What is language? - Defining 'language' vs. 'languages' -- Linguistics 101

So what's this thing we call language? And what are individual languages? And, of all the many things we do, is it the one thing that makes us human?

Kids in Kenya and China don't grow up to speak each others' languages, but they both have the ability to use language. Let's take a moment to think about what we mean when we say the words "language" and "languages".

When two people are chattering away in a foreign language, how do we know they're still using language?
Is language inherited (innate) or learned (nurtured)?
Do our lofty conversations fit well with things like body language and animal communication?
How does language relate to the other kinds of thinking we do?

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Music:
Worriless, nativlang
Epic Quest, nativlang

[susavet]

Definition: Language is a system of communication with rules and allows infinite thoughts to be shared.

[BruceAramayo]

Romance languages have different words for each concept. In Spanish, for instance, 'lenguaje' is used for the ability of communication, while 'lengua' is used to refer to the linguistic system.

[ferretyluv]

I wish these videos were longer. You brought up great questions and didn't answer them.

[shaistapanhwar]

That's great collection about language ❤

[habibakhandoker]

nice vedio.this topics are. most important for language

[torntrof]

When I was in school, my ppsichology teacher told us about an old experiment that might've proven that language is something that comes naturually to all humans and is even a vital necessity. Sorry that I can't provide any sources though...

[DrPonner]

I don't think "does language make us human?" to be a good queston for the topic at hand, maybe "are we born with the ability language or do we learn it?"

[ddd]

great video - i'm always impressed about how you present the topic with easy 'language' and clear visuals

why didn't you refer to the ability though with the capital L as is done in publications... 'Language' ?

[firstlast]

[Offset:

[00:00.05]
[00:00.10] ˈwɔt s ˈlæŋɡwidʒ？
[00:01.00] ˈɑːnsəriŋ ˈkwestʃənz wið liŋˈɡwistiks ənd ˈlɔdʒik
[00:02.00] What is Language？
[00:03.00] Answering Questions with Linguistics & Logic
[00:04.00]
[00:05.00] fɔː ˈwɔt s ˈlæŋɡwidʒ？
[00:06.00] diˈfainiŋ ˈlæŋɡwidʒ ˈvəːsəs ˈlæŋɡwidʒiz
[00:07.00] 04 What is language？
[00:08.00] Defining ''Language'' vs. ''Languages''
[00:09.00]

[00:10.00] Here's a friend of mine.
[00:12.44] She doesn't talk a lot, but when she does it's usually about something interesting.
[00:17.14] ? ? ? She never pay attention! ???
[00:19.50] This kind of suspicious character over here is listening in.
[00:24.09] Now, he can make out what she's saying, and he gets it.
[00:28.63] And when she notices the lurker and turns around to chastise him, he knows exactly what she's saying.
[00:35.30] Freeze.
[00:36.30] This is an example of language in action.
[00:40.50]
[00:41.00] But what makes this language?
[00:44.31] Both of them are able to speak to and understand each other using their mouths, ears and brains.
[00:50.30] That ability gets called "language", and it's at the heart of a ton of things worth learning
[00:54.78] about humans, about communication, about science, philosophy, logic and more.
[01:02.73] They're using that general ability called language.
[01:06.20] But they're also using a specific language.
[01:09.38] They're speaking and hearing English.
[01:13.11] But we don't think that this language over here - English - is the same thing as this ability to speak and understand over here.
[01:21.78] After all, they could be speaking French or Swahili or all different languages and still be using language.
[01:28.88] So, what is it that sets "language" apart from all these "languages"?
[01:34.60] The characteristics of our human language ability are the subject of intense debates.
[01:40.12] And here are some of the questions that get the brawl started.
[01:43.57] Think about it: is our ability to speak something we learned or something we inherited?
[01:49.42] Does it fit snuggly in a wider context alongside body signals, emotions,
[01:54.16] other social behaviors and even animal communication,
[01:58.23] or does human language sit way up here, all distinct and elevated?
[02:03.71] And how does language relate to thinking,
[02:06.11] like the kind of everyday thinking when we do when we have a specific thought,
[02:10.38] like, "those flowers are really, really red",
[02:14.10] and also the abstract thinking we do in logic and mathematics?
[02:17.00] _ _ _ Which, by the way, drags us into formal languages. _ _ _
[02:18.00] Logic and math allow us humans to think about things more abstractly and universally.
[02:23.84] Instead of just "those roses" I can think about all roses, or all x's, or even just the variable x!
[02:32.90] Whew, so it looks like language is a tricky concept.
[02:37.09] But what about languages?
[02:39.58] Surely they're clearer, at least.
[02:49.00]

[monsurahmmed]

Welcome to the world of great and impossible language

[Justsmile]

plz what is the difference between language and a language

[D-train]

I thought the definition of language is, to protector the golden ones

[Armando]

Language is language not "ability"(behavior/body) as materialists would like to have it