Language - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

11/03/2016
LanguageWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
Language
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
Languageistheabilitytoacquireandusecomplexsystemsofcommunication,particularlythehuman
abilitytodoso,andalanguageisanyspecificexampleofsuchasystem.Thescientificstudyof
languageiscalledlinguistics.
Questionsconcerningthephilosophyoflanguage,suchaswhetherwordscanrepresentexperience,have
beendebatedsinceGorgiasandPlatoinAncientGreece.ThinkerssuchasRousseauhavearguedthat
languageoriginatedfromemotionswhileotherslikeKanthaveheldthatitoriginatedfromrationaland
logicalthought.20thcenturyphilosopherssuchasWittgensteinarguedthatphilosophyisreallythe
studyoflanguage.MajorfiguresinlinguisticsincludeFerdinanddeSaussureandNoamChomsky.
Estimatesofthenumberoflanguagesintheworldvarybetween5,000and7,000.However,anyprecise
estimatedependsonapartlyarbitrarydistinctionbetweenlanguagesanddialects.Naturallanguagesare
spokenorsigned,butanylanguagecanbeencodedintosecondarymediausingauditory,visual,or
tactilestimuliforexample,ingraphicwriting,braille,orwhistling.Thisisbecausehumanlanguageis
modalityindependent.Dependingonphilosophicalperspectivesregardingthedefinitionoflanguage
andmeaning,whenusedasageneralconcept,"language"mayrefertothecognitiveabilitytolearnand
usesystemsofcomplexcommunication,ortodescribethesetofrulesthatmakesupthesesystems,or
thesetofutterancesthatcanbeproducedfromthoserules.Alllanguagesrelyontheprocessofsemiosis
torelatesignstoparticularmeanings.Oralandsignlanguagescontainaphonologicalsystemthat
governshowsymbolsareusedtoformsequencesknownaswordsormorphemes,andasyntacticsystem
thatgovernshowwordsandmorphemesarecombinedtoformphrasesandutterances.
Humanlanguagehasthepropertiesofproductivity,recursivity,anddisplacement,andreliesentirelyon
socialconventionandlearning.Itscomplexstructureaffordsamuchwiderrangeofexpressionsthan
anyknownsystemofanimalcommunication.Languageisthoughttohaveoriginatedwhenearly
homininsstartedgraduallychangingtheirprimatecommunicationsystems,acquiringtheabilitytoform
atheoryofothermindsandasharedintentionality.[1][2]Thisdevelopmentissometimesthoughttohave
coincidedwithanincreaseinbrainvolume,andmanylinguistsseethestructuresoflanguageashaving
evolvedtoservespecificcommunicativeandsocialfunctions.Languageisprocessedinmanydifferent
locationsinthehumanbrain,butespeciallyinBroca'sandWernicke'sareas.Humansacquirelanguage
throughsocialinteractioninearlychildhood,andchildrengenerallyspeakfluentlywhentheyare
approximatelythreeyearsold.Theuseoflanguageisdeeplyentrenchedinhumanculture.Therefore,in
additiontoitsstrictlycommunicativeuses,languagealsohasmanysocialandculturaluses,suchas
signifyinggroupidentity,socialstratification,aswellassocialgroomingandentertainment.
Languagesevolveanddiversifyovertime,andthehistoryoftheirevolutioncanbereconstructedby
comparingmodernlanguagestodeterminewhichtraitstheirancestrallanguagesmusthavehadinorder
forthelaterdevelopmentalstagestooccur.Agroupoflanguagesthatdescendfromacommonancestor
isknownasalanguagefamily.TheIndoEuropeanfamilyisthemostwidelyspokenandincludes
languagessuchasEnglish,Russian,andHinditheSinoTibetanfamily,whichincludesMandarinand
theotherChineselanguages,andTibetantheAfroAsiaticfamily,whichincludesArabic,Somali,and
HebrewtheBantulanguages,whichincludeSwahili,andZulu,andhundredsofotherlanguagesspoken
throughoutAfricaandtheMalayoPolynesianlanguages,whichincludeIndonesian,Malay,Tagalog,
andhundredsofotherlanguagesspokenthroughoutthePacific.ThelanguagesoftheDravidianfamily
thatarespokenmostlyinSouthernIndiaincludeTamilandTelugu.Academicconsensusholdsthat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language
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between50%and90%oflanguagesspokenatthebeginningof
the21stcenturywillprobablyhavebecomeextinctbytheyear
2100.
Contents
1 Definitions
1.1 Mentalfaculty,organorinstinct
1.2 Formalsymbolicsystem
AmuralinTeotihuacan,Mexico
(c.2ndcentury)depictingaperson
emittingaspeechscrollfromhis
mouth,symbolizingspeech
1.3 Toolforcommunication
1.4 Uniquestatusofhumanlanguage
2 Origin
3 Thestudyoflanguage
3.1 Subdisciplines
3.2 Earlyhistory
3.3 Contemporarylinguistics
4 Physiologicalandneuralarchitectureoflanguageand
speech
4.1 Thebrainandlanguage
4.2 Anatomyofspeech
5 Structure
5.1 Semantics
Cuneiformisthefirstknownformof
writtenlanguage,butspoken
languagepredateswritingbyatleast
tensofthousandsofyears.
5.2 Soundsandsymbols
5.3 Grammar
5.3.1 Grammaticalcategories
5.3.2 Wordclasses
5.3.3 Morphology
5.3.4 Syntax
TwogirlslearningAmericanSign
Language
5.4 Typologyanduniversals
6 Socialcontextsofuseandtransmission
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6 Socialcontextsofuseandtransmission
6.1 Usageandmeaning
6.2 Languageacquisition
6.3 Languageandculture
6.4 Writing,literacyandtechnology
6.5 Languagechange
Braillewritingrepresentslanguagein
atactileform.
6.6 Languagecontact
7 Linguisticdiversity
7.1 Languagesanddialects
7.2 Languagefamiliesoftheworld
7.3 Languageendangerment
EncyclopediaofLanguageand
Linguistics
8 Seealso
9 Notes
9.1 Commentarynotes
9.2 Citations
10 Workscited
11 Externallinks
Definitions
TheEnglishwordlanguagederivesultimatelyfromProtoIndoEuropean*dn
whs"tongue,speech,
language"throughLatinlingua,"languagetongue",andOldFrenchlanguage.[3]Thewordis
sometimesusedtorefertocodes,ciphers,andotherkindsofartificiallyconstructedcommunication
systemssuchasformallydefinedcomputerlanguagesusedforcomputerprogramming.Unlike
conventionalhumanlanguages,aformallanguageinthissenseisasystemofsignsforencodingand
decodinginformation.Thisarticlespecificallyconcernsthepropertiesofnaturalhumanlanguageasitis
studiedinthedisciplineoflinguistics.
Asanobjectoflinguisticstudy,"language"hastwoprimarymeanings:anabstractconcept,anda
specificlinguisticsystem,e.g."French".TheSwisslinguistFerdinanddeSaussure,whodefinedthe
moderndisciplineoflinguistics,firstexplicitlyformulatedthedistinctionusingtheFrenchwordlangage
forlanguageasaconcept,langueasaspecificinstanceofalanguagesystem,andparolefortheconcrete
usageofspeechinaparticularlanguage.[4]
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Whenspeakingoflanguageasageneralconcept,definitionscanbeusedwhichstressdifferentaspects
ofthephenomenon.[5]Thesedefinitionsalsoentaildifferentapproachesandunderstandingsoflanguage,
andtheyinformdifferentandoftenincompatibleschoolsoflinguistictheory.[6]Debatesaboutthenature
andoriginoflanguagegobacktotheancientworld.GreekphilosopherssuchasGorgiasandPlato
debatedtherelationbetweenwords,conceptsandreality.Gorgiasarguedthatlanguagecouldrepresent
neithertheobjectiveexperiencenorhumanexperience,andthatcommunicationandtruthweretherefore
impossible.Platomaintainedthatcommunicationispossiblebecauselanguagerepresentsideasand
conceptsthatexistindependentlyof,andpriorto,language.[7]
DuringtheEnlightenmentanditsdebatesabouthumanorigins,itbecamefashionabletospeculateabout
theoriginoflanguage.ThinkerssuchasRousseauandHerderarguedthatlanguagehadoriginatedinthe
instinctiveexpressionofemotions,andthatitwasoriginallyclosertomusicandpoetrythantothe
logicalexpressionofrationalthought.RationalistphilosopherssuchasKantandDescartesheldthe
oppositeview.Aroundtheturnofthe20thcentury,thinkersbegantowonderabouttheroleoflanguage
inshapingourexperiencesoftheworldaskingwhetherlanguagesimplyreflectstheobjective
structureoftheworld,orwhetheritcreatesconceptsthatitinturnimposesonourexperienceofthe
objectiveworld.Thisledtothequestionofwhetherphilosophicalproblemsarereallyfirstlylinguistic
problems.Theresurgenceoftheviewthatlanguageplaysasignificantroleinthecreationand
circulationofconcepts,andthatthestudyofphilosophyisessentiallythestudyoflanguage,is
associatedwithwhathasbeencalledthelinguisticturnandphilosopherssuchasWittgensteinin20th
centuryphilosophy.Thesedebatesaboutlanguageinrelationtomeaningandreference,cognitionand
consciousnessremainactivetoday.[8]
Mentalfaculty,organorinstinct
Onedefinitionseeslanguageprimarilyasthementalfacultythatallowshumanstoundertakelinguistic
behaviour:tolearnlanguagesandtoproduceandunderstandutterances.Thisdefinitionstressesthe
universalityoflanguagetoallhumans,anditemphasizesthebiologicalbasisforthehumancapacityfor
languageasauniquedevelopmentofthehumanbrain.Proponentsoftheviewthatthedrivetolanguage
acquisitionisinnateinhumansarguethatthisissupportedbythefactthatallcognitivelynormal
childrenraisedinanenvironmentwherelanguageisaccessiblewillacquirelanguagewithoutformal
instruction.Languagesmayevendevelopspontaneouslyinenvironmentswherepeopleliveorgrowup
togetherwithoutacommonlanguageforexample,creolelanguagesandspontaneouslydevelopedsign
languagessuchasNicaraguanSignLanguage.Thisview,whichcanbetracedbacktothephilosophers
KantandDescartes,understandslanguagetobelargelyinnate,forexample,inChomsky'stheoryof
UniversalGrammar,orAmericanphilosopherJerryFodor'sextremeinnatisttheory.Thesekindsof
definitionsareoftenappliedinstudiesoflanguagewithinacognitivescienceframeworkandin
neurolinguistics.[9][10]
Formalsymbolicsystem
Anotherdefinitionseeslanguageasaformalsystemofsignsgovernedbygrammaticalrulesof
combinationtocommunicatemeaning.Thisdefinitionstressesthathumanlanguagescanbedescribedas
closedstructuralsystemsconsistingofrulesthatrelateparticularsignstoparticularmeanings.[11]This
structuralistviewoflanguagewasfirstintroducedbyFerdinanddeSaussure,[12]andhisstructuralism
remainsfoundationalformanyapproachestolanguage.[13]
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SomeproponentsofSaussure'sviewoflanguagehaveadvocatedaformalapproachwhichstudies
languagestructurebyidentifyingitsbasicelementsandthenbypresentingaformalaccountoftherules
accordingtowhichtheelementscombineinordertoformwordsandsentences.Themainproponentof
suchatheoryisNoamChomsky,theoriginatorofthegenerativetheoryofgrammar,whohasdefined
languageastheconstructionofsentencesthatcanbegeneratedusingtransformationalgrammars.[14]
Chomskyconsiderstheserulestobeaninnatefeatureofthehumanmindandtoconstitutetherudiments
ofwhatlanguageis.[15]Bywayofcontrast,suchtransformationalgrammarsarealsocommonlyusedto
provideformaldefinitionsoflanguagearecommonlyusedinformallogic,informaltheoriesof
grammar,andinappliedcomputationallinguistics.[16][17]Inthephilosophyoflanguage,theviewof
linguisticmeaningasresidinginthelogicalrelationsbetweenpropositionsandrealitywasdevelopedby
philosopherssuchasAlfredTarski,BertrandRussell,andotherformallogicians.
