Editing Multilingualism (section)

==In individuals==
{{redirect|Polyglot}}
{{See also|List of polyglots}}
[[File:"Pvt. Lloyd A. Taylor, 21-year-old transportation dispatcher at Mitchel Field, New York City, who knows Latin, Greek, Sp - NARA - 535873.jpg|thumb|upright|"Pvt. Lloyd A. Taylor, 21-year-old transportation [[dispatcher]] at [[Mitchel Field]], New York City, who knows Latin, Greek, Spanish, French, German, and Japanese, studies a book on Chinese. A former medical student at [[Temple University]], he passes two hours a day studying languages as a hobby."<br/><small>This picture was taken during [[Military history of the United States during World War II|World War II]].</small>]]
A multilingual person is someone who can communicate in more than one language actively (through speaking, writing, or signing). Multilingual people can logically speak any language they write in (aside from [[Muteness|mute]] multilingual people<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wallesch|first=Claus W.|date=1990|title=An early detailed description of aphasia in a deaf-mute: Anton leischner's "die 'aphasie' der taubstummen" (1943)|journal=Aphasiology|volume=4|issue=5|pages=511–518|doi=10.1080/02687039008248790|quote=a congenitally deaf-mute trilingual (sign language, Czech and German) patient}}</ref>), but they cannot necessarily write in any language they speak.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/speaking-second-language-delays-dementias-even-illiterate-study-finds-8c11544770|title=Speaking a second language delays dementias, even in the illiterate, study finds|last=Aleccia|first=JoNel|date=November 6, 2013|website=NBCNews.com|publisher=NBCUniversal|access-date=September 26, 2023|quote=in a population where even illiterate people reaped the benefits of being bilingual}}</ref> More specifically, bilingual and trilingual people are those in comparable situations involving two or three languages, respectively. A multilingual person is generally referred to as a '''polyglot''', a term that may also refer to people who learn multiple languages as a hobby.<ref>{{cite web|last=Krzeminska|first=Marta|url=http://www.latg.org/2016/07/the-cult-polyglot.html/|title=The cult of the polyglot|date=19 July 2016|access-date=7 September 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160906123938/http://www.latg.org/2016/07/the-cult-polyglot.html/|archive-date=6 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="Erard">{{cite book|last=Erard|first=Michael|year=2012|title=Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-1-4516-2825-8}}</ref> 
Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called [[first language]] (L1). The first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous bilinguals. Even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals, one language usually dominates over the other.<ref name="Hult-2014">{{Cite journal |last=Hult |first=Francis M. |date=2014 |title=Covert bilingualism and symbolic competence: Analytical reflections on negotiating insider/outsider positionality in Swedish speech situations |journal=Applied Linguistics |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=63–81 |doi=10.1093/applin/amt003|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In linguistics, first language acquisition is closely related to the concept of a "native speaker". According to a view widely held by linguists, a native speaker of a given language has in some respects a level of skill that a second (or subsequent) language learner cannot easily accomplish. Consequently, descriptive empirical studies of languages are usually carried out using only native speakers. This view is, however, slightly problematic, particularly as many non-native speakers demonstrably not only successfully engage with and in their non-native language societies, but in fact may become culturally and even linguistically important contributors (as, for example, writers, politicians, media personalities and performing artists) in their non-native language. In recent years, linguistic research has focused attention on the use of widely known world languages, such as English, as a [[lingua franca]] or a shared common language of professional and commercial communities. In lingua franca situations, most speakers of the common language are functionally multilingual.

The reverse phenomenon, where people who know more than one language end up losing command of some or all of their additional languages, is called [[language attrition]]. It has been documented that, under certain conditions, individuals may lose their L1 language proficiency completely, after switching to the exclusive use of another language, and effectively "become native" in a language that was once secondary after the L1 undergoes total attrition.

