Natural language: Difference between revisions
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{{Linguistics}} | {{Linguistics}} | ||
The phrase '''natural language''' means human speech and writing. | The phrase '''natural language''' means [[human]] [[spoken language|speech]], [[sign language]] and [[written language|writing]]. The science of studying natural languages is known as [[linguistics]], but linguistics is not the only scholarly area with an interest in this field. The discovery of the oldest evidence of human [[language]], primarily via vestiges of early writing, falls under the pervue of [[archaeology]] and also [[history]]. The mechanisms related to learning of human languages may be of interest in [[psychology]] and [[medicine]] due to its exercise of higher brain function. [[Computer science|Computer scientists]] have been engaged in the study of human languages for the purpose of [[machine translation]] between different human languages. | ||
===Properties of natural languages=== | ===Properties of natural languages=== | ||
Linguistic scholars have described | Linguistic scholars have described natural languages as a system of symbols (sometimes known as [[lexeme]]s) and the [[grammar]] (rules) by which the symbols are manipulated. The assignment of meaning to a symbol in a language is arbitrary. Any symbol can be mapped onto any concept (or even onto one of the rules of the grammar). For instance, there is nothing about the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] word ''nada'' itself that forces Spanish speakers to use it to mean 'nothing'. That is the meaning all Spanish speakers have memorized for that sound sequence. But for [[Croatian language|Croatian]] speakers ''nada'' means 'hope'. Not all mappings of symbols to concepts are entirely arbitrary, however; spoken language may assign meaning to symbols because the spoken sound is imitative of a natural phenomenon. Thus for example, the word 'meow' sounds similar to what it represents (see [[Onomatopoeia]])<ref name="onomatopoeia">{{cite web|url=http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/animals/animals.html|title=Sounds of the World's Animals|publisher=Catherine N. Ball, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University|year=year not specified|accessdate=2007-04-12}}</ref>. | ||
===Origins of | ===Origins of natural language=== | ||
No one yet agrees on when language was first used by humans (or their ancestors). Estimates range from about two million (2,000,000) years ago, during the time of ''[[Homo habilis]]'', to as recently as forty thousand (40,000) years ago, during the time of [[Cro-Magnon]] man. | No one yet agrees on when language was first used by humans (or their ancestors). Estimates range from about two million (2,000,000) years ago, during the time of ''[[Homo habilis]]'', to as recently as forty thousand (40,000) years ago, during the time of [[Cro-Magnon]] man. | ||
<!--::(need a section here on earliest archeological evidence of emergence of writing, i.e., runes and things), or maybe something about first evidence of "written" language emerging--or, does written language stuff belong here or in a sub-article?[[User:Pat Palmer|Pat Palmer]] 14:47, 13 April 2007 (CDT)--> | <!--::(need a section here on earliest archeological evidence of emergence of writing, i.e., | ||
runes and things), or maybe something about first evidence of "written" language emerging-- | |||
or, does written language stuff belong here or in a sub-article?[[User:Pat Palmer|Pat | |||
Palmer]] 14:47, 13 April 2007 (CDT)--> | |||
===Language versus dialect classification=== | ===Language versus dialect classification=== | ||
From the point of view of [[Historical_linguistics|historical]] [[Comparative_linguistics|comparative]] | From the point of view of [[Historical_linguistics|historical]] [[Comparative_linguistics|comparative]] linguistics, two natural languages with noticeable difference in pronunciation but which are still [[mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] may be classified as being two ''[[dialect]]s'' of the same language. However, the decision to term a particular regional language as its own language, versus a ''dialect'' of another language, is sometimes also the result of political divisions, cultural differences, distinctive [[writing systems]], or other factors. [[Max Weinreich]] is credited as saying that "[[Language-dialect aphorism|a language is a dialect with an army and a navy]]". For instance, some [[dialect]]s of [[German language|German]] are [[mutually intelligible]] with some dialects of [[Dutch language|Dutch]]. The transition between languages within the same [[language family]] is usually gradual (see [[dialect continuum]]). The concepts of [[Ausbausprache - Abstandsprache - Dachsprache|Ausbausprache, Abstandsprache and Dachsprache]] are used to make finer [[distinction]]s about the degrees of difference between languages or dialects. | ||