Toolforcommunication
Yetanotherdefinitionseeslanguageasasystemof
communicationthatenableshumanstoexchangeverbalor
symbolicutterances.Thisdefinitionstressesthesocialfunctions
oflanguageandthefactthathumansuseittoexpressthemselves
andtomanipulateobjectsintheirenvironment.Functional
theoriesofgrammarexplaingrammaticalstructuresbytheir
communicativefunctions,andunderstandthegrammatical
structuresoflanguagetobetheresultofanadaptiveprocessby
whichgrammarwas"tailored"toservethecommunicativeneeds
ofitsusers.[18][19]
Twomenandawomanhavinga
conversationinAmericanSign
Language
Thisviewoflanguageisassociatedwiththestudyoflanguagein
pragmatic,cognitive,andinteractiveframeworks,aswellasin
sociolinguisticsandlinguisticanthropology.Functionalist
theoriestendtostudygrammarasdynamicphenomena,asstructuresthatarealwaysintheprocessof
changingastheyareemployedbytheirspeakers.Thisviewplacesimportanceonthestudyoflinguistic
typology,ortheclassificationoflanguagesaccordingtostructuralfeatures,asitcanbeshownthat
processesofgrammaticalizationtendtofollowtrajectoriesthatarepartlydependentontypology.[17]In
thephilosophyoflanguage,theviewofpragmaticsasbeingcentraltolanguageandmeaningisoften
associatedwithWittgenstein'slaterworksandwithordinarylanguagephilosopherssuchasJ.L.Austin,
PaulGrice,JohnSearle,andW.O.Quine.[20]
Uniquestatusofhumanlanguage
Humanlanguageisuniqueincomparisontootherformsofcommunication,suchasthoseusedbynon
humananimals.Communicationsystemsusedbyotheranimalssuchasbeesorapesareclosedsystems
thatconsistofafinite,usuallyverylimited,numberofpossibleideasthatcanbeexpressed.[21]
Incontrast,humanlanguageisopenendedandproductive,meaningthatitallowshumanstoproducea
vastrangeofutterancesfromafinitesetofelements,andtocreatenewwordsandsentences.Thisis
possiblebecausehumanlanguageisbasedonadualcode,inwhichafinitenumberofelementswhich
aremeaninglessinthemselves(e.g.sounds,lettersorgestures)canbecombinedtoformanalmost
infinitenumberoflargerunitsofmeaning(wordsandsentences).[22]Furthermore,thesymbolsand
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grammaticalrulesofanyparticularlanguagearelargelyarbitrary,sothatthesystemcanonlybe
acquiredthroughsocialinteraction.[23]Theknownsystemsofcommunicationusedbyanimals,onthe
otherhand,canonlyexpressafinitenumberofutterancesthataremostlygeneticallydetermined.[24]
Severalspeciesofanimalshaveprovedtobeabletoacquireformsofcommunicationthroughsocial
learning:forinstanceabonobonamedKanzilearnedtoexpressitselfusingasetofsymboliclexigrams.
Similarly,manyspeciesofbirdsandwhaleslearntheirsongsbyimitatingothermembersoftheir
species.However,whilesomeanimalsmayacquirelargenumbersofwordsandsymbols,[note1]none
havebeenabletolearnasmanydifferentsignsasaregenerallyknownbyanaverage4yearoldhuman,
norhaveanyacquiredanythingresemblingthecomplexgrammarofhumanlanguage.[25]
Humanlanguagesalsodifferfromanimalcommunicationsystemsinthattheyemploygrammaticaland
semanticcategories,suchasnounandverb,presentandpast,whichmaybeusedtoexpressexceedingly
complexmeanings.[25]Humanlanguageisalsouniqueinhavingthepropertyofrecursivity:for
example,anounphrasecancontainanothernounphrase(asin"[[thechimpanzee]'slips]")oraclause
cancontainanotherclause(asin"[Isee[thedogisrunning]]").[2]Humanlanguageisalsotheonly
knownnaturalcommunicationsystemwhoseadaptabilitymaybereferredtoasmodalityindependent.
Thismeansthatitcanbeusednotonlyforcommunicationthroughonechannelormedium,butthrough
several.Forexample,spokenlanguageusestheauditivemodality,whereassignlanguagesandwriting
usethevisualmodality,andbraillewritingusesthetactilemodality.[26]
Humanlanguageisalsouniqueinbeingabletorefertoabstractconceptsandtoimaginedor
hypotheticaleventsaswellaseventsthattookplaceinthepastormayhappeninthefuture.Thisability
torefertoeventsthatarenotatthesametimeorplaceasthespeecheventiscalleddisplacement,and
whilesomeanimalcommunicationsystemscanusedisplacement(suchasthecommunicationofbees
thatcancommunicatethelocationofsourcesofnectarthatareoutofsight),thedegreetowhichitis
usedinhumanlanguageisalsoconsideredunique.[22]
Origin
Theoriesabouttheoriginoflanguagedifferinregardtotheirbasicassumptionsaboutwhatlanguageis.
Sometheoriesarebasedontheideathatlanguageissocomplexthatonecannotimagineitsimply
appearingfromnothinginitsfinalform,butthatitmusthaveevolvedfromearlierprelinguisticsystems
amongourprehumanancestors.Thesetheoriescanbecalledcontinuitybasedtheories.Theopposite
viewpointisthatlanguageissuchauniquehumantraitthatitcannotbecomparedtoanythingfound
amongnonhumansandthatitmustthereforehaveappearedsuddenlyinthetransitionfrompre
hominidstoearlyman.Thesetheoriescanbedefinedasdiscontinuitybased.Similarly,theoriesbased
onChomsky'sgenerativeviewoflanguageseelanguagemostlyasaninnatefacultythatislargely
geneticallyencoded,whereasfunctionalisttheoriesseeitasasystemthatislargelycultural,learned
throughsocialinteraction.[28]
Theonlyprominentproponentofadiscontinuitybasedtheoryofhumanlanguageoriginsislinguistand
philosopherNoamChomsky.[28]Chomskyproposesthat"somerandommutationtookplace,maybe
aftersomestrangecosmicrayshower,anditreorganizedthebrain,implantingalanguageorganinan
otherwiseprimatebrain."[29]Thoughcautioningagainsttakingthisstorytooliterally,Chomskyinsists
that"itmaybeclosertorealitythanmanyotherfairytalesthataretoldaboutevolutionaryprocesses,
includinglanguage."[29]
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Continuitybasedtheoriesareheldbyamajorityofscholars,but
theyvaryinhowtheyenvisionthisdevelopment.Thosewhosee
languageasbeingmostlyinnate,forexamplepsychologist
StevenPinker,holdtheprecedentstobeanimalcognition,[10]
whereasthosewhoseelanguageasasociallylearnedtoolof
communication,suchaspsychologistMichaelTomasello,seeit
ashavingdevelopedfromanimalcommunicationinprimates:
eithergesturalorvocalcommunicationtoassistin
cooperation.[24]Othercontinuitybasedmodelsseelanguageas
havingdevelopedfrommusic,aviewalreadyespousedby
Rousseau,Herder,Humboldt,andCharlesDarwin.Aprominent
proponentofthisviewisarchaeologistStevenMithen.[30]
StephenAndersonstatesthattheageofspokenlanguagesis
estimatedat60,000to100,000years[31]andthat:
Researchersontheevolutionaryoriginoflanguage
generallyfinditplausibletosuggestthatlanguage
wasinventedonlyonce,andthatallmodernspoken
languagesarethusinsomewayrelated,evenifthat
relationcannolongerberecovered...becauseof
limitationsonthemethodsavailablefor
reconstruction.[32]
75,000to80,000yearoldartefacts
fromBlomboscave,SouthAfrica,
includingapieceofochreengraved
withdiagonalcrosshatchpatterns,
perhapstheoldestknownexampleof
symbols.
"TheTowerofBabel"byPieter
BruegeltheElder.Oilonboard,
1563.
Humanshavespeculatedaboutthe
originsoflanguagethroughout
history.TheBiblicalmythofthe
TowerofBabelisonesuchaccount
othercultureshavedifferentstoriesof
Becauselanguageemergedintheearlyprehistoryofman,before
theexistenceofanywrittenrecords,itsearlydevelopmenthas
leftnohistoricaltraces,anditisbelievedthatnocomparable
processescanbeobservedtoday.Theoriesthatstresscontinuity
oftenlookatanimalstoseeif,forexample,primatesdisplayany
traitsthatcanbeseenasanalogoustowhatprehumanlanguage
howlanguagearose. [27]
musthavebeenlike.Andearlyhumanfossilscanbeinspected
fortracesofphysicaladaptationtolanguageuseorprelinguistic
formsofsymbolicbehaviour.Amongthesignsinhumanfossils
thatmaysuggestlinguisticabilitiesarethesizeofthebrainrelativetobodymass,thepresenceofa
larynxcapableofadvancedsoundproductionandthenatureoftoolsandothermanufactured
artifacts.[33]
Itismostlyundisputedthatprehumanaustralopithecinesdidnothavecommunicationsystems
significantlydifferentfromthosefoundingreatapesingeneral,butscholarlyopinionsvaryastothe
developmentssincetheappearanceofthegenusHomosome2.5millionyearsago.Somescholars
assumethedevelopmentofprimitivelanguagelikesystems(protolanguage)asearlyasHomohabilis
(2.3millionyearsago)whileothersplacethedevelopmentofprimitivesymboliccommunicationonly
withHomoerectus(1.8millionyearsago)orHomoheidelbergensis(0.6millionyearsago),andthe
developmentoflanguageproperwithAnatomicallyModernHomosapienswiththeUpperPaleolithic
revolutionlessthan100,000yearsago.[34][35]
Thestudyoflanguage
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Thestudyoflanguage,linguistics,hasbeendevelopingintoascience
sincethefirstgrammaticaldescriptionsofparticularlanguagesinIndia
morethan2000yearsago,afterthedevelopmentoftheBrahmiscript.
Modernlinguisticsisasciencethatconcernsitselfwithallaspectsof
language,examiningitfromallofthetheoreticalviewpointsdescribed
above.[36]
Subdisciplines
Theacademicstudyoflanguageisconductedwithinmanydifferent
disciplinaryareasandfromdifferenttheoreticalangles,allofwhich
informmodernapproachestolinguistics.Forexample,descriptive
linguisticsexaminesthegrammarofsinglelanguages,theoretical
linguisticsdevelopstheoriesonhowbesttoconceptualizeanddefinethe
natureoflanguagebasedondatafromthevariousextanthuman
languages,sociolinguisticsstudieshowlanguagesareusedforsocial
purposesinforminginturnthestudyofthesocialfunctionsoflanguage
andgrammaticaldescription,neurolinguisticsstudieshowlanguageis
processedinthehumanbrainandallowstheexperimentaltestingof
theories,computationallinguisticsbuildsontheoreticalanddescriptive
linguisticstoconstructcomputationalmodelsoflanguageoftenaimedat
processingnaturallanguageorattestinglinguistichypotheses,and
historicallinguisticsreliesongrammaticalandlexicaldescriptionsof
languagestotracetheirindividualhistoriesandreconstructtreesof
languagefamiliesbyusingthecomparativemethod.[37]
WilliamJonesdiscoveredthe
familyrelationbetween
LatinandSanskrit,laying
thegroundforthediscipline
ofHistoricallinguistics.
