Playing By the Rules 4 of the Most Logical Natural Languages

Playing By the Rules 4 of the Most Logical Natural Languages 4 of the Most Logical Natural Languages This language doesnt make any sense!Im pretty sure weve all said that at some point when trying to learn a new language.Most of the time its just out of the frustration of not being able to understand something.However, sometimes its true: Languages can be downright illogical.Sometimes spelling is convoluted, rules have more exceptions than followers and everything you learn gets thrown out the window.There has to be some language that makes sense right?Right! Believe it or not, some languages actually follow their own rules. Lets explore some of the  most logical languages you can learn today.What Do We Mean by Logical?Were looking for languages that, regardless of your mother tongue, make the most sense. What might that mean? Logical languages have:Regular grammar. Theres little more frustrating in a language than studying hard to remember verb conjugations or preposition patterns only to find that theres a list of exceptions as long as your arm. Many natural languages have develop ed irregularities from what might once have been sensible and consistent rules but were lost along the way; a logical language should be much more predictable than this.Consistent syntax (word order). Some languages structure their sentences in a very clear and regimented order, while others allow for a more flexible and inconsistent approach to building phrasesâ€"meaning it can take longer to work out what a native speaker would use.Easy-to-grasp phonology. English is one of the worst (or most interesting) offenders when it comes to pronouncing words as theyre written. A logical language should be straightforward to pronounce once you know the rules dictating it.Its worth noting at this point that logical does not mean the same as easy to learn. This is a much more subjective term, and also depends a lot on what languages you already speak. For instance, Spanish would seem comparatively easy to an Italian but completely alien to a speaker of an Asian language.Some of the languages were looking at are listed among the most difficult to understand, but once you know the rules and the vocab your journey to fluency will be smoother than something less logical.Make any languageâ€"whether its logical or notâ€"easier to learn with  FluentU.  FluentU takes real-world videosâ€"like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.  Use the interactive subtitles, flashcards and vocabulary lists to learn languages better than ever!What About Constructed Languages?Before we move on to the natural languages most of us are used to, its worth mentioning artificial or constructed languages, also known as conlangs. Believe it or not, there are dozens of these, created for all sorts of different reasons.Some of them, like  Klingon  from Star Trek or Elvish from Lord of the Rings, are designed for fictional purposes and intended to imitate natural languages. These are less likely to be what we might call logical .However, other conlangs are created with logic in mind. Here are some examples:EsperantoProbably the best known conlang, Esperanto was designed with the intention of being a universal, international language. Created in the late 1800s, it now has around two million speakers and you can even learn it on Duolingo.With ease of learning being a top priority for its creator, Esperanto has an extremely regular grammar and a vocabulary that draws from existing languages (albeit from a Eurocentric perspective.)SlovioWith some links to Esperanto, this is considered a zonal conlang. That means its created by fusing elements of existing languages from a certain region in a logical way. There are no special endings or declensions in Slovio, so clarity is communicated with as much efficiency as possible.Slovio has an official website if you want to find out more.LojbanLojbans name is formed from the roots of its own words for logical languageâ€"so you can see why it might get a place on this li st! Its an obvious contender for the most logical language.Primarily built for the purpose of linguistic research, Lojbans unambiguous grammar is based on the principles of formal logic. There are no exceptions to any of its rules, and its culturally neutral, meaning there should be no difference in difficulty of learning and speaking regardless of where you come from (although it does use the Latin alphabet.)You can find resources to learn Lojban on its website.4 of the Most Logical Natural LanguagesConlangs are fascinating and definitely an adventure for an experienced polyglot. However, other speakers can be hard to find so their utility is limited. In terms of natural languages, then, what are the most logical ones?Basque: Complex but StraightforwardRemember we said earlier that  logical  and  easy are not the same thing?Basque, the language of the Basque Country which straddles northern Spain and southern France, is regularly listed as one of the most difficult languages to lea rn. It has complex grammar and, although it has some loanwords from Spanish, its considered a language isolateâ€"meaning that its unrelated to any other known language.But despite its complexity and isolation, Basque speakers will still say that its a logical language. Once you get your head around its many rules, theres very little irregularity in verbs and syntax compared with other European languages. This means you can predict  much more consistently how sentences ought to be created as long as youve studied the basics.One word of caution: Despite the small size of the Basque Country, there are several different dialects. However logical the standard language might be, there are still a number of idiomatic tendencies that youll have to learn. Check out Euskal Kultura to get started.German: Efficient and LogicalCould you have guessed this one? The stereotype of the German people is that theyre efficient and logical, so its no surprise that the language spoken mainly hereâ€"as wel l as in Switzerland, Austria and parts of Namibia and the north of Italyâ€"lives up to the stereotype.Like other European languages, German does have some irregularities in verb and plural forms, so it might not get as many logic points as other languages. However, the syntax is fairly rigid, meaning German sentences are extremely consistently structured.Meanwhile, although some very long German compound words can appear intimidating, theyre constructed in a satisfyingly logical wayâ€"helping hugely with comprehension. Consider the daunting  Naturwissenschaftenlehrer. A 25-letter monster. But break it up:  Natur means nature;  Wissenschaften is knowledge;  Lehrer is teacher. The word means science teacher!German is widely taught and learned, and you could even start with FluentU to pick it up! Take a look at our German-learning blog for lots of tips, or visit the German-learning section of the FluentU videos to get started.Turkish: Phonetic and ConsistentLike with Basque, the Turkic languages might be a language family you havent come across before. Nevertheless, time and time again you will hear that Turkish is a very logical language.Despite its  diacritics, which can make it look alien to English speakersâ€"consider the consonants in a word like  açigiâ€"the language is phonetically written. Once you know how to read each character out loud, youll have  no problem reading words and sentences.There are also suffixes that change the meanings of words and can appear confusing, but theyre very consistent. With Turkey being an important country on the global scene as well as a great tourist destination, it would be a great language to pick up.The Fluent in 3 Months blog recommends  Colloquial as a great resource for beginners.Chinese: Daunting but StraightforwardScary, right? Another one of those languages which is notoriously hard to learn, at least for speakers of English and other European languages.Having said that, I cant help but get the feeling that a lo t of this is because people are put off by the script. Sure, the vocabulary is tough, but isnt that true in any language?Chinese has a lot going for it from a logical perspective. Words dont change their forms, and meaning is assigned simply by combining different words together. For example, a sign you see everywhere in China is  ??, meaning exit. This is created by combining the character  ? (out) with ? (opening or mouth). Its literally an opening you go out of. Straightforward, right?It does have a disadvantage compared to some of the others on this list since the characters bear no phonetic resemblance to the wordsâ€"exacerbated by the fact that many Chinese characters have multiple pronunciations, especially when dialectical variations are factored in. But once you start building sentences in Chinese, you see how logical this widely spoken language can be.BBC Languages is a great place to start learning Chinese if youre interested!Which of these is  the most logical? Well, tha ts hard to say: Ultimately theyre all natural languages and millennia of development have left them with illogical quirks. Try one out and see how you find it. And, if you cant master it, theres always Lojban!And One More ThingSince youve read this far, youre obviously serious about learning languages, so you may just love FluentU.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that real people speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos, like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse ScreenFluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover over or tap on the subtitles to instantly view definitions.FluentU Interactive TranscriptsYou can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs quiz mode. Swipe left or right t o see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.