A system of symbols developed to communticate ideas between intelligent entities.
Natural languages are used (so far as we know) only by humans, but computers are starting to be able to understand them, albeit imperfectly.
Formal languages, such as programming languages are created to express ideas in a more rigid, but also less ambiguous way. They are used in Mathematics, Computer Science and many other scientific disciplines.
Terence McKenna thinks that language will soon evolve into visible language. Maybe as soon as December 21, 2012.
I am both the omnipotent wielder of this power and the leaf fluttering tenuously under the barrage of its currents. Because the possibility inherent in this discrete combinatorial system--phonemes, listemes, words, sentences, and ever larger structures, from paragraphs and pages to books and treatises--is limitless, that created by those who use it, too, is limitless. As a user of words, I can express any idea, whether witnessed or imaginary, to as extensive a detail as I wish. I can make anything happen. To someone like me (okay, I'm not so great at sports or lifting heavy things and opening the tops of jars) this ability is a treasure. To realize that I can bend and shape the current of energy to express whatever I want is like winning the lottery. Suddenly, I am able.
Yet, at the same time, being open to the phenomenon of language, whether it is instinct or acquired knowledge or both, as it most likely is, means not only that I can effect changes with the combinations I create but that I can be affected by the combinations of words that others create, sometimes profoundly. It is a sort of danger of being short-circuited. A hurtful phrase, a mesmerizing book, a catchy lyric: all of these can, in a sense, disrupt my ability to function. A well-constructed phrase is a joy, enjoyed both by the organic side of me, who appreciates its aesthetic attributes and by the intellectual side, who admires its logical structure, but I can be so caught up in it, in the rhythms and cadences of someone else's use of syntax and sound, that I am paralyzed; I cannot free myself to string together my own words.
In the end, it is a matter of choice. I may choose to be open to this uniquely human mode of communication, complete with benefits and risks, or I may choose to bury my head, read little, write less. It is just like the very basic gift of existence. I have found that I can step out the door most mornings and, in the distance between my dorm and the main building of the school, be so bombarded with sensory stimulation that I am overwhelmed; the wildly improbable has happened, life thrives, and I am here to make sense of it all.
Linguists often say, attributing the idea to Max Weinreich, that the difference is that
a language is a dialect with its own army and navy.
Of course, this would exclude many landlocked languages from the definition. On a less literal level, however, it rings true. Nationalism can contribute strongly to a sense of linguistic identity.
SOURCE: Suzette Haden Elgin, "The Language Imperative"
Groups:
Languages:
Other:
1. Chinese, (Mandarin)
Spoken in Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand Spoken by 885 million people
Spoken in Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand
Spoken by 885 million people
2. Spanish
Spoken in Andorra, Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, United States,Venezuela Spoken by 332 million people
Spoken in Andorra, Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, United States,Venezuela
Spoken by 332 million people
3. English
Spoken in Australia, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Guyana, India, Ireland, Israel, Lesotho, Liberia, Malaysia, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Suriname, Swaziland, Tonga, United Kingdom, United states, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe Spoken by 322 million people.
Spoken in Australia, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Guyana, India, Ireland, Israel, Lesotho, Liberia, Malaysia, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Suriname, Swaziland, Tonga, United Kingdom, United states, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe
Spoken by 322 million people.
4. Bengali
Spoken in Bangladesh, India, Singapore Spoken by 189 million people
Spoken in Bangladesh, India, Singapore
Spoken by 189 million people
5. Hindi
Spoken in India, Nepal, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda Spoken by 182 million people
Spoken in India, Nepal, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda
Spoken by 182 million people
6. Portuguese
Spoken in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, France, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal Spoken by 170 million people
Spoken in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, France, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal
Spoken by 170 million people
7. Russian
Spoken in China, Israel,
