<P> Richard Hudson, professor emeritus of linguistics at University College London, coined the term "hyperpolyglot" for a person who can speak twelve or more languages fluently . Other scholars apply the label to speakers of even more languages: twelve, sixteen, or in the most extreme cases, even fifty or more . </P> <P> It is difficult to judge which individuals are polyglots, as there is no uncontroversial definition for what it means to "master" a language, and because it is not always clear where to distinguish a dialect from a language . Being able to communicate in a language does not mean the person has "mastered" a language . There are far fewer who have attained higher levels of multi-linguistic skill, and there is no basis for testing those levels, or at least those levels of ability have not been noted here . </P> <P> This list consists of people who have been noted in news media, historical texts, or academic work as speaking five or more languages fluently . For general discussion of the phenomenon, including discussion of polyglot savants, see polyglotism . </P> <P> The 2012 book Babel No More by Michael Erard highlights some polyglots around the globe, including Alexander Argüelles . Canada's Global TV also brought out a piece on hyperpolyglots on their 16x9 show, entitled "Word Play", featuring Canadian polyglots Axel Van Hout, Alexandre Coutu, Steven Kaufmann, James Chang and Keith Swayne . Tim Doner (US) and Richard Simcott (UK) also appear in the programme to describe their experiences speaking multiple languages . </P>

Who is the person who speaks most languages