LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 14:1 January 2014
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Critical Period Hypothesis

Talal Musaed Alghizzi, Ph.D. Candidate

Introduction

The general term language, used to refer to “a system of communication” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2010, p. 834), is a common feature in all creatures: human beings, animals and plants species. However, in its more specific meaning - “the method of communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words, their pronunciation, and the method of combining them used and understood by a human community” (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 2008, p. 654) - it is one of the capabilities that differentiate humans from nonhumans.

Linguistically speaking, human language is unique. First, because it is learned and learnable. Construction and usages abide by certain rules of morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, rather than being biologically inherited as is the case for animal and plant species in the general meaning of the word. In addition, some of its elements are of an infinitely-flexible nature, constantly changing. This second characteristic is evidenced by observing the evolution of words, for example. Words - “single units of language” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, p. 1712) - are flexible, in the sense that native speakers of any language have the ability to invent new lexicons or simply give an old word a new meaning. The English word “nice” now means “pleasing, agreeable, polite, and kind”, whereas in the 14th century, it meant “wanton, and dissolute” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2011).

Vital and Intriguing Investigation

For linguists, the investigation of human languages, which are estimated to be “over 6,909 known living” (Ethnologue Languages of the World, 2011), is vital and intriguing. This is not only because of the aforementioned characteristics but also because of the crucial role they play in everyday communication. Thanks in large measure to technology, the world is becoming an ever smaller village but one that uses different languages.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Talal Musaed Alghizzi
(Ph.D. Candidate at University College Cork, Ireland)
Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU)
College of Languages and Translation
Riyadh
Saudi Arabia
t-alghizzi-ie@hotmail.com
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