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
IBM Researchers Lower Language Barrier With Text Translator
Technology / Computer Sciences
Nov 23, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
0
IBM Researchers are helping to break the language barrier with the advent of technology dubbed "n.Fluent" -- smart software that translates text between English and 11 other languages. IBM employees use it to instantaneously ...
Taking the drudgery out of software development
Nov 24, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (15) |
15
(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'.
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Donate your text messages to science: Texto4Science project
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 23, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
A Université de Montréal researcher has a special request for Canadian texters: "Everyone young and old, students and workers, artists and business people, no matter who you are, send me your text messages," ...
Measured -- The time it takes us to find the words we need
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 23, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (7) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- The time it takes for our brains to search for and retrieve the word we want to say has been measured for the first time. The discovery is reported in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Ac ...
Most top medical journals have conflict of interest policies available for public review
Nov 24, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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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 ...
Google buying display ad startup Teracent
Nov 23, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
Google is acquiring Web display advertising startup Teracent, the Internet giant announced on Monday.
Study: kids watching hours of TV at home daycare
Nov 23, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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In a new study, the amount of television viewed by many young children in child care settings doubles the previous estimates of early childhood screen time, with those in home-based settings watching significantly more on ...
Study: Race, class and gender shape religion's effect on American voters
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 25, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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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.
Scientist: Leak of climate e-mails appalling
Nov 23, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (21) |
27
(AP) -- A leading climate change scientist whose private e-mails are included in thousands of documents that were stolen by hackers and posted online said Sunday the leaks may have been aimed at undermining next month's ...
Mammogram guidelines spark debate over health bill
Nov 23, 2009 |
not rated yet |
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(AP) -- Lawmakers broke along party lines on a new aspect of the health care debate Sunday as a former National Institutes of Health chief urged women to ignore guidelines that delay the start of breast cancer screenings.
Explained: The Discrete Fourier Transform
Nov 25, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (31) |
8
(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 |
3.4 / 5 (5) |
1
(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 ...
List of search results for language
