At the Wall of Love in Paris, France, the words "I love you" are written in 250 languages.
Language is a system that people use to communicate, or share information. Language includes speaking, writing and making gestures, or body movements. Early human ancestors initiated the use of spoken language several million years ago, and humans began writing about 5,000 years ago. Language made it possible for human societies to develop.

Humans are born with the ability to understand language. Without any formal training, children learn to speak by listening to other people’s speech. Other forms of language, such as writing and sign language, must be taught.

Building Blocks Of Language

The most basic part of language is a sound. Sounds are the foundation of language. Sounds can be combined into words, words can be combined into sentences, and so on.

Every language has several types of words, the most basic of which are nouns and verbs. Nouns represent people, places, things, and ideas, and verbs describe action.

Every language has its own rules of grammar as well. These rules control the order of words in a sentence, which is what gives the sentence meaning.

Students in Laos, a country in Asia, learn some words of Lao sign language.
Not all languages are spoken, of course. In sign language, hand movements represent letters, words and sentences. Many people who use spoken language also communicate through gestures. For example, in many countries, nodding the head up and down means “yes.”

Languages Of The World

There are thousands of languages throughout the world, and some are spoken by millions of people. Mandarin Chinese, English and Spanish are the most widely spoken languages in the world.

Most countries have a standard language so that citizens can understand each other. Some countries have more than one standard language. Canada, for example, has two standard languages: English and French.

Many languages are related. People who study languages group related languages together. English, German and Swedish belong to the Germanic group, while French, Spanish and Italian are called Romance languages. The Slavic language family of eastern Europe includes Russian and Polish. Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family of Asia.

How Language Changes

At times people need to speak with others who do not know their language. For example, Europeans who came to the Americas hundreds of years ago needed a way to speak with Native Americans. They spoke using a simplified mixture of their languages. These mixtures are called pidgin languages. When a pidgin language replaces the original language of the group, it is called a creole language.

Even people who share the same language may develop different ways of speaking. People in different parts of a country may pronounce words differently or use local expressions. These varieties of the same language are called dialects.

Languages often blur together. Countries have borders, but languages and dialects do not. One language may borrow words from another language. Many English speakers use such words as pajamas (from Hindi), pasta (from Italian), karate (from Japanese) and fiesta (from Spanish).

Languages grow and change as people use them. People create new words all the time, and they often shorten existing words, too. For example, “cellular phone” was shortened to “cell phone.”

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