Language
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 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.[