Linguistic distance measures the difference between languages, important for global trade and immigrants learning new languages. It can be measured by mutual intelligibility, with some languages having minor differences while others are more challenging. Children under seven can learn a new language more easily than adults.
Linguistic distance is a concept that seeks to measure the degree of difference between two languages. Since the linguistic distances between languages are as diverse and variable as the languages themselves, such a concept cannot be applied precisely in a scientifically precise way. This concept is important due to the rise of globalization, which has led to international trade between businesses from different countries with different languages and dialects. It is also relevant as a tool for measuring the ability of immigrants to learn a new language other than their mother tongue. This is because the further a language is from another, the more difficult it will be for the immigrant to adapt to the new language.
Linguistic distance can be measured by measuring the mutual intelligibility of the language to speakers. Mutual intelligibility determines how easy or difficult it will be for speakers to understand the fundamentals of the new language. This can be facilitated by the sharing of some common words or similarity in the arrangement of grammatical and lexical forms. For example, different territories or countries may speak the same basic language with only some minor or major differences in intonation, word meaning, and application of the language in general.
American and British English, for example, are mostly related with a few easily surmountable variants. The linguistic distance between ways of speaking the language is very small. On the other hand, the Irish accent and the cockney accent might prove to be more of a challenge for an American listener even though they are still variations of the same language. For these the linguistic distance is greater than that of British English. Again, learning to understand and speak these versions of the English language would not be as challenging as learning to speak Russian, as both versions are more closely related to American English and have a higher measure of mutual intelligibility.
The ability to easily overcome the linguistic distance between two languages \u200b\u200bis easier for children under the age of seven than for adults. This is because there is a threshold where children are still open to absorbing the fundamentals of language patterns without the encumbrance of other learned languages. Children under seven are still able to assimilate the fundamentals of a new language, master it and speak the language without an accent better than adults. This effect can be observed in new immigrants to a country with a different language. Adults can possibly learn the new language, but the possibility of retaining the accents carried over from the mother tongue is very high, especially if the linguistic distance is high.
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