Mutual intelligibility

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In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between languages in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without intentional study or extraordinary effort. It is sometimes used as one criterion for distinguishing languages from dialects, though sociolinguistic factors are also important.

Intelligibility between languages can be asymmetric, with speakers of one understanding more of the other than speakers of the other understand of the first. It is when it is relatively symmetric that it is characterized as 'mutual'. It exists in differing degrees among many related or geographically proximate languages of the world, often in the context of a dialect continuum.

Contents 1 Intelligibility 2 Mutually intelligible languages or variants of one language? 3 List of mutually intelligible languages 3.1 Written and spoken forms 3.2 Spoken forms only 3.3 Written forms only 3.4 List of mutually intelligible languages in ancient times 3.5 Examples 4 EU-Projects 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Intelligibility

For individuals to achieve moderate proficiency or understanding in a language (called L2) other than their mother tongue or first language (L1) typically requires considerable time and effort through study and/or practical application. However, for those many groups of languages displaying mutual intelligibility, namely, those, usually genetically related languages, similar to each other in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, or other features, speakers of one language usually find it relatively easy to achieve some degree of understanding in the related language(s). Languages mutually intelligible but not genetically related may be creoles and parent languages, or geographically adjacent variants of two unrelated languages.

Intelligibility among languages can vary between individuals or groups within a language population, according to their knowledge of various registers and vocabulary in their own language, their interest in or familiarity with other cultures, the domain of discussion, psycho-cognitive traits, the mode of language used (written vs. oral), and other factors.

[edit] Mutually intelligible languages or variants of one language?

According to some definitions, two or more languages that demonstrate a sufficiently high degree of mutual intelligibility should properly not be considered two distinct languages but, in fact, multiple varieties of the same language^{[citation needed]}. Conversely, it is sometimes the case that different varieties of what is considered the same language—according to popular belief, governmental stance, or historical convention—are not, in fact, mutually intelligible in practice. For example, while although Sardinian, Lombard, Liguorian, Venetian, and Sicilian may be considered "dialects" of Italian, it would be difficult, and in some cases very difficult, for monolingual speakers of these languages to communicate with each other. (For more on this, see Dialect, Dialect continuum and Pluricentric language—as well as Diasystem and Diglossia for two closely related but distinct language forms.)

[edit] List of mutually intelligible languages

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[edit] Written and spoken forms

• Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian
• Bahasa Melayu (Malay) and Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
• Belarussian, Russian, and Ukrainian (not always mutually intelligible with one another)
• Bulgarian and Macedonian
• Catalan and Occitan
• Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian (when written in Latin script)
• Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish (Spoken Danish can be difficult to understand by Swedish or Norwegian listeners)
• Dutch and Afrikaans
• Dutch and Frisian
• Dutch and German
• English and Lowland Scots
• Finnish and Estonian^{[dubious – discuss]}

Due to large differences in vocabulary - only 30% recognisable, 30% being false friends and 30% having different roots (approximations) - and some major differences in grammar, the two languages are not mutually intelligible to untrained ear, but it is fairly easy to get accustomed to understanding the other language.

• Finnish and Karelian (not always mutually intelligible)
• Finnish and Kven
• Finnish and Meänkieli
• French and Walloon^{[dubious – discuss]}
• Faroese and Icelandic
• Friulian, Ladin and Romansch
• Galician and Portuguese
• Galician and Spanish
• Italian and Corsican
• Italian and Friulian
• Italian and Sicilian (Sicilian is not officially recognized as a separate language from Italian)
• Punjabi, Seraiki, and Hindko
• Romanian and Aromanian (not always mutually intelligible)
• Samoan and Tongan
• Spanish, Haketia and Ladino (both Hatekia and Ladino are based on Fifteenth-Century Spanish, with influence from Hebrew, Arabic and French for Haketia, and Hebrew, Turkish, Greek, Italian and French for Ladino, but especially in their written form, the three languages have a high mutual degree of intelligibility; only a few weeks of interaction is needed to get used to the other language in both ways)
• Scottish Gaelic and Irish
• Slovak and Czech
• Slovene and Kajkavian Croatian
• Thai and Laotian^{[dubious – discuss]}
• Turkish and Azeri (easily understanding; only need a few weeks of interaction to get used to the other language in both ways)
• Zulu and Xhosa
• Punjabi and Hindi (usually easily understood; only need a few weeks of interaction to get used to the other language in both ways)
• Domari language and Romani language
• Bulgarian/Slavic Macedonian and Serbo-Croatian (mutually intelligible to an extent)

[edit] Spoken forms only

• Spoken German and spoken Yiddish
• Spoken Hindi and spoken Urdu - see Hindustani language
• Spoken Romani (only few dialects) and spoken Hindustani languages (other dialects may take a while)
• Spoken Uzbek and Uyghur

[edit] Written forms only

• Spanish and Catalan
• Spanish and Portuguese
• Serbian (when written in Latin script), Croatian, Bosnian and Slovene
• Written Mandarin and written Cantonese (but not if the vernacular is written)
• Speakers of Icelandic and Faroese can read Old Norse with little difficulty.

[edit] List of mutually intelligible languages in ancient times

• Biblical Hebrew, Moabite, and Phoenician
• Old English and Old Saxon
• Gothic, Burgundian, and Vandalic

[edit] Examples

• Varieties of Arabic
• Varieties of Chinese
• Varieties of English
• Differences between Afrikaans and Dutch
• Differences between Hindi and Urdu
• Differences between Malay and Indonesian
• Differences between Norwegian Bokmål and Standard Danish
• Differences between Scottish Gaelic and Irish
• Differences in standard Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian
• Differences between Slovak and Czech languages
• Differences between Spanish and Portuguese

[edit] EU-Projects

• Galanet
• Intercom
• EU&I

[edit] See also

• Dialect continuum
• Dialect levelling
• Diasystem
• Lexical similarity
• Multilingualism
• Non-convergent discourse

[edit] References

• Vajda, Edward J. Dialectology

[edit] External links

• Harold Schiffman, "Linguists' Definition: mutual intelligibility". University of Pennsylvania.