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
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with language
2009: the Year of Twitter
Nov 30, 2009 |
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The year has not yet ended but Microsoft says "Twitter" was among the top searches of 2009 on its new search engine Bing and a company which monitors language has crowned it the top word of the year.
Early intervention for toddlers with autism highly effective, study finds
Nov 30, 2009 |
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A novel early intervention program for very young children with autism - some as young as 18 months - is effective for improving IQ, language ability, and social interaction, a comprehensive new study has found.
Taking the drudgery out of software development
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Software developers will no longer have to reinvent the wheel when writing new programs and applications thanks to a clever new set of tools and a central repository of 'building blocks'.
Search results for language
Psychologists suggest parents should wait to teach toddlers self-control
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
5 hours ago |
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Toddlers are distractible. Their minds flit constantly here and there, and they have a terrible time concentrating on even the most stimulating project. They might be fascinated by a colorful new toy, but only until the next ...
Report claims Wikipedia losing editors in droves
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The findings of a Spanish study claiming that Wikipedia's editors are leaving at an alarming rate have been refuted by the Wikimedia Foundation and by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales.
Crime scene measurements can be taken from a single image
Technology / Computer Sciences
7 hours ago |
3 / 5 (1) |
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Two researchers from the University of Salamanca have developed a procedure to enable forensic police to extract metric data from crime scenes using just a single photograph. Their proposal, published this ...
Most top medical journals have conflict of interest policies available for public review
Nov 24, 2009 |
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Nearly 90 percent of medical journals with relatively high impact factors have policies addressing author conflict of interest (COI) available for public review, according to a report in the November 25 issue of JAMA. But ma ...
White House rhetoric is important in forming foreign policy opinions
7 hours ago |
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Surveys have shown that the public pays little attention to foreign policy, but politicians regularly cite the importance of public support for military actions overseas. Now, a new study has found that these ...
Study: Race, class and gender shape religion's effect on American voters
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- How Americans vote is strongly linked to their religious identities, but it is not an independent influence that transcends race, socio-economic class and gender, reports a new Cornell study.
World Newspaper Congress opens in India
7 hours ago |
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(AP) -- Newspaper executives and editors gathered in India from around the world Tuesday heard calls to seek more payment for their content on the Internet as they decried their industry's sharply falling ...
Explained: The Discrete Fourier Transform
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1811, Joseph Fourier, the 43-year-old prefect of the French district of Isčre, entered a competition in heat research sponsored by the French Academy of Sciences. The paper he submitted ...
Semantic research sets world standards
Technology / Computer Sciences
Nov 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- European researchers have created new tools for semantic technology development which are helping to set the next generation of official standards. The tools also unblock some key bottlenecks ...
Comatose for 23 years, Belgian feels reborn
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Helped by a therapist, Rom Houben's outstretched finger tapped with surprising speed on a computer touchscreen, spelling out how he felt "alone, lonely, frustrated" in the 23 years he was trapped ...
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