Table 1.
Demographic and linguistic background information for the polyglots
| ID | Sex, age at testing, IQ, handedness | N Lang. | Languages spoken |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poly01 | M, 20, 130, R | 26 | Englisha (20), Frenchc (17), Arabicc (14), Persianc (14), Germanc (13), Siniticc (12), Semitic (12), Romance (11), Slavic (8), Turkic (8), Bantu (8), Romance (8), Indo-Iranian (8), Japonic (7), Indo-Iranian (7), Germanic (5), Hellenicc (4),Chadic (4), Germanic (4), Niger-Congo (4), Niger-Congo (4), Algic (4), Malayo-Polynesian (4), Romancec (4), Germanic (4), Semiticc (3) |
| Poly02 | M, 29, 130, R | 16 | Englisha (20), Germanc (18), Spanishc (16), Mandarinc,b (14), Hungarianc (12),Germanic (8), Sinitic (8), Slavic (6), Semitic (6), Semitic (5), Japonic (5), Germanic (5), Moseten-Chonan (4), Mongolic (4), Koreanic (3), Turkic (3) |
| Poly03 | F, 29, 132, R | 9 | Englisha (20), Japanesea,b,c (19), Frenchc (17), Korean (15), Mandarinc (10), Romance (10), Semitic (8), Sign-basedc (4), Semiticc (4) |
| Poly04 | F, 19, 125, R | 5 | Englisha (20), Spanisha (20), Italianc (19), Frenchc (15), Mandarinc (13) |
| Poly05 | F, 28, 109, R | 5 | Englisha (20), Japanesec (20), Spanishc (20), Portuguesea,b (20), Frenchc (12) |
| Poly06 | M, 43, 132, R | 12 | Englisha (20), Mandarinc (19), Russianc (12), Japanesec (10), German (10), Romancec (10), Romance (9), Austroasiatic (8), Semitic (6), Moseten-Chonan (4), Turkic (4), Turkic (4) |
| Poly07 | F, 30, 132, L | 5 | Englisha (20), Japanesec (16), Spanishc (11), Portuguese (6), Mandarin (4) |
| Poly10 | M, 32, 105, R | 7 | Englisha (20), Germanc,b (20), Arabicc,b (18), Italianc (16), Hebrewc (13), Indo-Iranian (8),Romance (6) |
| Poly11 | M, 29, 130, R | 55 | Englisha (20), Mandarinc,b (19), Koreanc (16), Japanesec,b (13), Vietnameseb (13), Romancec (10), Romancec (10), Semiticc (9), Slavicc (9), Sinitic (9), Dravidian (8), Germanicc (8), Romance (8), Sinitic (7), Semitic (7), Indo-Iranian (7), Germanic (7), Esperanto (6), Uralic (6), Hellenic (6), Semitic (6), Sinitic (6), Semiticc (6), Indo-Iranian (6), Semitic (6), Semitic (6), Austroasiatic (5), Kra-Dai (5), Germanic (5), Germanic (5), Celtic (5), Mongolic (5), Germanic (5), Indo-Iranian (5), Semitic (5), Turkic (5), Malayo-Polynesian (5), Indo-Iranian (4), Slavic (4), Romance (4), Quechuan (4), Indo-Iranian (4), Niger-Congo (4), Niger-Congo (4), Niger-Congo (4), Niger-Congo (4), Sino-Tibetan (4), Celtic (4), Sinitic (4), Sino-Tibetan (4), Uralic (4), Dene-Yeniseian (4), Germanic (4), Lojban (4), Indo-Iranian (4) |
| Poly13 | F, 22, 130, R | 7 | Englisha (20), Portuguesea (16), Frenchc (16), Japanesec (12), Spanishc (11), Romance (8), Slavic (4) |
| Poly14 | M, 28, 120, R | 6 | Englisha (20), Icelandicc (16), Spanishc (15), Frenchc (14), German (8), Sinitic (8) |
| Poly15 | F, 27, 120, R | 5 | Englisha (20), Germanc (16), Russiana (12), Frenchc (7), Hebrew (5) |
| Poly16 | M, 27, 120, R | 5 | Englisha (20), Mandarinc (17), Spanishc (13), French (9), Koreanc (6) |
| Poly17 | F, 24, 120, R | 5 | Englisha (20), Portuguesec (16), Spanishc (15), Arabicc (8), Swahili (4) |
| Poly18 | F, 51, 120, R | 26 | Englisha (20), Spanishc (16), Germanc,b (16), Frenchc (16), Italian (12), Romance (11), Semitic (11), Hellenic (9), Slavic (8), Semitic (7), Indo-Iranian (7), Slavic (7), Germanic (6), Semitic (6), Germanic (6), Germanic (5), Japonic (5), Sinitic (5), Germanic (5), Koreanic (5), Celtic (5), Indo-Iranian (5), Niger-Congo (4),Baltic (4), Slavic (4), Turkic (4) |
| Poly19 | M, 43, 130, R | 13 | Englisha (20), Spanishc (16), Bulgarianb (16), French (8), Romanian (6), Slavic (6), Sinitic a (5), Germanic (5), Germanic (5), Turkic (4), Uralicc,b (4), Sinitic (4), Japonicc (4) |
| Poly20 | M, 39, 130, R | 29 | Englisha (20), Mandarinc,b (19), Indonesianc,b (16), Passamaquoddy-Maliseet (16), Penobscot (16), Algonkian (16), Celticc (16), Malayo-Polynesian (16), Algonkian(14), Hmongic (14), Romancec (13), Romancec (13), Celtic (13), Celticc (12), Semiticc,b (12), Celtic (12), Afro-Asiatic (12), Vasconic (10), Iroquoian (10), Germanic (9), Slavic (8), Slavic (8), Uralic (8), Albanian (8), Sino-Tibetan (8), Muskogean (8), Mongolicc (8), Sign languagec (8), Quechuan (6) |
Self-reported language proficiency scores are provided in brackets next to each language (the maximal score of 20 corresponds to native proficiency). To protect the participants’ identities, we provide only the language family of the relevant language for L6 and any additional languages. Symbols next to each language indicate the ways in which that language was learned.
Note: No symbol: self-training.
aParents/immersion as a child.
bImmersion as an adult.
cFormal training.