I have a doubt.
Can I tell by just listening to 2 different languages, which I do not know anything about, if they are different. I did some experiments and it turns out that differentiating among Europian languages is difficult. Differentiating among different Indian languages is also very difficult. But differentiating between a European language and an Indian Language is relatively easier. Why?
Different languages are evolved in different regions around the world. Imagine a pre-language era of human apes:
There is a closely knit society, which interacts (if at all) just within themselves. Languages are not yet developed as interaction is still limited to basic phonetic signalling. Now, slowly, with evolution, they feel the need of advancement in communication and slowly they start creating rules for communication, i.e. they start laying the foundations of language. It is very obvious that the noises they used for signalling will get deeply embedded into the language they will evolve.
Humans at different geographical locations evolved against the challenges imposed to them at those particular geographical localities. These evolution characteristic affect how your vocal instruments (like, lungs, tongue, mouth) coordinate within themselves to generate voice.
Therefore, the farther these ape-humans were in terms of geographical effects, larger is the difference between their phonetic voices, and hence larger is the difference between the language they eventually created.
Can I tell by just listening to 2 different languages, which I do not know anything about, if they are different. I did some experiments and it turns out that differentiating among Europian languages is difficult. Differentiating among different Indian languages is also very difficult. But differentiating between a European language and an Indian Language is relatively easier. Why?
Different languages are evolved in different regions around the world. Imagine a pre-language era of human apes:
There is a closely knit society, which interacts (if at all) just within themselves. Languages are not yet developed as interaction is still limited to basic phonetic signalling. Now, slowly, with evolution, they feel the need of advancement in communication and slowly they start creating rules for communication, i.e. they start laying the foundations of language. It is very obvious that the noises they used for signalling will get deeply embedded into the language they will evolve.
Humans at different geographical locations evolved against the challenges imposed to them at those particular geographical localities. These evolution characteristic affect how your vocal instruments (like, lungs, tongue, mouth) coordinate within themselves to generate voice.
Therefore, the farther these ape-humans were in terms of geographical effects, larger is the difference between their phonetic voices, and hence larger is the difference between the language they eventually created.