This is most commonly seen among [[immigrant]] communities. The most important factor in spontaneous, total L1 loss appears to be age; in the absence of neurological dysfunction or injury, only young children typically are at risk of forgetting their native language and switching to a new one.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1177/0267658309337641| title=Quantitative analyses in a multivariate study of language attrition: The impact of extralinguistic factors | year=2010 | last1=Schmid| first1=Monika S.| last2=Dusseldorp| first2=Elise| journal=Second Language Research| volume=26| pages=125–160| s2cid=36475272}}</ref> Once they pass an age that seems to correlate closely with the [[Critical period hypothesis|critical period]], around the age of 12, total loss of a native language is not typical, although it is still possible for speakers to experience diminished expressive capacity if the language is never practiced.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00521.x| title=Maturational Constraints and First Language Attrition| year=2009| last1=Bylund| first1=Emanuel| journal=Language Learning| volume=59| issue=3| pages=687–715}}</ref>

===Cognitive ability===
{{Main|Cognitive effects of multilingualism}}There is no evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive function and there is a small bilingual disadvantage in verbal fluency.<ref name="Bylund-2023"/> Some initial reports concluded that people who use more than one language have been reported to be more adept at language learning compared to monolinguals,<ref name="Kaushanskaya-2009"/> and this idea persisted in part due to [[publication bias]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Donnelly |first1=Seamus |last2=Brooks |first2=Patricia J. |last3=Homer |first3=Bruce D. |date=2019-02-27 |title=Is there a bilingual advantage on interference-control tasks? A multiverse meta-analysis of global reaction time and interference cost |journal=Psychonomic Bulletin & Review |language=en |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=1122–1147 |doi=10.3758/s13423-019-01567-z |issn=1531-5320 |pmid=30815795 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Current meta-analyses find no effect.<ref name="Lehtonen20182">{{cite journal |vauthors=Lehtonen M, Soveri A, Laine A, Järvenpää J, de Bruin A, Antfolk J |date=April 2018 |title=Is bilingualism associated with enhanced executive functioning in adults? A meta-analytic review |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/157474/1/Bilingual_meta_analysis.pdf |journal=Psychological Bulletin |volume=144 |issue=4 |pages=394–425 |doi=10.1037/bul0000142 |pmid=29494195 |s2cid=4444068 |hdl=10810/26594}}</ref>

Individuals who are highly proficient in two or more languages have been reported to have a certain very marginally enhanced or no different [[executive functions|executive function]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=APA PsycNet |url=https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2020-67422-001.html |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=psycnet.apa.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Lehtonen-2018">{{Cite journal |last1=Lehtonen |first1=Minna |last2=Soveri |first2=Anna |last3=Laine |first3=Aini |last4=Järvenpää |first4=Janica |last5=de Bruin |first5=Angela |last6=Antfolk |first6=Jan |date=April 2018 |title=Is bilingualism associated with enhanced executive functioning in adults? A meta-analytic review. |url=http://doi.apa.org/getdoi.cfm?doi=10.1037/bul0000142 |journal=Psychological Bulletin |language=en |volume=144 |issue=4 |pages=394–425 |doi=10.1037/bul0000142 |pmid=29494195 |s2cid=4444068 |issn=1939-1455|hdl=10810/26594 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and older onset for [[dementia]].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bialystok E, Martin MM |title=Attention and inhibition in bilingual children: evidence from the dimensional change card sort task |journal=Dev Sci |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=325–39 |year=2004 |pmid=15595373 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00351.x|s2cid=1510311 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bialystok E, Craik FI, Grady C, Chau W, Ishii R, Gunji A, Pantev C |title=Effect of bilingualism on cognitive control in the Simon task: evidence from MEG |journal=NeuroImage |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=40–49 |year=2005 |doi=10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.09.044 |pmid=15588595|s2cid=32548028 