Complures bestiae complexis communicationis systematibus uti possunt, sed multi rerum naturarum investigatores putant haec systemata linguas non proprie appellari.
Symbola lingua adiuncta per se sunt arbitraria; quamobrem hodie in orbe terrarum sunt multae linguae distinctae.
Quaestiones de philosophia linguae (an verba peritias adsimulare possint, exempli gratia) a talibus philosophis sicut Gorgia et Platoni in Graecia Antiqua disputatae sunt. Disputatores quidam, sicut Russavius, animi ex motibus, atque alii, sicut Kantius, solum ex cogitatione rationali linguam exortam esse argumentati sunt. Philosophi vicensimi saeculi, ut Wittgenstein, postulaverunt ipsam philosophiam vero linguae studium esse. Inter claros huius scientiae sunt Ferdinandus de Saussure et Noam Chomsky.
Aestimationes numeri linguarum in mundo inter 5 000 et 7 000 variantur. Quaelibet aestimatio certa tamen, ex distinctione inter linguas dialectosque aliquantulum arbitrario pendet -- dicitur etiam linguam esse dialectum cum exercitu et classi. Linguae naturales sunt, quas aut loqui aut designare homines possint; quaelibet attamen lingua potest in secundaria media inscribi stimulis auditoriis, visualibus aut tactilibus utendo - exempli gratia in scripturis graphica et braille aut in sibillatione. Hoc datur, quia lingua humana ex modalitate non pendet. Secundum quas perspectivas philosophicas de linguae definitione significationeque utaris, “lingua”, ut conceptus generalis, aut ad habilitatem cognitivam communicationis systemata multiplicia discendi atque utendi, aut ad descriptionem ordinum et regularum haec systemata conficientium aut ad descriptionem enuntiationum secundum has regulas eductarum referri potest. Linguae omnes ex processu semioseos ad signa significationibus unicis convertenda pendent. Linguae oris et signorum continent et systema phonologicum, quod gubernet, quemadmodum symbola formarent sequelas - sive verba sive morphemata -, et systema syntacticum, quod gubernet quemadmodum verba atque morphemata combinarentur ad sententias enuntiationesque formandas.
Lingua humana proprietates "productionis", "recursionis" et "distantiae" habet et pendet penitus ex conventione sociali et disciplina. Aedificium multiplex suum ampliorem spectrum expressionum quam ullum systema adhuc cognitum animalium communicationis praestat. Cogitatur linguam adortam esse, cum homines recentes inciperunt systemata communicationis primitivae gradatim mutare, facultatem adepti theoriae alium mentium formandae atque intentionis impertitae. Hoc incrementum nonnumquam cogitatur concidisse cum incremento voluminis cerebri, atque multi linguisti aedificia linguae credunt evoluisse ad functiones communes socialesque speciales efficiendas. Lingua multis locis cerebri humani inest, sed praecipue in locis Broca et Wernicke. Homines linguam adipiscuntur per contactum socialem in pueritia praematura, et liberi generaliter facunde loquuntur post tres annos. Usus linguae profunde implicata cum cultu humano est. Ultra usus suos stricte communes, linguae etiam multos usus sociales culturalesque habet, ut medium identitatem stratumque significandi et partem hospitii ludens.
Linguae videlicet evoluunt et variant per tempus, et historia dictae evolutionis reaedificari potest linguas modernas conferrendo.
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