4 ms·
My understanding is that there is no bright line in linguistics and that language definition is by default messy and political
by rat87 10y ago
My understanding is that there is no bright line in linguistics and that language definition is by default messy and political
- smallnamespace 10y agoMutual intelligibility is the standard criterion, and by that standard, there are different 7-8 language families in China.
- bjterry 10y agoIt's not really by default, more like by necessity. Almost all categorization schemes for human cultural artifacts are necessarily blurry at the edges, and just because someone has provided a definition that is useful for one purpose (the study of linguistic differences across cultures) does not mean that it is suited for another purpose (rhetorically implying solidarity or separation between two sets of people).