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Editor for this issue: Sarah Murray <sarahlinguistlist.org>
Gratz.edu>I do not know, if there is a "gene" for Hyper-Polyglottism. I myself speak many languages, but it is not connected to any "gene". I just studied languages from the age of seven and right now I am unable to say how many languages I know. I also met a person who was able to say a greeting of the same contents in 120 languages, but he did it with a cheat sheet. My own experience is a witness that I read and translate much easier than speak. Moreover I have a kind of memory that fixates on grammatical categories much easier than on lexemes or syntactic structure. My native language is Russian, and of course I read all Slavic language. I received a classical education, so I am at home in Greek and Latin. My profession is Semitic philology, so naturally I read all Semitic languages. I also read all Germanic and Romance languages. I lived in Russia, so naturally I acquired some knowledge of the various languages of Russian Federation and some former Soviet republics. I met many people who lived in particular places where many ethnic groups lived together, and most of them were multilingual (e.g. Carpathian mountains region, where most of people are fluent in Hungarian, Slovak, Ukrainian + (for some) Yiddish). In Balkan peninsula many people are fluent in Romanian, Turkish, Bulgarian, Macedonian or Serbian. Many people in Central Asia speak Turkic, Iranian and Arabic. In Azerbaidgan many speak Azeri, Turkish, Armenian and Georgian, beside some languages of Daghestan. However all this multilingualism depends on direct contacts of these ethnic groups. So my experience and experience of the people I met speaks against a linguistic "gene". A language is acquired feature in all its complexity and in all its models. Dr. Hayim Y. Sheynin Adjunct Professor of Jewish Literature Head of Reference Services Gratz College 7605 Old York Rd. Melrose Park, PA 19444 USAMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue