Editing Language (section)

{{short description|Structured system of communication}}
{{about|human language in general}}
{{redirect|Spoken words|the album by Indecent Obsession|Spoken Words (album){{!}}''Spoken Words'' (album)}}
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| image1 = Tepantitla mural, Ballplayer A (Daquella manera).jpg
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| caption1 = A mural in [[Teotihuacan]], Mexico ({{Circa|2nd}} century) depicting a person emitting a [[speech scroll]] from his mouth, symbolizing speech
| image2 = Cuneiform tablet of merchant's goods, Ur III Period, c. 2100-2000 BC - Harvard Semitic Museum - Cambridge, MA - DSC06143.jpg
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| caption2 = [[Cuneiform]] is the first known form of [[written language]], but [[spoken language]] predates writing by at least many tens of thousands of years.
| image3 = Girls learning sign language.jpg
| caption3 = [[Child of deaf adult|Children of deaf adults]] using [[American Sign Language]]
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| caption4 = [[Braille]], a tactile [[writing system]]
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'''Language''' is a structured system of [[communication]] that consists of [[grammar]] and [[vocabulary]]. It is the primary means by which [[human]]s convey meaning, both in spoken and [[signed language|signed]] forms, and may also be conveyed through [[writing system|writing]]. Human language is characterized by its cultural and historical diversity, with significant variations observed between cultures and across time.<ref name="Evans" /> Human languages possess the properties of [[Productivity (linguistics)|productivity]] and [[Displacement (linguistics)|displacement]], 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 on [[social convention]] and is acquired through [[learning]].

Estimates of the number of human languages in the world vary between {{formatnum:5000}} and {{formatnum:7000}}. Precise estimates depend on an arbitrary distinction (dichotomy) established between languages and [[dialect]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kamusella |first1=Tomasz |author-link=Tomasz Kamusella |date=2016 |title=The History of the Normative Opposition of 'Language versus Dialect': From Its Graeco-Latin Origin to Central Europe's Ethnolinguistic Nation-States |journal=Colloquia Humanistica |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=189–198 |doi=10.11649/ch.2016.011 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Natural language]]s are [[speech|spoken]], signed, or both; however, any language can be [[Encoding (semiotics)|encoded]] into secondary media using auditory, visual, or tactile [[stimulus (physiology)|stimuli]]&nbsp;– for example, writing, whistling, signing, or [[braille]]. In other words, human language is [[Modality (semiotics)|modality]]-independent, but written or signed language is the way to inscribe or encode the natural human speech or gestures.

Depending on [[philosophy of language|philosophical 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 of [[semiosis]] to relate [[Sign (linguistics)|signs]] to particular [[Meaning (linguistics)|meanings]]. Oral, manual and tactile languages contain a [[phonology|phonological]] system that governs how symbols are used to form sequences known as words or [[morpheme]]s, and a [[syntax|syntactic]] system that governs how words and morphemes are combined to form phrases and utterances.

The scientific study of language is called [[linguistics]]. Critical examinations of languages, such as philosophy of language, the relationships between [[language and thought]], how words represent experience, etc., have been debated at least since [[Gorgias]] and [[Plato]] in [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek civilization]]. Thinkers such as [[Rousseau|Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] (1712–1778) have argued that language originated from emotions, while others like [[Immanuel Kant]] (1724–1804) have argued that languages originated from rational and logical thought. Twentieth century philosophers such as [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] (1889–1951) argued that philosophy is really the study of language itself. Major figures in contemporary linguistics include [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] and [[Noam Chomsky]].

Language is thought to have gradually diverged from earlier primate communication systems when early [[hominin]]s acquired the ability to form a [[theory of mind]] and shared [[intentionality]].<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Tomasello|1996}}</ref><ref name="Hauser 2002">{{harvcoltxt|Hauser|Chomsky|Fitch|2002}}</ref> This development is sometimes thought to have coincided with an increase in brain volume, and many linguists see the structures of language as having evolved to serve specific communicative and social functions. Language is processed in many different locations in the [[human brain]], but especially in [[Broca's area|Broca's]] and [[Wernicke's area]]s. Humans [[language acquisition|acquire]] language through social interaction in early childhood, and children generally speak fluently by approximately three years old. Language and culture are codependent. Therefore, in addition to its strictly communicative uses, language has social uses such as signifying group [[Identity (social science)|identity]], [[social stratification]], as well as use for [[social grooming]] and [[entertainment]].

Languages [[language change|evolve]] and diversify over time, and the history of their evolution can be [[historical linguistics|reconstructed]] by [[Comparative method (linguistics)|comparing]] modern languages to determine which traits their ancestral languages must have had in order for the later developmental stages to occur. A group of languages that descend from a common ancestor is known as a [[language family]]; in contrast, a language that has been demonstrated not to have any living or non-living [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|relationship]] with another language is called a [[language isolate]]. There are also many [[unclassified language]]s whose relationships have not been established, and [[spurious language]]s may have not existed at all. Academic consensus holds that between 50% and 90% of languages spoken at the beginning of the 21st century will probably have become [[Language death|extinct]] by the year 2100.<ref name="Moseley"/><ref name="Handbook"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Graddol|first=David|date=2004-02-27|title=The Future of Language|journal=Science|volume=303|issue=5662|pages=1329–1331|doi=10.1126/science.1096546|pmid=14988552|bibcode=2004Sci...303.1329G|s2cid=35904484|issn=0036-8075}}</ref>