===Study of grammar=== | ===Study of grammar=== | ||
The oldest surviving written grammar for any language is believed to be the ''[[Tolkāppiyam]]'' (தொல்காப்பியம்), a book on the grammar of the [[Tamil language]], written around | The oldest surviving written grammar for any language is believed to be the ''[[Tolkāppiyam]]'' (தொல்காப்பியம்), a book on the grammar of the [[Tamil language]], written around 200 BC by Tolkāppiyar. Its classification of the [[alphabet]] into [[consonant]]s and [[vowel]] was a breakthrough. The historical record of the study of language begins in [[North India]] with [[Pāṇini]], the [[5th century BC]] grammarian who formulated 3,959 rules of [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], known as the ''{{Unicode|[[Aṣṭādhyāyī]]}}'' (अष्टाध्यायी). {{Unicode|Pāṇini’s}} grammar is highly systematized and technical. Inherent in its analytic approach are the concepts of the [[phoneme]], the [[morpheme]], and the [[Root (linguistics)|root]]. | ||
In the [[Middle East]], the [[Persian language|Persian]] linguist [[Sibawayh]] made a detailed and professional description of [[Arabic language|Arabic]] in 760 CE in his monumental work, ''Al-kitab fi al-nahw'' (الكتاب في النحو, ''The Book on Grammar''), bringing many [[Linguistics|linguistic]] aspects of language to light. In his book he distinguished [[phonetics]] from [[phonology]]. | In the [[Middle East]], the [[Persian language|Persian]] linguist [[Sibawayh]] made a detailed and professional description of [[Arabic language|Arabic]] in 760 CE in his monumental work, ''Al-kitab fi al-nahw'' (الكتاب في النحو, ''The Book on Grammar''), bringing many [[Linguistics|linguistic]] aspects of language to light. In his book he distinguished [[phonetics]] from [[phonology]]. | ||
Later in the West, the success of [[science]], [[mathematics]], and other [[formal system]]s in the | Later in the West, the success of [[science]], [[mathematics]], and other [[formal system]]s in the twentieth century led many to attempt a formalization of the study of language as a "semantic code". This resulted in the [[academia|academic]] discipline of linguistics, the founding of which is attributed to [[Ferdinand de Saussure]]. | ||
::Where do Wittgenstein and Quine argue this? [[Philosopher]]s such as [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], [[W. V. Quine]], and [[Jacques Derrida]] have disputed the possibility of such a rigorous study of language by questioning many of the assumptions necessary for such a study, and have put forth their own views on the nature of language. There is no end in sight to this debate. | ::Where do Wittgenstein and Quine argue this? [[Philosopher]]s such as [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], [[W. V. Quine]], and [[Jacques Derrida]] have disputed the possibility of such a rigorous study of language by questioning many of the assumptions necessary for such a study, and have put forth their own views on the nature of language. There is no end in sight to this debate. | ||
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===Language taxonomy=== | ===Language taxonomy=== | ||
The [[Taxonomic classification|classification]] of natural languages can be performed on the basis of different underlying principles (different closeness notions, respecting different properties and relations between languages); important directions of present classifications are: | The [[Taxonomic classification|classification]] of natural languages can be performed on the basis of different underlying principles (different closeness notions, respecting different properties and relations between languages); important directions of present classifications are: | ||
* paying attention to the historical evolution of languages results in a genetic classification of languages | |||
* paying attention to the internal structure of languages ([[grammar]]) results in a typological classification of languages | * paying attention to the historical evolution of languages results in a genetic classification of languages - which is based on genetic relatedness of languages; | ||
* paying attention to the internal structure of languages ([[grammar]]) results in a typological classification of languages - which is based on similarity of one or more components of the language's grammar across languages; | |||
* and respecting geographical closeness and contacts between language-speaking communities results in areal groupings of languages. | * and respecting geographical closeness and contacts between language-speaking communities results in areal groupings of languages. | ||
