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Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication , or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication. The scientific study of language in any of its senses is called linguistics .
The approximately 3000–6000 languages that are spoken by humans today are the most salient examples, but natural languages can also be based on visual rather than auditive stimuli, for example in sign languages and written language . Codes and other kinds of artificially constructed communication systems such as those used for computer programming can also be called languages. A language in this sense is a system of signs for encoding and decoding information . The English word derives from Latin lingua ,
"language, tongue." This metaphoric relation between language and the tongue exists in many languages and testifies to the historical prominence of spoken languages.
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When used as a general concept, "language" refers to the cognitive faculty that enables humans to learn and use systems of complex communication.
The human language faculty is thought to be fundamentally different from and of much higher complexity than those of other species. Human language is highly complex in that it is based on a set of rules relating symbols to their meanings, thereby forming an infinite

number of possible utterances from a finite number of elements. Language is thought to have originated when early hominids first started cooperating, adapting earlier systems of communication based on expressive signs to include a theory of other minds and shared intentionality . This development is thought to have coincided with an increase in brain volume. Language is processed in many different locations in the human brain , but especially in Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas . Humans acquire language through social interaction in early childhood, and children generally speak fluently when they are around three years old. The use of language has become deeply entrenched in human culture and, apart from being used to communicate and share information, it also has social and cultural uses, such as signifying group identity , social stratification and for social grooming and entertainment . The word "language" can also be used to describe the set of rules that makes this possible, or the set of utterances that can be produced from those rules.
All languages rely on the process of semiosis to relate a sign with a particular meaning .
Spoken and signed languages contain a phonological system that governs how sounds or visual symbols are used to form sequences known as words or morphemes , and a syntactic system that governs how words and morphemes are used to form phrases and utterances. Written languages use visual symbols to represent the sounds of the spoken languages, but they still require syntactic rules that govern the production of meaning from sequences of words. Languages evolve and diversify over time, and the history of their evolution can be reconstructed by comparing modern languages to determine which traits their ancestral languages must have had for the later stages to have occurred. A group of languages that descend from a common ancestor is known as a language family .
The languages that are most spoken in the world today belong to the Indo-European family , which includes languages such as English , Spanish , Russian and Hindi ; the Sino-
Tibetan languages , which include Mandarin Chinese , Cantonese and many others;
Semitic languages , which include Arabic and Hebrew ; and the Bantu languages , which include Swahili , Zulu , Xhosa and hundreds of other languages spoken throughout Africa
The word "language" has two meanings: language as a general concept, and "a language"
(a specific linguistic system, e.g. " French "). Languages other than English often have two separate words for these distinct concepts. French for example uses the word langage for language as a concept and langue as the specific instance of language.
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When speaking of language as a general concept, several different definitions can be used that stress different aspects of the phenomenon.
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One definition sees language primarily as the mental faculty that allows humans to undertake linguistic behaviour: to learn languages and produce and understand utterances. This definition stresses the universality of language to all humans and the biological basis of the human capacity for language as a unique development of the human brain .
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This view often understands language to be largely innate , for example as in Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar or Jerry Fodor
’s extreme innatist theory.

These kinds of definitions are often applied by studies of language within a cognitive science framework and in neurolinguistics .
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Another definition sees language as a formal system of symbols governed by grammatical rules combining particular signs with particular meanings. This definition stresses the fact that human languages can be described as closed structural systems consisting of rules that relate particular signs to particular meanings. This structuralist view of language was first introduced by Ferdinand de Saussure . Some proponents of this view of language, such as Noam Chomsky , define language as a particular set of sentences that can be generated from a particular set of rules.
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The structuralist viewpoint is commonly used in formal logic , semiotics , and in formal and structural theories of grammar , the most commonly used theoretical frameworks in linguistic description . In the philosophy of language these views are associated with philosophers such as Bertrand Russell , early Wittgenstein , Alfred Tarski and Gottlob Frege .
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Yet another definition sees language as a system of communication that enables humans to cooperate. This definition stresses the social functions of language and the fact that humans use it to express themselves and to manipulate objects in their environment. This view of language is associated with the study of language in a functional or pragmatic framework, as well as in socio-linguistics and linguistic anthropology . In the Philosophy of language these views are often associated with
Wittgenstein’s
later works and with ordinary language philosophers such as G. E. Moore , Paul Grice , John Searle and J. L.
Austin .
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Human language is unique in comparison to other forms of communication, such as those used by other animals , because it allows humans to produce an infinite set of utterances from a finite set of elements,
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and because the symbols and grammatical rules of any particular language are largely arbitrary, so that the system can only be acquired through social interaction. The known systems of communication used by animals, on the other hand, can only express a finite number of utterances that are mostly genetically transmitted.
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Human language is also unique in that its complex structure has evolved to serve a much wider range of functions than any other kinds of communication system.
Traditional grammar distinguishes between the grammar of the elements that constitute a sentence (i.e. inter-elemental) and the grammar within sentence elements (i.e. intra-elemental).
Concepts of inter-elemental grammar for the English language
 subject

 predicate
 object
 predicative (aka complement)
 adverbial and adjunct
 sentence
 clause
 phrase
Concepts of intra-elemental grammar for the English language
 noun

 adjective
 determiner
 verb adverb
 preposition
 conjunction
 pronoun
The term is mainly used to distinguish these ideas from those of contemporary linguistics, which are intended to apply to a much broader range of languages, and to correct a number of errors in traditional grammar.
Although modern linguistics has exposed the limitations of traditional grammar, it is still the backbone of the grammar instruction given to the general population in
Western countries. As such, while very few people have encountered linguistics, nearly everybody in a modern Western culture encounters traditional grammar.
This is one of the big difficulties that linguists face when they try to explain their ideas to the general public.
Modern linguistics owes a very large debt to traditional grammar, but it departs from it quite a lot, in the following ways (among others):
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Linguistics aims to be general , and to provide an appropriate way of analysing all languages, and comparing them to each other. traditional grammar is usually concerned with one language, and when it has been applied to non-European languages, it has very often proved very inappropriate.
 Linguistics has broader influences than traditional grammar has.
For example, modern linguistics owes as much of a debt to
Panini 's grammar of Sanskrit as it does to Latin and Greek grammar.
Linguistics is in many ways more descriptively rigorous, because it goes after accurate description as its own end. In traditional

grammar, description is often only a means towards formulating usage advice .
While there is a large overlap between traditional grammar and prescriptive grammar , they are not entirely the same thing. Traditional grammar is best thought of as the set of descriptive concepts used by nearly all prescriptive works on grammar. Linguists' critiques of prescriptive grammar often take the form of pointing out that the usage prohibition in question is stated in terms of a concept from traditional grammar that modern linguistics has rejected.
In the 1950s the school of linguistic thought known as transformational-generative grammar received wide acclaim through the works of Noam Chomsky . Chomsky postulated a syntactic base of language (called deep structure), which consists of a series of phrase-structure rewrite rules, i.e., a series of (possibly universal) rules that generates the underlying phrase-structure of a sentence, and a series of rules (called transformations) that act upon the phrase-structure to form more complex sentences. The end result of a transformational-generative grammar is a surface structure that, after the addition of words and pronunciations, is identical to an actual sentence of a language. All languages have the same deep structure, but they differ from each other in surface structure because of the application of different rules for transformations, pronunciation, and word insertion. Another important distinction made in transformationalgenerative grammar is the difference between language competence (the subconscious control of a linguistic system) and language performance (the speaker's actual use of language). Although the first work done in transformational-generative grammar was syntactic, later studies have applied the theory to the phonological and semantic components of language
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In theoretical linguistics , generative grammar refers to a particular approach to the study of syntax . A generative grammar of a language attempts to give a set of rules that will correctly predict which combinations of words will form grammatical sentences. In most approaches to generative grammar, the rules will also predict the morphology of a sentence.
Generative grammar originates in the work of Noam Chomsky , beginning in the late
1950s. Early versions of Chomsky's theory were called transformational grammar , and this term is still used as a collective term that includes his subsequent theories. There are a number of competing versions of generative grammar currently practiced within linguistics . Chomsky's current theory is known as the Minimalist program . Other prominent theories include or have included head-driven phrase structure grammar , lexical functional grammar , categorial grammar , relational grammar , and tree-adjoining grammar .
Chomsky has argued that many of the properties of a generative grammar arise from an
"innate" universal grammar . Proponents of generative grammar have argued that most grammar is not the result of communicative function and is not simply learned from the environment (see poverty of the stimulus argument). In this respect, generative grammar takes a point of view different from cognitive grammar , functional and behaviorist theories.

