Hyperpolyglot

· from Greek + English

What is a hyperpolyglot?

A hyperpolyglot is someone who speaks a very large number of languages, often defined as eleven or more.

Linguist Richard Hudson coined the term in 2003, and journalist Michael Erard explored it in his 2012 book Babel No More. Historical examples include Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti and Emil Krebs. Claims of numbers are often hard to verify.

Examples

Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti; Emil Krebs; Ioannis Ikonomou; Alexander Arguelles

Kungfucius says: Speaking eleven languages is impressive. Remembering which one you are in is the real skill.