Language is
a structured system of communication that
consists of grammar and vocabulary.
It is the primary means by which humans convey
meaning, both in spoken and signed forms,
and may also be conveyed through writing.
Human language is characterized by its
cultural and historical diversity, with
significant variations observed between
cultures and across time.[1] Human
languages possess the properties of productivity and displacement,
which enable the creation of an infinite
number of sentences, and the ability to
refer to objects, events, and ideas that
are not immediately present in the
discourse. The use of human language
relies on social
convention and is acquired through
learning.
Estimates of the number
of human languages in the world vary
between 5,000 and 7,000. Precise
estimates depend on an arbitrary
distinction (dichotomy) established
between languages and dialects.[2] Natural
languages are spoken,
signed, or both; however, any language
can be encoded into
secondary media using auditory, visual,
or tactile stimuli –
for example, writing, whistling,
signing, or braille.
In other words, human language is modality-independent,
but written or signed language is the
way to inscribe or encode the natural
human speech or gestures.
Depending on philosophical
perspectives regarding the
definition of language and meaning, when
used as a general concept, "language"
may refer to the cognitive ability to
learn and use systems of complex
communication, or to describe the set of
rules that makes up these systems, or
the set of utterances that can be
produced from those rules. All languages
rely on the process of semiosis to
relate signs to
particular meanings.
Oral, manual and tactile languages
contain a phonological system
that governs how symbols are used to
form sequences known as words or morphemes,
and a syntactic system
that governs how words and morphemes are
combined to form phrases and utterances.
The scientific study of
language is called linguistics.
Critical examinations of languages, such
as philosophy of language, the
relationships between language
and thought, how words represent
experience, etc., have been debated at
least since Gorgias and Plato in ancient
Greek civilization. Thinkers such
as Jean-Jacques
Rousseau (1712–1778) have argued
that language originated from emotions,
while others like Immanuel
Kant (1724–1804) have argued that
languages originated from rational and
logical thought. Twentieth century
philosophers such as Ludwig
Wittgenstein (1889–1951) argued that
philosophy is really the study of
language itself. Major figures in
contemporary linguistics of these times
include Ferdinand
de Saussure and Noam
Chomsky.
Language is thought to
have gradually diverged from earlier
primate communication systems when
early hominins acquired
the ability to form a theory
of mind and shared intentionality.[3][4] This
development is sometimes thought to have
coincided with an increase in brain
volume, and many linguists see the
structures of language as having evolved
to serve specific communicative and
social functions. Language is processed
in many different locations in the human
brain, but especially in Broca's and Wernicke's
areas. Humans acquire language
through social interaction in early
childhood, and children generally speak
fluently by approximately three years
old. Language and culture are
codependent. Therefore, in addition to
its strictly communicative uses,
language has social uses such as
signifying group identity, social
stratification, as well as use for social
grooming and entertainment.
Languages evolve and
diversify over time, and the history of
their evolution can be reconstructed by comparing modern
languages to determine which traits
their ancestral languages must have had
in order for the later developmental
stages to occur. A group of languages
that descend from a common ancestor is
known as a language
family; in contrast, a language that
has been demonstrated not to have any
living or non-living relationship with
another language is called a language
isolate. There are also many unclassified
languages whose relationships have
not been established, and spurious
languages may have not existed at
all. Academic consensus holds that
between 50% and 90% of languages spoken
at the beginning of the 21st century
will probably have become extinct by
the year 2100.[5][6][7]
