs and romances are performed by the great singers of our time.

What will the learned minds say?

At the beginning of the last century, representatives from every nation gathered in Paris. The international jury held a contest of beauty and melodiousness of the languages ​​of the world. The beauty of the sound of languages ​​was evaluated. Representatives listened to texts in different languages.

As a result of listening, two ratings were compiled.

The most beautiful languages by sound:

• came out on top Italian language,
• for the second - Ukrainian language.
• was in third place French,
• on the fourth - Turkish,
• on the fifth English.

Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, Russian, German entered the top ten beautiful languages.

By the way, it should be noted that sometimes other languages ​​​​are included in the top ten. For example, Arabic, Chinese. Invariably, rhythm, melody and euphony remain the main selection criteria. The concept of "beauty" always carries an element of subjectivity. However, having an idea about harmonious, concise, melodic languages ​​is very useful. By the way, it helps in learning foreign languages.

There is another rating of languages, on writing (rather on inscription symbols):

• Arab;
• Chinese;
• French;
• Japanese;
• Greek;
• Spanish;
• Hebrew;
• Russian;
• Korean;
• Italian.

Not in the top 10, but very close to it English, Georgian, Persian, Hindi, German, Sanskrit.

But the development of languages ​​​​is going on continuously and perhaps after a while the TOP 10 most beautiful languages ​​\u200b\u200bof the world will change their favorites.

The beauty of language

You can judge the beauty of a language by its rhythm, melody and euphony. However, the very concept of “beauty of language” is rather subjective. There are many different opinions about which language can be called the most beautiful. Latin is considered the most harmonious and concise language, and the language of the Bushmen is considered the most melodic. The generally recognized beauty in the world of international languages ​​is Italian - it is more melodious and euphonious, which is why Italian opera is world-famous. The melodious murmur of the French language is also pleasant to the ear. However, is it only the ease of perception and beauty of sound that determines the concept of “beauty of language”?

Great Russian language

As a rule, the most beautiful language, for each person, is his native language. The one that he had heard since childhood, in which his mother sang lullabies to him, and the language in which he first uttered this word. The native language for each person is simple and understandable, pleasant to the ear and is the most beautiful language in the world.

The main criterion for judging the beauty of a language is the presence of a vocabulary, clarity of definition and the presence of many concepts corresponding to certain objects, phenomena and emotions, which allows reflecting all their nuances in the word form. If we consider the concept of “the beauty of the language” precisely from the point of view of its richness and richness, then, undoubtedly, the first place will definitely go to the Great Russian language.

The Russian language is a call, melodic, melodious and varied. The rich Russian language has more than five million different semantic concepts, which, depending on the intonation in the voice, can convey a multi-color range of meaning-image, and the subtlest shades of the state of the human soul.

well deserved glory

The Russian language is a descendant of the ancient Slavic language of the Asuras, from which all modern Slavic languages ​​​​were formed. It is believed that a person who has discovered the secret of the Slavic language will be able to understand not only various languages ​​\u200b\u200bof the whole world, but also the language of birds and animals, plants and forces of nature, because all the sounds and images in the proto-language of the ancient asuras are collected into a single whole, so same as the worldview of our ancient ancestors.

The Russian language has retained most of the knowledge of the ancient language, which is why Russian literature enjoys well-deserved worldwide fame and it is the connoisseurs of the beauty of the language who seek to read it in the original in order to capture all the subtleties and shades expressed by the beautiful and amazing Russian language.

Have you ever wondered why the Russian language is powerful and great? Of course, there are many versions ... But why the Russian language? Why not English, which is spoken by almost half the planet. After all, it is for English the status of an international language is secured by the language. The format of all international forums and conferences, as well as documentation is officially in English. But the Russian language is still considered great and powerful.

More examples. Chinese- more than 50,000 hieroglyphs. It is incredibly difficult to learn. The Chinese themselves are mostly aware of about 8000 hieroglyphs. For normal communication, reading and understanding each other - this is quite enough. The Chinese language is complex, one of the most ancient languages, and more than 1.4 billion people speak it, but with all due respect to the Chinese, it is not powerful and not great ...

Did you know that the Chinese language has an exceptionally simple grammar: verbs do not conjugate, there are no genders, there is not even the notion of the plural that is familiar to us. Punctuation is present only at the most primitive level, and phrases are built strictly according to certain constructions.

If it were not for the crazy pronunciation and the huge number of hieroglyphs, then Chinese would be one of the simplest languages ​​... No, the Chinese language is not powerful or great.

Japanese language. For me - one of the most difficult - more than 150,000 hieroglyphs. Think about these numbers. It seems that to learn Japanese you need to be calm, like the philosopher Confucius and inquisitive, like Leo Tolstoy. The Japanese language is very difficult, more difficult than Chinese and English. But at the same time, Japanese is a language with quirks.

Few people know that there are very few affectionate words in the Japanese language. Therefore, the Japanese take twice as long to say something.

At least in this parameter alone, it cannot be compared with the great and mighty Russian!

