Have you ever wondered what language is?
And by language, we’re not just talking about what you are reading right now or the language that you speak. We’re talking about language as a general concept ranging across mathematics, sign language, body language, biology, odors, touch, grammar, animals that seem to communicate, programming languages, and so on. As wide, complex, eccentric and unreachable as it might seem, we are now going to deeply explore this subject.
The prospect of this journey has deep implications for anyone: blind, deaf, ‘normal’, from Tibet to Japan, and regardless of whether living on a tall mountain or near the sea, because we all use language, both with others, and with ourselves. We talk inside our heads and outside of them, employing language as a mental map of the world, and of ourselves. Indeed, the only way you can define yourself is to interpret the information you know about you: tall or short, your relationships, age, name, the stuff you own, the clothes you wear, what you see in the mirror and outside it. Therefore, understanding language may very well change the way you understand the world, and for sure, your own self.
But the paradox of all this is that we have to use one type of language to define all of the other types. This is almost like trying to chew your own teeth. However, being aware of this handicap, we must start by understanding what is this language that I am using right now, so we can better measure its limitations, as it will be our only map for this entire book.
Most of this chapter of the Language series is based on two courses on the History of Language and Linguistics by professor John McWhorter. Both courses are very fun to watch and extremely detailed, so if you want to learn more than what is presented in this series, I recommend that you watch both of them. On top of that, we also add a lot more in this series that you won't find in those two courses, and I really mean A LOT.