Is there a term for a lover of linguistics or a lover of language?

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(Last Updated On: July 13, 2023)

Lover of language – Any topic involving language is inherently complex because language is as complex as its speakers. Since “language lover” has become an unofficial term, what do people usually call it? I will answer all these questions below.

lover of language

What is a lover of language called?

To better understand what it means to be a language lover, we must first clarify our definition. For starters, what’s the best way to describe language lovers? What is the term for someone who likes a certain language?

People who love languages ​​are usually called linguaphiles. A linguaphile is someone who learns a language because they like it, and a language lover is someone who likes a certain language. They are not always interchangeable, but can be used to mean the same thing.

Others describe language lovers as language enthusiasts or sometimes polyglots.

Many of these terms, like linguaphile, are vague and refer to many different definitions. That is why it is always important to set our terms.

When you use terms like “Linguaphile” or simply “language lover”, the context is usually referring to a specific language. It can have more than one suffix so it can be used in “linguistics” or lingual plural.
If we understand more about how to group people with a particular language affinity, then we need to learn why others have that affinity. Will someone be a language lover or linguaphile?

Why would someone be a linguaphile, or a lover of language?

Leaving aside what they are called, we can now focus on what it means to be a language lover. We have to ask ourselves: why would anyone learn a language, or rather love a language?

The reason why people love a language is because they have a sincere love for the culture of a language. Not only do you need to find an affinity for a specific language, i.e. aspects such as grammar and vocabulary, but also the culture that loves the language.

This is because culture and language are inextricably linked, one cannot exist without the other.

  • Culture: beliefs, customs, arts, etc. from a certain society, group, place or time.
  • Language: a system of words or symbols used by people to express thoughts and feelings in that culture.

By nature, these two things go together. No belief can be expressed without the use of language, and nothing can be expressed in language without the beliefs and traditions inherent in culture.

This article argues that multilingual individuals (who speak more than two languages) will behave slightly differently according to their host language culture. Culture is spread through learning the spoken language, even if the natives don’t use it, it comes out.

The question of whether one will become a language lover and what it means to be one leads to the same conclusion. Both revolve around culture, but why does anyone find a certain culture attractive? Finding someone more attractive means that someone lacks something.

Why is the culture of one language more preferable to another language?

Why would culture encourage a love for languages?

One can enjoy a culture and love a language for different reasons. This generally includes three cultural factors:

Value: Belief, religion and cultural philosophy.
Tradition: Practices, customs and cultural way of life.
History: Rich and deep history around culture.

Some languages ​​are better in some aspects in terms of values ​​and traditions. Some cultures can be said to develop better beliefs and practices. This causes some languages ​​to be “spoken” more often than others.

One can theoretically love any culture (and at any time any language) if it is in a certain form of history and tradition.

Although it is somewhat subjective, there are cultures that stand out from others because they retain the best things about their values, traditions, and history. While some may want to answer about the relevant culture, it is beyond the scope of this article.

Now, no matter what your list is, we need to see how love for a language can grow out of love for its culture.

What do you call someone who likes to learn a language?

We have talked about people who “love” certain languages, often called linguaphiles, but there are people who like to learn languages ​​in general. Many wonder what name is right for them, and some will be interested in learning the language.

Let’s start with the question: what do people who like to learn languages ​​called?

Linguist is a term commonly used to refer to people who are interested in learning languages. A linguist is a person who studies languages, and this definition is quite suitable to describe people who are interested in learning languages. They are more for the learner than just learning.

As in Linguistics, terms such as linguist are used in various ways. In our context, we only refer to people who learn a language, then we learn for the language itself.

If so, why is anyone a “linguist”? And how is this different from being considered a language lover?

Why would someone like to learn a language?

In order to discuss why someone will become a language lover, we now have to talk about why some people want to learn the language. So, we have to consider: why does anyone want to learn a language?

A person can enjoy learning a language for two reasons:

  • The language itself: This means enjoying a certain part of the language, for example enjoying learning English because of its wide vocabulary or Japanese because of its unique writing system.
  • Language learning: For example, it is not the specific language that is important, but the general process of language use.

Where we see a significant difference is the interest in the language learning process. You need to learn the difference between liking to learn and loving a language.

The difference in liking to learn a language, and loving it:

How can people who love languages ​​and love learning languages ​​differ? What is the difference between liking learning a language and loving it?

The basic difference between liking to learn a language and loving others is that one is abstract and the other is concrete. To like learning a language means to like the idea of ​​learning a language. A language lover supports his own particular language.

Not everyone thinks so, but a significant proportion of people who say they enjoy learning a language really do. They fell in love with the idea of ​​learning a language, but not the language itself.

It’s not just about learning a language, it’s not uncommon to love ideas more than real things. The same goes for those who say they want to be doctors. Often they like to be called Doctors, but they are not really one.

Some may want to say they know x language, but they may not like it better than other languages.

Rather than being interested in the idea of ​​learning one, learning a language is more like the language itself.

What does a language enthusiast mean?

Now that we know more about what language enthusiasts are and how we can classify them as linguaphile, what do we mean by language enthusiasts?

Language lover, an informal term similar to language enthusiast, is a person who likes and studies languages. Usually more than one language is used for language enthusiasts. They like this language for several reasons, including its culture and basic characteristics.

Other terms are used to mean the same thing, and some examples are tongue gap and tongue buff. The most used is still the language recipe.

All these terms are more words than anything, but that doesn’t mean they don’t describe real people. For example, many popular language enthusiasts like J.R.R. Tolkien.

Tolkien actually loved the language so much that he called himself Elvish. He has studied and even taught languages ​​for a living, some of the languages ​​he speaks are Latin, Finnish, Italian, French, Spanish, German and more.

Like Tolkien, any language enthusiast should both love learning and love a language. What language is loved always involves two things:

  • Language culture
  • Language Features

Those who enjoy language means to be a language lover. Therefore, these two terms are often used interchangeably.

What do you call someone learning a language?

We asked language lovers and language learners to discuss what they are commonly called. Similar question: What do you call people who are learning a language?

The most common way to classify a language learner is as a language learner. Other terms that have a slightly more specific meaning are linguist, linguaphile, polyglot, bilingual, and multilingual. All of these terms are used to describe language learners.

For language learners, the answer to the so-called language student seems to be very simple. However, that is the most common and short way to describe them.

Other terms such as linguist or multilingual refer to a type of language learner. However, when describing the average language learner, calling them language learners works well.

Conclusion

A linguist is an affinity for a certain language due to its culture and characteristics. They are often called linguaphiles, or even language enthusiasts. Whatever you choose to call them, people love one or more languages ​​because there is something special about them.

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