A language is a system of communication using symbols (including physical gestures, sounds, and other means of expression). The origin of human language is not fully known, but the use of complex language is often said to be what separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. Humans use language almost constantly, as we continually communicate information.
In and around these classifications, there are many types of languages in use today, numbering in the thousands worldwide. Some languages, such as English and Japanese, are widely spoken within a certain culture; others, like languages of many indigenous peoples, have largely died out as their populations of native speakers were marginalized. Languages such as Latin are considered "dead", having no native speakers, but are still studied in academic circles. Still other languages, such as Perl or HTML, were designed specifically for communication with machines. Signed languages make use of gestures instead of sounds, a special innovation of the deaf community. And linguistic innovation continues unabated: LOLspeak and Emoji are only two of the language-related developments born of online communication.
In the blogosphere, posts tagged with language may have to do with learning a foreign tongue, or with reflection on words or sounds; they may explore the meaning of language, discuss a child's vocabulary learning process, or use words in a new way (e.g. poetry). One thing they'll all have in common, however, is that they are written or expressed using one of the world's many functioning languages.
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