Language is a structured system ofcommunication that consists ofgrammar andvocabulary. It is the primary means by whichhumans convey meaning, both in spoken andsigned forms, and may also be conveyed throughwriting. Human language is characterized by its cultural and historical diversity, with significant variations observed between cultures and across time. Human languages possess the properties ofproductivity anddisplacement, 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 onsocial convention and is acquired throughlearning.
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 anddialects.Natural languages arespoken, signed, or both; however, any language can beencoded into secondary media using auditory, visual, or tactilestimuli – for example, writing, whistling, signing, orbraille. In other words, human language ismodality-independent, but written or signed language is the way to inscribe or encode the natural human speech or gestures.
Depending onphilosophical 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 ofsemiosis to relatesigns to particularmeanings. Oral, manual and tactile languages contain aphonological system that governs how symbols are used to form sequences known as words ormorphemes, and asyntactic system that governs how words and morphemes are combined to form phrases and utterances.
The scientific study of language is calledlinguistics. Critical examinations of languages, such as philosophy of language, the relationships betweenlanguage and thought, how words represent experience, etc., have been debated at least sinceGorgias andPlato inancient Greek civilization. Thinkers such asJean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) have argued that language originated from emotions, while others likeImmanuel Kant (1724–1804) have argued that languages originated from rational and logical thought. Twentieth century philosophers such asLudwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) argued that philosophy is really the study of language itself. Major figures in contemporary linguistics includeFerdinand de Saussure andNoam Chomsky. (Full article...)
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