Earlyhistory
TheformalstudyoflanguageisoftenconsideredtohavestartedinIndia
withPini,the5thcenturyBCgrammarianwhoformulated3,959rules
ofSanskritmorphology.However,Sumerianscribesalreadystudiedthe
differencesbetweenSumerianandAkkadiangrammararound1900BC.
Subsequentgrammaticaltraditionsdevelopedinalloftheancient
culturesthatadoptedwriting.[38]
FerdinanddeSaussure
developedthestructuralist
approachtostudying
language.
Inthe17thcenturyAD,theFrenchPortRoyalGrammariansdeveloped
theideathatthegrammarsofalllanguageswereareflectionofthe
universalbasicsofthought,andthereforethatgrammarwasuniversal.Inthe18thcentury,thefirstuse
ofthecomparativemethodbyBritishphilologistandexpertonancientIndiaWilliamJonessparkedthe
riseofcomparativelinguistics.[39]ThescientificstudyoflanguagewasbroadenedfromIndoEuropean
tolanguageingeneralbyWilhelmvonHumboldt.Earlyinthe20thcentury,FerdinanddeSaussure
introducedtheideaoflanguageasastaticsystemofinterconnectedunits,definedthroughthe
oppositionsbetweenthem.[12]
Byintroducingadistinctionbetweendiachronicandsynchronicanalysesoflanguage,helaidthe
foundationofthemoderndisciplineoflinguistics.Saussurealsointroducedseveralbasicdimensionsof
linguisticanalysisthatarestillfundamentalinmanycontemporarylinguistictheories,suchasthe
distinctionsbetweensyntagmandparadigm,andtheLangueparoledistinction,distinguishinglanguage
asanabstractsystem(langue),fromlanguageasaconcretemanifestationofthissystem(parole).[40]
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Contemporarylinguistics
Inthe1960s,NoamChomskyformulatedthegenerativetheoryof
language.Accordingtothistheory,themostbasicformoflanguageisa
setofsyntacticrulesthatisuniversalforallhumansandwhichunderlies
thegrammarsofallhumanlanguages.Thissetofrulesiscalled
UniversalGrammarforChomsky,describingitistheprimaryobjective
ofthedisciplineoflinguistics.Thus,heconsideredthatthegrammarsof
individuallanguagesareonlyofimportancetolinguisticsinsofarasthey
allowustodeducetheuniversalunderlyingrulesfromwhichthe
observablelinguisticvariabilityisgenerated.[41]
NoamChomskyisoneofthe
mostimportantlinguistic
theoristsofthe20thcentury.
Inoppositiontotheformaltheoriesofthegenerativeschool,functional
theoriesoflanguageproposethatsincelanguageisfundamentallyatool,
itsstructuresarebestanalyzedandunderstoodbyreferencetotheir
functions.Formaltheoriesofgrammarseektodefinethedifferent
elementsoflanguageanddescribethewaytheyrelatetoeachotherassystemsofformalrulesor
operations,whilefunctionaltheoriesseektodefinethefunctionsperformedbylanguageandthenrelate
themtothelinguisticelementsthatcarrythemout.[17][note2]Theframeworkofcognitivelinguistics
interpretslanguageintermsoftheconcepts(whicharesometimesuniversal,andsometimesspecifictoa
particularlanguage)whichunderlieitsforms.Cognitivelinguisticsisprimarilyconcernedwithhowthe
mindcreatesmeaningthroughlanguage.[42]
Physiologicalandneuralarchitectureoflanguageandspeech
Speakingisthedefaultmodalityforlanguageinallcultures.Theproductionofspokenlanguage
dependsonsophisticatedcapacitiesforcontrollingthelips,tongueandothercomponentsofthevocal
apparatus,theabilitytoacousticallydecodespeechsounds,andtheneurologicalapparatusrequiredfor
acquiringandproducinglanguage.[43]Thestudyofthegeneticbasesforhumanlanguageisatanearly
stage:theonlygenethathasdefinitelybeenimplicatedinlanguageproductionisFOXP2,whichmay
causeakindofcongenitallanguagedisorderifaffectedbymutations.[44]
Thebrainandlanguage
Thebrainisthecoordinatingcenterofalllinguisticactivityitcontrolsboththeproductionoflinguistic
cognitionandofmeaningandthemechanicsofspeechproduction.Nonetheless,ourknowledgeofthe
neurologicalbasesforlanguageisquitelimited,thoughithasadvancedconsiderablywiththeuseof
modernimagingtechniques.Thedisciplineoflinguisticsdedicatedtostudyingtheneurologicalaspects
oflanguageiscalledneurolinguistics.[45]
Earlyworkinneurolinguisticsinvolvedthestudyoflanguageinpeoplewithbrainlesions,toseehow
lesionsinspecificareasaffectlanguageandspeech.Inthisway,neuroscientistsinthe19thcentury
discoveredthattwoareasinthebrainarecruciallyimplicatedinlanguageprocessing.Thefirstareais
Wernicke'sarea,whichislocatedintheposteriorsectionofthesuperiortemporalgyrusinthedominant
cerebralhemisphere.Peoplewithalesioninthisareaofthebraindevelopreceptiveaphasia,acondition
inwhichthereisamajorimpairmentoflanguagecomprehension,whilespeechretainsanatural
soundingrhythmandarelativelynormalsentencestructure.ThesecondareaisBroca'sarea,locatedin
theposteriorinferiorfrontalgyrusofthedominanthemisphere.Peoplewithalesiontothisareadevelop
expressiveaphasia,meaningthattheyknowwhattheywanttosay,theyjustcannotgetitout.[46]They
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aretypicallyabletounderstandwhatisbeingsaidtothem,but
unabletospeakfluently.Othersymptomsthatmaybepresentin
expressiveaphasiaincludeproblemswithfluency,articulation,
wordfinding,wordrepetition,andproducingand
comprehendingcomplexgrammaticalsentences,bothorallyand
inwriting.Thosewiththisaphasiaalsoexhibitungrammatical
speechandshowinabilitytousesyntacticinformationto
determinethemeaningofsentences.Bothexpressiveand
receptiveaphasiaalsoaffecttheuseofsignlanguage,in
analogouswaystohowtheyaffectspeech,withexpressive
aphasiacausingsignerstosignslowlyandwithincorrect
grammar,whereasasignerwithreceptiveaphasiawillsign
fluently,butmakelittlesensetoothersandhavedifficulties
comprehendingothers'signs.Thisshowsthattheimpairmentis
specifictotheabilitytouselanguage,nottothephysiologyused
forspeechproduction.[47][48]
LanguageAreasofthebrain.The
AngularGyrusisrepresentedin
orange,SupramarginalGyrusis
representedinyellow,Broca'sareais
representedinblue,Wernicke'sarea
isrepresentedingreen,andthe
PrimaryAuditoryCortexis
representedinpink.
Withtechnologicaladvancesinthelate20thcentury,
neurolinguistshavealsoincorporatednoninvasivetechniques
suchasfunctionalmagneticresonanceimaging(fMRI)andelectrophysiologytostudylanguage
processinginindividualswithoutimpairments.[45]
Anatomyofspeech
Spokenlanguagereliesonhumanphysicalabilitytoproducesound,whichisalongitudinalwave
propagatedthroughtheairatafrequencycapableofvibratingtheeardrum.Thisabilitydependsonthe
physiologyofthehumanspeechorgans.Theseorgansconsistofthelungs,thevoicebox(larynx),and
theuppervocaltractthethroat,themouth,andthenose.Bycontrollingthedifferentpartsofthe
speechapparatus,theairstreamcanbemanipulatedtoproducedifferentspeechsounds.[49]
Thesoundofspeechcanbeanalyzedintoacombinationofsegmentalandsuprasegmentalelements.The
segmentalelementsarethosethatfolloweachotherinsequences,whichareusuallyrepresentedby
distinctlettersinalphabeticscripts,suchastheRomanscript.Infreeflowingspeech,therearenoclear
boundariesbetweenonesegmentandthenext,norusuallyarethereanyaudiblepausesbetweenwords.
Segmentsthereforearedistinguishedbytheirdistinctsoundswhicharearesultoftheirdifferent
articulations,andtheycanbeeithervowelsorconsonants.Suprasegmentalphenomenaencompasssuch
elementsasstress,phonationtype,voicetimbre,andprosodyorintonation,allofwhichmayhave
effectsacrossmultiplesegments.[50]
Consonantsandvowelsegmentscombinetoformsyllables,whichinturncombinetoformutterances
thesecanbedistinguishedphoneticallyasthespacebetweentwoinhalations.Acoustically,these
differentsegmentsarecharacterizedbydifferentformantstructures,thatarevisibleinaspectrogramof
therecordedsoundwave(SeeillustrationofSpectrogramoftheformantstructuresofthreeEnglish
vowels).Formantsaretheamplitudepeaksinthefrequencyspectrumofaspecificsound.[50][51]
Vowelsarethosesoundsthathavenoaudiblefrictioncausedbythenarrowingorobstructionofsome
partoftheuppervocaltract.Theyvaryinqualityaccordingtothedegreeoflipapertureandthe
placementofthetonguewithintheoralcavity.[50]Vowelsarecalledclosewhenthelipsarerelatively
closed,asinthepronunciationofthevowel[i](English"ee"),oropenwhenthelipsarerelativelyopen,
asinthevowel[a](English"ah").Ifthetongueislocatedtowardsthebackofthemouth,thequality
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changes,creatingvowelssuchas[u](English"oo").Thequality
alsochangesdependingonwhetherthelipsareroundedasopposed
tounrounded,creatingdistinctionssuchasthatbetween[i]
(unroundedfrontvowelsuchasEnglish"ee")and[y](rounded
frontvowelsuchasGerman"").[52]
Consonantsarethosesoundsthathaveaudiblefrictionorclosureat
somepointwithintheuppervocaltract.Consonantsoundsvaryby
placeofarticulation,i.e.theplaceinthevocaltractwherethe
airflowisobstructed,commonlyatthelips,teeth,alveolarridge,
palate,velum,uvula,orglottis.Eachplaceofarticulationproduces
adifferentsetofconsonantsounds,whicharefurtherdistinguished
bymannerofarticulation,orthekindoffriction,whetherfull
closure,inwhichcasetheconsonantiscalledocclusiveorstop,or
differentdegreesofaperturecreatingfricativesandapproximants.
Consonantscanalsobeeithervoicedorunvoiced,dependingon
whetherthevocalcordsaresetinvibrationbyairflowduringthe
productionofthesound.VoicingiswhatseparatesEnglish[s]in
bus(unvoicedsibilant)from[z]inbuzz(voicedsibilant).[53]
Somespeechsounds,bothvowelsandconsonants,involverelease
ofairflowthroughthenasalcavity,andthesearecallednasalsor
nasalizedsounds.Othersoundsaredefinedbythewaythetongue
moveswithinthemouth:suchasthelsounds(calledlaterals,
becausetheairflowsalongbothsidesofthetongue),andther
sounds(calledrhotics)thatarecharacterizedbyhowthetongueis
positionedrelativetotheairstream.[51]
Thehumanvocaltract.
