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In linguistics
Linguistics

Linguistics is the science study of natural language. Linguistics encompasses a number of sub-fields. An important topical division is between the study of language structure and the study of Meaning ....
, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between language
Language

A language is a form of symbol communication in which elements are combined to represents something other than themselves. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon....
s 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 dialect
Dialect

A dialect is a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class....
s, 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.






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In linguistics
Linguistics

Linguistics is the science study of natural language. Linguistics encompasses a number of sub-fields. An important topical division is between the study of language structure and the study of Meaning ....
, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between language
Language

A language is a form of symbol communication in which elements are combined to represents something other than themselves. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon....
s 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 dialect
Dialect

A dialect is a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class....
s, 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
Dialect continuum

A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater....
.

Intelligibility

For individuals to achieve moderate proficiency or understanding in a language (called L2) other than their mother tongue or first language
First language

A first language is the language a human being learns from birth. A person's first language is a basis for sociolinguistic identity....
 (L1) typically requires considerable time and effort through study and/or practical application
Practice (learning method)

Practice or practise is the act of rehearsing a behavior over and over, or engaging in an activity again and again, for the purpose of improving or mastering it, as in the phrase "practice makes perfect"....
. However, for those many groups of languages displaying mutual intelligibility, namely, those, usually genetically related languages, similar to each other in grammar
Grammar

Grammar is the field of linguistics that covers the conventions governing the use of any given natural language. It includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics....
, vocabulary
Vocabulary

A person's vocabulary is the set of words they are familiar with in a language. A vocabulary usually grows and evolves with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and learning....
, pronunciation
Pronunciation

"Pronunciation" refers to the way a word or a language is usually spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If someone said to have "correct pronunciation," then it refers to both within a particular dialect....
, 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
Creole language

A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originates seemingly as a nativization pidgin. This understanding of creole genesis culminated in Robert A....
 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, psycho
Psychology

Psychology is an academic and applied science discipline involving the science study of human mental functions and behavior. Occasionally it also relies on symbolic hermeneutics and critical theory, although these traditions are less pronounced than in other social sciences such as sociology....
-cognitive
Cognition

Cognition is the science term for "the process of thought."Its usage varies in different ways in accord with different disciplines: For example, in psychology and cognitive science it refers to an information processing view of an individual's psychological Functionalism s....
 traits, and other factors.

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
Variety (linguistics)

In sociolinguistics, a variety, also called a lect, is a language or dialect considered as a variety or development of another language or dialect....
 of the same language. 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 more on this, see Dialect
Dialect

A dialect is a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class....
, and Dialect continuum
Dialect continuum

A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater....
—as well as Diasystem
Diasystem

In linguistics, in the field of structural dialectology, a diasystem is a single genetic language which has two or more standard forms. Some dialects are often divided into separate languages due to different historical and cultural development....
 and Diglossia
Diglossia

In linguistics, diglossia is a situation where a given language community uses not just one dialect, but two: the first being the community's present day vernacular and the second being either an ancestral version of the same vernacular from centuries earlier or a distinct yet closely related present day dialect ....
 for two closely related but distinct language forms.)

Examples


  • Varieties of English
  • Varieties of Chinese
  • Differences between Afrikaans and Dutch
  • Differences between Bulgarian and Macedonian
  • Differences between English and Scots
  • Differences between Faroese and Icelandic
  • Differences between Hindi and Urdu
  • Differences between Malay and Indonesian
    Differences between Malay and Indonesian

    The differences between Malay language and Indonesian language are slightly greater than those between British English and American English....
  • Differences between Norwegian Bokmål and Standard Danish
    Differences between Norwegian Bokmål and Standard Danish

    Danish and Norwegian Bokm?l are very similar languages, but differences between them do exist. The languages are mutually intelligible, with the primary differences being in pronunciation and in the sound system as a whole....
  • Differences between Russian and Belarusian
  • Differences between Russian and Ukrainian
  • Differences between Scottish Gaelic and Irish
    Differences between Scottish Gaelic and Irish

    Scottish Gaelic language is closely related to Irish language, although most dialects are not Mutually intelligible languages....
  • Differences in standard Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian
    Differences in standard Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian

    The standard Croatian language, Serbian language, and Bosnian language languages are very similar, but differ in various aspects as outlined below....
  • Differences between Slovak and Czech languages
    Differences between Slovak and Czech languages

    Linguistically, the Czech and Slovak languages form a language continuum, eastern Slovak dialects then blend into the Rusyn language. Czech exists in two different forms : literary Czech and colloquial Czech....
  • Differences between Spanish and Portuguese
    Differences between Spanish and Portuguese

    Portuguese language and Spanish language are among the most widely spoken languages in the world today. Although they are closely related, to the point of having a noticeable degree of mutual intelligibility, there are also important differences between them, which can pose difficulties for people acquainted with one of the languages wh...
  • Differences between Thai and Laotian
  • Differences between Turkish and Azeri


See also

  • Dialect continuum
    Dialect continuum

    A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater....
  • Dialect levelling
    Dialect levelling

    Dialect levelling is the means by which dialect differences decrease. For example, in rural areas of United Kingdom, although English language is widely spoken, the pronunciation and grammar have historically varied....
  • Diasystem
    Diasystem

    In linguistics, in the field of structural dialectology, a diasystem is a single genetic language which has two or more standard forms. Some dialects are often divided into separate languages due to different historical and cultural development....
  • Lexical similarity
    Lexical similarity

    In linguistics, lexical similarity is a measure of the degree to which the word sets of two given languages are similar. A lexical similarity of 1 would mean a total overlap between vocabularies, whereas 0 means there are no common words....
  • Multilingualism
    Multilingualism

    The term multilingual can refer to an individual speaker who uses two or more languages, a community of speakers in which two or more languages are used, or speakers of different languages....
  • Non-convergent discourse
    Non-convergent discourse

    A non-convergent discourse is a discourse in which the participants do not accommodate on the language level, which results in the use of different languages....