Language
hideA language is a system for encoding information. In its most common use, the term refers to so-called "natural languages" — the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. In linguistics the term is 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 referring to linguistic concepts with semantic or logical or otherwise expressive 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.
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 of the properties that linguists use to define language in the strict sense.
When discussed more technically as a general phenomenon then, "language" always implies a particular type of human thought which 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 for example, 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 used as 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 will be discussed below.
For more information about Language, read the full article at
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This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with language
Three of a kind: Revealing language’s universal essence
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- On the surface, English, Japanese, and Kinande, a member of the Bantu family of languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have little in common. It is not just that the vocabularies ...
Finding more in 'most': Scientific study of an everyday word
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 19, 2009 |
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William Shakespeare, who knew a thing or two about words, advised that "An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told." But the exact meaning of plain language isn't always easy to find. Even simple words like "most" and ...
Emulating Western lifestyles: Consumption and carbon footprints in less industrialized countries
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 18, 2009 |
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In recent decades, a new global middle class has exploded, with a total population exceeding one billion people. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research explores the consumption attitudes of some of these members of the ...
Right-handed chimpanzees provide clues to the origin of human language
Nov 16, 2009 |
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Most of the linguistic functions in humans are controlled by the left cerebral hemisphere. A study of captive chimpanzees at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center (Atlanta, Georgia), reported in the January 2010 issue ...
Egypt applies for first Arabic domain name
Nov 16, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Egypt's technology minister says the country has applied to register an all-Arabic domain name.
Google Go gets going (w/ Video)
Nov 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Google has introduced its new experimental programming language Go, which aims to combine speedy application development through simplified coding with high-speed program execution.
Foreign subtitles improve speech perception
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 11, 2009 |
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Do you speak English as a second language well, but still have trouble understanding movies with unfamiliar accents, such as Brad Pitt's southern accent in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds? In a new study, published ...
Experts offer strategies for working with immigrant victims of violence (w/ Video)
Nov 10, 2009 |
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Last year, the United States provided asylum and resettlement assistance for nearly 80,700 people from other countries, an increase from 71,300 individuals in 2007, according to the U.S. Committee for Refugees ...
Words, gestures are translated by same brain regions, says new research
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Your ability to make sense of Groucho's words and Harpo's pantomimes in an old Marx Brothers movie takes place in the same regions of your brain, says new research funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication ...
Language support in schools vital for children with autism
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Teachers and parents must be vigilant in observing difficulties with language comprehension, reading and spelling in children and young people with autism, Asperger's syndrome and ADHD.
Babies' language learning starts from the womb
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- From their very first days, newborns' cries already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, reveals a new study published online on November 5th in Current Biology, a Cell Press ...
Baby Einstein Controversy: Professor Offers Healthy Language Learning Alternatives for Young Children
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Baby Einstein videos have become a staple in many American households until recently when the Walt Disney Company decided to refund the product, acknowledging that these ever-popular videos were not intended ...
What is unique in the brain of an Arabic speaker?
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 04, 2009 |
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Literary Arabic is expressed in the brain of an Arabic speaker as a second language and not as a native language. This has been shown in a new study by Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim of the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the ...
Babble Of Baby Reveals Language Skills
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Children have a remarkable ability to learn new languages. As little as five hours of exposure to a second language is enough to help infants incorporate characteristics of that language into their babbling ...
Multilingual web address system approved
Oct 30, 2009 |
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The nonprofit body that oversees Internet addresses approved Friday the use of Hebrew, Hindi, Korean and other scripts not based on Latin characters in a decision that could make the Web dramatically more ...