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://science.time.com/2013/07/18/how-the-brain-benefits-from-being-bilingual/ |title=How the Brain Benefits from Being Bilingual |last=Kluger |first=Jeffrey |date=18 July 2013 |magazine=TIME |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721064643/http://science.time.com/2013/07/18/how-the-brain-benefits-from-being-bilingual/ |archive-date=21 July 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Atkinson2016">{{Cite journal |vauthors = Atkinson AL |title = Does Bilingualism Delay the Development of Dementia? |journal = Journal of European Psychology Students |year = 2016 |pages = 43–50 |volume = 7 |issue = 1 |doi = 10.5334/jeps.375 |doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Skibba |first=Ramin |title=How a second language can boost the brain |journal=Knowable Magazine |url=https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2018/how-second-language-can-boost-brain |doi=10.1146/knowable-112918-1 |language=en |year=2018 |s2cid=189556357 |access-date=4 January 2019 |archive-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105043454/https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2018/how-second-language-can-boost-brain |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref> More recently, however, this claim has come under strong criticism<ref name="Atlantic2016">{{Cite web|title = The Bitter Fight Over the Benefits of Bilingualism|url = https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/02/the-battle-over-bilingualism/462114/|website = The Atlantic|access-date = 2016-02-11|language = en-US|first = Ed|last = Yong|date = 10 February 2016|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160211015050/http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/02/the-battle-over-bilingualism/462114/|archive-date = 11 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Lehtonen2018">{{cite journal |last1=Lehtonen |first1=Minna |last2=Soveri |first2=Anna |last3=Laine |first3=Aini |last4=Järvenpää |first4=Janica |last5=de Bruin |first5=Angela |last6=Antfolk |first6=Jan |title=Is bilingualism associated with enhanced executive functioning in adults? A meta-analytic review. |journal=Psychological Bulletin |date=April 2018 |volume=144 |issue=4 |pages=394–425 |doi=10.1037/bul0000142 |pmid=29494195 |hdl=10810/26594 |s2cid=4444068 |url=https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/157474/1/Bilingual_meta_analysis.pdf |access-date=23 January 2021 |archive-date=21 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221222253/http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/157474/1/Bilingual_meta_analysis.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> with repeated failures to replicate.<ref name="deBruin2014">{{cite journal |last1=de Bruin |first1=Angela |last2=Treccani |first2=Barbara |last3=Della Sala |first3=Sergio |title=Cognitive Advantage in Bilingualism: An Example of Publication Bias? |journal=Psychological Science |date=January 2015 |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=99–107 |doi=10.1177/0956797614557866 |pmid=25475825 |s2cid=13721983 |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/19401953/Cognitive_advantage_in_bilingualism.pdf |hdl=20.500.11820/1c7d702a-90a7-484d-9d2a-d5841d4a1f49 |hdl-access=free |access-date=6 December 2019 |archive-date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422222130/https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/19401953/Cognitive_advantage_in_bilingualism.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Paap2015">{{cite journal |last1=Paap |first1=Kenneth R. |last2=Johnson |first2=Hunter A. |last3=Sawi |first3=Oliver |title=Bilingual advantages in executive functioning either do not exist or are restricted to very specific and undetermined circumstances |journal=Cortex |date=August 2015 |volume=69 |pages=265–278 |doi=10.1016/j.cortex.2015.04.014 |pmid=26048659 |s2cid=25008687 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=Gullifer JW, Titone D | journal=Bilingualism: Language and Cognition | title=Characterizing the social diversity of bilingualism using language entropy | volume=23 | issue=2 | pages=283–294 | date=2020 | doi=10.1017/s1366728919000026 | s2cid=150591937 | url=https://jasonwgullifer.com/files/preprints/gullifer-titone-entropy.pdf | access-date=28 November 2021 | archive-date=28 November 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128003441/https://jasonwgullifer.com/files/preprints/gullifer-titone-entropy.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref> 