Most versions of generative grammar characterize sentences as either grammatically correct (also known as well formed ) or not. The rules of a generative grammar typically function as an algorithm to predict grammaticality as a discrete (yes-or-no) result. In this respect, it differs from stochastic grammar , which considers grammaticality as a probabilistic variable. However, some work in generative grammar (e.g. recent work by
Joan Bresnan ) uses stochastic versions of optimality th
Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society , including cultural norms , expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society. Sociolinguistics differs from sociology of language in that the focus of sociolinguistics is the effect of the society on the language, while the latter's focus is on the language's effect on the society. Sociolinguistics overlaps to a considerable degree with pragmatics . It is historically closely related to linguistic anthropology and the distinction between the two fields has even been questioned recently.
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It also studies how language varieties differ between groups separated by certain social variables, e.g., ethnicity , religion , status , gender , level of education , age , etc., and how creation and adherence to these rules is used to categorize individuals in social or socioeconomic classes . As the usage of a language varies from place to place ( dialect ), language usage varies among social classes, and it is these sociolects that sociolinguistics studies.
The social aspects of language were in the modern sense first studied by Indian and
Japanese linguists in the 1930s, and also by Gauchat in Switzerland in the early 1900s, but none received much attention in the West until much later. The study of the social motivation of language change , on the other hand, has its foundation in the wave model of the late 19th century. The first attested use of the term sociolinguistics was by Thomas
Callan Hodson in the title of a 1939 paper.
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Sociolinguistics in the West first appeared in the 1960s and was pioneered by linguists such as William Labov in the US and Basil
Bernstein in the UK
Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics , but has no autonomous domain of its own.
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The preferred object of stylistic studies is literature , but not exclusively "high literature" but also other forms of written texts such as text from the domains of advertising , pop culture , politics or religion .
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Stylistics also attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language, such as socialisation , the production and reception of meaning , critical discourse analysis and literary criticism .
Other features of stylistics include the use of dialogue , including regional accents and people’s dialects , descriptive language, the use of grammar , such as the active voice or passive voice , the distribution of sentence lengths, the use of particular language registers , etc. In addition, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the

connections between the form and effects within a particular variety of language.
Therefore, stylistics looks at what is ‘going on’ within the language; what the linguistic associations are that the style of language reveals.
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language .
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Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields: the study of language form, of language meaning, and of language in context.
The first is the study of language structure, or grammar . This focuses on the systems of rules that are followed by speakers or a language. It encompasses morphology (the formation and composition of words), syntax (the formation and composition of phrases and sentences from these words), and phonology (sound systems). Phonetics is a related branch of linguistics concerned with the actual properties of speech sounds, nonspeech sounds, and how they are produced and perceived.
The study of language meaning is concerned with how language users make the inferences required to understand another's speech, how meaning is assigned and processed, and ambiguity. This subfield encompasses semantics (how meaning is inferred from words and concepts) and pragmatics (how meaning is inferred from context).
Language in its broader context includes evolutionary linguistics , which considers the origins of language; historical linguistics , which explores language change; sociolinguistics , which looks at the relation between linguistic variation and social structures; psycholinguistics , which explores the representation and function of language in the mind; neurolinguistics , which looks at language processing in the brain; language acquisition , how children or adults acquire language; and discourse analysis , which involves the structure of texts and conversations.
Although linguistics is the scientific study of language, a number of other intellectual disciplines are relevant to language and influence its study. Semiotics , for example, is the general study of signs and symbols both within language and without. Literary theorists study the use of language in literature . Linguistics additionally draws on work from such diverse fields as psychology , speech-language pathology , informatics , computer science , philosophy , biology , human anatomy , neuroscience , sociology , anthropology , and acoustics .
 Linguistics takes an analytical approach to the study of language, and Linguistics concentrators develop skills in data analysis, problem solving, and logical thinking that can be applied to many fields. For example, graduates with a B.A. in linguistics have a firm foundation (sometimes in combination with training in another specialization) from which they can pursue careers in such areas as the publishing and communication industries, translating and interpreting, computational fields, foreign language teaching, and the teaching of English as a second language.
Many students with a linguistics B.A. choose to undertake graduate study in this

