Talk:Language#Human expressions

{{Wikipedia:Peer_review/Language/archive1}}

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An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :Language and dialect and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 May 8#Language and dialect until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Steel1943 (talk) 02:09, 8 May 2022 (UTC)

I [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Language&diff=1088291757&oldid=1088218957 reverted two edits] that User:Lispenard made to the lead section, though I don't mean to suggest that the content of the edits was necessarily problematic. I know, however, that questions such as whether language is unique to humans, or how to describe the place of grammar and lexicon within language as such are sometimes controversial. The edits caught my attention mainly because they were marked as 'minor', as opposed to any specific objection I had to their content. Cnilep (talk) 06:10, 17 May 2022 (UTC)

{{Edit semi-protected|Language|answered=yes}}

The following sentence needs modification because it misinterprets and misuses the reference article which it uses to justify its claims.

The Sentence In Question: Human language is unique among the known systems of animal communication in that it is not dependent on a single mode of transmission (sight, sound, etc.), is highly variable between cultures and across time, and affords a much wider range of expression than other systems. [1]

The reference provided at the end of this series of claims leads to "The Myth of Language Universals" (Evans and Levinson, 2009) This article is concerned with arguing against the notion of "linguistic universals," and it does not dedicate itself to discussing animal communication and/or comparing it with human language. If you read this article from top-to-bottom (as I have), you will only find two short (and essentially similar) references to the capabilities of non-human species:

1. "We are the only known species whose communication system varies fundamentally in both form and content. Speculations about the evolution of language that do not take this properly into account thus overlook the criterial feature distinctive of the species.

2. "... we are the only species with a communication system that is fundamentally variable at all levels."

Niether of these claims are backed up with reference to previous studies, nor are they backed up by the content of the article itself (which, as mentioned, is concerned with arguing the non-universality of human language, and is not concerned with the finer details of animal communication)

As such, I do not think it constitutes a legitimate reference for justifying the claims made by ‘the sentence in question’

Therefore, I propose the following change:

Change: Human language is unique among the known systems of animal communication in that it is not dependent on a single mode of transmission (sight, sound, etc.), is highly variable between cultures and across time, and affords a much wider range of expression than other systems. [1]

To: “Human language is not dependent on a single mode of transmission (sight, sound, etc.) and is highly variable between cultures and across time [1]”

Alyx2022 (talk) 03:20, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

:{{done}} Madeline (part of me) 14:42, 16 September 2022 (UTC)

It is believed that early humans conversed with each other through noises rather than speech, much like animals do. Over time, the sounds became more complex and developed into speech. Should this be mentioned? Can you find a source for this? 2601:282:C00:ABB0:C79:215D:53BF:6A4E (talk) 19:01, 3 October 2022 (UTC)

:It's not just believed, it's obvious, as all the primates communicate through noises, as do mammals in general! The Origins section mentions this: "It was mostly undisputed that pre-human australopithecines did not have communication systems significantly different from those found in great apes in general." It goes on to cover the theory that the noises developed into speech (the continuity-based theory) in contrast to the non-continuity-based theory. Largoplazo (talk) 19:23, 3 October 2022 (UTC)

Is this article primarily about human language or should it be about language in general?

Someone has created Language (general concept) which would seem better merged into here. But perhaps a separate article on Human language is needed? (This is currently a redirect to this article.) — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 08:23, 5 November 2023 (UTC)

:Well, as written, the scope is clearly just human language. Whether it should be is another question. There's probably a case for merging the other article into this one to meet the implied scope of this article title. I guess an alternative is to move this to Human language and the other article to Language (it needs to be used as the title of some article!) but I suspect most readers would assume Language primarily refers to human language. DeCausa (talk) 08:44, 5 November 2023 (UTC)

Near the bottom of the article, there's a claim that the more languages a country has, the more stable it tends to be, and it cites such things as the American Civil War and the Rwandan genocide as proof of this. Only I think whoever wrote that bit was cherry-picking because the Rwandan Genocide set off the chaos in the DR Congo. The DR Congo has been a wreck ever since, and it has over 200 languages. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.36.177.45 (talk) 17:39, 2 December 2023 (UTC)

:You've misinterpreted it. It says there's a common belief that the opposite is true, that language diversity promotes conflict. Then it provides the US Civil War and the conflict in Rwanda as counterexamples to that common belief. It makes no generalization in the other direction. Largoplazo (talk) 18:03, 2 December 2023 (UTC)

::It's mostly the fact that they use "Many" that I don't like. 136.36.177.45 (talk) 22:24, 2 December 2023 (UTC)

Please, consider to study:

https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=BRETMF&proxyId=&u=https%3A%2F%2Fphilpapers.org%2Farchive%2FBRETMF.pdf

and:

https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=BREHI-2&proxyId=&u=https%3A%2F%2Fphilpapers.org%2Farchive%2FBREHI-2.pdf

I believe this can bring discussion to the new and healthy outcome. V.breskin (talk) 05:35, 27 January 2024 (UTC)

The lede mentions the following "The vast majority of human languages have developed writing systems that allow for the recording and preservation of of the sounds or signs of language." What this reads to me is that speakers of the vast majority of languages use some writing system for their language, this claim seems dubious to me. There used to be a page up on Ethnologue mentioning that 4,065/7,139 use a writing system, but this page has since been removed. this is at least half, but like the page mentioned it is unknown how many of these are widely used.

https://web.archive.org/web/20220418125329/https://www.ethnologue.com/enterprise-faq/how-many-languages-world-are-unwritten-0

I have some other issues with the lede (it still is not clear that spoken and signed are the primary modes for doing language, languages don't develop writing systems, most languages adopt existing writing systems instead of newly developed ones) but I see that this paragraph has been messed with a lot so I won't add to that. That claim about the vast majority of languages seems particularly unfounded so it should be removed. Hrothwulf (talk) 17:16, 18 February 2024 (UTC)

:I removed that sentence because there is nothing in the body of the article that covers it, per Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section (i.e., the lead should include only statements that summarize content in the body of the article). If someone can find a reliable source for that factoid, they can add it in an appropriate place in the body of the article, although I'm not sure it belongs in the lead even then. Donald Albury 20:26, 18 February 2024 (UTC)

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The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Langauge&redirect=no Langauge] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at {{slink|Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 December 11#Langauge}} until a consensus is reached. J947 ‡ ^edits 00:03, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

:Discussion is over. The result of the discussion was keep the general redirect.Lova Falk (talk) 15:04, 10 March 2025 (UTC)