How did we learn new languages from scratch?

[GrinningManiac]

It has always baffled me since young age and it only occurs to me now to ask this community:

How in the world did people (travellers, missionaries etc.) learn compeltely new, completely unrelated langauges with which they had no prior contact and no-one who understands the foreigners' language?

With things like the Maya I'm told there was a man who was shipwrecked years before who knew Spanish and Maya as a result of his being stranded among the Maya for years but I cannot imagine how people move from pointing at random things, saying "rock" and assuming the response is the native word for rock...how we move from that to understanding the grammar.

[Aurora Rossa]

Thank you so much for asking this. I have been wondering this exact question for years and eagerly anticipate the answer.

[Pole, the]

Just by immersion?

[Yng]

I think it's easy to underestimate people's ability to adapt to rules. There are plenty of people who learn English with very little formal tuition, for example. Of course, they don't get everything right - especially with languages far away from their own native language. But they can still pick things up, and once you reach critical mass it becomes a lot easier to understand corrections/distinctions. Also, if you have a solid basis in linguistics, which a lot of missionaries did (at least in the 19th century), it's a lot easier to learn new things, I'd imagine.

[Vuvuzela]

relevant.
We can point at a rock and then find the native word for "rock", point at a pair of rocks and figure out how they say "two rocks", "three rocks", "rocks", etc. Once you know that someone's name is "John", and "bit" is a form of the verb "bite", and those small furry things are called "dogs" then when you see that john has a bite in his hand, and one of the natives says "The dog bit John", you understand that SVO word order is valid in the language. If you can figure out the meaning of a sentence from the individual lexemes and context, then you know roughly what patterns to put the lexemes in to get a meaning. As you come to understand the language better, you refine your understanding of the patterns and how they relate to meaning. Of course your average shipwrecked sailor will probably be a bit slower than your average field linguist, but the principle is the same.

[Karinta]

I've been wondering this same thing too...

[Miekko]

Has it occurred to you that an even more difficult instance of language learning happens for every human ever, including fully monoglot ones?

How can we acquire a language in the first place? If we can do that, learning a second without formal instruction shouldn't be particularly much worse. Our brains are pattern-matching machines, and languages are patterns for communication.

[clawgrip]

In my experience raising a child, it seems that the main way we learn our first language is simply by repeating things we hear over and over and over, and we slowly begin to discern both the reactions that the sounds we make cause in others, and the various things that tend to accompany sounds other people make. One of the reasons that adults can't learn languages like children (though obviously not the only reason) is because we are not ready to make fools of ourselves by just randomly saying words and sounds and phrases, and gauging and comparing the sorts of reactions we get, and continue this throughout our waking hours with everyone we meet for at least three or four years.

[marconatrix]

I've been close to asking this question too. For instance, the first settlers in New England met natives who spoke Algonquian languages with a grammar, especially the verb, unlike anything they would have experienced before. Animate/inimate, pronoun hierarchies, obviate nouns ... Yet within a few years they'd translated the entire Bible.

Related to this is how field linguists work with unknown languages. At times I've look around the net for the likes of training manuals but never found anything, yet there must surely be some standard methods by now. Are they some kind of masonic secret?

[Xephyr]

With things like the Maya I'm told there was a man who was shipwrecked years before who knew Spanish and Maya as a result of his being stranded among the Maya for years.

That'd be this guy.

I would recommend looking at some guides for field linguists if you want to learn more. It's not something I've looked into before, but I know that going in without a medium language of communication like Portuguese or Lingala is something that field linguists are trained to prepare for, so surely there must be something?

[Gulliver]

It has always baffled me since young age and it only occurs to me now to ask this community:

How in the world did people (travellers, missionaries etc.) learn compeltely new, completely unrelated langauges with which they had no prior contact and no-one who understands the foreigners' language?

With things like the Maya I'm told there was a man who was shipwrecked years before who knew Spanish and Maya as a result of his being stranded among the Maya for years but I cannot imagine how people move from pointing at random things, saying "rock" and assuming the response is the native word for rock...how we move from that to understanding the grammar.

Historically, varying methods include kidnapping children and bringing them up as translator-slaves, charging and hoping for the best and immersion-based L2 acquisition. I guess that after a few semi-lingual speakers started inter-breeding, children were born and became bilingual. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Having someone who speaks a similar language around helps the "best guess" process. If, for example, the world had only just discovered that Germany existed, having some Dutch speakers on hand to say "I think she's talking about beer and rhubarb marmelade" would be an enormous boon. Language isolates are less uncommon than one would think, though.

[ol bofosh]

I sort of understand how kit could happen, since I have learnt a lot of Spanish "on the fly". I'd listen in on some conversations and, with a knowledge of a few words and observation of the context, I could fill in the gaps of some things I didn't understand (it didn't and still doesn't always work). Over time my understanding has, more or less, grown exponentially. It's been easier to make educated guesses.

[Whimemsz]

I've been close to asking this question too. For instance, the first settlers in New England met natives who spoke Algonquian languages with a grammar, especially the verb, unlike anything they would have experienced before. Animate/inimate, pronoun hierarchies, obviate nouns ... Yet within a few years they'd translated the entire Bible.

Well, the first translation was in the 1650s-60s, so about three decades after the first permanent settlement. That's actually a long time. It presumably helped that some of the natives spoke English, and could then teach interested missionaries their language in a more structured and efficient way.

For emergency communication, incidentally, full command of animacy, verb inflection, etc. is not necessary. Fur traders often spoke to Crees and Ojibwes in horribly bastardized Algonquian, lacking proper verb inflection, misusing plurals, etc. etc. etc., and were apparently understood well enough.