SpectrogramofAmericanEnglish
vowels[i,u,]showingthe
formantsf1andf2
Byusingthesespeechorgans,humanscanproducehundredsof
distinctsounds:someappearveryoftenintheworld'slanguages,
whereasothersaremuchmorecommonincertainlanguage
families,languageareas,orevenspecifictoasinglelanguage.[54]
Structure
RealtimeMRIscanofaperson
Whendescribedasasystemofsymboliccommunication,language
speakinginMandarinChinese.
istraditionallyseenasconsistingofthreeparts:signs,meanings,
andacodeconnectingsignswiththeirmeanings.Thestudyofthe
processofsemiosis,howsignsandmeaningsarecombined,used,andinterpretediscalledsemiotics.
Signscanbecomposedofsounds,gestures,letters,orsymbols,dependingonwhetherthelanguageis
spoken,signed,orwritten,andtheycanbecombinedintocomplexsigns,suchaswordsandphrases.
Whenusedincommunication,asignisencodedandtransmittedbyasenderthroughachanneltoa
receiverwhodecodesit.[55]
Someofthepropertiesthatdefinehumanlanguageasopposedtoothercommunicationsystemsare:the
arbitrarinessofthelinguisticsign,meaningthatthereisnopredictableconnectionbetweenalinguistic
signanditsmeaningthedualityofthelinguisticsystem,meaningthatlinguisticstructuresarebuiltby
combiningelementsintolargerstructuresthatcanbeseenaslayered,e.g.howsoundsbuildwordsand
wordsbuildphrasesthediscretenessoftheelementsoflanguage,meaningthattheelementsoutof
whichlinguisticsignsareconstructedarediscreteunits,e.g.soundsandwords,thatcanbedistinguished
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fromeachotherandrearrangedindifferentpatternsandthe
productivityofthelinguisticsystem,meaningthatthefinite
numberoflinguisticelementscanbecombinedintoa
theoreticallyinfinitenumberofcombinations.[55]
Therulesbywhichsignscanbecombinedtoformwordsand
phrasesarecalledsyntaxorgrammar.Themeaningthatis
connectedtoindividualsigns,morphemes,words,phrases,and
textsiscalledsemantics.[56]Thedivisionoflanguageinto
separatebutconnectedsystemsofsignandmeaninggoesbackto
thefirstlinguisticstudiesofdeSaussureandisnowusedin
almostallbranchesoflinguistics.[57]
AncientTamilinscriptionat
Thanjavur
Semantics
Languagesexpressmeaningbyrelatingasignformtoameaning,oritscontent.Signformsmustbe
somethingthatcanbeperceived,forexample,insounds,images,orgestures,andthenrelatedtoa
specificmeaningbysocialconvention.Becausethebasicrelationofmeaningformostlinguisticsignsis
basedonsocialconvention,linguisticsignscanbeconsideredarbitrary,inthesensethattheconvention
isestablishedsociallyandhistorically,ratherthanbymeansofanaturalrelationbetweenaspecificsign
formanditsmeaning.
Thus,languagesmusthaveavocabularyofsignsrelatedtospecificmeaning.TheEnglishsign"dog"
denotes,forexample,amemberofthespeciesCanisfamiliaris.Inalanguage,thearrayofarbitrary
signsconnectedtospecificmeaningsiscalledthelexicon,andasinglesignconnectedtoameaningis
calledalexeme.Notallmeaningsinalanguagearerepresentedbysinglewords.Often,semantic
conceptsareembeddedinthemorphologyorsyntaxofthelanguageintheformofgrammatical
categories.[58]
Alllanguagescontainthesemanticstructureofpredication:astructurethatpredicatesaproperty,state,
oraction.Traditionally,semanticshasbeenunderstoodtobethestudyofhowspeakersandinterpreters
assigntruthvaluestostatements,sothatmeaningisunderstoodtobetheprocessbywhichapredicate
canbesaidtobetrueorfalseaboutanentity,e.g."[x[isy]]"or"[x[doesy]]".Recently,thismodelof
semanticshasbeencomplementedwithmoredynamicmodelsofmeaningthatincorporateshared
knowledgeaboutthecontextinwhichasignisinterpretedintotheproductionofmeaning.Suchmodels
ofmeaningareexploredinthefieldofpragmatics.[58]
Soundsandsymbols
Dependingonmodality,languagestructurecanbebasedonsystemsofsounds(speech),gestures(sign
languages),orgraphicortactilesymbols(writing).Thewaysinwhichlanguagesusesoundsorsignsto
constructmeaningarestudiedinphonology.[59]Thestudyofhowhumansproduceandperceivevocal
soundsiscalledphonetics.[60]Inspokenlanguage,meaningisproducedwhensoundsbecomepartofa
systeminwhichsomesoundscancontributetoexpressingmeaningandothersdonot.Inanygiven
language,onlyalimitednumberofthemanydistinctsoundsthatcanbecreatedbythehumanvocal
apparatuscontributetoconstructingmeaning.[54]
Soundsaspartofalinguisticsystemarecalledphonemes.[61]Phonemesareabstractunitsofsound,
definedasthesmallestunitsinalanguagethatcanservetodistinguishbetweenthemeaningofapairof
minimallydifferentwords,asocalledminimalpair.InEnglish,forexample,thewordsbat[bt]and
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pat[pt]formaminimalpair,inwhichthedistinctionbetween/b/and/p/
differentiatesthetwowords,whichhavedifferentmeanings.However,
eachlanguagecontrastssoundsindifferentways.Forexample,ina
languagethatdoesnotdistinguishbetweenvoicedandunvoiced
consonants,thesounds[p]and[b](iftheybothoccur)couldbeconsidered
asinglephoneme,andconsequently,thetwopronunciationswouldhavethe
samemeaning.Similarly,theEnglishlanguagedoesnotdistinguish
phonemicallybetweenaspiratedandnonaspiratedpronunciationsof
consonants,asmanyotherlanguageslikeKoreanandHindido:the
unaspirated/p/inspin[spn]andtheaspirated/p/inpin[pn]are
consideredtobemerelydifferentwaysofpronouncingthesamephoneme
(suchvariantsofasinglephonemearecalledallophones),whereasin
MandarinChinese,thesamedifferenceinpronunciationdistinguishes
betweenthewords[p]'crouch'and[p]'eight'(theaccentabovethe
meansthatthevowelispronouncedwithahightone).[62]
Allspokenlanguageshavephonemesofatleasttwodifferentcategories,
vowelsandconsonants,thatcanbecombinedtoformsyllables.[50]Aswell
assegmentssuchasconsonantsandvowels,somelanguagesalsousesound
inotherwaystoconveymeaning.Manylanguages,forexample,usestress,
pitch,duration,andtonetodistinguishmeaning.Becausethesephenomena
operateoutsideofthelevelofsinglesegments,theyarecalled
suprasegmental.[63]Somelanguageshaveonlyafewphonemes,for
example,RotokasandPirahlanguagewith11and10phonemes
respectively,whereaslanguageslikeTaamayhaveasmanyas141
phonemes.[62]Insignlanguages,theequivalenttophonemes(formerly
calledcheremes)aredefinedbythebasicelementsofgestures,suchashand
shape,orientation,location,andmotion,whichcorrespondtomannersof
articulationinspokenlanguage.[64][65][66]
Writingsystemsrepresentlanguageusingvisualsymbols,whichmayor
maynotcorrespondtothesoundsofspokenlanguage.TheLatinalphabet
(andthoseonwhichitisbasedorthathavebeenderivedfromit)was
originallybasedontherepresentationofsinglesounds,sothatwordswere
constructedfromlettersthatgenerallydenoteasingleconsonantorvowel
inthestructureoftheword.Insyllabicscripts,suchastheInuktitut
syllabary,eachsignrepresentsawholesyllable.Inlogographicscripts,each
signrepresentsanentireword,[67]andwillgenerallybearnorelationtothe
soundofthatwordinspokenlanguage.
Aspectrogramshowing
thesoundofthespoken
Englishword"man",
whichiswritten
phoneticallyas[mn].
Notethatinflowing
speech,thereisnoclear
divisionbetween
segments,onlyasmooth
transitionasthevocal
apparatusmoves.
Thesyllable"wi"inthe
Hangulscript.
Thesignfor"wi"in
KoreanSignLanguage
Becausealllanguageshaveaverylargenumberofwords,nopurely
logographicscriptsareknowntoexist.Writtenlanguagerepresentsthewayspokensoundsandwords
followoneafteranotherbyarrangingsymbolsaccordingtoapatternthatfollowsacertaindirection.The
directionusedinawritingsystemisentirelyarbitraryandestablishedbyconvention.Somewriting
systemsusethehorizontalaxis(lefttorightastheLatinscriptorrighttoleftastheArabicscript),while
otherssuchastraditionalChinesewritingusetheverticaldimension(fromtoptobottom).Afewwriting
systemsuseoppositedirectionsforalternatinglines,andothers,suchastheancientMayascript,canbe
writtenineitherdirectionandrelyongraphiccuestoshowthereaderthedirectionofreading.[68]
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Inordertorepresentthesoundsoftheworld'slanguagesinwriting,linguistshavedevelopedthe
InternationalPhoneticAlphabet,designedtorepresentallofthediscretesoundsthatareknownto
contributetomeaninginhumanlanguages.[69]
Grammar
Grammaristhestudyofhowmeaningfulelementscalledmorphemeswithinalanguagecanbe
combinedintoutterances.Morphemescaneitherbefreeorbound.Iftheyarefreetobemovedaround
withinanutterance,theyareusuallycalledwords,andiftheyareboundtootherwordsormorphemes,
theyarecalledaffixes.Thewayinwhichmeaningfulelementscanbecombinedwithinalanguageis
governedbyrules.Therulesfortheinternalstructureofwordsarecalledmorphology.Therulesofthe
internalstructureofphrasesandsentencesarecalledsyntax.[70]
Grammaticalcategories
Grammarcanbedescribedasasystemofcategoriesandasetofrulesthatdeterminehowcategories
combinetoformdifferentaspectsofmeaning.[71]Languagesdifferwidelyinwhethertheyareencoded
throughtheuseofcategoriesorlexicalunits.However,severalcategoriesaresocommonastobenearly
universal.Suchuniversalcategoriesincludetheencodingofthegrammaticalrelationsofparticipants
andpredicatesbygrammaticallydistinguishingbetweentheirrelationstoapredicate,theencodingof
temporalandspatialrelationsonpredicates,andasystemofgrammaticalpersongoverningreferenceto
anddistinctionbetweenspeakersandaddresseesandthoseaboutwhomtheyarespeaking.[72]
Wordclasses
Languagesorganizetheirpartsofspeechintoclassesaccordingtotheirfunctionsandpositionsrelative
tootherparts.Alllanguages,forinstance,makeabasicdistinctionbetweenagroupofwordsthat
prototypicallydenotesthingsandconceptsandagroupofwordsthatprototypicallydenotesactionsand
events.Thefirstgroup,whichincludesEnglishwordssuchas"dog"and"song",areusuallycalled
nouns.Thesecond,whichincludes"run"and"sing",arecalledverbs.Anothercommoncategoryisthe
adjective:wordsthatdescribepropertiesorqualitiesofnouns,suchas"red"or"big".Wordclassescan
be"open"ifnewwordscancontinuouslybeaddedtotheclass,orrelatively"closed"ifthereisafixed
numberofwordsinaclass.InEnglish,theclassofpronounsisclosed,whereastheclassofadjectivesis
open,sinceaninfinitenumberofadjectivescanbeconstructedfromverbs(e.g."saddened")ornouns
(e.g.withthelikesuffix,asin"nounlike").InotherlanguagessuchasKorean,thesituationisthe
opposite,andnewpronounscanbeconstructed,whereasthenumberofadjectivesisfixed.[73]
Wordclassesalsocarryoutdifferingfunctionsingrammar.Prototypically,verbsareusedtoconstruct
predicates,whilenounsareusedasargumentsofpredicates.Inasentencesuchas"Sallyruns",the
predicateis"runs",becauseitisthewordthatpredicatesaspecificstateaboutitsargument"Sally".
