Portal:Language

Introduction

Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is characterized by its cultural and historical diversity, with significant variations observed between cultures and across time. Human languages possess the properties of productivity and displacement, which enable the creation of an infinite number of sentences, and the ability to refer to objects, events, and ideas that are not immediately present in the discourse. The use of human language relies on social convention and is acquired through learning.

Estimates of the number of human languages in the world vary between 5,000 and 7,000. Precise estimates depend on an arbitrary distinction (dichotomy) established between languages and dialects. Natural languages are spoken, signed, or both; however, any language can be encoded into secondary media using auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli – for example, writing, whistling, signing, or braille. In other words, human language is modality-independent, but written or signed language is the way to inscribe or encode the natural human speech or gestures.

Depending on philosophical perspectives regarding the definition of language and meaning, 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. All languages rely on the process of semiosis to relate signs to particular meanings. Oral, manual and tactile languages contain a phonological system that governs how symbols are used to form sequences known as words or morphemes, and a syntactic system that governs how words and morphemes are combined to form phrases and utterances.

The scientific study of language is called linguistics. Critical examinations of languages, such as philosophy of language, the relationships between language and thought, how words represent experience, etc., have been debated at least since Gorgias and Plato in ancient Greek civilization. Thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) have argued that language originated from emotions, while others like Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) have argued that languages originated from rational and logical thought. Twentieth century philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) argued that philosophy is really the study of language itself. Major figures in contemporary linguistics include Ferdinand de Saussure and Noam Chomsky. (Full article...)

Outline of linguistics • Index of language articles

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Swedish (endonym: svenska [ˈsvɛ̂nːska] ^ⓘ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the fourth most spoken Germanic language, and the first among its type in the Nordic countries overall.

Swedish, like the other Nordic languages, is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Age. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, although the degree of mutual intelligibility is dependent on the dialect and accent of the speaker. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the Chinese-language forum 1Point3Acres created a COVID-19 tracker used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?
... that the reconstructed ancestral language of the Siouan languages had two sounds that linguists call "funny w" and "funny r"?
... that a Hawaii TV station's switch from Japanese-language programming to home shopping stirred viewer outcry?
... that David de Pomis published a trilingual Hebrew–Aramaic, Latin and Italian dictionary in 1587?
... that language creator Edgar de Wahl escaped deportation by the NKVD by being placed in a psychiatric hospital?
... that although three witnesses are typically needed in linguistic reconstruction, only two are necessary if borrowing and innovation can be ruled out?

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...that we know about Latin profanity from both graffiti at Pompeii, and from the poems of Martial, Catullus, and Horace?
...that virtually all Italian-speakers in Albania have learnt the language by watching Italian television and not through reading textbooks?
...that the indigenous Nambikwara language of Brazil has a special implosive consonant used only by elderly people?
...that Venetian, spoken in and around Venice, Italy, is not a dialect of Italian?

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The Conlang Flag, a symbol of language construction created by subscribers to the CONLANG mailing list, which represents the Tower of Babel against a rising sun

A constructed language is a language for communication between humans (i.e. not with or between computers) but unlike a language that emerges from human interaction, is intentionally devised for a particular purpose. Constructed language is often shortened to conlang and is a relatively broad term that encompasses subcategories including: fictional, artificial, engineered, planned and invented. A constructed language may include natural language aspects including phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary. Interlinguistics includes the study of constructed languages. (Full article...)

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Maryada Patral letter of conduct written by Acharya Bhiksu (first head of Jain Swetamber Terapanth sect) written in Rajasthani language

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Language News

29 September 2025 – Hungary–Ukraine relations, Telecommunications in Hungary

Hungary blocks access to 12 Ukrainian news websites to reciprocate Ukraine's earlier ban on several Hungarian-language portals. (Reuters)

5 September 2025 – Anglophone Crisis

A roadside bomb kills seven Cameroonian soldiers in the Southwest Region. An English-speaking separatist group claims responsibility for the bombing. (ABC News)

13 June 2025 – Middle Eastern crisis

Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last Shah, writes in Farsi calling for the Iranian military to abandon the Islamic Republic and accuses Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of forcing Iranians into the war. He also refers to the war as "Khamenei's war and the Islamic Republic's war". (Jerusalem Post)

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