what is language?

Question

and also how did it begin and who began it, and stuff like . . . the history of language

Answer 1

Language, strictly defined, is a form of communication using symbols to indicate things or concepts, it does not have to be verbal (think sign language and writing).

The origins of language are lost, but language as we know it most likely developed in Homo sapiens, modern humans, anywhere from 300,000 to 150,000 years ago. From there we have to jump forward to Ancient Mesopotamia, where the first writing was developed, a system called cunieform, which used reeds to make impressions in clay tablets, mostly for accounting purposes. In many ancient societies, the development of writing coincides with the rise of agrigultural states with centralized governments.

Writing was primarily ideographic (one symbol = one word), until about 1000 BC, when the phoenicians developed a system in which single symbols represented single sounds, an alphabet. This spread and was refined by the Greeks and then the Romans. Roman script is used to write most european languages today, except for Greek, with Russian and a few other slavic languages the notable exceptions, their alphabet, Cyrillic, is based on the greek system.

The modern European languages, except for Finnish and Basque, are all decended from a common root language, brought from Central ASIA and known as Indo-European. There are several other language "kingdoms", such as Finno-Urgic (eg Finnish, Siberian languages), Semitic (eg Arabic, Hebrew), and Sino-Japanese (eg Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese).

Today, the language spoken by the most people is Mandarin Chinese, with English, Spanish, French, and Arabic in distant second, third, fourth, and fifth place.

Answer 2

Well!!! A classical language, is a language with a literature that is classical— i.e., it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. How Tamil is classical? Claims regarding the "Primary Classicality of Tamil": 1. Lemurian origin 2. Phonological simplicity 3. Catholicity . 4. Tamulic substratum of the Aryan family of languages. 5. Morphological purity and primitiveness . 6. The presence of the words ‘amma’ and ‘appa’ in almost all great languages in some form or other. 7. Absence of Nominative case-termination . 8. Separability and significance of all affixes . 9. Absence of morphological gender 10. Absence of arbitrary words 11. Traceability of Tamil to its very origin. 12. Logical and natural order of words . 13. Absence of dual number . 14. Originality and natural development . 15. Highest order of the classicality . Classical Languages in India: 1. Tamil 2. Sanskrit 3. Kannada 4 . Telugu Classical Languages in the world (other than Indian): 1. Sumerian 2. Egyptian 3. Babylonian 4. Hebrew 5. Chinese 6. Greek 7. Latin * Though the first three languages exitsed along with all 7, only the latter 4 along with Tamil and Sanskrit are called as Worlds Classical languages

Answer 3

language is a form of verbal communication towards others who understand the same dialect as you.

English is a West Germanic language originating in England, and the first language for most people in Australia, Canada, the Commonwealth Caribbean, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (also commonly known as the Anglosphere). It is used extensively as a second language and as an official language throughout the world, especially in Commonwealth countries and in many international organisations.

Modern English is sometimes described as the global lingua franca. English is the dominant international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy. The influence of the British Empire is the primary reason for the initial spread of the language far beyond the British Isles. Following World War II, the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States has significantly accelerated the adoption of English.

A working knowledge of English is required in certain fields, professions, and occupations. As a result over a billion people speak English at least at a basic level (see English language learning and teaching). English is one of six official languages of the United Nations.

Answer 4

Language Is A Form Of Communication. Originated In Central Europe. You Want A Good Answer? Go To Wikipedia.com

Answer 5

Dear,

LANGUAGE; HUMAN SPEECH: a distinct variety of speech (as English, French, Latin etc., etc); any manner of expressing thought (e.g., Sign language).
Language: maybe define as a means of conveying though by words, or articulate use tongue. Infact, "language" and "tongue" are homonyms in the idioms of many nations. The Latin stem of the word (lingua) literally means "tongue". However, by extension of meaning "language" can also signify any means of conveying ideas. The second significance is reflected in such metaphors as "language of eyes, gestures, or deeds". The original of language as a vehicle of ideas is lost in prehistoric darkness. It can only be surmised that man's ancestors used sounds, as most evoled animals do, to express rudimentary emotions. At some stage of evolution a refinement of this basic communication resulted in the birth of speech. Sounds of a definite pattern were standardized into a primeval vocabulary.

BAD LANGUAGE: profane oaths, etc., etc.(Lingua; the tongue).

History of Language:

Early Language:
It is uncertain whether language was one at its inception and later split into many different idioms or whether a variety of idioms was spontaneously, if not simultaneously, generated in different parts of the Globe. This question is still open to philosophical evaluation and scientific research. The fact remain that at the dawn of history man was already using several seemingly littlerelated groups idioms. These linguitic groupings were the ancestors of the countless language spoken today.

Answer 6

God gave man language in the garden of Eden because He talked with Adam and made Adam name the animals. Enough said.

Oh I think there is some theory that says a caveman said UGG when something hurt him and them something else when he was hungry and that is how language developed. Both ideas are theories that nobody can prove beyond the shadow of doubt.

Answer 7

That question is huge! Language can be defined as anything! From a simple cluck of your tongue to a hand signal. Who knows when it began. Eye movements can even be signatures of communication. I wrote a report on this for college; and I don't have enough room here, lol!!

Answer 8

The medium of communication.... with or without words,is language.Its not only MAN who communicates,birds,animals,plants too have their language that brings about an understanding between them.

Answer 9

it begain in central england where they needed to find an easier way to communicate better so ther came up with sound that eventually became the words we speak now

Answer 10

check in library language section