What's the best language?

«The relativity of languages», episode 1/2

Le Regard Libre N° 45 - Giovanni F. Rezzonico

Is English the richest language? Is Italian the best language for singing? And German, the most precise? When it comes to foreign languages, opinions abound and stereotypes are long-lived. By way of suggestion, here are a few thoughts to help us gain a new point of view on languages, one that is less «partisan» but, we hope, more faithful and rigorous.

It's easy to think of languages in terms of two images: the large reservoir of words we call «vocabulary», and the toolbox we call "grammar". Languages are no more and no less than tools. We use them, with varying degrees of success, to communicate information. That's all well and good, but it's not true. It's a convenient way of thinking about languages.