Christian Clarity Review

excerpted from: Wikipedia: Language

==Languages and linguistic diversity==

The word ‘’language'’ is intimately related to the word “[[tongue]]”. “Language” (without an [[article (grammar)|article]]) can also refer to the use of such systems as a [[phenomenon]]. “Language” is also used to refer to common properties of languages.
[[Image:Caslon-schriftmusterblatt.jpeg|thumb|'’A Specimen'’ of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 ‘’[[Cyclopaedia]]'’.]]

As of early 2007, there are 6,912 known living human languages, according to “Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition” [http://www.ethnologue.com/]. A “living language” is simply one which is in wide use by a specific group of living people. The exact number of known living languages will vary from 5,000 to 10,000, depending on the precision of one’s definition of “language”, and in particular according to how one treats dialects. There are also many [[Extinct language]]s.

The process of converting the writing of one language into another is called [[translation]]; the process of converting one language to another orally is called [[interpreting]]. With recent advances in technology, [[machine translation]] has become more widely available and can be used for understanding the context of a text.

[[Human]] languages initially use patterns of [[sound]] and [[gesture]] (or [[body language]]) to convey information. These sounds (along with descriptions of gestures and intonation where crucial to comprehension) can be converted into [[written]] (or [[typeset]]) form with little loss of information. [[Gestures]] and [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]] can convey the emotional content of speech and are always a part of delivery, but are not routinely conveyed in written form. Expert readers are often able to [[Inductive reasoning|induce]] and restore the original [[inflection]] and some of the emotional content from the surrounding context of the written (or typeset) words. (Recent efforts to reduce the emotional content of speech to symbolic form lead to the invention of [[emoticons]], which have become quite popular.)

Not all human languages include a set of [[Visual system|visual]] [[symbol]]s to complement the [[speech|spoken word]]s and provide a means to permanently record and widely share [[idea]]s. Some human languages, typically those of small [[population]]s, exist only in the [[Sound|audible]] form, implying that the written form develops after the spoken form has matured and the size of the population has increased beyond a certain size.

Languages that exist only in the spoken form, such as those of many of the native [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]] [[tribe]]s, require the use of audio recording devices such as a [[digital audio recorder]] or a [[tape recorder]], augmented by explanatory [[Writing|text]] written in other languages, for [[Preservation (library and archival science)|preservation]]. Recently, efforts have been made to create symbol sets and grammars for such languages to prevent further losses of [[History|historically]] valuable information.

Conversely, there are numerous [[extinct language]]s which persist only in their written form. In some cases, experts can only guess at what their spoken form actually sounded like. To prevent further losses of this nature, modern [[linguist]]s have developed [[Subset|superset]]s of symbols for the purpose of accurately recording the authentic sounds of known languages.

While the superset symbols, which typically encode [[phoneme]]s and (more specifically) their [[allophone]]s, could record continuous [[conversation]] with nearly flawless accuracy, it would be tedious and unnecessary to record huge volumes of speech in this manner. That said, there is a practical application for it: fine tuning of the [[Computer programming|programming]] for [[Speech synthesis|text-to-speech synthesizers]] to give computers a [[Human voice|voice]] that sounds remarkably human. Where a synthesizer stumbles on a given word, an entry can be added to an [[Exception handling|exception]] [[dictionary]], wherein it’s [[definition]] consists of the word respelled in phonemes and/or allophones.

While there are examples of human languages without the symbolic features, there is no known natural animal communication system that does have them. Humans are the only animals known to instigate the use of symbols. Although some [[chimpanzee]]s have been taught to use symbols in two-way communication, and some evidence suggests [[dolphin]]s can be taught to recognize them, it remains controversial, with some experts objecting to even the suggestion that they use language on any level.

A set of rules known as [[grammar]] establishes how the recombination of spoken words is governed. This, along with the rules of [[spelling]], indirectly regulates how the symbols from the set are manipulated. In many, but not all, languages the combined basic symbols, called letters, form “words”, more formally known as [[lexeme]]s. [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian]] are examples of languages in which individual symbols convey concepts that correlate directly to words or [[phrases]] (grouped words) in other languages.

These words and symbols can be recombined productively to convey new [[information]], distinguishing languages from other forms of communication. [[Complexity]] of symbol sets combined with flexible grammar confers efficiency and precision advantages in conveying new information.

Some invented human languages have been built entirely on visual cues to enable [[communication]] for specialized situations. This includes:

* [[military]] or [[police]] situations where [[silence]] must be maintained
* extremely [[noise|noisy]] [[Built environment|environment]]s, [[underwater]], or [[Toxicity|toxic]] [[atmosphere]] situations, where speech simply may be impossible
* and to empower those who are [[Hearing impairment|hearing-impaired]] or [[Speech disorder|speech-impaired]] to participate and compete successfully in modern societies.

These invented human languages employ [[flag]]s, flashing [[light]]s, or [[sign language|hand gesture]]s for symbols. One particularly successful class of language is [[American Sign Language]]. Another is [[British Sign Language]]. It is also noteworthy that some persons are able to comprehend spoken words even in the total absence of sound via a process known as “[[Lip reading|Lip Reading]]”.