Yet, many prior studies do not reliably quantify samples of bilinguals under investigation.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=Surrain S, Luk G | journal =Bilingualism: Language and Cognition | title=Describing bilinguals: A systematic review of labels and descriptions used in the literature between 2005–2015 | volume=22 | issue=2 | pages=401–415 | date= March 2019 | issn=1366-7289 | doi=10.1017/S1366728917000682| s2cid =149426763 | url =http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:37221624 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> An emerging perspective is that studies on bilingual and multilingual cognitive abilities need to account for validated and granular quantifications of language experience in order to identify boundary conditions of possible cognitive effects.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=Beatty-Martínez AL, Navarro-Torres CA, Dussias PE, Bajo MT, Guzzardo Tamargo RE, Kroll JF | journal =Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition | title=Interactional context mediates the consequences of bilingualism for language and cognition | volume=46 | issue=6 | pages=1022–1047 | publisher=American Psychological Association | date= 2020 | eissn=1939-1285 | issn=0278-7393 | pmid=31580119 |doi=10.1037/xlm0000770 | pmc=7117987}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=Gullifer JW, Chai XJ, Whitford V, Pivneva I, Baum S, Klein D, Titone D | journal=Neuropsychologia | title=Bilingual experience and resting-state brain connectivity: Impacts of L2 age of acquisition and social diversity of language use on control networks | volume=117 | pages=123–134 | date=August 2018 | eissn=1873-3514 | issn=0028-3932 | doi=10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.04.037 | pmid=29727624 | pmc=6086747 | url=https://jasonwgullifer.com/files/preprints/language-entropy-connectivity.pdf | access-date=28 November 2021 | archive-date=28 November 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128003440/https://jasonwgullifer.com/files/preprints/language-entropy-connectivity.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=Gullifer JW, Titone D | journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: General | title=Engaging proactive control: Influences of diverse language experiences using insights from machine learning. | volume=150 | issue=3 | pages=414–430 | date=October 2020 | eissn=1939-2222 | issn=0096-3445 | doi=10.1037/xge0000933 | pmid=33001688 | pmc=7954783 | url=https://jasonwgullifer.com/files/preprints/gullifer_titone_XGE.pdf | access-date=28 November 2021 | archive-date=28 November 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128003443/https://jasonwgullifer.com/files/preprints/gullifer_titone_XGE.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=Sulpizio S, Maschio ND, Mauro GD, Fedeli D, Abutalebi J | journal =NeuroImage | title=Bilingualism as a gradient measure modulates functional connectivity of language and control networks. | volume=205 | date= 2020 | page =116306 | doi=10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116306| pmid =31654763 | s2cid =204837800 | doi-access=free | hdl=10037/18728 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> Second language acquisition results in a lexical deficit due to second language acquisition<ref name="Bylund-2023"/>{{Clarify|date=July 2023}} and bilingualism results in decreased verbal fluency.<ref name="Lehtonen-2018"/>

===Auditory ability===
Bilingual and multilingual individuals are shown to have superior auditory processing abilities compared to monolingual individuals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Kaushlendra |last2=Raghavan |first2=Sreeshma | last3=Kalaiah |first3=Mohan |date=2020 |title=A comparison of temporal processing and spectral processing abilities of monolingual, bilingual and multilingual children |url= |journal=International Journal of Audiology |volume=59 |issue=7 |pages=501–505 |doi=10.1080/14992027.2020.1720921 |pmc= |pmid= 32022604|s2cid=211037029 |access-date= |name-list-style=vanc}}</ref> Several investigations have compared auditory processing abilities of monolingual and bilingual individuals using tasks such as gap detection, temporal ordering, pitch pattern recognition etc. In general, results of studies have reported superior performance among bilingual and multilingual individuals. Furthermore, among bilingual individuals, one's level of proficiency in one's second language was also reported to influence auditory processing abilities.