Someverbssuchas"curse"cantaketwoarguments,e.g."SallycursedJohn".Apredicatethatcanonly
takeasingleargumentiscalledintransitive,whileapredicatethatcantaketwoargumentsiscalled
transitive.[74]
Manyotherwordclassesexistindifferentlanguages,suchasconjunctionslike"and"thatservetojoin
twosentences,articlesthatintroduceanoun,interjectionssuchas"wow!",orideophoneslike"splash"
thatmimicthesoundofsomeevent.Somelanguageshavepositionalsthatdescribethespatialposition
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ofaneventorentity.Manylanguageshaveclassifiersthatidentifycountablenounsasbelongingtoa
particulartypeorhavingaparticularshape.Forinstance,inJapanese,thegeneralnounclassifierfor
humansisnin(),anditisusedforcountinghumans,whatevertheyarecalled:[75]
sanninnogakusei()lit."3humanclassifierofstudent"threestudents
Fortrees,itwouldbe:
sanbonnoki()lit."3classifierforlongobjectsoftree"threetrees
Morphology
Inlinguistics,thestudyoftheinternalstructureofcomplexwordsandtheprocessesbywhichwordsare
formediscalledmorphology.Inmostlanguages,itispossibletoconstructcomplexwordsthatarebuilt
ofseveralmorphemes.Forinstance,theEnglishword"unexpected"canbeanalyzedasbeingcomposed
ofthethreemorphemes"un","expect"and"ed".[76]
Morphemescanbeclassifiedaccordingtowhethertheyareindependentmorphemes,socalledroots,or
whethertheycanonlycooccurattachedtoothermorphemes.Theseboundmorphemesoraffixescanbe
classifiedaccordingtotheirpositioninrelationtotheroot:prefixesprecedetheroot,suffixesfollowthe
root,andinfixesareinsertedinthemiddleofaroot.Affixesservetomodifyorelaboratethemeaningof
theroot.Somelanguageschangethemeaningofwordsbychangingthephonologicalstructureofa
word,forexample,theEnglishword"run",whichinthepasttenseis"ran".Thisprocessiscalled
ablaut.Furthermore,morphologydistinguishesbetweentheprocessofinflection,whichmodifiesor
elaboratesonaword,andtheprocessofderivation,whichcreatesanewwordfromanexistingone.In
English,theverb"sing"hastheinflectionalforms"singing"and"sung",whicharebothverbs,andthe
derivationalform"singer",whichisanounderivedfromtheverbwiththeagentivesuffix"er".[77]
Languagesdifferwidelyinhowmuchtheyrelyonmorphologicalprocessesofwordformation.Insome
languages,forexample,Chinese,therearenomorphologicalprocesses,andallgrammaticalinformation
isencodedsyntacticallybyformingstringsofsinglewords.Thistypeofmorphosyntaxisoftencalled
isolating,oranalytic,becausethereisalmostafullcorrespondencebetweenasinglewordandasingle
aspectofmeaning.Mostlanguageshavewordsconsistingofseveralmorphemes,buttheyvaryinthe
degreetowhichmorphemesarediscreteunits.Inmanylanguages,notablyinmostIndoEuropean
languages,singlemorphemesmayhaveseveraldistinctmeaningsthatcannotbeanalyzedintosmaller
segments.Forexample,inLatin,thewordbonus,or"good",consistsoftherootbon,meaning"good",
andthesuffixus,whichindicatesmasculinegender,singularnumber,andnominativecase.These
languagesarecalledfusionallanguages,becauseseveralmeaningsmaybefusedintoasingle
morpheme.Theoppositeoffusionallanguagesareagglutinativelanguageswhichconstructwordsby
stringingmorphemestogetherinchains,butwitheachmorphemeasadiscretesemanticunit.An
exampleofsuchalanguageisTurkish,whereforexample,thewordevlerinizden,or"fromyour
houses",consistsofthemorphemes,evlerinizdenwiththemeaningshousepluralyourfrom.The
languagesthatrelyonmorphologytothegreatestextentaretraditionallycalledpolysyntheticlanguages.
TheymayexpresstheequivalentofanentireEnglishsentenceinasingleword.Forexample,inPersian
thesinglewordnafahmidameshmeansIdidn'tunderstanditconsistingofmorphemesnafahmidam
eshwiththemeanings,"negation.understand.past.I.it".Asanotherexamplewithmorecomplexity,inthe
Yupikwordtuntussuqatarniksatengqiggtuq,whichmeans"Hehadnotyetsaidagainthathewasgoing
tohuntreindeer",thewordconsistsofthemorphemestuntussurqatarniksaitengqiggteuqwiththe
meanings,"reindeerhuntfuturesaynegationagainthird.person.singular.indicative",andexceptforthe
morphemetuntu("reindeer")noneoftheothermorphemescanappearinisolation.[78]
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Manylanguagesusemorphologytocrossreferencewordswithinasentence.Thisissometimescalled
agreement.Forexample,inmanyIndoEuropeanlanguages,adjectivesmustcrossreferencethenoun
theymodifyintermsofnumber,case,andgender,sothattheLatinadjectivebonus,or"good",is
inflectedtoagreewithanounthatismasculinegender,singularnumber,andnominativecase.Inmany
polysyntheticlanguages,verbscrossreferencetheirsubjectsandobjects.Inthesetypesoflanguages,a
singleverbmayincludeinformationthatwouldrequireanentiresentenceinEnglish.Forexample,in
theBasquephraseikusinauzu,or"yousawme",thepasttenseauxiliaryverbnauzu(similartoEnglish
"do")agreeswithboththesubject(you)expressedbythenprefix,andwiththeobject(me)expressed
bythezusuffix.Thesentencecouldbedirectlytransliteratedas"seeyoudidme"[79]
Syntax
Anotherwayinwhichlanguagesconvey
meaningisthroughtheorderofwordswithina
sentence.Thegrammaticalrulesforhowto
producenewsentencesfromwordsthatare
alreadyknowniscalledsyntax.Thesyntactical
rulesofalanguagedeterminewhyasentencein
Englishsuchas"Iloveyou"ismeaningful,but
"*loveyouI"isnot.[note3]Syntacticalrules
determinehowwordorderandsentence
structureisconstrained,andhowthose
constraintscontributetomeaning.[80]For
example,inEnglish,thetwosentences"the
slaveswerecursingthemaster"and"themaster
wascursingtheslaves"meandifferentthings,
Inadditiontowordclasses,asentencecanbeanalyzedin
becausetheroleofthegrammaticalsubjectis
termsofgrammaticalfunctions:"Thecat"isthesubject
encodedbythenounbeinginfrontoftheverb,
ofthephrase,"onthemat"isalocativephrase,and"sat"
andtheroleofobjectisencodedbythenoun
isthecoreofthepredicate.
appearingaftertheverb.Conversely,inLatin,
bothDominusservosvituperabatandServos
vituperabatdominusmean"themasterwasreprimandingtheslaves",becauseservos,or"slaves",isin
theaccusativecase,showingthattheyarethegrammaticalobjectofthesentence,anddominus,or
"master",isinthenominativecase,showingthatheisthesubject.[81]
Latinusesmorphologytoexpressthedistinctionbetweensubjectandobject,whereasEnglishusesword
order.Anotherexampleofhowsyntacticrulescontributetomeaningistheruleofinversewordorderin
questions,whichexistsinmanylanguages.ThisruleexplainswhywheninEnglish,thephrase"Johnis
talkingtoLucy"isturnedintoaquestion,itbecomes"WhoisJohntalkingto?",andnot"Johnistalking
towho?".Thelatterexamplemaybeusedasawayofplacingspecialemphasison"who",thereby
slightlyalteringthemeaningofthequestion.Syntaxalsoincludestherulesforhowcomplexsentences
arestructuredbygroupingwordstogetherinunits,calledphrases,thatcanoccupydifferentplacesina
largersyntacticstructure.Sentencescanbedescribedasconsistingofphrasesconnectedinatree
structure,connectingthephrasestoeachotheratdifferentlevels.[82]Totherightisagraphic
representationofthesyntacticanalysisoftheEnglishsentence"thecatsatonthemat".Thesentenceis
analyzedasbeingconstitutedbyanounphrase,averb,andaprepositionalphrasetheprepositional
phraseisfurtherdividedintoaprepositionandanounphrase,andthenounphrasesconsistofanarticle
andanoun.[83]
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Thereasonsentencescanbeseenasbeingcomposedofphrasesisbecauseeachphrasewouldbemoved
aroundasasingleelementifsyntacticoperationswerecarriedout.Forexample,"thecat"isonephrase,
and"onthemat"isanother,becausetheywouldbetreatedassingleunitsifadecisionwasmadeto
emphasizethelocationbymovingforwardtheprepositionalphrase:"[And]onthemat,thecatsat".[83]
Therearemanydifferentformalistandfunctionalistframeworksthatproposetheoriesfordescribing
syntacticstructures,basedondifferentassumptionsaboutwhatlanguageisandhowitshouldbe
described.Eachofthemwouldanalyzeasentencesuchasthisinadifferentmanner.[17]
Typologyanduniversals
Languagescanbeclassifiedinrelationtotheirgrammaticaltypes.Languagesthatbelongtodifferent
familiesnonethelessoftenhavefeaturesincommon,andthesesharedfeaturestendtocorrelate.[84]For
example,languagescanbeclassifiedonthebasisoftheirbasicwordorder,therelativeorderoftheverb,
anditsconstituentsinanormalindicativesentence.InEnglish,thebasicorderisSVO:"Thesnake(S)
bit(V)theman(O)",whereasforexample,thecorrespondingsentenceintheAustralianlanguage
Gamilaraaywouldbed
uyugun
amad
aynyiy(snakemanbit),SOV.[85]Wordordertypeisrelevantasa
typologicalparameter,becausebasicwordordertypecorrespondswithothersyntacticparameters,such
astherelativeorderofnounsandadjectives,oroftheuseofprepositionsorpostpositions.Such
correlationsarecalledimplicationaluniversals.[86]Forexample,most(butnotall)languagesthatareof
theSOVtypehavepostpositionsratherthanprepositions,andhaveadjectivesbeforenouns.[87]
AlllanguagesstructuresentencesintoSubject,Verb,andObject,butlanguagesdifferinthewaythey
classifytherelationsbetweenactorsandactions.Englishusesthenominativeaccusativewordtypology:
inEnglishtransitiveclauses,thesubjectsofbothintransitivesentences("Irun")andtransitivesentences
("Iloveyou")aretreatedinthesameway,shownherebythenominativepronounI.Somelanguages,
calledergative,Gamilaraayamongthem,distinguishinsteadbetweenAgentsandPatients.Inergative
languages,thesingleparticipantinanintransitivesentence,suchas"Irun",istreatedthesameasthe
patientinatransitivesentence,givingtheequivalentof"merun"and"youloveme".Onlyintransitive
sentenceswouldtheequivalentofthepronoun"I"beused.[85]Inthiswaythesemanticrolescanmap
ontothegrammaticalrelationsindifferentways,groupinganintransitivesubjecteitherwithAgents
(accusativetype)orPatients(ergativetype)orevenmakingeachofthethreerolesdifferently,whichis
