Language is very valuable. Language is a code for people to communicate with each other. It is constructed of sounds, but nothing has a bigger impact on it than people. Each culture creates and updates their language as time passes.
Language changes over time and distance. English has been influenced by many languages. For example, the words venison, beef, shampoo, ketchup, cinnamon and canoe are taken from other languages around the world. This shows that many words we use in everyday life come from around the world. Children make their own grammar choices. This is a likely reason why the plural of eyes used to be eyen. This also shows that language changes over time. Throughout the years, many words have been substituted by new words. For example, at one point, groovy was a very popular word, but years later the word cool was on everyone's mouth, and now teens have substituted that word with tight. This is another example that illustrates how language changes over time and how young people have an impact on it. Language will always continue to change as long as other countries keep on having an influence on it and teens come up with new grammar.
Language is arbitrary: sounds, words, and even sentences have no meaning until humans give them meaning. Language is a system of sounds and symbols that people agree to use for personal and private interactions. The sounds of a language have no inherent meaning. This means that sounds really don't mean a thing if humans don't give them a certain meaning. Words in any language have no real meaning until humans give them meaning. There is no good reason why the word dog should mean something to English speakers, other than the fact that English speakers have agreed that it means something. This means that words really have no specific meaning, and it is up to humans to make them mean something. Sentences need to be written in a certain way to be completely understood. Sentences are written in syntax, which is the way sentences are constructed in a language. Without syntax, words in sentences would be out of order and would not be understood. If people didn't come up with meaning for words and sounds, language in general would really have no meaning because if people didn't help it develop then nobody would.
Language is power. Each language is its own code. There are over 6,000 languages, or codes, in the world, like Spanish, French, and Chinese. People need language to communicate with other people and the more language a person knows, the more power he or she has to communicate with others. One thing that all languages share in common are the five language registers which are frozen, formal, consultative, casual and intimate. Each of these registers is used in certain situations, as frozen is used in textbooks, and intimate is used between couples or best friends. It is good that the way we speak is broken down to 5 registers because it helps us be better speakers in certain situations.
Language isn't just letters but together; it is a special code that keeps us in touch with the world. Thanks to us, humans, language is sounds that make sense because we have made it that way. This unit about language has impressed me because it taught me that any person can create a word at anytime, and in the future, the word may be found in a dictionary.