===Economic benefits===
Bilinguals might have important labor market advantages over monolingual individuals as bilingual people can carry out duties that monolinguals cannot,<ref name="Chohan 1">Chohan, Usman W. (2021). [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3760757 The New Economy and Languages: HYPIA in Neoliberalism]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128174222/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3760757 |date=28 January 2022 }}. ''The Papers of the International Association of Hyperpolyglots (HYPIA).'' Social Science Research Network (SSRN). Accessed 15 February 2021.{{Self-published source|date=November 2023}}</ref> such as interacting with customers who only speak a minority language. A study in Switzerland has found that multilingualism is positively correlated with an individual's salary, the productivity of firms, and the gross domestic production (GDP); the authors state that Switzerland's GDP is augmented by 10% by multilingualism.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grin|first1=François|last2=Sfreddo|first2=Claudio|last3=Vaillancourt|first3=François|title=Economics of the multilingual workplace.|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|location=[S.l.]|isbn=978-0-415-85106-0}}</ref> A study in the United States by O. Agirdag found that bilingualism has substantial economic benefits, as bilingual people were found to earn around $3,000 more per year in salary than monolinguals.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Agirdag |first=O. |title=The long-term effects of bilingualism on children of immigration: student bilingualism and future earnings |journal=International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=449–464 |year=2014 |doi=10.1080/13670050.2013.816264 |s2cid=27479622 |url=http://dare.uva.nl/personal/pure/en/publications/the-longterm-effects-of-bilingualism-on-children-of-immigration-student-bilingualism-and-future-earnings(1ebc5588-e90f-49c5-8dde-a77f5f78ef76).html }}</ref>

===Psychology===
A study in 2012 has shown that using a foreign language reduces decision-making biases. It was surmised that the [[Framing effect (psychology)|framing effect]] disappeared when choices are presented in a second language. As human reasoning is shaped by two distinct modes of thought: one that is systematic, analytical and cognition-intensive, and another that is fast, unconscious and emotionally charged, it was believed that a second language provides a useful cognitive distance from automatic processes, promoting analytical thought and reducing unthinking, emotional reaction. Therefore, those who speak two languages have better critical thinking and decision-making skills.<ref>{{cite journal
 |author1=Boaz Keysar |author2=Sayuri L. Hayakawa |author3=Sun Gyu An |date = 18 April 2012
 |title = The Foreign-Language Effect: Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases
 |journal = Psychological Science
 |volume = 23
 |issue = 6
 |pages=661–668
 |doi = 10.1177/0956797611432178 |pmid=22517192|s2cid=1397617 }}</ref> A study published a year later found that switching to a second language seems to exempt bilinguals from social norms and constraints, such as [[political correctness]].<ref name="ParadowskiGawinkowskaBilewicz2013">{{cite journal |vauthors=Gawinkowska M, Paradowski MB, Bilewicz M |title=Second language as an exemption from sociocultural norms. Emotion-Related Language Choice revisited |journal=PLOS ONE|volume=8 |issue=12 |pages=e8122 |year=2013 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0081225 |pmid=24349044 |pmc=3859501 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...881225G |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2014, another study showed that people using a foreign language are more likely to make utilitarian decisions when faced with moral dilemmas, such as the [[trolley problem]] and its variations. Participants in this study chose the utilitarian option more often in the Fat Man dilemma when it was presented in a foreign language. For the related Switch Track dilemma, however, the use of a foreign language presented no significant influence on the choices participants made. The authors of this study surmised that a foreign language lacks the emotional impact of one's native language.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Costa | first1=Albert | last2=Foucart | first2=Alice | last3=Hayakawa | first3=Sayuri | last4=Aparici | first4=Melina | last5=Apesteguia | first5=Jose | last6=Heafner | first6=Joy | last7=Keysar | first7=Boaz | title=Your Morals Depend on Language | journal=PLOS ONE | publisher=Public Library of Science (PLoS) | volume=9 | issue=4 | date=23 April 2014 | issn=1932-6203 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0094842 | doi-access=free | pmid=24760073 |pmc=3997430 | bibcode = 2014PLoSO...994842C | page=e94842}}</ref>

===Personality===
