Language
How to define language?
Language is a means of communication which humans use to share and create knowledge, both orally and in writing. Many things are widely considered to be language in day-to-day conversation: math, music and body language to name a few. But in Theory of Knowledge, we distinguish between these and Language as a way of knowing by defining it as:
"A spoken or written method of human communication consisting of words in structured and conventional ways."
Language is constantly evolving, just as culture evolves. As new concepts and objects emerge, new words are needed to define these. Pronunciation and spelling also change, as we find easier and simpler ways to use the language.
A language has certain rules and structures one must follow. Some are official, like grammar. These are a kind of shared knowledge. Others, however, rely on intuition - personal knowledge. An example of this is these two different but equally correct sentences:
That is a big red balloon and that is a red big balloon.
Although we can't explain why, the latter sounds completely wrong. We feel it is the 'natural' way to say it, we can thereby say it is behind our 'conscious knowledge'.
- Nickie A.
Language is a means of communication which humans use to share and create knowledge, both orally and in writing. Many things are widely considered to be language in day-to-day conversation: math, music and body language to name a few. But in Theory of Knowledge, we distinguish between these and Language as a way of knowing by defining it as:
"A spoken or written method of human communication consisting of words in structured and conventional ways."
Language is constantly evolving, just as culture evolves. As new concepts and objects emerge, new words are needed to define these. Pronunciation and spelling also change, as we find easier and simpler ways to use the language.
A language has certain rules and structures one must follow. Some are official, like grammar. These are a kind of shared knowledge. Others, however, rely on intuition - personal knowledge. An example of this is these two different but equally correct sentences:
That is a big red balloon and that is a red big balloon.
Although we can't explain why, the latter sounds completely wrong. We feel it is the 'natural' way to say it, we can thereby say it is behind our 'conscious knowledge'.
- Nickie A.
“If you can’t say it, you don’t know it.” – Hans Reichenbach, philosopher of science