# What makes a language... a language?

- 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](https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_hilpert_what_makes_a_language_a_language)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

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. \[Directed by Luísa M H Copetti, Hype CG, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Gabriel Maia\].

## Lectures

1. [What makes a language... a language?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/martin_hilpert_what_makes_a_language_a_language/98d9571b5145), 5 min (TED's player)