calledthetripartitetype.[88]
Thesharedfeaturesoflanguageswhichbelongtothesametypologicalclasstypemayhavearisen
completelyindependently.Theircooccurrencemightbeduetouniversallawsgoverningthestructureof
naturallanguages,"languageuniversals",ortheymightbetheresultoflanguagesevolvingconvergent
solutionstotherecurringcommunicativeproblemsthathumansuselanguagetosolve.[18]
Socialcontextsofuseandtransmission
Whilehumanshavetheabilitytolearnanylanguage,theyonlydosoiftheygrowupinanenvironment
inwhichlanguageexistsandisusedbyothers.Languageisthereforedependentoncommunitiesof
speakersinwhichchildrenlearnlanguagefromtheireldersandpeersandthemselvestransmitlanguage
totheirownchildren.Languagesareusedbythosewhospeakthemtocommunicateandtosolvea
plethoraofsocialtasks.Manyaspectsoflanguageusecanbeseentobeadaptedspecificallytothese
purposes.[18]Duetothewayinwhichlanguageistransmittedbetweengenerationsandwithin
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communities,languageperpetuallychanges,diversifyinginto
newlanguagesorconvergingduetolanguagecontact.The
processissimilartotheprocessofevolution,wheretheprocess
ofdescentwithmodificationleadstotheformationofa
phylogenetictree.[90]
However,languagesdifferfromabiologicalorganismsinthat
theyreadilyincorporateelementsfromotherlanguagesthrough
theprocessofdiffusion,asspeakersofdifferentlanguagescome
intocontact.Humansalsofrequentlyspeakmorethanone
TheWallofLoveinParis,wherethe
language,acquiringtheirfirstlanguageorlanguagesaschildren,
phrase"Iloveyou"isfeaturedin250
orlearningnewlanguagesastheygrowup.Becauseofthe
languagesoftheworld. [89]
increasedlanguagecontactintheglobalizingworld,manysmall
languagesarebecomingendangeredastheirspeakersshiftto
otherlanguagesthataffordthepossibilitytoparticipateinlargerandmoreinfluentialspeech
communities.[91]
Usageandmeaning
Thesemanticstudyofmeaningassumesthatmeaningislocatedinarelationbetweensignsand
meaningsthatarefirmlyestablishedthroughsocialconvention.However,semanticsdoesnotstudythe
wayinwhichsocialconventionsaremadeandaffectlanguage.Rather,whenstudyingthewayinwhich
wordsandsignsareused,itisoftenthecasethatwordshavedifferentmeanings,dependingonthesocial
contextofuse.Animportantexampleofthisistheprocesscalleddeixis,whichdescribesthewayin
whichcertainwordsrefertoentitiesthroughtheirrelationbetweenaspecificpointintimeandspace
whenthewordisuttered.Suchwordsare,forexample,theword,"I"(whichdesignatestheperson
speaking),"now"(whichdesignatesthemomentofspeaking),and"here"(whichdesignatestheposition
ofspeaking).Signsalsochangetheirmeaningsovertime,astheconventionsgoverningtheirusage
graduallychange.Thestudyofhowthemeaningoflinguisticexpressionschangesdependingoncontext
iscalledpragmatics.Deixisisanimportantpartofthewaythatweuselanguagetopointoutentitiesin
theworld.[92]Pragmaticsisconcernedwiththewaysinwhichlanguageuseispatternedandhowthese
patternscontributetomeaning.Forexample,inalllanguages,linguisticexpressionscanbeusednotjust
totransmitinformation,buttoperformactions.Certainactionsaremadeonlythroughlanguage,but
nonethelesshavetangibleeffects,e.g.theactof"naming",whichcreatesanewnameforsomeentity,or
theactof"pronouncingsomeonemanandwife",whichcreatesasocialcontractofmarriage.These
typesofactsarecalledspeechacts,althoughtheycanofcoursealsobecarriedoutthroughwritingor
handsigning.[93]
Theformoflinguisticexpressionoftendoesnotcorrespondtothemeaningthatitactuallyhasinasocial
context.Forexample,ifatadinnertableapersonasks,"Canyoureachthesalt?",thatis,infact,nota
questionaboutthelengthofthearmsoftheonebeingaddressed,butarequesttopassthesaltacrossthe
table.Thismeaningisimpliedbythecontextinwhichitisspokenthesekindsofeffectsofmeaningare
calledconversationalimplicatures.Thesesocialrulesforwhichwaysofusinglanguageareconsidered
appropriateincertainsituationsandhowutterancesaretobeunderstoodinrelationtotheircontextvary
betweencommunities,andlearningthemisalargepartofacquiringcommunicativecompetenceina
language.[94]
Languageacquisition
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Allhealthy,normallydevelopinghumanbeingslearntouselanguage.Childrenacquirethelanguageor
languagesusedaroundthem:whicheverlanguagestheyreceivesufficientexposuretoduringchildhood.
Thedevelopmentisessentiallythesameforchildrenacquiringsignororallanguages.[95]Thislearning
processisreferredtoasfirstlanguageacquisition,sinceunlikemanyotherkindsoflearning,itrequires
nodirectteachingorspecializedstudy.InTheDescentofMan,naturalistCharlesDarwincalledthis
process"aninstinctivetendencytoacquireanart".[10]
Firstlanguageacquisitionproceedsinafairlyregularsequence,
thoughthereisawidedegreeofvariationinthetimingof
particularstagesamongnormallydevelopinginfants.Frombirth,
newbornsrespondmorereadilytohumanspeechthantoother
sounds.Aroundonemonthofage,babiesappeartobeableto
distinguishbetweendifferentspeechsounds.Aroundsixmonths
ofage,achildwillbeginbabbling,producingthespeechsounds
orhandshapesofthelanguagesusedaroundthem.Wordsappear
aroundtheageof12to18monthstheaveragevocabularyofan
eighteenmontholdchildisaround50words.Achild'sfirst
utterancesareholophrases(literally"wholesentences"),
utterancesthatusejustonewordtocommunicatesomeidea.
Severalmonthsafterachildbeginsproducingwords,sheorhe
willproducetwowordutterances,andwithinafewmoremonths
willbegintoproducetelegraphicspeech,orshortsentencesthat
arelessgrammaticallycomplexthanadultspeech,butthatdo
showregularsyntacticstructure.Fromroughlytheageofthree
tofiveyears,achild'sabilitytospeakorsignisrefinedtothe
pointthatitresemblesadultlanguage.[96][97]Studiespublishedin
2013haveindicatedthatunbornfetusesarecapableoflanguage
acquisitiontosomedegree.[98][99]
Allnormalchildrenacquirelanguage
iftheyareexposedtoitintheirfirst
yearsoflife,evenincultureswhere
adultsrarelyaddressinfantsand
toddlersdirectly.
AlessonatKituwahAcademyonthe
Acquisitionofsecondandadditionallanguagescancomeatany
QuallaBoundaryinNorthCarolina,
age,throughexposureindailylifeorcourses.Childrenlearning
wheretheCherokeelanguageisthe
asecondlanguagearemorelikelytoachievenativelikefluency
mediumofinstructionfrompre
thanadults,butingeneral,itisveryrareforsomeonespeakinga
schoolonupandstudentslearnitasa
secondlanguagetopasscompletelyforanativespeaker.An
firstlanguage.
importantdifferencebetweenfirstlanguageacquisitionand
additionallanguageacquisitionisthattheprocessofadditional
languageacquisitionisinfluencedbylanguagesthatthelearneralreadyknows.[100]
Languageandculture
Languages,understoodastheparticularsetofspeechnormsofaparticularcommunity,arealsoapartof
thelargercultureofthecommunitythatspeaksthem.Languagesdiffernotonlyinpronunciation,
vocabulary,andgrammar,butalsothroughhavingdifferent"culturesofspeaking."Humansuse
languageasawayofsignallingidentitywithoneculturalgroupaswellasdifferencefromothers.Even
amongspeakersofonelanguage,severaldifferentwaysofusingthelanguageexist,andeachisusedto
signalaffiliationwithparticularsubgroupswithinalargerculture.Linguistsandanthropologists,
particularlysociolinguists,ethnolinguists,andlinguisticanthropologistshavespecializedinstudying
howwaysofspeakingvarybetweenspeechcommunities.[101]
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Linguistsusetheterm"varieties"torefertothedifferentwaysof
speakingalanguage.Thistermincludesgeographicallyor
socioculturallydefineddialectsaswellasthejargonsorstylesof
subcultures.Linguisticanthropologistsandsociologistsof
languagedefinecommunicativestyleasthewaysthatlanguage
isusedandunderstoodwithinaparticularculture.[102]
Becausenormsforlanguageusearesharedbymembersofa
specificgroup,communicativestylealsobecomesawayof
displayingandconstructinggroupidentity.Linguisticdifferences
maybecomesalientmarkersofdivisionsbetweensocialgroups,
ArnoldLakhovsky,TheConversation
forexample,speakingalanguagewithaparticularaccentmay
(circa1935)
implymembershipofanethnicminorityorsocialclass,one's
areaoforigin,orstatusasasecondlanguagespeaker.These
kindsofdifferencesarenotpartofthelinguisticsystem,butareanimportantpartofhowpeopleuse
languageasasocialtoolforconstructinggroups.[103]
However,manylanguagesalsohavegrammaticalconventionsthatsignalthesocialpositionofthe
speakerinrelationtoothersthroughtheuseofregistersthatarerelatedtosocialhierarchiesordivisions.
Inmanylanguages,therearestylisticorevengrammaticaldifferencesbetweenthewaysmenand
womenspeak,betweenagegroups,orbetweensocialclasses,justassomelanguagesemploydifferent
wordsdependingonwhoislistening.Forexample,intheAustralianlanguageDyirbal,amarriedman
mustuseaspecialsetofwordstorefertoeverydayitemswhenspeakinginthepresenceofhismother
inlaw.[104]Somecultures,forexample,haveelaboratesystemsof"socialdeixis",orsystemsof
signallingsocialdistancethroughlinguisticmeans.[105]InEnglish,socialdeixisisshownmostlythrough
distinguishingbetweenaddressingsomepeoplebyfirstnameandothersbysurname,andintitlessuch
as"Mrs.","boy","Doctor",or"YourHonor",butinotherlanguages,suchsystemsmaybehighly
complexandcodifiedintheentiregrammarandvocabularyofthelanguage.Forinstance,inlanguages
ofeastAsiasuchasThai,Burmese,andJavanese,differentwordsareusedaccordingtowhethera
speakerisaddressingsomeoneofhigherorlowerrankthanoneselfinarankingsystemwithanimals
andchildrenrankingthelowestandgodsandmembersofroyaltyasthehighest.[105]
Writing,literacyandtechnology
Throughouthistoryanumberofdifferentwaysof
representinglanguageingraphicmediahavebeen
invented.Thesearecalledwritingsystems.
