Language

A language is a system of expression and communication. Individual languages use sound, gesture, and other means to express and communicate concepts, emotions, ideas, and thoughts. Expressions of a language are analysable into words, whose meanings are usually conventional. The word "language" is also used to refer to the common properties of languages.

The study of language

The Tolk?ppiyam (????????????? in Tamil), a book on the grammar of the Tamil language, written around 200 BCE by Tolk?ppiyar, is said to be the world's oldest surviving grammar for any language. The classification of the alphabet into consonants and vowels by splitting the conso-vowels was a scientific breakthrough. Grammatising this phenomenon was also an achievement of that time. The Tolk?ppiyar starts by defining the alphabet for optimal writing, grammatises the use of words and syntaxes and moves into higher modes of language analysis. The study of language began in North India with P??ini, the ancient grammarian (approximately 5th century BCE) who formulated 3,959 rules of Sanskrit morphology known as the {{IPA|A???dhy?y?}} (???????????). {{IPA|P??ini's}} grammar of Sanskrit is highly systematized and technical. Inherent in its analytic approach are the concepts of the phoneme, the morpheme and the root, only recognized by Western linguists some two millennia later. 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 an-nahw (?????? ?? ?????, The Book on Grammar), bringing many linguistic aspects of language to light. In his book he developed a distinct phonetic and phonological theory.

Related Topics:
Tolk?ppiyam - Tamil language - 200 BCE - Consonant - Vowel - North India - P??ini - 5th century BCE - Sanskrit - Morphology - A???dhy?y? - Sanskrit - Phoneme - Morpheme - Root - Middle East - Persian - Sibawayh - Arabic - 760 - Al-kitab fi an-nahw - Linguistic - Book - Phonetic - Phonological

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Later in the West, the success of science, mathematics, and other formal systems in the 20th 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.

Related Topics:
Science - Mathematics - Formal system - 20th century - Academic discipline - Linguistics - Ferdinand de Saussure

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Related Topics:
Philosopher - Ludwig Wittgenstein - W. V. Quine - Jacques Derrida

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~