What Is Language And How Can We Understand It? Although it is used every day, many do not know the true definition of language, which is "the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a community," (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). This definition is important, because it notes that language must be understood by a group of people, as its sole purpose is allowing for understood communication between people, meaning that the study of language is the study of communities and their interactions. In order to understand why a language is the way it is, or why one community can develop such a different language from another, then we have to study communities, as the simple study of vocabulary and grammar does not give enough information to truly understand a language.
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Why Is Language Important Although it is an often ignored factor of human life, language is arguably one of the if not the most important aspect in understanding how human culture develops, as well as understanding how humans understand and contextualize the world around them. A person's language shows how they think and what they believe not just through what they say, but how they say it. Indeed, language is what allowed for our ancestors to advance in technology through the sharing of abstract concepts, and it is due to language alone that humans were able to advance in technology and create the world we live in today. The vocabulary and grammar of a language can display what cultures find important, as it will be the most detailed part of the language. But just as language is defined by its culture, it is also an important aspect in creating a unique local culture for many people around the world. A distinct language can be used to separate a group of people from another, and create a sense of uniqueness which allows for a culture to remain separate from its neighbors, even if other parts of the culture become similar. Basque country is a good example of this, with much of Basque unity coming from their language being distinct from their current sovereigns, the Spanish, creating a sense of local culture which ties the group, that would otherwise be mostly unconnected, together. Language only becomes more important as English spreads as a global lingua franca, and we see the mass extinction of languages across the globe. If these lost languages are not recorded, the vast history and knowledge they can give to the world is lost forever, as each language has its own story and past which can teach the world a little more about itself. If the people want to understand more about how and why they think and communicate the way they do, the study and preservation of language is the key piece to the puzzle.
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