imported>Kofi: Created page with "'''Language''' is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, and '''a language''' is any example of such a system of complex communic..."

2012-09-23T14:29:01Z

Created page with "'''Language''' is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, and '''a language''' is any example of such a system of complex communic..."

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'''Language''' is the [[human]] capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of [[communication]], and '''a language''' is any example of such a system of complex communication. The scientific study of language is called [[linguistics]]. It is impossible to know precisely how many languages there are in the world, and the number depends on a partly arbitrary distinction between languages and [[dialects]]. However, estimates vary between around 6,000 and 7,000 languages in number. [[Natural language]]s are [[speech|spoken]] or [[sign language|signed]], but any language can be en[[code]]d into secondary media using auditory, visual or tactile [[stimulus (physiology)|stimuli]], for example in [[written language|graphic writing]], [[braille]], or [[Whistled language|whistling]]. This is because human language is modality-independent. When used as a general concept, "language" may refer to the [[cognitive]] ability to learn and use systems of complex communication, or to describe the set of rules that makes up these systems, or the set of utterances that can be produced from those rules.

Language - Revision history

imported>Kofi: Created page with "'''Language''' is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, and '''a language''' is any example of such a system of complex communic..."