Theuseofwritinghasmadelanguageevenmore
usefultohumans.Itmakesitpossibletostorelarge
amountsofinformationoutsideofthehumanbody
AninscriptionofSwampyCreeusingCanadian
andretrieveitagain,anditallowscommunication
Aboriginalsyllabics,anabugidadevelopedby
acrossdistancesthatwouldotherwisebeimpossible.
ChristianmissionariesforIndigenousCanadian
Manylanguagesconventionallyemploydifferent
languages
genres,styles,andregistersinwrittenandspoken
language,andinsomecommunities,writing
traditionallytakesplaceinanentirelydifferentlanguagethantheonespoken.Thereissomeevidence
thattheuseofwritingalsohaseffectsonthecognitivedevelopmentofhumans,perhapsbecause
acquiringliteracygenerallyrequiresexplicitandformaleducation.[106]
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TheinventionofthefirstwritingsystemsisroughlycontemporarywiththebeginningoftheBronzeAge
inthelate4thmillenniumBC.TheSumerianarchaiccuneiformscriptandtheEgyptianhieroglyphsare
generallyconsideredtobetheearliestwritingsystems,bothemergingoutoftheirancestralprotoliterate
symbolsystemsfrom34003200BCwiththeearliestcoherenttextsfromabout2600BC.Itisgenerally
agreedthatSumerianwritingwasanindependentinventionhowever,itisdebatedwhetherEgyptian
writingwasdevelopedcompletelyindependentlyofSumerian,orwasacaseofculturaldiffusion.A
similardebateexistsfortheChinesescript,whichdevelopedaround1200BC.ThepreColumbian
Mesoamericanwritingsystems(includingamongothersOlmecandMayascripts)aregenerallybelieved
tohavehadindependentorigins.[68]
Languagechange
Alllanguageschangeasspeakersadoptorinventnewwaysofspeaking
andpassthemontoothermembersoftheirspeechcommunity.
Languagechangehappensatalllevelsfromthephonologicalleveltothe
levelsofvocabulary,morphology,syntax,anddiscourse.Eventhough
languagechangeisofteninitiallyevaluatednegativelybyspeakersofthe
languagewhooftenconsiderchangestobe"decay"orasignofslipping
normsoflanguageusage,itisnaturalandinevitable.[107]
Changesmayaffectspecificsoundsortheentirephonologicalsystem.
Soundchangecanconsistofthereplacementofonespeechsoundor
phoneticfeaturebyanother,thecompletelossoftheaffectedsound,or
eventheintroductionofanewsoundinaplacewheretherepreviously
wasnone.Soundchangescanbeconditionedinwhichcaseasoundis
changedonlyifitoccursinthevicinityofcertainothersounds.Sound
changeisusuallyassumedtoberegular,whichmeansthatitisexpected
toapplymechanicallywheneveritsstructuralconditionsaremet,
irrespectiveofanynonphonologicalfactors.Ontheotherhand,sound
changescansometimesbesporadic,affectingonlyoneparticularword
orafewwords,withoutanyseemingregularity.Sometimesasimple
changetriggersachainshiftinwhichtheentirephonologicalsystemis
affected.ThishappenedintheGermaniclanguageswhenthesound
changeknownasGrimm'slawaffectedallthestopconsonantsinthe
system.Theoriginalconsonant*bbecame/b/intheGermanic
languages,theprevious*binturnbecame/p/,andtheprevious*p
became/f/.Thesameprocessappliedtoallstopconsonantsandexplains
whyItaliclanguagessuchasLatinhavepinwordslikepaterandpisces,
whereasGermaniclanguages,likeEnglish,havefatherandfish.[108]
Thefirstpageofthepoem
Beowulf,writteninOld
Englishintheearlymedieval
period(8001100AD).
AlthoughOldEnglishisthe
directancestorofmodern
English,itisunintelligibleto
contemporaryEnglish
speakers.
AnotherexampleistheGreatVowelShiftinEnglish,whichisthereasonthatthespellingofEnglish
vowelsdonotcorrespondwelltotheircurrentpronunciation.Thisisbecausethevowelshiftbroughtthe
alreadyestablishedorthographyoutofsynchronizationwithpronunciation.Anothersourceofsound
changeistheerosionofwordsaspronunciationgraduallybecomesincreasinglyindistinctandshortens
words,leavingoutsyllablesorsounds.ThiskindofchangecausedLatinmeadominatoeventually
becometheFrenchmadameandAmericanEnglishma'am.[109]
Changealsohappensinthegrammaroflanguagesasdiscoursepatternssuchasidiomsorparticular
constructionsbecomegrammaticalized.Thisfrequentlyhappenswhenwordsormorphemeserodeand
thegrammaticalsystemisunconsciouslyrearrangedtocompensateforthelostelement.Forexample,in
somevarietiesofCaribbeanSpanishthefinal/s/haserodedaway.SinceStandardSpanishusesfinal/s/
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inthemorphememarkingthesecondpersonsubject"you"inverbs,theCaribbeanvarietiesnowhaveto
expressthesecondpersonusingthepronount.Thismeansthatthesentence"what'syourname"is
comotellamas?['komote'jamas]inStandardSpanish,but['komo'tute'jama]inCaribbeanSpanish.
Thesimplesoundchangehasaffectedbothmorphologyandsyntax.[110]Anothercommoncauseof
grammaticalchangeisthegradualpetrificationofidiomsintonewgrammaticalforms,forexample,the
waytheEnglish"goingto"constructionlostitsaspectofmovementandinsomevarietiesofEnglishhas
almostbecomeafullfledgedfuturetense(e.g.I'mgonna).
Languagechangemaybemotivatedby"languageinternal"factors,suchaschangesinpronunciation
motivatedbycertainsoundsbeingdifficulttodistinguishaurallyortoproduce,orthroughpatternsof
changethatcausesomeraretypesofconstructionstodrifttowardsmorecommontypes.[111]Other
causesoflanguagechangearesocial,suchaswhencertainpronunciationsbecomeemblematicof
membershipincertaingroups,suchassocialclasses,orwithideologies,andthereforeareadoptedby
thosewhowishtoidentifywiththosegroupsorideas.Inthisway,issuesofidentityandpoliticscan
haveprofoundeffectsonlanguagestructure.[112]
Languagecontact
Oneimportantsourceoflanguagechangeiscontactandresultingdiffusionoflinguistictraitsbetween
languages.Languagecontactoccurswhenspeakersoftwoormorelanguagesorvarietiesinteractona
regularbasis.[113]Multilingualismislikelytohavebeenthenormthroughouthumanhistoryandmost
peopleinthemodernworldaremultilingual.Beforetheriseoftheconceptoftheethnonationalstate,
monolingualismwascharacteristicmainlyofpopulationsinhabitingsmallislands.Butwiththeideology
thatmadeonepeople,onestate,andonelanguagethemostdesirablepoliticalarrangement,
monolingualismstartedtospreadthroughouttheworld.Nonetheless,thereareonly250countriesinthe
worldcorrespondingtosome6000languages,whichmeansthatmostcountriesaremultilingualand
mostlanguagesthereforeexistinclosecontactwithotherlanguages.[114]
Whenspeakersofdifferentlanguagesinteractclosely,itistypicalfortheirlanguagestoinfluenceeach
other.Throughsustainedlanguagecontactoverlongperiods,linguistictraitsdiffusebetweenlanguages,
andlanguagesbelongingtodifferentfamiliesmayconvergetobecomemoresimilar.Inareaswhere
manylanguagesareinclosecontact,thismayleadtotheformationoflanguageareasinwhichunrelated
languagesshareanumberoflinguisticfeatures.Anumberofsuchlanguageareashavebeen
documented,amongthem,theBalkanlanguagearea,theMesoamericanlanguagearea,andthe
Ethiopianlanguagearea.Also,largerareassuchasSouthAsia,Europe,andSoutheastAsiahave
sometimesbeenconsideredlanguageareas,becauseofwidespreaddiffusionofspecificareal
features.[115][116]
Languagecontactmayalsoleadtoavarietyofotherlinguisticphenomena,includinglanguage
convergence,borrowing,andrelexification(replacementofmuchofthenativevocabularywiththatof
anotherlanguage).Insituationsofextremeandsustainedlanguagecontact,itmayleadtotheformation
ofnewmixedlanguagesthatcannotbeconsideredtobelongtoasinglelanguagefamily.Onetypeof
mixedlanguagecalledpidginsoccurswhenadultspeakersoftwodifferentlanguagesinteractona
regularbasis,butinasituationwhereneithergrouplearnstospeakthelanguageoftheothergroup
fluently.Insuchacase,theywilloftenconstructacommunicationformthathastraitsofbothlanguages,
butwhichhasasimplifiedgrammaticalandphonologicalstructure.Thelanguagecomestocontain
mostlythegrammaticalandphonologicalcategoriesthatexistinbothlanguages.Pidginlanguagesare
definedbynothavinganynativespeakers,butonlybeingspokenbypeoplewhohaveanotherlanguage
astheirfirstlanguage.ButifaPidginlanguagebecomesthemainlanguageofaspeechcommunity,then
eventuallychildrenwillgrowuplearningthepidginastheirfirstlanguage.Asthegenerationofchild
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learnersgrowup,thepidginwilloftenbeseentochangeitsstructureandacquireagreaterdegreeof
complexity.Thistypeoflanguageisgenerallycalledacreolelanguage.Anexampleofsuchmixed
languagesisTokPisin,theofficiallanguageofPapuaNewGuinea,whichoriginallyaroseasaPidgin
basedonEnglishandAustronesianlanguagesothersareKreylayisyen,theFrenchbasedcreole
languagespokeninHaiti,andMichif,amixedlanguageofCanada,basedontheNativeAmerican
languageCreeandFrench.[117]
Linguisticdiversity
SILEthnologuedefinesa"livinglanguage"as"onethathasatleast
onespeakerforwhomitistheirfirstlanguage".Theexactnumberof
knownlivinglanguagesvariesfrom6,000to7,000,dependingonthe
precisionofone'sdefinitionof"language",andinparticular,onhow
onedefinesthedistinctionbetweenlanguagesanddialects.Asof
2016,Ethnologuecataloged7,097livinghumanlanguages.[119]The
Ethnologueestablisheslinguisticgroupsbasedonstudiesofmutual
intelligibility,andthereforeoftenincludesmorecategoriesthanmore
conservativeclassifications.Forexample,theDanishlanguagethat
mostscholarsconsiderasinglelanguagewithseveraldialectsis
classifiedastwodistinctlanguages(DanishandJutish)bythe
Ethnologue.[118]
Language
Nativespeakers
(millions)[118]
Mandarin
848
Spanish
329[note4]
English
328
Portuguese 250
Arabic
221
Hindi
182
Bengali
181
Russian
144
AccordingtotheEthnologue,389languages(nearly6%)havemore
Japanese
122
thanamillionspeakers.Theselanguagestogetheraccountfor94%of
84.3
theworld'spopulation,whereas94%oftheworld'slanguagesaccount Javanese
fortheremaining6%oftheglobalpopulation.Totherightisatable
oftheworld's10mostspokenlanguageswithpopulationestimatesfromtheEthnologue(2009
figures).[118]
Languagesanddialects
Thereisnocleardistinctionbetweenalanguageandadialect,notwithstandingafamousaphorism
attributedtolinguistMaxWeinreichthat"alanguageisadialectwithanarmyandnavy".[120]For
example,nationalboundariesfrequentlyoverridelinguisticdifferenceindeterminingwhethertwo
linguisticvarietiesarelanguagesordialects.CantoneseandMandarinare,forexample,oftenclassified
as"dialects"ofChinese,eventhoughtheyaremoredifferentfromeachotherthanSwedishisfrom
Norwegian.BeforetheYugoslavcivilwar,SerboCroatianwasconsideredasinglelanguagewithtwo
dialects,butnowCroatianandSerbianareconsidereddifferentlanguagesandemploydifferentwriting
systems.Inotherwords,thedistinctionmayhingeonpoliticalconsiderationsasmuchasoncultural
differences,distinctivewritingsystems,ordegreeofmutualintelligibility.[121]
Languagefamiliesoftheworld
Theworld'slanguagescanbegroupedintolanguagefamiliesconsistingoflanguagesthatcanbeshown
tohavecommonancestry.Linguistsrecognizemanyhundredsoflanguagefamilies,althoughsomeof
themcanpossiblybegroupedintolargerunitsasmoreevidencebecomesavailableandindepthstudies
arecarriedout.Atpresent,therearealsodozensoflanguageisolates:languagesthatcannotbeshownto
berelatedtoanyotherlanguagesintheworld.AmongthemareBasque,spokeninEurope,ZuniofNew
Mexico,PurpechaofMexico,AinuofJapan,BurushaskiofPakistan,andmanyothers.[122]
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Thelanguagefamilyoftheworldthathasthemostspeakersis
theIndoEuropeanlanguages,spokenby46%oftheworld's
population.[123]Thisfamilyincludesmajorworldlanguageslike
English,Spanish,Russian,andHindustani(Hindi/Urdu).The
IndoEuropeanfamilyachievedprevalencefirstduringthe
EurasianMigrationPeriod(c.400800AD),andsubsequently
throughtheEuropeancolonialexpansion,whichbroughtthe
IndoEuropeanlanguagestoapoliticallyandoftennumerically
dominantpositionintheAmericasandmuchofAfrica.The
SinoTibetanlanguagesarespokenby20%[123]oftheworld's
populationandincludemanyofthelanguagesofEastAsia,
includingMandarinChinese,Cantonese,andhundredsofsmaller
languages.[124]
Africaishometoalargenumberoflanguagefamilies,thelargest
ofwhichistheNigerCongolanguagefamily,whichincludes
suchlanguagesasSwahili,Shona,andYoruba.Speakersofthe
NigerCongolanguagesaccountfor6.9%oftheworld's
population.[123]AsimilarnumberofpeoplespeaktheAfroasiatic
languages,whichincludethepopulousSemiticlanguagessuchas
Arabic,Hebrewlanguage,andthelanguagesoftheSahara
region,suchastheBerberlanguagesandHausa.[124]
Multilingualsignoutsidethemayor's
officeinNoviSad,writteninthe
fourofficiallanguagesofthecity:
Serbian,Hungarian,Slovak,and
PannonianRusyn.