[Drydic]

I've been close to asking this question too. For instance, the first settlers in New England met natives who spoke Algonquian languages with a grammar, especially the verb, unlike anything they would have experienced before. Animate/inimate, pronoun hierarchies, obviate nouns ... Yet within a few years they'd translated the entire Bible.

Well, the first translation was in the 1650s-60s, so about three decades after the first permanent settlement. That's actually a long time. It presumably helped that some of the natives spoke English, and could then teach interested missionaries their language in a more structured and efficient way.

For emergency communication, incidentally, full command of animacy, verb inflection, etc. is not necessary. Fur traders often spoke to Crees and Ojibwes in horribly bastardized Algonquian, lacking proper verb inflection, misusing plurals, etc. etc. etc., and were apparently understood well enough.

I BRING HEAPUM PELTS

[Qwynegold]

Thank you so much for asking this. I have been wondering this exact question for years and eagerly anticipate the answer.

+1

[dhok]

In the case of the New England Pilgrims, at least, remember that Squanto spoke English; presumably he acted as translator long enough for a few of the Europeans to learn the local Algonquian language, or vice versa.

[Viktor77]

In the case of the New England Pilgrims, at least, remember that Squanto spoke English; presumably he acted as translator long enough for a few of the Europeans to learn the local Algonquian language, or vice versa.

But how did Squanto and other natives learn English? For them English is just as foreign as Algonquian is for the English.

[Hallow XIII]

Tisquantum happened to have been to England following his being kidnapped and an unsuccessful attempt to sell him into slavery, and he learnt English while living in London.

Seriously, what do they teach kids in schools nowadays?

[Viktor77]

Tisquantum happened to have been to England following his being kidnapped and an unsuccessful attempt to sell him into slavery, and he learnt English while living in London.

Seriously, what do they teach kids in schools nowadays?

Ok, but how? Through complete immersion? Did someone else speak Algonquian in London? It's just the reverse of the settlers in America and the same question is raised.

[Xephyr]

Massachusett, Viktor. The language Squanto spoke is called Massachusett.

[ol bofosh]

Word-context correlation, very important.

I've been to Aikido classes and the instructor used the word "yame" when we were doing exercises. At that moment everyone in the class stopped what they were doing and got into line, and I followed their example. This happened every time, and it was predictable. I take it to mean "Everyone stop what you're doing, get in line and listen to me," which, in relation to the context, is very reliable (in general I think it may mean "stop" or "enough").

This is just one word, not a whole language, but if there's a reliable correlation between vocabulary and context, then it's not inconceivable that a whole language can be learnt the same way. It's how I learnt English, though I don't remember. As more vocab is learnt you can start asking for more detailed explanations: mean what "funny"?, even if you get the grammar wrong, you can make yourself understood.

Okay, so every time someone says "piwi" when they see a rabbit doesn't mean that that word means rabbit (could be a curse, blessing, nervous tick, etc.), but if you experiment with that word and any "rabbit" contexts you can start getting a good idea of what word is best used in what context. I'm sure there are many grave, even mortal mistakes to make if you get one word wrong, but in general you can get a good working idea.

[Miekko]

Tisquantum happened to have been to England following his being kidnapped and an unsuccessful attempt to sell him into slavery, and he learnt English while living in London.

Seriously, what do they teach kids in schools nowadays?

Ok, but how? Through complete immersion? Did someone else speak Algonquian in London? It's just the reverse of the settlers in America and the same question is raised.

No, of course they had professors and professional language teachers who knew Algonquian and English and knew how to teach English to Algonquian-speakers handy already. Sheesh, what do you think about London, that it's uncivilized?

[Whimemsz]

Tisquantum happened to have been to England following his being kidnapped and an unsuccessful attempt to sell him into slavery, and he learnt English while living in London.

Seriously, what do they teach kids in schools nowadays?

Ok, but how? Through complete immersion? Did someone else speak Algonquian in London? It's just the reverse of the settlers in America and the same question is raised.

Of course through immersion.

Jesus.

People learn languages through immersion. It shouldn't surprise you that that happens (though asking "why" this is possible is a valid question. But that doesn't seem to be what you're doing)

[linguoboy]

But how did Squanto and other natives learn English?

Through the medium of Basque.

I'm honestly a bit surprised that more of the respondents here haven't had the experience of communicating with someone with whom they lacked a common language--or witnessing the communication of others in this situation.

[clawgrip]

Tisquantum happened to have been to England following his being kidnapped and an unsuccessful attempt to sell him into slavery, and he learnt English while living in London.

Seriously, what do they teach kids in schools nowadays?

Ok, but how? Through complete immersion? Did someone else speak Algonquian in London? It's just the reverse of the settlers in America and the same question is raised.

Of course through immersion.

Jesus.

People learn languages through immersion. It shouldn't surprise you that that happens (though asking "why" this is possible is a valid question. But that doesn't seem to be what you're doing)

It was probably easier for someone like that to learn English than it would be now, because he had true immersion, in the sense that he had absolutely no one to speak his own language with, in any context, at any time, and so he was forced to learn English. These days, especially if you speak English, it's easy to avoid immersion even if you live in another country, because you can get a job with people who speak the same language as you, find friends who speak the same language as you, and talk to people on the Internet and on the phone and so forth. In my experience, a lot of people tend to do this, learning as little of the language as is necessary, even if they supposedly "want" to learn the language, because it's just easier that way, especially if the languages are particularly different. So people these days perhaps have a misunderstanding of the motivation that kind of immersion could create.