Linguistic efficiency.

[EssentiallyIT]

I'm a big advocate for clear communication. It's one of my drives as an INTP, to be able to communicate with anyone about a subject with as much accuracy and precision as possible. I don't get mad at people for being "wrong" with grammar. It's just in the nature of being able to communicate the most amount of ideas, it is helpful if we all can understand each other smoothly without as many needed breaks for clarification.

So this got me thinking... I am a native english speaker, so I am most proficient at fluid communication with that language, but of course that makes me biased towards that language. In the sense of grammatical coherence, consistent structure, variety of word choice, and efficiency of the communication of ideas, what language would be best?

Also, as most languages are subject to human error, could there be a language developed for the purpose of higher communication? What would be optimum communication?

TL;DR What language communicates ideas the best?

Let me know your inputs..

 

[MasterProcrastinator]

If we're speaking about which language can efficiently communicate information the best, then there may not be a single definitive answer. The most prominent languages (English, Spanish, Mandarin, Italian, French, Japanese and German) are all fairly equal when it comes to conveying information efficiently.

http://www.worldcrunch.com/tech-science/say-what-study-reveals-best-language-at-getting-straight-to-the-point/c4s3979/

The link above will take you to a site that references a study that goes a bit more in-depth. Certain languages are spoken quicker than others, such as Japanese, and others slower, such as German. Despite this, these two languages supposedly differ only slightly in efficiency. English actually ranked first in that study.

As for a possible "optimum language," I'm not sure. And what would constitute higher communication?

 

[MentalBrain]

I'd suggest lojban as a hypothetical "ideal language". Too few people actually speak it for you to use it to communicate directly, but learning it might help you economize your communication in English.

 

[Beowulf]

I think in overall efficiency their are a brunch of languages that present ideas well. Theoretically any language used in the modern world. But i think lingual efficiency comes into play more when you look into what you are saying, the expected outcome you want from your audience and the emotion behind what you are saying. For example if you wanted to seduce someone you would use French over German. But if you wanted to create and uproar in a crowd you would use German. If you wanted to do spoken poetry or verbal story telling then Arabic would be a great option. And if you just wanted to communicate the most information in the least amount of time then Japanese would be your choice.

 

[TBerg]

I wish I really knew another language well.

 

[paradoxparadigm7]

You posed an interesting question. I would venture to say the languages within a society of high creativity, innovation and technology is one factor. This is related to the need for new or hybrid words that more succinctly express concepts. Another is how open that society is to other cultures where adoption of language is welcomed (i.e. the word 'zeitgeist' to English). Those are the two factors that I can think of although there are probably many more.

A universal language hasn't been successful. Just google it and read.

 

[Cherry Cola]

I wish I really knew another language well.

Yeah me to, it would be really cool to know a language that's totally different.. like Japanese or Chinese. Unfortunately learning either without living in said country for at least half a year seems kinda out of reach.

 

[Beowulf]

Yeah me to, it would be really cool to know a language that's totally different.. like Japanese or Chinese. Unfortunately learning either without living in said country for at least half a year seems kinda out of reach.

Sadly that is true. When you are not exposed to multiple languages at a young age learning a second language doesn't come easy unless you change your environment to said language. But something i have noticed is once you learn a second language it gets a bit easier in learning a third. Especially if both languages you already know have different grammatical structures. Have you guys ever tried learning a second language?