The different classifications do not match each other and are not expected to, but the correlation between them is an important point for many [[linguistics|linguistic]] research works. (There is a parallel to the classification of [[species]] in biological [[phylogenetics]] here: consider [[monophyletic]] vs. [[polyphyletic]] groups of species.) | The different classifications do not match each other and are not expected to, but the correlation between them is an important point for many [[linguistics|linguistic]] research works. (There is a parallel to the classification of [[species]] in biological [[phylogenetics]] here: consider [[monophyletic]] vs. [[polyphyletic]] groups of species.) | ||
The task of genetic classification belongs to the field of [[historical-comparative linguistics]], of typological | The task of genetic classification belongs to the field of [[historical-comparative linguistics]], of typological - to [[linguistic typology]]. | ||
See also [[Taxonomy]], and [[Taxonomic classification]] for the general idea of classification and taxonomies. | See also [[Taxonomy]], and [[Taxonomic classification]] for the general idea of classification and taxonomies. | ||
====Genetic classification==== | ====Genetic classification==== | ||
The world's languages have been grouped into families of languages that are | The world's languages have been grouped into families of languages that are accepted as having common ancestors. Some of the major families are the [[Proto-Indo-European_language|Indo-European languages]], the [[Afro-Asiatic languages]], the [[Austronesian languages]], and the [[Sino-Tibetan languages]]. | ||
The shared features of languages from one family can be due to shared ancestry. (Compare with [[homology (biology)|homology]] in biology.) | The shared features of languages from one family can be due to shared ancestry. (Compare with [[homology (biology)|homology]] in biology.) | ||
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An example of a typological classification is the classification of languages on the basis of the basic order of the [[verb]], the [[subject (grammar)|subject]] and the [[object (grammar)|object]] in a [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]] into several types: [[SVO language|SVO]], [[SOV language|SOV]], [[VSO language|VSO]], and so on, languages. ([[English language|English]], for instance, belongs to the [[SVO language]] type.) | An example of a typological classification is the classification of languages on the basis of the basic order of the [[verb]], the [[subject (grammar)|subject]] and the [[object (grammar)|object]] in a [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]] into several types: [[SVO language|SVO]], [[SOV language|SOV]], [[VSO language|VSO]], and so on, languages. ([[English language|English]], for instance, belongs to the [[SVO language]] type.) | ||
The shared features of languages of one type (= from one typological class) may have arisen completely independently. (Compare with [[analogy (biology)|analogy]] in biology.) Their | The shared features of languages of one type (= from one typological class) may have arisen completely independently. (Compare with [[analogy (biology)|analogy]] in biology.) Their co-occurrence might be due to the universal laws governing the structure of natural languages - [[language universal]]s. | ||
====Areal classification==== | ====Areal classification==== | ||
The following language groupings can serve as some linguistically significant examples of areal linguistic units, or ''[[sprachbund]]s'': [[Balkan linguistic union]], or the bigger group of [[European languages]]; [[Caucasian languages]]. Although the members of each group are not closely [[genetic relatedness of languages|genetically related]], there is a reason for them to share similar features, namely: their speakers have been in contact for a long time within a common community and the languages ''converged'' in the course of the history. These are called | The following language groupings can serve as some linguistically significant examples of areal linguistic units, or ''[[sprachbund]]s'': [[Balkan linguistic union]], or the bigger group of [[European languages]]; [[Caucasian languages]]. Although the members of each group are not closely [[genetic relatedness of languages|genetically related]], there is a reason for them to share similar features, namely: their speakers have been in contact for a long time within a common community and the languages ''converged'' in the course of the history. | ||
These are called ''[[areal feature (linguistics)|areal feature]]s''. | |||
N.B.: one should be careful about the underlying classification principle for groups of languages which have apparently a geographical name: besides areal linguistic units, the [[taxa]] of the genetic classification ([[language family|language families]]) are often given names which themselves or parts of which refer to geographical areas. | N.B.: one should be careful about the underlying classification principle for groups of languages which have apparently a geographical name: besides areal linguistic units, the [[taxa]] of the genetic classification ([[language family|language families]]) are often given names which themselves or parts of which refer to geographical areas. | ||
