Lingvisticky

Lingvisticky is a theoretical framework and practical approach in linguistics and language education that describes and exploits cross-language similarities. It treats languages as modular feature sets covering phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon to assess usefulness for learning, translation, and comparison.

Etymology and scope: The term, coined in the early 21st century by comparative linguists, denotes not a language but a model for quantifying linguistic similarity and transfer potential among languages. It informs pedagogical design and computational analysis.

Core principles: It relies on a feature-based typology, generating similarity profiles between languages. Features are weighted by acquisition difficulty and transfer potential. The framework supports adaptive curricula that prioritize high-overlap features from known languages.

Methods and tools: It uses typological databases, similarity algorithms, and dashboards to guide learners and researchers. Applications include personalized study plans, translator aids, and cross-linguistic research.

History and reception: Emerged in scholarly discussions in the 2010s–2020s, with limited but growing use in language-learning tech and linguistics. Critics warn against over-simplification and neglect of sociolinguistic context; supporters cite transparency and scalability.