Because it is difficult or impossible to master many of the high-level semantic aspects of a language (including but not limited to its [[idiom]]s and [[eponym]]s) without first understanding the culture and history of the region in which that language evolved, as a practical matter an in-depth familiarity with multiple cultures is a prerequisite for high-level multilingualism. This knowledge of multiple cultures, both individually and comparatively, can shape an individual's sense of identity and how others perceive it.<ref name="Hult-2014" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Halwachs |first=D.W. |title=Polysystem, Repertoire und Identität |trans-title=Polysystem repertoire and identity |journal=Grazer Linguistische Studien |year=1993 |volume=39–40 |pages=71–90 |language=de |url=https://unipub.uni-graz.at/gls/periodical/titleinfo/4047899 |access-date=12 June 2021 |archive-date=12 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612113657/https://unipub.uni-graz.at/gls/periodical/titleinfo/4047899 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some studies have found that groups of multilingual individuals get higher average scores on tests for certain personality traits such as cultural [[empathy]], [[open-mindedness]] and social initiative.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dewaele|first=J. |author2=Li Wei |title=Multilingualism, empathy, and multicompetence|journal=International Journal of Multilingualism |year=2012 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=352–366 |doi=10.1080/14790718.2012.714380 |s2cid=32872300 |url=http://www.bbk.ac.uk/linguistics/our-staff/li-wei/copy_of_DewaeleLiWei2012.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009194907/http://www.bbk.ac.uk/linguistics/our-staff/li-wei/copy_of_DewaeleLiWei2012.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Dewaele|first=J.|title=The effect of multilingualism, socio-biographical, and situational factors on communicative anxiety and foreign language anxiety of mature language learners|journal=[[International Journal of Bilingualism]]|year=2007|volume=11|pages=391–409|doi=10.1177/13670069070110040301|issue=4|s2cid=51402969|url=http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/647/1/DewaeleIJB07.pdf|access-date=9 July 2019|archive-date=9 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809112034/http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/647/1/DewaeleIJB07.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The idea of [[linguistic relativity]], which claims that the language people speak influences the way they see the world, can be interpreted to mean that individuals who speak multiple languages have a broader, more diverse view of the world, even when speaking only one language at a time.<ref name="Grosjean 2011">{{cite web |last1=Grosjean |first1=François |title=Life as a Bilingual |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/life-bilingual |work=Psychology Today }}{{verify source|date=January 2021}}</ref> Some bilinguals feel that their personality changes depending on which language they are speaking;<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Tokuhama-Espinosa|editor-first=T.|title=The Multilingual Mind: Issues Discussed By, For, and About People Living with Many Languages|year=2003|publisher=Praeger Publishers|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=9780897899185}}</ref> thus multilingualism is said to create multiple personalities. Xiao-lei Wang states in her book ''Growing up with Three Languages: Birth to Eleven'': "Languages used by speakers with one or more than one language are used not just to represent a unitary self, but to enact different kinds of selves, and different linguistic contexts create different kinds of self-expression and experiences for the same person."<ref>{{cite book|last=Wang|first=X.|title=Growing up with three languages: Birth to eleven|year=2008|publisher=Multilingualism Matters|location=Briston, United Kingdom|isbn=978-1-8476-9106-4}}</ref> However, there has been little rigorous research done on this topic and it is difficult to define "personality" in this context. [[François Grosjean]] wrote: "What is seen as a change in personality is most probably simply a shift in attitudes and behaviors that correspond to a shift in situation or context, independent of language."<ref>{{cite book | chapter=Living with two languages and two cultures |title=Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience | publisher=Cambridge University Press |first=François |last=Grosjean |editor=I. Parasnis | year=1996 |pages=20–37 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139163804.003|isbn=978-0-521-45477-3 }}</ref> However, the [[Sapir–Whorf]] hypothesis, which states that a language shapes our vision of the world, may suggest that a language learned by a grown-up may have much fewer emotional [[connotation]]s and therefore allow a more serene discussion than a language learned by a child and to that respect more or less bound to a child's perception of the world.

