Does Language Play Roles of Equal Importance in Different Areas of Knowledge?
Does language play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowledge?
Language is a tool to communicate one’s ideas, thoughts and understanding of many different areas of knowledge and it is highly arguable that language plays an equal role of importance in the different areas of knowledge. It is important to state that language is a complex structure only used by humans. Of course animals have language too, but it not useful for the study of the areas of knowledge. The areas of knowledge, the study of mathematics, history, natural sciences, human sciences, ethics and the arts are meant. The areas of knowledge such as history, Mathematics, and ethics and whether language plays a role of equal importance in each will be discussed separately further on.
To be able to discuss the importance of language, one must first understand what is exactly meant by language. As mentioned, language is a sort of tool to transfer one’s information and communicate one’s understanding of events, ideas, and feelings. There are three key features that distinguish language from non-language.
First of all, language is rule-governed. This means that it needs to have some sort of structure, such as grammar. This way, one can know in which order words must be set up to make sense. In the English language, for example, the structure is Subject (noun), then Verb, then Object (noun). This is not the grammar structure for all languages that exist. In Mongolian, on the other hand, the structure is Subject (noun), Object (noun), and then Verb.
Secondly, language must be intended. To fully explain this, consider the following examples. You are bored in class and, while the teacher is writing on the board, you catch someone’s eye across the room and make a yawning gesture by putting your hand to your mouth. Or you are trying to look interested in what someone says and to your horror find yourself starting to yawn. The difference between these two examples is that one is
Language is a tool to communicate one’s ideas, thoughts and understanding of many different areas of knowledge and it is highly arguable that language plays an equal role of importance in the different areas of knowledge. It is important to state that language is a complex structure only used by humans. Of course animals have language too, but it not useful for the study of the areas of knowledge. The areas of knowledge, the study of mathematics, history, natural sciences, human sciences, ethics and the arts are meant. The areas of knowledge such as history, Mathematics, and ethics and whether language plays a role of equal importance in each will be discussed separately further on.
To be able to discuss the importance of language, one must first understand what is exactly meant by language. As mentioned, language is a sort of tool to transfer one’s information and communicate one’s understanding of events, ideas, and feelings. There are three key features that distinguish language from non-language.
First of all, language is rule-governed. This means that it needs to have some sort of structure, such as grammar. This way, one can know in which order words must be set up to make sense. In the English language, for example, the structure is Subject (noun), then Verb, then Object (noun). This is not the grammar structure for all languages that exist. In Mongolian, on the other hand, the structure is Subject (noun), Object (noun), and then Verb.
Secondly, language must be intended. To fully explain this, consider the following examples. You are bored in class and, while the teacher is writing on the board, you catch someone’s eye across the room and make a yawning gesture by putting your hand to your mouth. Or you are trying to look interested in what someone says and to your horror find yourself starting to yawn. The difference between these two examples is that one is