Lingua est humana multiplicum communicationis systematum discendorum et adhibendorum facultas, qua sententiae inter homines mittantur et intelligantur. Scientia linguae linguistica vel glottologia vocatur.

Complures bestiae complexis communicationis systematis uti possunt, sed multi rerum naturarum investigatores putant haec systemata linguas non proprie appellari.

Symbola lingua adiuncta per se sunt arbitraria; quamobrem hodie in orbe terrarum sunt multae linguae distinctae.

Pactio de iuribus hominum invalidorum linguas etiam scripturam Braille et linguas gesticulatorias includere definit.

Quaestiones de philosophia linguae (an verba peritias adsimulare possint, exempli gratia) a talibus philosophis sicut Gorgia et Platoni in Graecia Antiqua disputatae sunt. Disputatores quidam, sicut Russavius, animi ex motibus, atque alii, sicut Kantius, solum ex cogitatione rationali linguam exortam esse argumentati sunt. Philosophi vicensimi saeculi, ut Wittgenstein, postulaverunt ipsam philosophiam vero linguae studium esse. Inter claros huius scientiae sunt Ferdinandus de Saussure et Noam Chomsky. 

Aestimationes numeri linguarum in mundo inter 5 000 et 7 000 variantur. Quaelibet aestimatio certa tamen, ex distinctione inter linguas dialectosque aliquantulum arbitrario pendet -- dicitur etiam linguam esse dialectum cum exercitu et classi. Linguae naturales sunt, quas aut loqui aut designare homines possint; quaelibet attamen lingua potest in secundaria media inscribi stimulis auditoriis, visualibus aut tactilibus utendo - exempli gratia in scripturis graphica et braille aut in sibillatione. Hoc datur, quia lingua humana ex modalitate non pendet. Secundum quas perspectivas philosophicas de linguae definitione significationeque utaris, “lingua”, ut conceptus generalis, aut ad habilitatem cognitivam communicationis systemata multiplicia discendi atque utendi, aut ad descriptionem ordinum et regularum haec systemata conficientium aut ad descriptionem enuntiationum secundum has regulas eductarum referri potest. Linguae omnes ex processu semioseos ad signa significationibus unicis convertenda pendent. Linguae oris et signorum continent et systema phonologicum, quod gubernet, quemadmodum symbola formarent sequelas - sive verba sive morphemata -, et systema syntacticum, quod gubernet quemadmodum verba atque morphemata combinarentur ad sententias enuntiationesque formandas.

Lingua humana proprietates "productionis", "recursionis" et "distantiae" habet et pendet penitus ex conventione sociali et disciplina. Aedificium multiplex suum ampliorem spectrum expressionum quam ullum systema adhuc cognitum animalium communicationis praestat. Cogitatur linguam adortam esse, cum homines recentes inciperunt systemata communicationis primitivae gradatim mutare, facultatem adepti theoriae alium mentium formandae atque intentionis impertitae. Hoc incrementum nonnumquam cogitatur concidisse cum incremento voluminis cerebri, atque multi linguisti aedificia linguae credunt evoluisse ad functiones communes socialesque speciales efficiendas. Lingua multis locis cerebri humani inest, sed praecipue in locis Broca et Wernicke. Homines linguam adipiscuntur per contactum socialem in pueritia praematura, et liberi generaliter facunde loquuntur post tres annos. Usus linguae profunde implicata cum cultu humano est. Ultra usus suos stricte communes, linguae etiam multos usus sociales culturalesque habet, ut medium identitatem stratumque significandi et partem hospitii ludens.

Linguae videlicet evoluunt et variant per tempus, et historia dictae evolutionis reaedificari potest linguas modernas conferrendo.

Nexus interni

• Anthropologia linguistica
• Lingua publica
• Linguae mundi
• Lingua programmandi
• Linguistica anthropologica
• Origo linguae
• Rectitudo politica
• Psycholinguistica
• Sermo patrius

