I find it amazing that if a child is brought up in a community/country different from the origin of the child, the child is still able to pick up and speak their language fluently. Our ability, as humans, to imitate and communicate is incredibly complex regardless of where we are from.

So my question is, is there a language that cannot be spoken like this? One which only people with a certain genetic advantage can speak fluently during upbringing.

Of course anyone can learn a language by putting effort into it. My question is only for one learnt during upbringing (native language).

(Not sure why my responses are downvoted. I’m a non-native English speaker. Sorry if I didn’t communicate something properly. It’s just a scientific curiosity.)

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    8 months ago

    That’s just another sound. Each language only uses a subset of the full range of sounds the human mouth is capable of making. For example, Japanese doesn’t have an L sound, so people who learned Japanese as their mother tongue and then try to learn English as an adult will have trouble making the L sound. That’s not to say they are incapable of making it, but they are not used to making that sound with the speed and ease needed to use it as a normal part of speech. This can be learned with practice, but it takes time.

    • red_pigeon@lemm.eeOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      8 months ago

      Oh no I didn’t mean incapacity. I meant fluency. One could be mildly or extremely fluent. Was wondering if origin makes a difference.

      • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        8 months ago

        No. If there is any truth in your “a child with X ancestry raised in Y land, can learn X easily” it’s only because their parents probably still use their native language.

        Exposure teaches language, not genetics.