Language Article

A language is a dynamic set of visual, auditory, or tactile symbols of communication and the elements used to manipulate them. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon. Language is considered to be an exclusively human mode of communication; although animals make use of quite sophisticated communicative systems none of these are known to make use of all of the properties that linguists use to define language. Symbols are objects, pictures, or other concrete representations of ideas, concepts, or other abstractions. For example, in the United States, Canada, Australia and Great Britain, a red octagon is a symbol for "STOP". Common examples of symbols are the symbols used on maps to denote places of interest, such as crossed sabres to indicate a battlefield, and the numerals used to represent numbers. Common psychological symbols are the use of a gun to represent a penis or a tunnel to represent a vagina. ^[1] See: phallic symbol and yonic symbol. All languages are made up of symbols. The word "cat", whether spoken or written, is not a cat but a sequence of symbols that represent a cat. Communication is the process of transferring information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood by both sender and receiver. It is a process that allows organisms to exchange information by several methods. Communication requires that all parties understand a common language that is exchanged. There are auditory means, such as speaking, singing and sometimes tone of voice, and nonverbal, physical means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact, or the use of writing. Communication is defined as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding. This process requires a vast repertoire of skills in intrapersonal and interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating. Use of these processes is developmental and transfers to all areas of life: home, school, community, work, and beyond. It is through communication that collaboration and cooperation occur.^[1] Communication is the articulation of sending a message, through different media ^[2] whether it be verbal or nonverbal, so long as a being transmits a thought provoking idea, gesture, action, etc. Communication happens at many levels (even for one single action), in many different ways, and for most beings, as well as certain machines. Several, if not all, fields of study dedicate a portion of attention to communication, so when speaking about communication it is very important to be sure about what aspects of communication one is speaking about. Definitions of communication range widely, some recognizing that animals can communicate with each other as well as human beings, and some are more narrow, only including human beings within the parameters of human symbolic interaction. Nonetheless, communication is usually described along a few major dimensions: Content (what type of things are communicated), source, emisor, sender or encoder (by whom), form (in which form), channel (through which medium), destination, receiver, target or decoder (to whom), and the purpose or pragmatic aspect. Between parties, communication includes acts that confer knowledge and experiences, give advice and commands, and ask questions. These acts may take many forms, in one of the various manners of communication. The form depends on the abilities of the group communicating. Together, communication content and form make messages that are sent towards a destination. The target can be oneself, another person or being, another entity (such as a corporation or group of beings). Communication can be seen as processes of information transmission governed by three levels of semiotic rules:

Therefore, communication is social interaction where at least two interacting agents share a common set of signs and a common set of semiotic rules. This commonly held rule in some sense ignores autocommunication, including intrapersonal communication via diaries or self. A phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν, pl. φαινόμενα - phenomena) is any occurrence that is observable.^[1] In popular usage, a phenomenon often refers to an extraordinary event. In philosophy, an object is a thing, an entity, or a being. This may be taken in several senses.

In its weakest sense, the word object is the most all-purpose of nouns, and can replace a noun in any sentence at all. (In ordinary usage, the word has something like this effect, but not as extreme.) Thus objects are things as diverse as the pyramids, Alpha Centauri, the number seven, my disbelief in predestination, and your mother's fear of dogs. Charles S. Peirce succinctly defines the broad notion of an object as follows:

In a more restricted sense, an object is something that can have properties and bear relations to other objects. On this account, properties and relations (as well as propositions) are not included among objects, but are explicitly contrasted with them, as falling into a different logical category. Sets and universals are also perhaps not objects on this account.In a further restricted sense, objects do not include abstract objects, but only physical bodies located somehow in space and time — minds and bodies, for instance. Numbers, ideas, and the like are excluded. In further restricted senses, objects are often just the material objects (excluding minds), or even just the inanimate material objects (the protons, neutrons, and electrons we are made of, but not we ourselves). Objects are often treated as types of particulars, but occasionally, philosophers see fit to speak of abstract objects — Platonic forms would be an example. An abstract object is normally referred to as something that does not exist physically. It is rational to say that abstract objects exist psychically, as opposed to physically. The term "concept" is traced back to 1550–60 (conceptum something conceived), but what is today termed "the classical theory of concepts" is the theory of Aristotle on the definition of terms. As the term is used in mainstream cognitive science and philosophy of mind, a concept or conception is an abstract idea or a mental symbol, typically associated with a corresponding representation in a language or symbology. Abstraction is the process or result of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, typically in order to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose. For example, abstracting a leather soccer ball to a ball retains only the information on general ball attributes and behaviour. Similarly, abstracting an emotional state to happiness reduces the amount of information conveyed about the emotional state. Computer scientists use abstraction to understand and solve problems and communicate their solutions with the computer in some particular computer language. In geometry, an octagon is a polygon that has eight sides. A regular octagon is represented by the Schläfli symbol {8}. Main Entry:

