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Language

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Language is a unique communication system that uses words and systematic rules to organize and transmit information. Unlike other forms of communication, which may involve postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations, language relies on symbols and grammar. This makes human communication distinct from that of other species, who also communicate but do not use language in the same way humans do.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Published on: April 19, 2017

Unity and diversity in human language.

W Tecumseh Fitch¹

¹Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria. tecumseh.fitch@univie.ac.at

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences

|January 5, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Human language exhibits remarkable diversity yet is easily learnable, unique in biology. Formal universals, derived from cognitive and biological constraints, explain this order and offer a unified view of language acquisition.

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Last Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

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Published on: August 9, 2024

Area of Science:

Linguistics
Cognitive Science
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

Human language is characterized by extensive diversity in structure and expression.
Despite diversity, all languages are learnable and capable of expressing any conceptual thought.
Understanding the biological underpinnings of language presents a significant scientific challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the biological basis of language by reviewing literature on linguistic diversity and universals.
To propose 'formal universals' as a framework for understanding language acquisition amidst linguistic variation.
To reconcile the apparent contradiction between language diversity and underlying biological unity.

Main Methods:

Literature review of linguistic diversity and language universals.
Analysis of cross-linguistic generalizations, focusing on abstract and implicational patterns ('formal universals').
Conceptual modeling of formal universals as solutions to cognitive and biological constraints.

Main Results:

Formal universals offer a promising explanation for the order observed in language acquisition across diverse languages.
These universals stem from cognitive capacities for structure perception and biological constraints on language system integration.
Each individual language can be viewed as a unique solution to a general framework, akin to solving differential equations.

Conclusions:

A formal conception of human language can accommodate both significant diversity and fundamental biological unity.
This framework is consistent with modern evolutionary theory.
Formal universals provide a robust model for understanding the biological basis of language acquisition and diversity.