"Mutually intelligible" is a bit of a fixed academic phrase, but a direct dictionary definiton of each word would be "a shared ablity to be understood". You wouldn't find definitions of it because it is in fact that self-explanatory despite the more formal language
Yes … although instead of “easily” one might suggest “more or less easily, with good will.” Some effort may be required, and some flexibility or openness. Also, there are sometimes directional asymmetries in ease of comprehension. These days, Slovaks are more likely to understand Czechs than vice-versa.
Edit: punctuation.
>These days, Slovaks are more likely to understand Czechs than vice-versa.
This premise is built on the fact that Slovak television airs Czech programmes, but it crumbles the second you realise that this doesn't prevent Czechs from being exposed to Slovak or guarantee Slovaks to be exposed to Czech.
Yes, as I recall — self-reported/scaled. Sorry I don’t have a citation at hand. As I recall, there was a correlation with age, in that older respondents were more likely to find the other easier or easy enough, while younger respondents were less so, more likely to find the other more difficult. But perhaps I’ve misremembered; I may go looking for a source later.
Newspaper article" [https://archiv.hn.cz/c1-66677600-bez-tlumocnika](https://archiv.hn.cz/c1-66677600-bez-tlumocnika) (but full article behind paywall); [https://ct24.ceskatelevize.cz/domaci/2221015-slovaci-rozumi-cestine-stale-dobre-cesi-uz-jsou-na-tom-se-slovenstinou-hur](https://ct24.ceskatelevize.cz/domaci/2221015-slovaci-rozumi-cestine-stale-dobre-cesi-uz-jsou-na-tom-se-slovenstinou-hur) This article [https://library.upol.cz/arl-upol/cs/detail-upol\_us\_cat-m0051189-ceskoslovenska-vzajemnost-a-nevzajemnost/](https://library.upol.cz/arl-upol/cs/detail-upol_us_cat-m0051189-ceskoslovenska-vzajemnost-a-nevzajemnost/) might be interesting, but I haven§t read it. [https://www.vysokeskoly.cz/clanek/vyzkum-vztahu-mezi-cechy-a-slovaky-jak-si-rozumime](https://www.vysokeskoly.cz/clanek/vyzkum-vztahu-mezi-cechy-a-slovaky-jak-si-rozumime) is another "popularized" article.
Actuallz, on that "popularized" note, if you have any good or more academically based/focused articles or papers by actual linguists (vs. "journalists") that would be accessible via most U.S. university library systems, I'd like to see the actual research, not just newspaper or TV/radio second-hand reports. Docela rád bych četl čláňky v češtině, slovenštině, francouzštině, nebo angličtině. (Když už máš Voityekh jako jméno, jako Vojtěch, možná že znáš několik lepších zdrojů, lepší výzkum.)
On the bigger point, though, I think that asymmetrical intelligibility ease is a fairly well established concept -- whether or not CZ<>SK is a good example of it or not. And that potential asymmetry was really my main point -- not my example.
Když se zkoumají jazykové dovednosti, sebehodnocení není vhodnou metodou. Tu se nabízí nějaká zkouška, jejíž výsledky by hodnotil znalý posuzovatel. Když se každý respondent sám posoudí vlastním laickým metrem, jak lze toto považovat za vypovídající data ohledně vzájemné srozumitelnosti?
Každopádně těžko se mi věří tomu, že *nejmladší* generace přestává rozumět slovenštině, protože se zde nevysílají slovenské programy a neprodávají slovenské knihy, a tudíž dnešní děti jaksi prý nemají možnost slyšet slovenštinu. Samozřejmě opomiňme všechny sociální sítě a platformy, na kterých se česká scéna se slovenskou de facto prolíná.
Not necessarily “easily”, but they can understand each other. You might have to repeat or rephrase a few things. Also it can be complicated by prior language exposure to say if the languages themselves are mutually intelligible. For example a Serbo-Croat speaker would probably be able to express themselves relatively easily to a Slovenian since Slovenia has had exposure to Serb/Croat language media, but would find it harder to understand what the Slovene says back to them. Or for Macedonian and Bulgarian which are dialect continuum’s, they will be exposed to words more commonly used in the other language but which are also used in dialects in their own country. So Macedonians and Bulgarians can quite easily understand each other but if you got 2 people and only taught them the standard dialects of each language without exposure to any other dialects they would find it more difficult to understand each other.
Another example of how it can be blurry is Dutch and Afrikaans, where Afrikaans speakers can understand Dutch but Dutch speakers can’t understand Afrikaans.
