Aamen Mostafa 5RI 12/12/2013

Does Language Play Roles of Equal Importance in Different Areas of Knowledge?

The importance of language in different areas of knowledge such as Science,
Math, History, Art, Culture and Religion differs, but language is always present in
any area of knowledge. Language is a tool that no area of knowledge can forgo or
replace completely. History for example depends greatly on language unlike
mathematics where language isnt of great importance but is definitely existent.

Language plays a very small role in mathematics. This is because unlike
history and science, mathematics is made up of proven facts as it involves dealing
with values and formulas that are very hard to question. In no way does this mean that
language doesnt play a role in mathematics, in fact language plays an important role
in the understanding and describing many areas of mathematics. Many philosophers
argue that mathematics itself is a global language and an important tool of
communication of knowledge. An example that represents the importance of language
in mathematics is the Pirah tribe (a group of hunter-gatherers located in the
Amazon) of Brazil. In their language they only count to the number two and
anything larger is referred to as many, but this doesnt mean that they cant deal
with anything that involves more than two. For example when they go fishing they
usually catch one fish for every tribe member, which is a number greater than two,
although they dont have a word to represent the amount of tribe members and the
amount of fish they are to catch, they still are able to catch the exact amount of fish
they need. This shows us that mathematics doesnt always need to depend on
language but more so on common sense.

An area of knowledge such as history is very dependent on language, as
language makes up a very large portion of history. History, I think is very hard to
prove to be completely reliable and true, as it is often based on evidence and
reasoning that is usually biased and or incorrect. Another important aspect of history
is the view and opinions of historians who are often biased as well, but use their
power of language, communication and persuasion to prove the historians point of
view and refute other opinions.


Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable,
and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. George Orwell

Politics is an important part of history and is the reason for many historical and
modern day conflicts. This quote perfectly explains my point, of how history and
politics are very dependent on language.

Art is an area of knowledge where language plays a large and a very important
role. Although art is a very broad area of knowledge ranging from music and poetry
to paintings and sculptures, language still plays a role in all areas of art. Color is an
important aspect of life and art that all languages share, but color does not affect all
languages equally. In some languages such as English the color blue can refer to
many different shades of blue such as light and dark blue, but in languages such as
Arabic the color blue Azrak has very different names for different shades of blue,
for example there is more than one shade of light blue in the Arabic language;
Samawi which is a very light shade of blue and Labani which is a slightly darker
shade of light blue. I believe that this causes those who speak Arabic fluently and or
as their first language to be more sensitive and selective when dealing with colors. Art
is very dependent on language especially when it comes to poetry, as poetry is simply
language put together by the poet to create an image in the audiences mind that
differs depending on how they interpret the language of the poem, To have great
poets, there must be great audiences Walt Whitman.
To summarize this point, language does play a great and important role when it comes
to Art.

Culture and Religion play a very important role in the daily lives of most
people and is the area of knowledge that I believe language has the greatest
importance and impact on. Language has an exceptional impact on Religion, as it is
how most Religions are practiced, taught and preached. In some Religions such as
Islam, those who do not speak the language of the religion may find it more
challenging to practice and follow than someone who speaks the language fluently,
thats why most of the followers of any Religion speak the original language the
Religion was created in or at least are able to understand it. Language also has a
significant impact on Culture and Culture also impacts language. Language is
Aamen Mostafa 5RI 12/12/2013
important to Culture as it expresses various aspects of it such as historical events,
poetry, Religion and traditions of the culture through literature. Culture also can
impact language, for example Arab countries have developed many words as part of
the Arabic language that all mean Desert or Sahara such as Al-Baeda and Al-
Mafaza due to the climate of the area and how often people that live in the area have
to deal with the desert in one way or another. This makes me believe that people
shape their language to suit their culture depending on the cultures aspects and
surroundings. This shows that language plays an exceptional role of importance in
Culture and Religion.

To be able to prove that language plays an equal role of importance in
different areas of knowledge, we would have to consider several areas of knowledge
and compare the role language plays in each one of them. The role language plays in
an area of knowledge such as mathematics is of minimal importance compared to
areas of knowledge such as History, Art, Culture and Religion where language plays a
role of great importance. This brings me to my final point;
Language does not play roles of equal importance in different areas of
knowledge, but rather plays different roles of importance depending on the area of
knowledge. Nevertheless language is a vital tool of thought and communication,
existent in all areas of knowledge.