of, relating to, or expressing numbers consisting of numbers or numerals — nu·mer·al·ly adverb.
A number is an abstract object, tokens of which are symbols used in counting and measuring. A symbol which represents a number is called a numeral, but in common usage the word number is used for both the abstract object and the symbol. In addition to their use in counting and measuring, numerals are often used for labels (telephone numbers), for ordering (serial numbers), and for codes (ISBNs). In mathematics, the definition of number has been extended over the years to include such numbers as zero, negative numbers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, and complex numbers. As a result, there is no one encompassing definition of number and the concept of number is open for further development. Certain procedures which input one or more numbers and output a number are called numerical operations. Unary operations input a single number and output a single number. For example, the successor operation adds one to an integer: the successor of 4 is 5. More common are binary operations which input two numbers and output a single number. Examples of binary operations include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and exponentiation. The study of numerical operations is called arithmetic. The branch of mathematics that studies structures of number systems such as groups, rings and fields is called abstract algebra. The penis (plural penises, penes) is an external sexual organ of certain biologically male organisms. The penis is a reproductive organ, technically an intromittent organ, and for placental mammals, additionally serves as the external organ of urination. The vagina (from Latin, literally "sheath" or "scabbard") is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the oviduct. The Latinate plural (rarely used in English) is vaginae. In common speech, the term "vagina" is often used to refer to the vulva or female genitals generally; strictly speaking, the vagina is a specific internal structure and the vulva is the exterior genitalia only. Main Entry:

phal·lic

Pronunciation:

\ˈfa-lik\

Function:

adjective

Date:

1789

of or relating to phallicism <a phallic cult> of, relating to, or resembling a phallus relating to or being the stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory that follows the anal stage and during which a child becomes interested in his or her own sexual organs — phal·li·cal·ly \-li-k(ə-)lē\ adverb. Yonic is the opposite of phallic. In communication, media (Singular: Medium) are the storage and transmission tools used to store and deliver information or data. It is often referred to as synonymous with mass media or news media, but may refer to a single medium used to communicate any data for any purpose.^[1]^[2]^{[3].
The auditory system is the

sensory system for the sense of

hearing.Nonverbal communication
(NVC) is usually understood as the process of

communication through sending and receiving

wordless messages. Such messages can be
communicated through

gesture;

body language or

posture;

facial expression and

eye contact; object communication such as

clothing,

hairstyles or even

architecture;

symbols and

infographics. Speech may also contain
nonverbal elements known as

paralanguage, including

voice quality,

emotion and

speaking style, as well as

prosodic features such as

rhythm,

intonation and

stress. Likewise, written texts have
nonverbal elements such as

handwriting style, spatial arrangement of
words, or the use of

emoticons.
However, much of the study of nonverbal
communication has focused on face-to-face
interaction, where it can be classified into
three principal areas: environmental conditions
where communication takes place, the physical
characteristics of the communicators, and
behaviors of communicators during interaction.^[1]With regard to

living things, a body is the integral
physical material of an individual. "Body" often
is used in connection with

appearance,

health issues and

death. The study of the workings of the body
is

physiology. A sign is an entity which
signifies another entity. A natural sign is an
entity which bears a causal relation to the
signified entity, as thunder is a sign of storm.
A conventional sign signifies by agreement, as a
full stop signifies the end of a sentence.
(Contrast a

symbol which stands for another
thing, as a flag may be a symbol of a nation).
The way in which a sign signifies is a topic in

philosophy of language, see also

Meaning (linguistic). Any given signifier or
symbol is dependent upon that which is intended,
expressed, or signified in a

semiotic relationship of signification,
significance,

meaning, or import. Thus, for example,
people may speak of the significance of events,
the signification of characters, the meaning of
sentences, or the import of a communication.
These different relationships that exist between
sorts of signs can help people and sorts of
things that are signified can be called the
modes of signification. The range of uses of
signs are varied. They might include: the
indication or mark of something, a display of a
message, a signal to draw attention, evidence of
an underlying cause (for instance, the symptoms
of a disease are signs of the disease), a
character for a mathematical operation, a body
gesture, etc. Paralanguage refers to the

non-verbal elements of

communication used to modify meaning and
convey emotion.}