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Languages are a way of perceiving and representing reality. In this framework, Multilingua is founded on the principle that the linguistic structure reflects the mental structure, and conversely, the mental structure shapes the linguistic structure.
This is an explanatory display:
We perceive reality and assign concepts, meanings, and order within our mental structure. To represent these meanings, we utilize phonemes. Thus, with approximately 26 phonemes, 10,000-15,000 lexemes, and 100-150 grammemes, we attain enough combinations to convey meanings.
In Multilingua, each speaker can express their perception of reality through their linguistic structure; only the substitution of vocabulary (the signifier) is required.
Linguistics can be represented through a triangular symbolic structure, wherein the vertices represent:
The conceptual vertex is the key to language, symbolizing the representation of mental knowledge. The conceptual, mental, linguistic, and symbolic structure can be expressed as the syntagmatic structure (the term “syntax” comes from Greek and means “in relation to”).
The phonetic structure (signifier) is the most visible and simple, as it constitutes the substitutive or paradigmatic structure. The combinatory structure is more complex, requiring improvisation of the mental structure, compared to vocabulary substitution.
Therefore, it is said that a language is lost when its structure is lost, rather than when it incorporates new vocabulary from other languages, as long as the structure remains intact.
Substitution possibilities are applied to three levels:
In the process of speech, maintaining the conceptual structure becomes the most crucial element (considering that a language is considered lost when its structure is lost). This demands significant effort when communicating in a language that is different from one’s mother tongue. If the speaker and the recipient have different mother tongues, the speaker will need to exert great effort to adapt the transmitted message to the recipient’s linguistic structure.
By using Multilingue, since the expression will be grammatically maternal, this effort is minimized by simply substituting vocabulary. Thus, the expression becomes more aligned with the maternal language, making communication easier. It simplifies the most complex process: instantaneous expression (the challenge of combinatorics) over comprehension (understanding).
This possibility exists because Multilingua is flexible, allowing for flexibility in word order.
In the field of semantics, we distinguish between denotation, which signifies precision, and connotation, which adds subjective meanings.