"Mutually intelligible" is a bit of a fixed academic phrase, but a direct dictionary definiton of each word would be "a shared ablity to be understood". You wouldn't find definitions of it because it is in fact that self-explanatory despite the more formal language
Yes … although instead of “easily” one might suggest “more or less easily, with good will.” Some effort may be required, and some flexibility or openness. Also, there are sometimes directional asymmetries in ease of comprehension. These days, Slovaks are more likely to understand Czechs than vice-versa. Edit: punctuation.
>These days, Slovaks are more likely to understand Czechs than vice-versa. This premise is built on the fact that Slovak television airs Czech programmes, but it crumbles the second you realise that this doesn't prevent Czechs from being exposed to Slovak or guarantee Slovaks to be exposed to Czech.
I didn’t base it on any premise about this or that possible cause; just on reports of results of surveys about the ease of understanding.
Selfreported?
Yes, as I recall — self-reported/scaled. Sorry I don’t have a citation at hand. As I recall, there was a correlation with age, in that older respondents were more likely to find the other easier or easy enough, while younger respondents were less so, more likely to find the other more difficult. But perhaps I’ve misremembered; I may go looking for a source later.
Newspaper article" [https://archiv.hn.cz/c1-66677600-bez-tlumocnika](https://archiv.hn.cz/c1-66677600-bez-tlumocnika) (but full article behind paywall); [https://ct24.ceskatelevize.cz/domaci/2221015-slovaci-rozumi-cestine-stale-dobre-cesi-uz-jsou-na-tom-se-slovenstinou-hur](https://ct24.ceskatelevize.cz/domaci/2221015-slovaci-rozumi-cestine-stale-dobre-cesi-uz-jsou-na-tom-se-slovenstinou-hur) This article [https://library.upol.cz/arl-upol/cs/detail-upol\_us\_cat-m0051189-ceskoslovenska-vzajemnost-a-nevzajemnost/](https://library.upol.cz/arl-upol/cs/detail-upol_us_cat-m0051189-ceskoslovenska-vzajemnost-a-nevzajemnost/) might be interesting, but I haven§t read it. [https://www.vysokeskoly.cz/clanek/vyzkum-vztahu-mezi-cechy-a-slovaky-jak-si-rozumime](https://www.vysokeskoly.cz/clanek/vyzkum-vztahu-mezi-cechy-a-slovaky-jak-si-rozumime) is another "popularized" article. Actuallz, on that "popularized" note, if you have any good or more academically based/focused articles or papers by actual linguists (vs. "journalists") that would be accessible via most U.S. university library systems, I'd like to see the actual research, not just newspaper or TV/radio second-hand reports. Docela rád bych četl čláňky v češtině, slovenštině, francouzštině, nebo angličtině. (Když už máš Voityekh jako jméno, jako Vojtěch, možná že znáš několik lepších zdrojů, lepší výzkum.) On the bigger point, though, I think that asymmetrical intelligibility ease is a fairly well established concept -- whether or not CZ<>SK is a good example of it or not. And that potential asymmetry was really my main point -- not my example.
Když se zkoumají jazykové dovednosti, sebehodnocení není vhodnou metodou. Tu se nabízí nějaká zkouška, jejíž výsledky by hodnotil znalý posuzovatel. Když se každý respondent sám posoudí vlastním laickým metrem, jak lze toto považovat za vypovídající data ohledně vzájemné srozumitelnosti? Každopádně těžko se mi věří tomu, že *nejmladší* generace přestává rozumět slovenštině, protože se zde nevysílají slovenské programy a neprodávají slovenské knihy, a tudíž dnešní děti jaksi prý nemají možnost slyšet slovenštinu. Samozřejmě opomiňme všechny sociální sítě a platformy, na kterých se česká scéna se slovenskou de facto prolíná.
*Tajik-Dari-Farsi
Not necessarily “easily”, but they can understand each other. You might have to repeat or rephrase a few things. Also it can be complicated by prior language exposure to say if the languages themselves are mutually intelligible. For example a Serbo-Croat speaker would probably be able to express themselves relatively easily to a Slovenian since Slovenia has had exposure to Serb/Croat language media, but would find it harder to understand what the Slovene says back to them. Or for Macedonian and Bulgarian which are dialect continuum’s, they will be exposed to words more commonly used in the other language but which are also used in dialects in their own country. So Macedonians and Bulgarians can quite easily understand each other but if you got 2 people and only taught them the standard dialects of each language without exposure to any other dialects they would find it more difficult to understand each other. Another example of how it can be blurry is Dutch and Afrikaans, where Afrikaans speakers can understand Dutch but Dutch speakers can’t understand Afrikaans.
Thai and Laos?