There are over 6,500 different languages spoken throughout
the world, although perhaps 2,000 of them are spoken by fewer than 1,000 people.
There are major differences between all of these languages. The two key
elements of human language are words (the individual units that relate to
things, actions, states, notions, etc.) and grammar (the “rules” that apply to
organising the words in ways that create meaning).
Sadly, when these 6,000+ languages developed, in different
places, at different times, among different communities, none of them started
with creating a grammar to provide the structure to string the words together
to make sense. Each language has developed over thousands of years, and
normally continues to change and develop throughout its existence. Every
language was created to serve the communication needs of its community and
changes as the needs and character of the community change.
Grammar is a relatively new invention developed by linguists
after a deep study of how a particular language works to try and identify any
inherent rules or guidelines in the way it is used. Understanding a language’s
grammar can help other people to learn that language. But it is precisely because
no two languages share the same grammar or structure that it is usually so hard
and time consuming to learn another language. There is not normally any “logic”
to grammar – it is just an arbitrary set of rules that attempt to explain an
underlying structure to a language that has not developed in a structured or
logical way.
This is also the reason why “machine translation” (using
computers to translate) is still so far from perfect. Computers, unlike most
humans, are entirely logical. They like to be programmed so that, for example,
every time they see a specific word in one language they can change it into a
specific word in the second language. But there are so many occasions when that
just does not work. For example, the English word “glass” has a Spanish
equivalent “vaso”. So, “a glass of milk” becomes “un vaso de
leche”. However, “a glass of wine” is more usually expressed in Spanish
as “una copa de vino”. This demonstrates how even simple words can have
many different alternatives in other languages, depending on the precise
context in which they are used.
Increasingly, computers are developing the ability to
appreciate the context of a text and therefore learning when to translate
“glass” as “vaso” or “copa” based on the other words surrounding it. But it
will still be a very long time before they will be able to grasp the context of
a text as quickly as a person can and even longer before they can appreciate
subtleties such as humour, irony, intent, etc.
Many languages have developed side-by-side and some have developed out of others. Linguistics experts have devised language trees (like family trees) to show the relationship between major languages. Because they are related some languages share words and parts of their grammar may be very similar.
But, even then, this may create problems. There are many “false
friends”, words in different languages that look alike but mean very different
things.
So, learning another language is complex and time consuming
because you have to learn hundreds or thousands of words and also a completely new
grammar system to know how the words can be linked together to make sense.
There is often very little “logic” you can use. As we all learn at school,
whatever bit of grammar you are using or even if you are trying to work out how
to spell a word – there are always those dreaded “exceptions to the rule”! On
top of that, when you do see a new word you think you recognise, you need to
beware - it may well have a totally different meaning…
But, don’t despair if you have never learned another
language. You’re in good company…
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