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What is the most difficult language in the world: the answer from linguists – no stereotypes
05.03.2024 10:28
If you ask a Russian person which language he considers the most difficult, he will probably name Chinese or Arabic.
But linguists have a different point of view, because science adheres to an objective approach.
Which language is the most difficult?
Just 20-25 years ago, the fundamental opinion was that all languages are equally complex.
There were no criteria for assessing the degree of difficulty of a language.
How languages differ
A variety of elements – vowels and consonants. Obviously, the more of them there are, the more complex the language.
Correspondence between form and meaning. An example is the plural in Russian and English.
It turns out that the Russian language is more difficult in this regard.
And these are not the only examples.
What's the bottom line?
In other words, there is currently no measure that determines the complexity of a language.
The number of sounds and cases, tenses and much more can be taken into account.
Therefore, for now, scientists are sticking to general indicators.
According to the latest findings by British researcher Trudgill, language complexity may be linked to sociolinguistics.
That is, the more people are native speakers of a language, the simpler it is considered.
And vice versa. The more limited a language group is considered, the more complex the speech.
Earlier we told you which water is considered the cleanest in the world.