The [[learning]] of one’s own [[native language]], typically that of one’s [[parent]](s) or [[legal guardian]](s), normally occurs spontaneously in early human [[childhood]] and is [[Biology|biologically]] driven. A crucial role of this process is performed by the [[Nervous system|neural]] activity of a portion of the human [[brain]] known as [[Broca’s area]].

There are approximately 7,000 current human languages, and many, if not most seem to share certain properties, leading to the belief in the existence of [[Universal Grammar]], as shown by [[generative grammar]] studies pioneered by the work of [[Noam Chomsky]]. Recently, it has been demonstrated that a dedicated network in the human brain (crucially involving [[Broca’s area]], a portion of the left inferior frontal gyrus), is selectively activated by complex verbal structures (but not simple ones) of those languages that meet the Universal Grammar requirements. A detailed explanation of the demonstration, with references, is provided in the subtopic “Broca’s area and Universal Grammar” within the main [[Broca’s area]] article.

There is no [[dialect#.22Dialect.22 or .22language.22|clear distinction]] between a language and a [[dialect]], notwithstanding linguist [[Max Weinreich]]’s famous [[aphorism]] that “[[a language is a dialect with an army and navy]].” In other words, the distinction may hinge on political considerations as much as on cultural differences, distinctive [[writing system]]s, or degree of [[mutual intelligibility]].

Humans, sometimes using computer programs, have developed artificial languages deliberately meant to mimic natural languages, including:

* the [[auxiliary language]] “[[Interlingua]]”, discussed further below
* [[constructed language]]s such as [[Esperanto]], [[Ido]], [[Klingon language|Klingon]], [[Lojban]] and [[Quenya]].
* high level [[machine code|programming languages]], one of the earliest of which was [[BASIC]]
* and various mathematical formalisms (e.g. the high level [[machine code|programming language]] named [[Fortran]]).

Artificial languages are not restricted to the properties shared by natural human languages. (Languages of other higher animal species likely have unique properties as well.)

All of the above descriptions of language, are based on the notion that human beings have free will as a foundation for the definition of language and concentrate more on the mechanics of sound of supposed free willed creatures than really on the nature of language itself. In that notion and the speech that speaks it, the logic starts upon and goes from the presupposition that ’since’ human beings have free will, language itself must be powerless enough to be useful to that will. (I.E. that that language itself is not a living creature, (in fact, can’t be a living creature or the notion of free willed control of language doesn’t work.. ) but an abstract that is a tool used by the will to express thoughts and desires that are distinct from the language itself. In that notion, language is divorced from being the thoughts themselves as a necessary step in the logic to separate language from thought as a living creature so that language can be presented as distinct from both thought and the thinker and language is presented as being THE defacto will-neutral/non-creature link/tool between.)

Language itself, spiritually, is divided into two types: a language that can create nothing ( regardless of its geographic variants or its written form) and God as Word that created all there is by Speaking. Sometimes called Logos, the Divine Word, Jesus Christ, etc, Creating Speech is then distinquished from non-creating speech.

Non-creating speech is the speech that maintains the notion of free will as a logical circle based on its own definition of what language is. Because it can create nothing, it appears powerless and thus will-neutral. Rather than pointing to its own powerlessness to create and thus the absolute inability ( total lack of free will ) to satisfy what it says, it points to itself as powerless and as supposedly the only speech in total reality as supposed evidence that the will is free expressly because it as non-creating speech appears genuinely will-neutral.

Some of the consequences of non-creating speech are that it gives those who have it ( and may not have noticed that their own speech is non-creating speech) a lens on reality of scarcity and death becuase while it speaks, it can not create what it said. Thus, frequently, such persons are always saying with their speech that there is not enough of ..everything and that something must be done to save, skimp, conserve, etc. in light of what they only know as non-renewable resources based on the mere truth that the only language and mind they have is non-creating and that simultaneoulsy they must consume resources to stay alive. Those who know God as Word on the other hand, consistently give away resources and still have plenty as God as Word in them is always creating enough for all.

An understanding of what language is then has a huge impact on the political make-up of a group of people, usually being divided outright between those who know only non-creating speech and those who know that two speaks actually exist, irrespective of their material possessions. Thus while politics is understood to be the “battle between the have’s and have-not’s” ( or at least supposedly waged by proxy on the behalf of those categories ) by many, a more realistic understanding is that politics is a battle between those who can’t have enough no matter how much there is simply because the only mind/speech that possesses them demands more and more without end against those who not only always have enough for themselves ( but as well enough to give those who can’t get enough) because they hear the Logos/Divine Word/Creating Speech/Jesus Christ.

On this very page is a battle between those who know only non-creating speech (and thus through them language is inevitably reduced, on the basis of supposed irrefutable logic, to something less powerful than those who hear it or read it ) and those through whom God declares Himself to be the Only Creating Word: new creatures in Jesus Christ. It should be noted no other religious figure even claims to be God-as-Word or Creator of all that is by Himself as Word than Jesus Christ. Thus as well, the understanding of what language is has a huge impact on the religious make-up of any group of people, with political/temporal consequences to match.

It is then inevitable that a fight break out everywhere language exists and is spoken and written over exactly ( according to those who know only non-creating speech “what” language is ) Who language is and Why.

———————————-

We’ll see just how long that edit survives on Wikipedia.

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen