Mutual intelligibility

Mutual intelligibility is an important idea in the study of languages. It describes a situation where people speaking different but related languages or dialects can understand each other easily, even if they have never met before. This happens because these languages share many words, grammar rules, and writing styles.

For example, Danish and Norwegian are two languages that come from similar roots. If someone speaks Danish tries to understand Norwegian, or vice versa, they often find it easier because the languages are so alike. This is similar to how some people might find it easier to understand one language over another, depending on which languages they speak.

In the world of language study, mutual intelligibility helps experts decide whether something is a separate language or just a version, or dialect, of another language. It shows how connected languages can be, and how people who speak similar languages can often talk to each other without needing to learn a whole new way of speaking.

Types

Asymmetric intelligibility

Asymmetric intelligibility describes a situation where speakers of one language can understand another related language more easily than the other way around. This happens because of differences in language structure or cultural factors. For example, people who speak Dutch often find it easier to understand Afrikaans because Afrikaans has simpler grammar rules.

Among sign languages

Sign languages are unique to each country and are not usually understood by users of other sign languages, even though they may share some similarities. They develop separately from spoken languages and have their own families of languages. For example, British Sign Language and American Sign Language are not understood by each other because they developed in different places. The way signs are put together in sign languages does not usually match the rules of the spoken languages in the same area. For instance, American Sign Language has more in common with the structure of spoken Japanese than with English.

As a criterion for distinguishing languages

Languages spoken in Scandinavia are part of a group where people can usually understand each other, but some areas are harder. Danish and Swedish don’t always understand each other well, but people living close to the water between Denmark and Sweden, like in Malmö and Helsingborg, understand Danish a bit better because they are near Denmark.

Romance

Main article: Classification of Romance languages

It can be hard to say exactly where one language ends and another begins in some parts of Europe. One way to group languages is by how well speakers can understand each other. Here are some groups of languages that people can usually understand each other:

• Iberian Romance: Portuguese, Galician, Mirandese, Astur-Leonese, Castilian (Spanish), Aragonese;
• Occitano-Romance: Catalan, Occitan;
• Southern Romance: Sardinian;
• Gallo-Romance: Langues d'oïl (including French), Piedmontese, Franco-Provençal;
• Rhaeto-Romance: Romansh, Ladin, Friulian;
• Gallo-Italic: Piedmontese, Ligurian, Lombard, Emilian-Romagnol, Venetian;
• Italo-Dalmatian (including Italian): Corsican, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Istriot, Dalmatian (extinct);
• Eastern Romance: Daco-Romanian, Istro-Romanian, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian.

South Slavic

Main article: South Slavic languages

Some dialects of Serbo-Croatian, like Kajkavian, Chakavian, and Torlakian, are very different from the main versions of the language. These dialects can understand each other and other languages differently. For example, Torlakian, a type of Serbian dialect, can understand Macedonian and Bulgarian quite well.

List of mutually intelligible languages

Afroasiatic

Main article: Afroasiatic languages

• Tunisian Arabic and Libyan Arabic
• Tunisian Arabic and Maltese

Atlantic–Congo

Main article: Atlantic–Congo languages

• Kinyarwanda and Kirundi
• Luganda and Lusoga
• Nkore and Kiga
• Zulu, Northern Ndebele, Xhosa, Swazi, Southern Ndebele

Austronesian

Main article: Austronesian languages

• Banjarese, Berau Malay, and Brunei Malay
• Iban and Malay, especially with Sarawakian Malay
• Tokelauan, Samoan, and Tuvaluan
• Tagalog and Kasiguranin
• Maranao and Iranun

Indo-European

Main article: Indo-European languages

Germanic

Main article: Germanic languages

• Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish
• Dutch and Afrikaans
• Dutch and Frisian
• Dutch and German
• German and Hutterite German
• German and Frisian
• German and Luxembourgish
• German and Yiddish
• German and Plautdietsch
• German and Low German
• German and Pennsylvania Dutch
• English and Scots
• English, Manglish, and Singlish

Romance

Main article: Romance languages

Speakers of Romance languages may be able to understand each other, even if their languages are from different branches. However, how well they can understand each other can vary a lot. For example, speakers of Spanish and Romanian might only be able to share very simple ideas.

• Portuguese and Galician
• Occitan and Catalan
• Romanian, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Istro-Romanian
• Spanish and Italian
• Spanish and Judaeo-Spanish
• Spanish and Portuguese

Slavic Languages

Main article: Slavic languages

Because of common origins speakers of Slavic languages often can understand each other, even across different branches of Slavic languages. However, how well they understand each other can vary a lot and sometimes be very low. For example, a speaker of Ukrainian can easily talk with a speaker of Bulgarian and vice versa, and also have a conversation with a speaker of Polish and vice versa. But talking between Polish speakers and Bulgarian speakers is often very hard, if not almost impossible.

East Slavic

Main article: East Slavic languages

• Belarusian and Ukrainian
• Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian

South Slavic

Main article: South Slavic languages

• Macedonian and Bulgarian
• Macedonian, Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian
• Slovene and Serbo-Croatian

West Slavic

Main article: West Slavic languages

• Czech and Slovak
• Polish and Czech
• Polish and Slovak

Other subdivisions

• Irish and Scottish Gaelic
• Marathi and certain dialects of Konkani

Kra-Dai

Main article: Kra-Dai languages

• Central Thai, Lao/Isan, Northern Thai, Shan and Tai Lue

Sino-Tibetan

Main article: Sino-Tibetan languages

• Akha, Honi and Hani
• Dungan and Mandarin, especially with Central Plains Mandarin

Turkic

Main article: Turkic languages

• Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Turkish and Urum
• Uzbek and Uyghur

Uralic

Main article: Uralic languages

• Finnish and Estonian
• Finnish and Karelian

Tungusic

Main article: Tungusic languages

• Manchu and Xibe

List of dialects or varieties sometimes considered separate languages

See also: Language secessionism and Pluricentric language

Some languages have different forms that people often think are separate languages, but speakers can usually understand each other easily. For example:

• Catalan: Valencian – These two forms are very similar and people who speak them can understand each other well. Both names are officially recognized.
• Hindustani: Hindi and Urdu. Hindi uses the Devanagari writing system, while Urdu uses the Perso-Arabic script.
• Malay: Indonesian, Brunei, and Malaysian – These forms are mostly easy to understand each other, even though there are some differences in words. However, everyday speech between these countries can be harder to understand.
• Northeastern Neo-Aramaic: Some forms can understand each other, but others, especially in the same town, can be harder to follow.
• Persian: Iranian Persian, Dari, and Tajik – Persian and Dari use the Perso-Arabic script, while Tajik uses the Cyrillic script.
• Serbo-Croatian: Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian – These forms are very similar and people can usually understand each other, even though some people think of them as different languages.
• Sukhothai: Central Thai and Southern Thai – These forms share many words, but differences in sounds can make understanding each other a bit harder.
• Chittagonian: Rohingya – These two forms have similar structures but use different words because of their unique histories and cultures.