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 area, or in the related disciplines of psychology, speech and hearing sciences, anthropology, philosophy, or computer science; Linguistics also provides excellent preparation for law school.
Language and the mind/brain.Because language is a universal human characteristic, and a component unique to the human mind/brain, studying the nature of human language provides important insight into human cognitive abilities. Linguists who focus on language as a cognitive process are interested in such questions as: What do you know when you "know" a language? (And what do you know that enables you to translate the symbols you are now reading into meanings?) How do children acquire language and why is learning a second language often difficult? Why is it so challenging to program computers to understand language? How might language have evolved in humans? How do our language abilities compare to other cognitive abilities? Many linguists who explore language as a cognitive process conduct experiments in such areas as speech perception and production, language processing, and child language acquisition to better answer these questions.
Language in society.Language use is an inherently social phenomenon. How you speak depends on such factors as where you grew up, your racial and ethnic identity, whether you are a woman or man, and your education. That is, you use the variation in language as a creative means of expressing who you are (and who you are not). By studying this variation, researchers enhance their understanding of language as well as their understanding of social processes, and discover the social factors that influence our linguistic choices and how these choices are perceived by others. Linguists who study the social aspects of language also investigate such topics as how and why languages change over time, how new languages are created when speakers of divergent languages come into contact, how language attitudes are used to maintain forms of discrimination, how conversations are social transactions, the relation between language and power, and the use of language in the media.
In a unit like this, in which we are concerned with the teaching and learning of a language, we have the difficult task of simultaneously maintaining two conceptions of ‘language’. The first is as the subject matter of teaching and learning: the nature of the language which is being taught, the ways in which this language is defined by the curriculum of schools, and the ways it is used in the world which learners in teachers of English to speakers of other languages
(TESOL) classes are active in. But a second way we can consider language is as a medium for the interactive process of teaching-and-learning. In any classroom, whatever curriculum subject is being taught, language is the primary means by which relative ‘experts’ (teachers) help relative ‘novices’, or ‘apprentices’, to develop their knowledge and understanding.
We will now give direct attention to analysing the ways in which language is used as a medium for the teaching and learning of English. To make this kind of analysis, we will draw on a research tradition that is mainly a psychological tradition, though it also draws on anthropology, linguistics and educational

research, and is usually called socio-cultural psychology . It is centrally concerned with language use, but in a rather different way than might be expected.
Language is importance to human’s daily-life since they have to communicate with others. With globalizing economic environment, multi languages are vital for any multi-national businesses. Some may analyze the notion of national identity through it, but it is somehow mistakenly overlooking the usage of language, which is closely linked with communication. The medium for people to communicate is, whether written or spoken, languages. The primary function of languages is undoubtedly to facilitate interaction among people who may or may not come from different cultural background. In the context of economic globalization currently, this is the major reason why so much people have to learn English, and more people start to learn
Putonghua when China is growing so rapidly in the recent decade. However, some may recognize languages with linkage to national identity. Some may even think that using a foreign language is, to a certain extent, giving up or violating their own national identity. The Malaysian government, for instance, is worrying the widespread use of English among their citizen, which is even more commonly used than their national language. It is because they think that using the national language of the United Kingdom, who was once their colonizer, is in a sense not being a ‘Malaysian’. Yet such points of view may be too cautious that it underestimates the essential function of languages. Plus, it may be too limited, and perhaps biased, to recognize one’s identity in terms of the language one uses. This is particularly true when people encounter languages they are not familiar with or even do not know. For example, can one distinguish Japanese and
Korean people through their own spoken language when one does not know their language and there is not any obvious difference among their appearances? Language should not be linked too closely with national identity, or which would be easily understood too limitedly. Additionally, being hesitate to use a foreign language or stick to any single language would just hinder the development of economy under recent trend of economic globalization. While economy is the ultimate concern of every capitalist society, it would be paradoxical to worry too much the uses of languages since which are the key of businesses nowadays.
Moreover, the relationship between language and national identity is blurred. As can be seen from the conference among national officials, for example in Asia, the language used to communicate is officially
English. Obviously, one cannot say that all the officials are violating their identities of their own countries.
In fact, language used within countries varies largely, particularly in countries whose sizes are large such as
India and China. To conclude, the primary function of language is to carry out communication. Simply speaking, the notion of national identity should not be limitedly comes with languages alone. Language is especially important in the age of globalization for, purely, communication. For Smalley, ‘whether widespread or localize, every language has its place in the system and no language threaten the place of the national language.’