Importance of Language
in today’s world
Language
Language is the ability to acquire and use complex systems of communication,
particularly the human ability to do so, and a language is any specific example of
such a system. Thinkers such as Rousseau have argued that language originated
from emotions while others like Kant have held that it originated from rational and
logical thought. 20th-century philosophers such as Wittgenstein argued that
philosophy is really the study of language. Major figures in linguistics include
Ferdinand de Saussure and Noam Chomsky. Estimates of the number of languages
in the world vary between 5,000 and 7,000. Human language has the properties of
productivity and displacement, and relies entirely on social convention and
learning. Its complex structure affords a much wider range of expressions than any
known system of animal communication.
Importance of language
• The Importance of Language: Language is a constituent element of
civilization. It raised man from a savage state to the plane which he
was capable of reaching. Man could not become man except by
language. An essential point in which man differs from animals is that
man alone is the sole possessor of language. Language is one of the
most marked, conspicuous, as well as fundamentally characteristic of
the faculties of man. The importance of language for man and society
cannot be minimized.
Different languages in world
In India, there are 28 states and have so many languages to express and
communicate their ideas, similarly in world, there are so many languages. Top
10 languages by Total Number Of Speakers.
English - 1.132 billion total speakers. Mandarin Chinese - 1.117 billion total
speakers. Hindi - 615 million total speakers. Spanish, 534 million total
speakers. French, 280 million total speakers. Standard Arabic, 274 million
total speakers. Bengali, 265 million total speakers. Russian, 258 million
total speakers. Portuguese, 234 million total speakers. Indonesian, 199
million total speakers
Need for universal language
The people of different parts of the world speak different languages. Not only that,
people living in the same territory use different languages or speak different dialects.
These differences in the language of the people of the world have served to limit intergroup communication and perpetuate social isolation. Since language is a great
medium of communication the assumption has been made that if the people of the
world have the same language it may help a great deal in removing the culture barriers
and bring the people of the world nearer to each other thereby serving the cause of
international understanding and cooperation. No doubt, a universal language may
help in the cultural unification of the people of the world and remove
misunderstanding
French Language
The French is one of the very few language spoken all over the world. It ranked 6th as
compare to the other languages. French language also include in the education
system. An estimate 2 million people in some 50 different country are enrolled in
bilingual section with French as one of the language of instructor. French is also
taught at establishments run by France’s cultural network abroad French is one of the
working languages of the United Nations alongside English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic.
French is one of the three procedural languages of the European Union. French is the
sole official language of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). Second to English, French
is the largest studied language.
Language for man
It is an important attribute of his personality. Its importance to the society lies in
the following: (i) Easy Social Contact: It makes social contact easy. Men can easily
exchange their ideas. According to E. H. Sturtevant, “A language is a system of
arbitrary vocal symbols by which members of a social group cooperate and
interact. (ii) Culture-Carrier: Language may be called culture- carrier. The culture
that exists at a given time and place has come from the past and is the result of
accumulation of things, attitudes, ideas, knowledge, error and prejudice. The
animals as we have seen are incapable of speech except for a few sounds and so
incapable of having any culture and civilization. It is man alone who through
language has acquired a high degree of culture and civilization. As pointed out
above it raised man from savage state to a noble state. (iii) Easy Conveyance of
Ideas: language gives a capacity for conveying ideas about a great variety of things.
In times when there was no language the ideas were transmitted by signs or cries
which were not easy to interpret. Man felt great difficulty in the clear expression of
states of emotion.
Linguistic differences continue
The proponents of different languages claim that ‘their language is better
than any other language and that it alone provides a more efficient means of
communication that it is more explicit, more logical, more flexible and far
more easier to master. Efforts have also been made to improve the existing
languages, to make them more simplified and logical. But as yet no universal
single language has been agreed upon and consequently the linguistic
differences continue. It is also difficult for any people to learn more readily any
other language than the mother-tongue.