15 messages over 2 pages: 1 2 Next >>
robarb Nonaglot Senior Member United States languagenpluson Joined 4975 days ago 361 posts - 921 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: Portuguese, English*, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, French Studies: Mandarin, Danish, Russian, Norwegian, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Greek, Latin, Nepali, Modern Hebrew
| Message 1 of 15 09 May 2015 at 7:11pm | IP Logged |
I've noticed there's a recurring discussion about the extreme claims of great (or, supposedly great) polyglots.
However, there's often a lack of real information about who has done what, and how sure we can be. For the
people who are known for learning 30 or more languages, could we build up a list of who they are and a
summary of the status of their claims? Wikipedia has poor coverage of this, and I don't know where else to look.
Example:
Alexander Arguelles
Languages: 38 (source: his personal website. Counting archaic forms of modern languages).
Families: Mostly Germanic and Romance; 2 non-Indo-European languages.
Emphasis: Reading
Documentation: Well attested (source?)
Giuseppe Mezzofanti
Languages: 29 (Russell) -72 (HTLAL). Low estimate is "Languages frequently tested, and spoken with rare
excellence." High estimate includes languages studied but not mastered, and several languages that are difficult
to match with specific modern languages.
Families: Diverse
Emphasis: Balanced, although some languages were written-only
Documentation: 19th century records confirm he was definitely a great polyglot, but details are uncertain.
Can we correct and expand this, or direct me to a place where this information is already compiled? Thanks!
Edited by robarb on 09 May 2015 at 10:54pm
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jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6825 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map
| Message 2 of 15 11 May 2015 at 12:05am | IP Logged |
Somewhere on one of the Polyglot Berlin pages (Twitter?) Facebook?), Sprachprofi mentioned that she had met two participiants who had twenty (!) languages in common, plus a handful of other languages the other one didn't speak. I don't know who they were but wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them is an HTLAL member.
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| robarb Nonaglot Senior Member United States languagenpluson Joined 4975 days ago 361 posts - 921 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: Portuguese, English*, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, French Studies: Mandarin, Danish, Russian, Norwegian, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Greek, Latin, Nepali, Modern Hebrew
| Message 3 of 15 11 May 2015 at 12:28am | IP Logged |
Here's the spotty information I was able to glean off Wikipedia. Presumably, more is known about many of these
people, and I doubt this handful of people constitutes everyone who's claimed or been cited as knowing 30+
languages. There may be some non-famous individuals out there, or in our community, as well.
Perhaps I need to get in contact with Michael Erard?
Johan Vandewalle
Languages: 31
Documentation: Polyglot of Flanders/Babel Prize judged him as able to speak 31 languages.
Ziad Fazah
Languages: 59
Families: Diverse
Documentation: Controversial. Notorious appearance on Chilean television program Viva el lunes in which
he appeared to be unable to understand some of his languages.
al-Farabi
Languages: 70
Documentation: He lived in the 10th century, so claims may be difficult to establish.
Harold Williams
Languages: 58
Families: Diverse
Rahul Sankrityayan
Languages: 36
Families: Primarily South Asian languages
Documentation: He published writings in at least five of his languages.
Uku Masing
Languages: 65 ("Could translate" from 20)
George Campbell
Languages: 44-64
Ahmad Hasan Dani
Languages: 35
Families: Mostly South Asian
Kenneth Hale
Languages: 50+
Families: Several Native American and Australian Aboriginal, in addition to the popular languages
Emil Krebs
Languages: 68 (speak) - 100+ (understand), according to his wife
Edited by robarb on 11 May 2015 at 12:33am
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| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4623 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish
| Message 4 of 15 11 May 2015 at 9:23am | IP Logged |
jeff_lindqvist wrote:
Somewhere on one of the Polyglot Berlin pages (Twitter?)
Facebook?), Sprachprofi mentioned that she had met two participiants who had twenty (!)
languages in common, plus a handful of other languages the other one didn't speak.
I don't know who they were but wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them is an HTLAL
member. |
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You are sure that's not just Richard Simcott and Emanuele Marini? :D
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| basica Senior Member Australia Joined 3452 days ago 157 posts - 269 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Studies: Serbian
| Message 5 of 15 11 May 2015 at 9:28am | IP Logged |
Relevant to tarvos' post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deu-ayVcT-k
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| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4623 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish
| Message 6 of 15 11 May 2015 at 9:44am | IP Logged |
Marini speaks more languages than that. They're just not shown in that video.
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jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6825 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map
| Message 7 of 15 11 May 2015 at 8:28pm | IP Logged |
tarvos wrote:
You are sure that's not just Richard Simcott and Emanuele Marini? :D |
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Actually, I'm quite positive they were the ones...
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Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6619 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map
| Message 8 of 15 11 May 2015 at 11:49pm | IP Logged |
robarb wrote:
Uku Masing
Languages: 65 ("Could translate" from 20)
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How can you be able to speak 65 languages and 'only' be able to translate from 20 of them?
Somebody must have used a harsher yardstick for the translations than for his speaking skills.
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