There are thousands of languages, dialects and dialects in the world. Some of them are a thing of the past, others are born before our eyes and gradually gain strength. It is difficult for one person to even imagine such a volume of information, let alone remember it. And yet some do try. Although thousands of languages are still inaccessible for a single person to learn, yet superpolyglots exist. So who are they?
Language chaos
Living in Russia, it is easy to get used to a single language for the whole country. Of course, in Siberia or on the Volga the dialect will be somewhat different from the Moscow one, but in general, nothing radically incomprehensible. The situation is somewhat more complicated in Europe and the United States - where within the framework of one language dozens of dialects can exist, sometimes very far from each other.
The most common examples are British and American English, which differ in tone, stress, and meanings for thousands of words. But this is still a rather mild case, and it also happens that the speakers of the dialect of the northern part of a single European country with great difficulty understand what the southerners are talking about.
Asian countries, especially India and China, went even further. In China, the "standard" language is called Putonghua (oral) and Baihua (written). But, besides him, all other languages, which are spoken by 56 ethnic groups of the country, are officially recognized. The number of living languages and dialects reaches almost 300!
Sino-Tibetan languages, Tai-Kadai, Austro-Asian, Altai, Miao-Yao languages … And if it seems to you that this is a linguistic nightmare, you have not heard about India yet.
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Besides common Hindi and English, 457 (!) Languages are spoken there. This is where it will really be difficult for residents from one end of the country to understand people from another. Willy-nilly, you will have to develop the talent of a polyglot …
But let's define the terminology. Bilinguals are people who know two languages; more than two are polylingual or polyglot; more than ten - super- or hyperpolyglots. There are few such experts on the planet, no more than a hundred, but each of them is able to speak for at least ten! In bilingual countries - like India or, for example, Canada - almost all residents are bilingual. For them, speaking two languages is completely natural and not stressful. So maybe mastering ten languages is just a matter of habit?
Confessor for Foreigners
The strongest of the superpolyglots in the world is considered to be Giuseppe Mezzofanti, the Italian cardinal of the early - mid-19th century. This man spoke 40 different languages and fifty dialects, among which were Hebrew, Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Hindi, Russian and many others. But it is not even this that is striking, but the fact that Mezzofanti never left his native Italy in his life!
Nowadays, such a talented polyglot would cause a general sensation, but imagine how he was perceived one and a half hundred years ago? Giuseppe Mezzofanti began his career as a field confessor.
During the war between the Habsburg Empire and France, he constantly visited military hospitals with the French, Hungarians, Czechs, Austrians … It is impossible to profess a person without knowing his speech, and Mezzofanti patiently learned more and more languages to help people.
In Rome, the duties of "confessing foreigners" were usually assigned to a whole group of priests, but Mezzofanti alone replaced them all. They began to turn to him for the translation of various texts, and he always agreed without demanding remuneration.
Giuseppe Mezzofanti lived a long life, constantly developing and improving his linguistic abilities. The great English poet Byron spoke of him like this: "This genius should have lived during the Babylonian pandemonium in order to be a universal translator." In Russia, Mezzofanti's poems were published by Alexander Turgenev, who deeply respects him.
The mystery of the polyglots
There is a well-known anecdote. Three people are asked how long will it take them to learn Chinese? The factory worker answers - at least ten years. The professor of philology estimates that he is quite capable of mastering in a year and a half. The student nervously asks again: “What, the test is already tomorrow? I’ll learn in a night…”Jokes aside, but many hyperpolyglots are not only able to keep several languages in their heads, but also understand new ones in the shortest possible time.
The famous Russian scientist and journalist of the 19th century, Albert Starchevsky, was personally acquainted with Giuseppe Mezzofanti and once surprised him by speaking to him in Ukrainian. Having politely found out from Starchevsky what language he was using, the Italian cardinal asked to give him two weeks for analysis. At their next meeting, it was time to be surprised for the domestic linguist - Mezzofanti spoke very well in Ukrainian!
Even a fair resemblance between the two Slavic languages could not explain this phenomenon. One might suspect that the cunning cardinal still knew Ukrainian and was just pretending, but no - Mezzofanti was distinguished by impeccable honesty. For many years Starchevsky tried to unravel the secret of Mezzofanti and only at the end of his life, it seemed, he achieved success.
He announced that he would pass on this knowledge to his students, intending to open a Polyglot School in St. Petersburg. Alas, the linguist's plans were not destined to come true. In 1901, Albert Starchevsky died, taking his secret and the secret of the great Mezzofanti to the grave.
And yet, history has a habit of repeating itself. The talent available to one person tends to manifest itself in subsequent generations. Emil Krebs, a German polyglot of the early 20th century, learned French as a child using a stack of old newspapers and a dictionary in three weeks. Subsequently, he became one of the most famous hyperpolyglots, having mastered about seven dozen languages.
Daniel Tammet, a contemporary British writer, once preparing to appear on Icelandic television, learned the language in just two weeks! Of course, we are talking about incredibly talented linguists, but scientists are confident that with the right motivation and technique, anyone can achieve impressive results.
Tongue in head
Daniel Tammet is a highly functional autistic person, that is, a person with a different brain structure than most people, making it difficult for social interaction and communication, but allowing more fully develop some unusual skills. A number of profound forms of autism are considered a disease, but most are only small deviations from the norm.
Scientists who study the brain of hyperpolyglots have long believed that unusually high abilities for languages may be most pronounced precisely in autists and people with Asperger's syndrome (a developmental disorder characterized by severe difficulties in social interaction). However, this theory has not received reliable confirmation. Unlike the techie community - physicists, mathematicians, engineers, and programmers - the propensity for autism among polyglots does not appear more often than a static norm.
The human brain is an absolutely incomparable organ, and the study of all its functions has not even come close to the middle. If we look at its departments related to language understanding, a couple of interesting facts will emerge. Surely everyone noticed that reading and translating a foreign language is much easier than speaking it.
And it's not just a matter of practice - it's just that a completely different part of the cerebral cortex is responsible for the exact reproduction of unfamiliar sounds than for reading. In this case, the question is precisely talent: in some people this area at birth is much better developed than in others. They don't have to become translators, though - they make great actors, singers or parodists.
The further the world moves, the closer people become to each other. First with the help of mail and telegraph, then telephone and radio communications, the Internet …
Now we can calmly talk with almost any person on the globe. It is easier for hyperpolyglots to accomplish this than anyone else, but their knowledge and skills are not some kind of miracle. Unless, of course, the ability to work hard and hard is considered a miracle.
Maxim FILARETOV