===Constructed languages=== | ===Constructed languages=== | ||
Humans have also deliberately contructed [[Constructed language|artificial language]]s such as [[Esperanto]], [[Lojban]], [[Ido]], [[Interlingua]], and [[Klingon language|Klingon]]. | Humans have also deliberately contructed [[Constructed language|artificial language]]s such as [[Esperanto]], [[Lojban]], [[Ido]], [[Interlingua]], and [[Klingon language|Klingon]]. [[Esperanto]] is a well-known artificial language that was created by [[L. L. Zamenhof]] as a compilation of various elements of different languages, and was intended to be an easy-to-learn language for people familiar with similar languages. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
*[[Linguistics]] | *[[Linguistics]] | ||
*[[Deception]] | *[[Deception]] | ||
*[[Philology]] | *[[Philology]] | ||
*[[Historical linguistics]] | |||
*[[Psycholinguistics]] | *[[Psycholinguistics]] | ||
*[[Sign language]] | *[[Sign language]] | ||
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* [http://www.netz-tipp.de/languages.html Distribution of languages on the Internet] | * [http://www.netz-tipp.de/languages.html Distribution of languages on the Internet] | ||
* [http://classweb.gmu.edu/accent/ Speech accent archive] | * [http://classweb.gmu.edu/accent/ Speech accent archive] | ||
* [http://multilingualbooks.com/online-radio.html/ Listen to online radio of the world's | * [http://multilingualbooks.com/online-radio.html/ Listen to online radio of the world's languages] | ||
languages] | |||
* [http://polyglottery.wordpress.com Learning Global Languages] | * [http://polyglottery.wordpress.com Learning Global Languages] | ||
* [http://www.audioenglish.net/ English as a foreign language] | * [http://www.audioenglish.net/ English as a foreign language] | ||
Revision as of 02:40, 31 October 2007
The phrase natural language means human speech, sign language and writing. The science of studying natural languages is known as linguistics, but linguistics is not the only scholarly area with an interest in this field. The discovery of the oldest evidence of human language, primarily via vestiges of early writing, falls under the pervue of archaeology and also history. The mechanisms related to learning of human languages may be of interest in psychology and medicine due to its exercise of higher brain function. Computer scientists have been engaged in the study of human languages for the purpose of machine translation between different human languages.
Properties of natural languages
Linguistic scholars have described natural languages as a system of symbols (sometimes known as lexemes) and the grammar (rules) by which the symbols are manipulated. The assignment of meaning to a symbol in a language is arbitrary. Any symbol can be mapped onto any concept (or even onto one of the rules of the grammar). For instance, there is nothing about the Spanish word nada itself that forces Spanish speakers to use it to mean 'nothing'. That is the meaning all Spanish speakers have memorized for that sound sequence. But for Croatian speakers nada means 'hope'. Not all mappings of symbols to concepts are entirely arbitrary, however; spoken language may assign meaning to symbols because the spoken sound is imitative of a natural phenomenon. Thus for example, the word 'meow' sounds similar to what it represents (see Onomatopoeia)[1].
Origins of natural language
No one yet agrees on when language was first used by humans (or their ancestors). Estimates range from about two million (2,000,000) years ago, during the time of Homo habilis, to as recently as forty thousand (40,000) years ago, during the time of Cro-Magnon man.
Language versus dialect classification
From the point of view of historical comparative linguistics, two natural languages with noticeable difference in pronunciation but which are still mutually intelligible may be classified as being two dialects of the same language. However, the decision to term a particular regional language as its own language, versus a dialect of another language, is sometimes also the result of political divisions, cultural differences, distinctive writing systems, or other factors. Max Weinreich is credited as saying that "a language is a dialect with an army and a navy". For instance, some dialects of German are mutually intelligible with some dialects of Dutch. The transition between languages within the same language family is usually gradual (see dialect continuum). The concepts of Ausbausprache, Abstandsprache and Dachsprache are used to make finer distinctions about the degrees of difference between languages or dialects.