===Hyperpolyglots and savants{{anchor|Hyperpolyglots|Polyglots and hyperpolyglots}}===
Many polyglots know up to five or six languages, but the frequency of polyglotism drops off sharply past this point.<ref name="Chohan 2">Chohan, Usman W. (2021). [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3760731 "Who Is a Hyperpolyglot?"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206095828/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3760731 |date=6 February 2021 }}. ''Linguistic Anthropology eJournal.'' Social Science Research Network (SSRN). Accessed 7 February 2021.{{Self-published source|date=June 2022}}</ref><ref name="Erard"/> Those who know more languages than five or six—[[Michael Erard]] suggests eleven or more, while Usman W. Chohan suggests six to eight (depending on proficiency) or more—are sometimes classed as ''hyperpolyglots''.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Steinmetz |first=Katy |date=30 January 2012 |url=https://healthland.time.com/2012/01/30/are-you-a-hyperpolyglot-the-secrets-of-language-superlearners/ |title=Are You A Hyperpolyglot?: the secrets of language superlearners |magazine=Time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202113329/http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/30/are-you-a-hyperpolyglot-the-secrets-of-language-superlearners/|archive-date=2 February 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Chohan 2"/><ref name="Hudson">{{cite book|last=Hudson|first=Richard|chapter=Word grammar, cognitive linguistics, and second language learning and teaching|editor=Peter Robinson|editor2=Nick Ellis|title=Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition|location=New York|publisher=Routledge|year=2008|pages=99–123 |isbn=9780805853513|doi=10.4324/9780203938560-13|chapter-url=http://dickhudson.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/sla.pdf|access-date=24 February 2019|archive-date=25 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125162502/https://dickhudson.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/sla.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti]], for example, was an Italian priest reputed to have spoken anywhere from 30 to 72 languages.<ref name="Erard"/><ref name="Hudson"/>

The term ''savant'', in a general sense, may refer to any individual with a natural or innate talent for a particular field; however, people diagnosed with ''[[savant syndrome]]'' are specifically individuals with significant mental disabilities who demonstrate certain profound and [[Child prodigy|prodigious]] capacities or certain abilities far in excess of what would usually be considered normal,<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=9990844|year=1999|last1=Miller|first1=LK|title=The savant syndrome: Intellectual impairment and exceptional skill|volume=125|issue=1|pages=31–46|journal=Psychological Bulletin|doi=10.1037/0033-2909.125.1.31}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.intell.2003.11.002|title=Comparing the intelligence profiles of savant and nonsavant individuals with autistic disorder|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222427835|year=2004|last1=Bolte|first1=S|journal=Intelligence|volume=32|issue=2|page=121}}</ref> occasionally including a prodigious capacity for languages. Savant syndrome is almost always associated with an increased memory capacity of some sort, which can, for certain savants, aid in storing and retrieving knowledge of different languages.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Treffert |first1=Darold A. |title=The savant syndrome: an extraordinary condition. A synopsis: past, present, future |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=27 May 2009 |volume=364 |issue=1522 |pages=1351–1357 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2008.0326 |pmid=19528017 |pmc=2677584 }}</ref> In 1991, for example, linguists [[Neil Smith (linguist)|Neil Smith]] and [[Ianthi-Maria Tsimpli]] described a man, named Christopher, who learned sixteen languages even with a non-verbal [[IQ]] between 40 and 70. Christopher was born in 1962, and he was diagnosed with brain damage approximately six months after his birth.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bates |first1=Elizabeth |title=On Language Savants and the Structure of the Mind Review of: The Mind of a Savant: Language Learning and Modularity by Neil Smith and Ianthi-Maria Tsimpli, 1995 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/136700699700100204 |journal=[[International Journal of Bilingualism]] |date=September 1997 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=163–179 |doi=10.1177/136700699700100204 |s2cid=142262640 }}</ref> Despite being institutionalized because he was unable to take care of himself, Christopher had a verbal IQ of 89, could speak English with no impairment, and could learn subsequent languages with apparent ease. This facility with language and communication is considered to be unusual for most diagnosed with savant syndrome.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Neil |last2=Tsimpli |first2=Ianthi Maria |title=Linguistic modularity? A case study of a 'Savant' linguist |url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9d88b8fc1ba4f542267c159f037aac03ff933931 |format=PDF |journal=Lingua |date=August 1991 |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=315–351 |doi=10.1016/0024-3841(91)90034-3 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>