What is the quickest language?: Philosophy Forums

What is the quickest language?

Harrison Connery
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Posted 05/08/08 - 11:11 PM: Subject: What is the quickest language?	#1
I always think that the thoughts in my head are moving much faster than how quickly I can talk. I then got to thinking about different languages. Spoken word is so far the quickest form of communicating thoughts and emotions onto another person. As monkeys evolved to wise humans, languages formed. All different kind of languages. I was curious if anyone knows which language is the quickest to communicate something? Say I wanted to describe the latest movie I saw. If my thoughts were the same and I was fluent in every language, which would be the quickest to portray what was in my mind?

The_Rational_Animal
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Posted 05/09/08 - 04:38 AM:	#2
The Khosian languages of south and eastern Africa rely on click consonants. Many prominent linguists today believe that original human language consisted of clicks, much like these languages rely upon today. I would imagine the click consonants are extremely quick; there is no differentiation between the consonants themselves, but the tone and shape of the mouth used to make the click mean the difference between two very different words. I don't know this for sure but I if these click languages were the first to evolve, then subsequent languages which rely upon the human vocal cords instead of simply the oral cavity, developed a larger range of sounds to enunciate more and more words. Thus, the Khosian languages must be able to say something the very quickest way possible, even if the vocabulary is inherently limited by the number of possible combinations of clicks and tonal shifts. But as a Western speaker, I would imagine such a language to be extremely difficult, formulating the right tone and shape to my mouth when I make the clicking sound.
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Posted 05/09/08 - 06:24 AM:	#3
There is "wenyan" -- a classical form of Chinese literature. It is makes heavy use of "macros". For example, "zi yue", means "Confuscious says, it is indeed a marvelous thing when a friend returns from a far-off place". The characters, "zi yue", literally means "Confuscious says", and the listener would know the rest. Its similar to when we say in English, "a bird in the hand" ... there is no need to finish a well known saying. Maybe even more so, the SMS/chat abbreviations which are gradually integrating into everyday speech. Someone might actually say the letters "BRB", rather than the full text. As for movies, you could take a tip from the movie "The Player", where every movie is described as "X meets Y". Cloverfield is "Blair Witch meets Godzilla". Culturally, most people know those movies, so you get a pretty good grasp of what the movie is about/like.
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Harrison Connery
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Posted 05/09/08 - 08:01 PM:	#4
Do you think there are any advantages for a culture to be able to communicate their thoughts more quickly? I suppose speed of communication would reach its first barrier on the receiving end. You could speak quickly, but understanding someone might be more tough. The reason I find communication so interesting is that humans are the only animal to convey actual information via communication, so it's got to be quite important. Do you think anything in the future will help us evolve the way we communicate (or receive communication) in a more efficient matter?

The_Rational_Animal
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Posted 05/09/08 - 10:27 PM:	#5
Harrison Connery wrote: Do you think anything in the future will help us evolve the way we communicate (or receive communication) in a more efficient matter? I think such an evolution has already begun. I see kids playing on their cellular phones, "texting" others in a stream-lined, fast-paced shorthand for the English language. The succinctness of this language is much faster and quicker than full-use English. Studies in the States show that this shorthand is having a permanent effect on children's performance in schools. Significant numbers of students use abbreviations commonly found in the shorthand language and even more are forgetting proper usages of punctuation, which is nonexistent in the shorthand. In a way then, much like with the Khosian language, versatility and scalability of the language itself is inherently limited by the ability for the language to be "quick" in communication.

essence
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Posted 05/13/08 - 07:02 AM:	#6
Direct mind to mind contact via telepathy would appear to be the most fast and efficient method. Perhaps a simple look from one you are intimately familiar with could be the next. Spouses who have been together for many years often develop an affinity with one another where they know exactly what the other is thinking, or can read volumes from a single glance. Growing up, I always knew when my mother was worried about me or had some problem or conern and wanted me to call her, and we didn't have cell phones. It became a joke between us. Sometimes I would call and she would say, "What took you so long?", other times I would say something like, "why are you bothering me!"

The Escapist
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Posted 05/15/08 - 04:04 AM:	#7
Harrison Connery wrote: If my thoughts were the same and I was fluent in every language, which would be the quickest to portray what was in my mind? Early Finnish.
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