Study of grammar
The oldest surviving written grammar for any language is believed to be the Tolkāppiyam (தொல்காப்பியம்), a book on the grammar of the Tamil language, written around 200 BC by Tolkāppiyar. Its classification of the alphabet into consonants and vowel was a breakthrough. The historical record of the study of language begins in North India with Pāṇini, the 5th century BC grammarian who formulated 3,959 rules of Sanskrit morphology, known as the Aṣṭādhyāyī (अष्टाध्यायी). Pāṇini’s grammar is highly systematized and technical. Inherent in its analytic approach are the concepts of the phoneme, the morpheme, and the root.
In the Middle East, the Persian linguist Sibawayh made a detailed and professional description of Arabic in 760 CE in his monumental work, Al-kitab fi al-nahw (الكتاب في النحو, The Book on Grammar), bringing many linguistic aspects of language to light. In his book he distinguished phonetics from phonology.
Later in the West, the success of science, mathematics, and other formal systems in the twentieth century led many to attempt a formalization of the study of language as a "semantic code". This resulted in the academic discipline of linguistics, the founding of which is attributed to Ferdinand de Saussure.
- Where do Wittgenstein and Quine argue this? Philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, W. V. Quine, and Jacques Derrida have disputed the possibility of such a rigorous study of language by questioning many of the assumptions necessary for such a study, and have put forth their own views on the nature of language. There is no end in sight to this debate.
Language taxonomy
The classification of natural languages can be performed on the basis of different underlying principles (different closeness notions, respecting different properties and relations between languages); important directions of present classifications are:
- paying attention to the historical evolution of languages results in a genetic classification of languages - which is based on genetic relatedness of languages;
- paying attention to the internal structure of languages (grammar) results in a typological classification of languages - which is based on similarity of one or more components of the language's grammar across languages;
- and respecting geographical closeness and contacts between language-speaking communities results in areal groupings of languages.
The different classifications do not match each other and are not expected to, but the correlation between them is an important point for many linguistic research works. (There is a parallel to the classification of species in biological phylogenetics here: consider monophyletic vs. polyphyletic groups of species.)
The task of genetic classification belongs to the field of historical-comparative linguistics, of typological - to linguistic typology.
See also Taxonomy, and Taxonomic classification for the general idea of classification and taxonomies.
Genetic classification
The world's languages have been grouped into families of languages that are accepted as having common ancestors. Some of the major families are the Indo-European languages, the Afro-Asiatic languages, the Austronesian languages, and the Sino-Tibetan languages.
The shared features of languages from one family can be due to shared ancestry. (Compare with homology in biology.)
Typological classification
An example of a typological classification is the classification of languages on the basis of the basic order of the verb, the subject and the object in a sentence into several types: SVO, SOV, VSO, and so on, languages. (English, for instance, belongs to the SVO language type.)
The shared features of languages of one type (= from one typological class) may have arisen completely independently. (Compare with analogy in biology.) Their co-occurrence might be due to the universal laws governing the structure of natural languages - language universals.
Areal classification
The following language groupings can serve as some linguistically significant examples of areal linguistic units, or sprachbunds: Balkan linguistic union, or the bigger group of European languages; Caucasian languages. Although the members of each group are not closely genetically related, there is a reason for them to share similar features, namely: their speakers have been in contact for a long time within a common community and the languages converged in the course of the history.
These are called areal features.
N.B.: one should be careful about the underlying classification principle for groups of languages which have apparently a geographical name: besides areal linguistic units, the taxa of the genetic classification (language families) are often given names which themselves or parts of which refer to geographical areas.
Constructed languages
Humans have also deliberately contructed artificial languages such as Esperanto, Lojban, Ido, Interlingua, and Klingon. Esperanto is a well-known artificial language that was created by L. L. Zamenhof as a compilation of various elements of different languages, and was intended to be an easy-to-learn language for people familiar with similar languages.
See also
References
- ↑ Sounds of the World's Animals. Catherine N. Ball, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University (year not specified). Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
External links
- Language: Origin and Meaning by John Zerzan
- Distribution of languages on the Internet
- Speech accent archive
- Listen to online radio of the world's languages
- Learning Global Languages
- English as a foreign language
- The Animal Communication Project
- [http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm The World's Most Widely Spoken
Languages]
- [http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2000/8/8/article_01.htm "Languages — Bridges and
Walls to Communication"], from Awake! magazine
Communication at The Psychology Wiki]