Understanding Language: Characteristics, Linguistics, and Human Communication

Language and Languages

Language and languages can be synonymous in certain contexts but can also be distinguished by examining the words very precisely:

• Language: The ability to communicate through words.
• Language: Specific words used to communicate.

There are languages where there are signs or symbols. Their meaning must signify something: The words of a language are what is common to all languages. Human language is the ability to communicate. We all have the capacity for language, and all have the same capacity, but everything to do with a language we know is our own. Language is materialized by language.

• Language: Communication system; human power.
• Languages: Lesser, concrete materializations.

Human beings are fundamentally linguistic, endowed with the capacity for language that distinguishes us. We understand and interpret the world through language.

Linguistics: The Science of Language

Linguistics is the science that studies language. It is objective when it studies those characteristics that are common to all languages. It is descriptive when it studies certain characteristics of a particular language. Regulations determine what matters in a language or not, and it is decided to study that language component. It does not invent a scientific study.

Definition of Language

Language is a regulated system of arbitrary, articulated, and highly productive signs by which humans communicate, and we all recognize the reality that surrounds us.

Universal Characteristics of Language

• Duality: Linguistic signs are words. The simplest elements without meaning are letters or phonemes. There are relatively few simple elements that can form an unlimited number of words.
• Arbitrariness: The way words are formed does not have any link or connection with their meaning. Meaning has no relation to meaning. The link is completely arbitrary. It allows the infinite use of words to express what one wants. There is not only one arbitrary vocabulary, but there are many different languages. It allows switching from oral to written using simple elements (letters), which are few (limited).
• Productivity: There can be as many keywords as needed, almost unlimited, but limited because it would be impossible to master the language. Phrases or sentences are unlimited; with limited words, one can form endless sentences. The combinations of words are written as they are unpredictable and not known. The speaker can produce any. This feature means that one does not need to know things by heart, as there are many possibilities to find in a prior inventory of sentences. To speak a language means to make sentences.
• Displacement: The final consequence of all the other features. It is possible for humans to speak of situations not present. We can discuss past situations, future projects, imaginations, and possibilities with the same ease. Language is completely independent of the present situation. We can talk and communicate regardless of location and distance.

Sentence: The Minimum Unit of Linguistic Message

A sentence is the minimum unit that contains a linguistic message. Language finds its expressions in basic sentences, not isolated words. Sentences and words are recognized. Words have meaning by themselves but say nothing unless they are within the context of a sentence. Learning to speak means learning to produce sentences, not repeating or imitating them. Language is essentially a creative act of the mind. Speech creates sentences based on rules (that one dominates); words combine to form sentences. Words have meaning but adapt to the situation by using phrases.

Linguistic Competence

Linguistic competence is knowing how to combine words correctly and mastering the rules of knowledge. To speak a language proficiently, one must master these rules.

Noam Chomsky and Generative Grammar

Noam Chomsky was the first to talk about language skills and developed the theory of generative grammar. We can learn to master language skills, such as the rules of forming sentences, and the human capacity to communicate. Any human being develops one language or another.

Language is what makes us human. It is a regulated system of arbitrary, articulated, and widely productive signs, by which we humans communicate and interpret the world, linking us to reality.