1 : language
2 : Human languages
2.1 : Linguistics
2.2 : Language taxonomy
2.3 : Constructed languages
3 : Non-human animal language
4 : Formal languages
5 : Information about language on wikipedia
6 : See also
7 : External links
Language is a system of gestures, grammar, signs, sounds, symbols, and words which are used to represent and communicate concepts, ideas, meanings, and thoughts; language is a "semantic code". The study of language is linguistics, an academic discipline founded by Ferdinand de Saussure. Those who speak a language are part of that language's linguistic community.
Human languages
Making a principled distinction between one human language and another is often not possible. One major issue is the dialect continuum phenomena, where the boundaries between named language groups are necessarily arbitrary. For instance, there are dialects of German very similar to Dutch which are not mutually intelligible with other dialects of (what we call) German.
Note that there are parallels to biology, where it is not always possible to make a principled distinction between one species and the next. In either case (at least given the standard view on the evolution of the species), the ultimate difficulty stems from both languages and species descending from one another, with modification. (See dialect or August Schleicher for a longer discussion.)
The concepts of Ausbausprache, Abstandsprache, and Dachsprache are used to make finer distinctions about the degree of difference between languages or dialects.
Linguistics
Main article: Linguistics
Linguistics examines different theoretical perspectives on human language in detail. The ''Linguistics-article is perhaps becoming Wikipedia's most useful introductory article about language.
Language taxonomy
Main article: Language families and languages
The world languages can be grouped into families, of languages which have close interconnections. Major groups are the Indo-European languages, the Afro-Asiatic languages and the Sino-Tibetan languages
Constructed languages
Main article: Constructed language
One of the most prominent artificial languages called Esperanto was created by L. L. Zamenhof. It is a compilation of various elements of different languages with the goal of being an easy to learn language.
Some linguists, such as J.R.R. Tolkien, have created fantasy languages, often for literary purposes. One of his languages is called Quenya, which is a form of Elvish. It includes its own alphabet and pronunciations in addition to being able to be spoken by humans.
Non-human animal language
Main article: Non-Human Animal Language ''
While the term "Non-Human Animal Languages" is widely used, most researchers agree that they are not as complex or expressive as the human language. They argue that there are significant differences separating human language from animal communication even at its most complex, and that the underlying principles are not related.
Other researchers argue that an evolutionary continuum exists between the communication methods these animals use and human language. Everybody agrees that human language is more complex than communication between animals. For more on communication among non-human animals, see The
Formal languages
Main article: Formal languages
Mathematics and computer science use artificial entities called formal languages (including programming languages), which may or may not count as "true" languages. Formal languages are simply sets of valid strings, generally produced by a relatively simple formal grammar.
Information about language on wikipedia
See also
External links
- Mark provides a useful listing of 4000 languages and dialects (grouped by their relationships), where the numbers one to ten in each language can be found
- Museum
- The Ethnologue, a catalog of the world's languages
- LingoTeach,
- Animal
- Distribution
- Speech
- a provides many kinds of bird songs
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