So, I am absolutely convinced that such factors as international recognition, the ancient history of the language, the difficulty in learning, borrowing, and much, much more does not secure the right to be called great and powerful for the language! It's hard to prove, but I'll try.

In general, for the first time the phrase "great, mighty Russian language" came into use in 1882. Its author, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, passionately loved his native language. Without taking the necessary phrases out of context, I will give the idea of ​​the classic in the sense in which he expressed it:

“In days of doubt, in days of painful reflections on the fate of my homeland, you are my only support and support, O great, mighty, truthful and free Russian language! Without you, how not to fall into despair at the sight of everything that happens at home? But it is impossible to believe that such a language was not given to a great people!”

Ivan Turgenev

These are not words of desperation or fanatically blind worship, and this was not said for a red word. Ivan Sergeevich had reason to call a spade a spade. His acquaintance with Pushkin, Lermontov, Zhukovsky, Nekrasov, Belinsky, Herzen, his life abroad, his experience and acquaintance with Western culture, art, literature; his vision and understanding of life and longing for the Motherland… — all of the above gave him a special right to speak as he saw fit, as he thought and thought.

Turgenev liked life in the west. He accepted it, and he lived much better in Paris than in Russia, but in order to renounce the Russian language and write his novels in French or English, this was out of the question.

It was Turgenev who was the mouthpiece of Russian culture in the world, an ardent propagandist of Russian literature in the West. From the height of the past years, the writer firmly believed that the Russian language was given exclusively to a great people. Turgenev understood all the power and richness of the Russian language - its flexibility, euphony, versatility.

Indeed, the Russian language is beautiful and melodic, and cannot be compared with any other. No other language in the world contains such a variety of semantic shades.

“Miracles can be done with the Russian language”

The genius of the Russian language lies in the fact that with the help of word forms, epithets and turns of speech it is easy to convey the slightest nuances in descriptions and create colorful images. “Miracles can be done with the Russian language”, - wrote another genius of the word K. Paustovsky. He was convinced that “there is nothing in life and in our minds that could not be conveyed by the Russian word. The sound of music, the spectral brilliance of colors, the play of light, the noise and shadow of gardens, the vagueness of sleep, the heavy rumble of thunder, the whisper of children and the rustle of sea gravel. There are no such sounds, colors, images and thoughts for which there would not be an exact expression in our language.

Nothing is impossible in Russian. In Russian, you can write a story, all the words of which will begin with one letter. There are many such examples. One of them is a story with the letter "P" we already earlier.

And the Russian mat, profanity, obscene language, Russian abuse. We even swear by complex and untranslatable phrases for the West. Sometimes the Russian mat gave us a significant advantage - take at least the years of the Great Patriotic War. The German cryptographers could not understand what the Soviet troops would do, because, at times, orders and commands were pronounced in purely Russian language. In the USSR, behind the scenes, there were two international languages ​​- Russian and obscene. All countries of the socialist camp spoke and understood Russian. By the way, in no country in the world is there explanatory dictionary of criminal jargons. Think about it! None! This is not a reason to be proud, but it is the truth of life.

And Russian humor in literature. Take a volume of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, the most translated Russian writer in the world. And the sarcasm of the "dissident" Dovlatov - read it. And Gilyarovsky, Averchenko, Kuprin are people with a rich sense of humor.

The Russian language is immense! The vocabulary of the Russian language is really great. An ordinary Russian-speaking person does not use even a fifth of all words existing in the language. At the same time, there are many borrowings, cripples from other languages, which are also already considered part of the Russian vocabulary. But even if we do not take into account modern foreign words (ancient Greek, Latin and other borrowings are not considered as such), the Russian language is still immense.

No less complex is the thought expressed in Russian. Much often depends on intonation, word order, and punctuation marks. “Execution cannot be pardoned” is remembered by all Russian-speaking people from their school years, and this example very well demonstrates such a difference.

It is for these reasons that the Russian language was called great and powerful, but these words still have not lost their significance. Russian is one of the richest languages ​​in the world, and at the same time one of the most difficult. It has a great past, but no less great future.

And instead of a conclusion, a few funny examples found on the net, confirming the greatness and richness of the Russian language:

ZADAM theme, ZADEV strings:
Let's drink FOR LADIES, and also FOR VIRGINS!

Sometimes I look in the mirror AND NOYA:
I would like to see myself OTHER ...

We spoke with the EX-MINISTER
About how harmful SEX MINISTERS are…

I am looking for a photo LENS, BUT -
Please give me another
To reflect it OBJECTIVELY
Me thin and young!

Comprehending women's whims,
Take note gentlemen:
Sometimes the words "GET OUT OF HERE"
Mean "IDIOTS HERE"!

Get on the coveted throne
One cartridge will help me.
Here's the plan, solid and simple:
I need a patron. Idle!

Apparently, the Creator gave a blunder,
Providing men with a distorted picture,
And, looking at the dressed Macha,
A man sees Macha naked...