Bibliographia

• Agha, Agha. 2006. Language and Social Relations. Cambridge University Press.
• Aikhenvald, Alexandra. 2001 Introduction. In Areal diffusion and genetic inheritance: problems in comparative linguistics, ed. Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald et R. M. W. Dixon, 1–26. Oxoniae: Oxford University Press.
• Aitchison, Jean. 2001. Language Change: Progress or Decay? Ed.3a. (1a editio 1981). Cantabrigiae, Novi Eboraci, Melbourni: Cambridge University Press.
• Allerton, D. J. (1989). "Language as Form and Pattern: Grammar and its Categories". In Collinge, N. E.. An Encyclopedia of Language. Londinii, Novi Eboraci: Routledge 
• Aronoff, Mark; Fudeman, Kirsten (2011). What is Morphology. John Wiley & Sons 
• Austin, Peter K; Sallabank, Julia (2011). "Introduction". In Austin, Peter K; Sallabank, Julia. Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521882156 
• Baker, Mark C. (2001). "Syntax". In Mark Aronoff. The Handbook of Linguistics. Blackwell. pp. 265–295 
• Bauer, Laurie (2003). Introducing linguistic morphology (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 0878403434 
• Bloomfield, Leonard (1914). An introduction to the study of language. Novi Eboraci: Henry Holt and Company 
• Brown, Keith; Ogilvie, Sarah, eds. (2008). Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Elsevier Science. ISBN 0080877745 
• Clackson, James (2007). Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge University press 
• Campbell, Lyle (2002). "Areal linguistics". In Bernard Comrie, Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Balte. International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Oxford: Pergamon. pp. 729–733 
• Campbell, Lyle (2004). Historical Linguistics: an Introduction (2nd ed.). Edinburgi et Cantabrigiae Massachusettae: Edinburgh University Press and MIT Press 
• Campbell, Lyle (2001). "The History of Linguistics". In Mark Aronoff. The Handbook of Linguistics. Blackwell. pp. 81–105 
• Candland, Douglas Keith (1993). Feral Children and Clever Animals: Reflections on Human Nature. Oxford University Press US. pp. 293–301. ISBN 0195102843 
• Chomsky, Noam (1957). Syntactic Structures. Hagae: Mouton 
• Chomsky, Noam (2000). The Architecture of Language. Oxoniae: Oxford University Press 
• Clarke, David S. (1990). Sources of semiotic: readings with commentary from antiquity to the present. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press 
• Comrie, Bernard (1989). Language universals and linguistic typology: Syntax and morphology. (2a ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0226114333 
• Comrie, Bernard, ed. (2009). The World's Major Languages. Novi Eboraci: Routledge. ISBN 9780415353397 
• Coulmas, Florian (2002). Writing Systems: An Introduction to Their Linguistic Analysis. Cambridge University Press 
• Croft, William; Cruse, D. Alan (2004). Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 
• Croft, William (2001). "Typology". In Mark Aronoff. The Handbook of Linguistics. Blackwell. pp. 81–105 
• Crystal, David (1997). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cantabrigiae: Cambridge University Press 
• Deacon, Terrence (1997). The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain.. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393317541 
• Dixon, Robert M. W. (1972). The Dyirbal Language of North Queensland. Cantabrigiae: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521085101 
• Duranti, Alessandro (2003). "Language as Culture in U.S. Anthropology: Three Paradigms". Current Anthropology 44 (3): 323–348. doi:10.1086/368118 
• Evans, Nicholas; Levinson, Stephen C. (2009). The myth of language universals: Language diversity and its importance for cognitive science. 32. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. pp. 429–492 
• Fisher, Simon E.; Lai, Cecilia S. L.; Monaco, Anthony P. (2003). "Deciphering the Genetic Basis of Speech and Language Disorders". Annual Review of Neuroscience 26: 57–80 
• Fitch, W. Tecumseh (2010). The Evolution of Language. Cantabrigiae: Cambridge University Press 
• Foley, William A. (1997). Anthropological Linguistics: An Introduction. Blackwell 
• Goldsmith, John A (1995). "Phonological Theory". In John A. Goldsmith. The Handbook of Phonological Theory. Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 1405157682 
• Greenberg, Joseph (1966). Language Universals: With Special Reference to Feature Hierarchies. Hagae: Mouton & Co 
• Haspelmath, Martin. 2002. Understanding Morphology. Londinii: Arnold, Oxford University Press.
• Haugen, Einar. 1973 The Curse of Babel. Daedalus 102(3):47–57.
• Hauser, Marc D., Noam Chomsky, W. Tecumseh Fitch. 2002. The Faculty of Language: What Is It, Who Has It, and How Did It Evolve? Science 298(5598): 1569–1579. doi:10.1126/science.298.5598.1569.
