Language  

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-# A [[system]] of [[communication]] using the spoken word or using symbols that represent words or sounds. 
-#: ''the English '''language''''' 
-#: ''sign '''language''''' 
-# The ability to communicate using words. 
-#: ''the gift of '''language''''' 
-# Nonverbal communication. 
-#: ''body '''language''''' 
-# The [[vocabulary]] and [[usage]] used in a particular [[specialist]] field. 
-#: ''legal '''language''''' 
-# The particular words used in speech or a passage of text. 
-#: ''The '''language''' he used to talk to me was obscene.'' 
-#: ''The '''language''' used in the law does not permit any other interpretation.'' 
-# [[profanity|Profanity]]. 
-A '''language''' is a [[system]], used to [[communicate]], comprised of a set of [[symbol]]s and a set of [[rule]]s (or [[grammar]]) by which the manipulation of these symbols is governed. These symbols can be combined productively to convey new [[information]], distinguishing languages from other forms of communication. The word ''language'' (without an [[article (grammar)|article]]) can also refer to the use of such systems as a [[phenomenon]].+'''Language''' is a term most commonly used to refer to so called "[[natural language]]s" — the forms of [[communication]] considered peculiar to [[humankind]]. By extension the term also refers to the type of human [[cognition|thought process]] which creates and uses language. Essential to both meanings is the systematic creation, maintenance and use of systems of [[symbols]], which dynamically reference [[concepts]] and assemble according to [[grammar|structured patterns]] to communicate [[meaning]]. The scientific study of language is called [[linguistics]].
 + 
 +A language is a [[system]] of signs (symbols, indices, icons) for encoding and decoding [[information]]. Since language and languages became an object of study by ancient grammarians, the term has had many and different definitions. The English word derives from Latin ''lingua'', "language, tongue," "tongue," a [[metaphor]] based on the use of the physical organ in [[speech]]. The ability to use speech originated in remote prehistoric times, as did the [[language family|language families]] in use at the beginning of writing. The processes by which they were acquired were for the most part unconscious.
 + 
 +In modern times, a large number of [[artificial language]]s have been devised, requiring a distinction between their consciously innovated type and [[natural language]]. The latter are forms of [[communication]] considered peculiar to [[humankind]]. Although some other animals make use of quite sophisticated communicative systems, and these are sometimes casually referred to as [[animal language]], none of these are known to make use of all the properties that linguists use to define language.
 + 
 +The term “language” has branched by analogy into several meanings. The most obvious manifestations are spoken languages such as [[English language|English]] or [[Spoken Chinese]]. However, there are also [[written language]]s and other systems of visual symbols such as [[sign language]]s. In [[cognitive science]] the term is also sometimes extended to refer to the [[cognition|human cognitive facility]] of creating and using language. Essential to both meanings is the systematic [[word formation|creation]] and [[speech|usage]] of systems of [[symbols]], each pairing a specific sign with an intended meaning, established through social conventions.
 + 
 +In the late 19th century [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] called this pairing process [[semiosis]] and the study of it [[semiotics]]. According to another founder of semiotics, [[Roman Jakobson]], the latter portrays language as [[code]] in which sounds (''signantia'') signify concepts (''signata''). Language is the process of [[encoding]] ''signata'' in the sounds forming the ''signantia'' and [[decoding]] from ''signantia'' to ''signata''.
 + 
 +Concepts themselves are ''signantia'' for the objective reality being conceived. When discussed as a general phenomenon then, "language" may imply a particular type of human [[thought]] that can be present even when communication is not the result, and this way of thinking is also sometimes treated as indistinguishable from language itself. In [[Western philosophy]], language has long been closely associated with [[reason]], which is also a uniquely human way of using symbols. In [[Ancient Greek]] philosophical terminology, the same word, ''[[logos]]'', was a term for both language or speech and reason, and the philosopher [[Thomas Hobbes]] used the English word "speech" so that it similarly could refer to reason, as presented below.
 + 
==See also== ==See also==
 +
 +* [[Profanity]]
* [[Linguistics]] * [[Linguistics]]
* [[Historical linguistics]] * [[Historical linguistics]]

Revision as of 10:45, 14 August 2010

Ars Memoriae: The Theatre (1619) - Robert Fludd “In the illusory babels of language, an artist might advance specifically to get lost, and to intoxicate himself in dizzying syntaxes, seeking odd intersections of meaning, strange corridors of history, unexpected echoes, unknown humors, or voids of knowledge… but this quest is risky, full of bottomless fictions and endless architectures and counter-architectures… at the end, if there is an end, are perhaps only meaningless reverberations.” --Robert Smithson
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Ars Memoriae: The Theatre (1619) - Robert Fludd
“In the illusory babels of language, an artist might advance specifically to get lost, and to intoxicate himself in dizzying syntaxes, seeking odd intersections of meaning, strange corridors of history, unexpected echoes, unknown humors, or voids of knowledge… but this quest is risky, full of bottomless fictions and endless architectures and counter-architectures… at the end, if there is an end, are perhaps only meaningless reverberations.” --Robert Smithson

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Language is a term most commonly used to refer to so called "natural languages" — the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. By extension the term also refers to the type of human thought process which creates and uses language. Essential to both meanings is the systematic creation, maintenance and use of systems of symbols, which dynamically reference concepts and assemble according to structured patterns to communicate meaning. The scientific study of language is called linguistics.

A language is a system of signs (symbols, indices, icons) for encoding and decoding information. Since language and languages became an object of study by ancient grammarians, the term has had many and different definitions. The English word derives from Latin lingua, "language, tongue," "tongue," a metaphor based on the use of the physical organ in speech. The ability to use speech originated in remote prehistoric times, as did the language families in use at the beginning of writing. The processes by which they were acquired were for the most part unconscious.

In modern times, a large number of artificial languages have been devised, requiring a distinction between their consciously innovated type and natural language. The latter are forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. Although some other animals make use of quite sophisticated communicative systems, and these are sometimes casually referred to as animal language, none of these are known to make use of all the properties that linguists use to define language.

The term “language” has branched by analogy into several meanings. The most obvious manifestations are spoken languages such as English or Spoken Chinese. However, there are also written languages and other systems of visual symbols such as sign languages. In cognitive science the term is also sometimes extended to refer to the human cognitive facility of creating and using language. Essential to both meanings is the systematic creation and usage of systems of symbols, each pairing a specific sign with an intended meaning, established through social conventions.

In the late 19th century Charles Sanders Peirce called this pairing process semiosis and the study of it semiotics. According to another founder of semiotics, Roman Jakobson, the latter portrays language as code in which sounds (signantia) signify concepts (signata). Language is the process of encoding signata in the sounds forming the signantia and decoding from signantia to signata.

Concepts themselves are signantia for the objective reality being conceived. When discussed as a general phenomenon then, "language" may imply a particular type of human thought that can be present even when communication is not the result, and this way of thinking is also sometimes treated as indistinguishable from language itself. In Western philosophy, language has long been closely associated with reason, which is also a uniquely human way of using symbols. In Ancient Greek philosophical terminology, the same word, logos, was a term for both language or speech and reason, and the philosopher Thomas Hobbes used the English word "speech" so that it similarly could refer to reason, as presented below.

See also


Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Language" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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