TheAustronesianlanguagesarespokenby
5.5%oftheworld'spopulationandstretchfrom
MadagascartomaritimeSoutheastAsiaallthe
waytoOceania.[123]Itincludessuchlanguages
asMalagasy,Mori,Samoan,andmanyofthe
indigenouslanguagesofIndonesiaandTaiwan.
TheAustronesianlanguagesareconsideredto
haveoriginatedinTaiwanaround3000BCand
spreadthroughtheOceanicregionthrough
Principallanguagefamiliesoftheworld(andinsome
islandhopping,basedonanadvancednautical
casesgeographicgroupsoffamilies).Forgreaterdetail,
technology.Otherpopulouslanguagefamilies
seeDistributionoflanguagesintheworld.
aretheDravidianlanguagesofSouthAsia
(amongthemKannadaTamilandTelugu),the
TurkiclanguagesofCentralAsia(suchasTurkish),theAustroasiatic(amongthemKhmer),andTai
KadailanguagesofSoutheastAsia(includingThai).[124]
Theareasoftheworldinwhichthereisthegreatestlinguisticdiversity,suchastheAmericas,Papua
NewGuinea,WestAfrica,andSouthAsia,containhundredsofsmalllanguagefamilies.Theseareas
togetheraccountforthemajorityoftheworld'slanguages,thoughnotthemajorityofspeakers.Inthe
Americas,someofthelargestlanguagefamiliesincludetheQuechumaran,Arawak,andTupiGuarani
familiesofSouthAmerica,theUtoAztecan,OtoManguean,andMayanofMesoamerica,andtheNa
DeneandAlgonquianlanguagefamiliesofNorthAmerica.InAustralia,mostindigenouslanguages
belongtothePamaNyunganfamily,whereasPapuaNewGuineaishometoalargenumberofsmall
familiesandisolates,aswellasanumberofAustronesianlanguages.[122]
Languageendangerment
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Languageendangermentoccurswhena
languageisatriskoffallingoutofuseasits
speakersdieoutorshifttospeakinganother
language.Languagelossoccurswhenthe
languagehasnomorenativespeakers,and
becomesadeadlanguage.Ifeventuallynoone
speaksthelanguageatall,itbecomesanextinct
language.Whilelanguageshavealwaysgone
extinctthroughouthumanhistory,theyhave
beendisappearingatanacceleratedrateinthe
20thand21stcenturiesduetotheprocessesof
globalizationandneocolonialism,wherethe
economicallypowerfullanguagesdominate
otherlanguages.[125]
Together,theeightcountriesinredcontainmorethan
50%oftheworld'slanguages.Theareasinbluearethe
mostlinguisticallydiverseintheworld,andthelocations
ofmostoftheworld'sendangeredlanguages.
Themorecommonlyspokenlanguagesdominatethelesscommonlyspokenlanguages,sotheless
commonlyspokenlanguageseventuallydisappearfrompopulations.Thetotalnumberoflanguagesin
theworldisnotknown.Estimatesvarydependingonmanyfactors.Theconsensusisthatthereare
between6,000[126]and7,000languagescurrentlyspoken(asof2010),andthatbetween5090%of
thosewillhavebecomeextinctbytheyear2100.[125]Thetop20languages,thosespokenbymorethan
50millionspeakerseach,arespokenby50%oftheworld'spopulation,whereasmanyoftheother
languagesarespokenbysmallcommunities,mostofthemwithlessthan10,000speakers.[125]
TheUnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganization(UNESCO)operateswithfive
levelsoflanguageendangerment:"safe","vulnerable"(notspokenbychildrenoutsidethehome),
"definitelyendangered"(notspokenbychildren),"severelyendangered"(onlyspokenbytheoldest
generations),and"criticallyendangered"(spokenbyfewmembersoftheoldestgeneration,oftensemi
speakers).Notwithstandingclaimsthattheworldwouldbebetteroffifmostadoptedasinglecommon
linguafranca,suchasEnglishorEsperanto,thereisaconsensusthatthelossoflanguagesharmsthe
culturaldiversityoftheworld.Itisacommonbelief,goingbacktothebiblicalnarrativeofthetowerof
Babel,thatlinguisticdiversitycausespoliticalconflict,[27]butthisiscontradictedbythefactthatmany
oftheworld'smajorepisodesofviolencehavetakenplaceinsituationswithlowlinguisticdiversity,
suchastheYugoslavandAmericanCivilWar,orthegenocideofRwanda,whereasmanyofthemost
stablepoliticalunitshavebeenhighlymultilingual.[127]
Manyprojectsaimtopreventorslowthislossbyrevitalizingendangeredlanguagesandpromoting
educationandliteracyinminoritylanguages.Acrosstheworld,manycountrieshaveenactedspecific
legislationtoprotectandstabilizethelanguageofindigenousspeechcommunities.Aminorityof
linguistshavearguedthatlanguagelossisanaturalprocessthatshouldnotbecounteracted,andthat
documentingendangeredlanguagesforposterityissufficient.[128]
Seealso
Category:Listsoflanguages
Humancommunication
Internationalauxiliarylanguage
Listoflanguageregulators
Listofofficiallanguages
Outlineoflinguistics
Problemofreligiouslanguage
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Psycholinguistics
Speechlanguagepathology
Notes
Commentarynotes
1.ThegorillaKokoreportedlyusesasmanyas1000wordsinAmericanSignLanguage,andunderstands2000
wordsofspokenEnglish.Therearesomedoubtsaboutwhetherheruseofsignsisbasedoncomplex
understandingorsimpleconditioningCandland(1993).
2."Functionalgrammaranalyzesgrammaticalstructure,asdoformalandstructuralgrammarbutitalso
analyzestheentirecommunicativesituation:thepurposeofthespeechevent,itsparticipants,itsdiscourse
context.Functionalistsmaintainthatthecommunicativesituationmotivates,constrains,explains,orotherwise
determinesgrammaticalstructure,andthatastructuralorformalapproachesnotmerelylimitedtoan
artificiallyrestricteddatabase,butisinadequateevenasastructuralaccount.Functionalgrammar,then,
differsfromformalandstructuralgrammarinthatitpurportsnottomodelbuttoexplainandtheexplanation
isgroundedinthecommunicativesituation"Nichols(1984)
3.Theprefixedasterisk*conventionallyindicatesthatthesentenceisungrammatical,i.e.syntacticallyincorrect.
4.Ethnologue'sfigureisbasedonnumbersfrombefore1995.Amorerecentfigureis420million"Primer
estudioconjuntodelInstitutoCervantesyelBritishCouncilsobreelpesointernacionaldelespaolydel
ingls".InstitutoCervantes(www.cervantes.es).
Citations
1.Tomasello(1996)
2.Hauser,Chomsky&Fitch(2002)
3."language".TheAmericanHeritageDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage(3rded.).Boston:HoughtonMifflin
Company.1992.
4.Lyons(1981:2)
5.Lyons(1981:18)
6.Trask(2007):12931
7.Bett2010.
8.Devitt&Sterelny1999.
9.Hauser&Fitch(2003)
10.Pinker(1994)
11.Trask2007,p.93.
12.Saussure(1983)
13.Campbell(2001:96)
14.Trask2007,p.130.
15.Chomsky(1957)
16.Trask(2007:93,130)
17.Newmeyer(1998:36)
18.Evans&Levinson(2009)
19.VanValin(2001)
20.Nerlich2010,p.192.
21.Hockett(1960)Deacon(1997)
22.Trask(1999):15
23.Trask(1999:9)
24.Tomasello(2008)
25.Deacon(1997)
26.Trask(2007:16566)
27.Haugen(1973)
28.Ulbaek(1998)
29.Chomsky2000,p.4.
30.Fitch2010,pp.466507.
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31.Anderson(2012:107)
32.Anderson(2012:104)
33.Fitch2010,pp.25092.
34.Foley1997,pp.7074.
35.Fitch2010,pp.2923.
36.Newmeyer(2005)
37.Trask(2007)
38.Campbell(2001:8283)
39.Bloomfield1914,p.310
40.Clarke(1990):143144
41.Foley(1997:8283)
42.Croft&Cruse(2004:14)
43.Trask(1999:1114105113)
44.Fisher,Lai&Monaco(2003)
45.Lesser(1989:2056)
46.Trask(1999:1057)
47.Trask(1999:108)
48.Sandler&LilloMartin(2001:554)
49.MacMahon(1989:2)
50.MacMahon(1989:3)
51.InternationalPhoneticAssociation(1999:38)
52.MacMahon(1989:1115)
53.MacMahon(1989:611)
54.Ladefoged&Maddieson(1996)
55.Lyons(1981:1724)
56.Trask(1999:35)
57.Lyons(1981:21824)
58.Levinson(1983)
59.Goldsmith(1995)
60.InternationalPhoneticAssociation(1999)
62.Trask(2007:214)
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