• Hauser, Marc D.; Fitch, W. Tecumseh (2003). "What are the uniquely human components of the language faculty?". In M. H. Christiansen and S. Kirby. Language Evolution: The States of the Art. Oxford University Press 
• Hockett, Charles F. (1960). "Logical considerations in the study of animal communication". In W. E. Lanyon. Animals sounds and animal communication. pp. 392–430 
• International Phonetic Association (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Cantabrigiae: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521652367 
• Katzner, Kenneth (1999). The Languages of the World. New York: Routledge 
• Kennison, Shelia (2013). Introduction to Language Development. SAGE 
• Labov, William (1994). Principles of Linguistic Change vol.I Internal Factors. Blackwell 
• Labov, William (2001). Principles of Linguistic Change vol.II Social Factors. Blackwell 
• Ladefoged, Peter. 1992. Another view of endangered languages. Language 68(4):809–811. doi:10.1353/lan.1992.0013.
• Ladefoged, Ian; Maddieson (1996). The sounds of the world's languages. Oxoniae: Blackwell. pp. 329–330. ISBN 0631198156 
• Lesser, Ruth (1989). "Language in the Brain: Neurolinguistics". In Collinge, N. E.. An Encyclopedia of Language. Londinii, Novi Eboraci: Routledge 
• Levinson, Stephen C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 
• Lewis, M. Paul (ed.) (2009). "Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition". Dallas, Tex.: SIL International 
• Lyons, John (1981). Language and Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521297753 
• MacMahon, M. K. C. (1989). "Language as available sound:Phonetics". In Collinge, N. E.. An Encyclopedia of Language. Londinii et Novi Eboraci: Routledge 
• Matras, Yaron; Bakker, Peter, eds. (2003). The Mixed Language Debate: Theoretical and Empirical Advances. Berolini: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3110177765 
• Moseley, Christopher, ed. (2010). Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, 3rd edition.. Lutetiae: UNESCO Publishing 
• Newmeyer, Frederick J. (2005). The History of Linguistics. Linguistic Society of America. ISBN 0415115531 
• Newmeyer, Frederick J. (1998). Language Form and Language Function. Cantabrigiae Massachusettae: MIT Press 
• Nichols, Johanna (1992). Linguistic diversity in space and time. Sicagi: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226580571 
• Nichols, Johanna (1984). "Functional Theories of Grammar". Annual Review of Anthropology 13: 97–117. doi:10.1146/annurev.an.13.100184.000525 
• Olson, David R. (1996). "Language and Literacy: what writing does to Language and Mind". Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 16: 3–13 
• Payne, Thomas Edward (1997). Describing morphosyntax: a guide for field linguists. Cambridge University Press. pp. 238–241 
• Pinker, Steven (1994). The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. Perennial 
• Romaine, Suzanne (2001). "Multilingualism". In Mark Aronoff. The Handbook of Linguistics. Blackwell. pp. 512–533 
• de Saussure, Ferdinand (1983) [1913]. Bally, Charles; Sechehaye, Albert. eds. Course in General Linguistics. Conv. Roy Harris. La Salle Illinoesiae: Open Court. ISBN 0812690230 
• Sandler, Wendy; Lillo-Martin, Diane (2001). "Natural Sign Languages". In Mark Aronoff. The Handbook of Linguistics. Blackwell. pp. 533–563 
• Senft, Gunter, ed. (2008). Systems of Nominal Classification. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521065238 
• Swadesh, Morris (1934). "The phonemic principle". Language 10 (2): 117–129 
• Tomasello, Michael (1996). "The Cultural Roots of Language". In B. Velichkovsky et D. Rumbaugh. Communicating Meaning: The Evolution and Development of Language. Psychology Press. pp. 275–308. ISBN 9780805821185 
• Tomasello, Michael (2008). Origin of Human Communication. MIT Press 
• Thomason, Sarah G. 2001. Language Contact: An Introduction. Edinburgh University Press.
• Thomason, Sarah G., et Terrence Kaufman. 1988. Language Contact, Creolization and Genetic Linguistics. University of California Press.
• Trask, Robert Lawrence. 1999. Language: The Basics. Ed. 2a. Psychology Press.
• Trask, Robert Lawrence, et Peter Stockwell, eds. 2007. Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts. Ed. 2a. Routledge.
• Ulbaek, Ib. 1998. The Origin of Language and Cognition. In Approaches to the evolution of language, ed. J. R. Hurford et C. Knight, 30–43. Cantabrigiae: Cambridge University Press.
• Van Valin, Robert D. Jr. 2001. Functional Linguistics. In The Handbook of Linguistics, ed. Mark Aronoff et Janie Rees-Miller, 319–337. Blackwell.
• Zentella, Ana Celia, Ofelia García, et Joshua Fishman. 2002. Spanish in New York. The Multilingual Apple: Languages in New York City. Walter de Gruyter.

Nexus externi

Vicimedia Communia plura habent quae ad linguam spectant.