Definition:
A human system of communication that uses arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols. The study of language is called linguistics. See also:
- What Is Language?
- Speech
- Writing
- Language Family
- Metalanguage
- Natural Language
- Common Myths About Language
Etymology:
From the Latin, "tongue, language"Observations:
- "Would I had phrases that are not known, utterances that are strange, in new language that has not been used, free from repetition, not an utterance which has grown stale, which men of old have spoken."
(ancient Egyptian inscription) - "Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground."
(Walt Whitman) - "A language can be compared to a sheet of paper. Thought is one side of the sheet and sound the reverse side. Just as it is impossible to take a pair of scissors and cut one side of the paper without at the same time cutting the other, so it is impossible in a language to isolate sound from thought, or thought from sound."
(French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure) - "Language is the mother of thought, not its handmaiden."
(Karl Kraus) - "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."
(Ludwig Wittgenstein) - "But behavior in the human being is sometimes a defense, a way of concealing motives and thoughts, as language can be a way of hiding your thoughts and preventing communication."
(Abraham Maslow) - "All words, in every language, are metaphors."
(Marshall McLuhan) - "By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth."
(George Carlin) - "We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives."
(Toni Morrison)
Pronunciation: LANG-gwij
