Learn · TED

Talk5 min

What makes a language... a language?

Martin Hilpert · TED

Watch At TED

About

Outside of China, Mandarin and Cantonese are often referred to as Chinese dialects, despite being even more dissimilar than Spanish and Italian. On the other hand, speakers of Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, which are three distinct languages, can usually communicate with each other in their native tongues. So, when is speech considered a dialect versus a language? Martin Hilpert investigates. [Directed by Luísa M H Copetti, Hype CG, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Gabriel Maia].

The talk

  1. What makes a language... a language? 5 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED-Ed
Speaker
Martin Hilpert
Year
2021
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Society and politics, History, Languages and linguistics, Teaching and learning
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed