Use of Language in Human Culture

Lots of words from our language derive from other languages. As Italian as a proper language developed during the 13 century, lots of Arabic scientific and mathematical words are present such as “alchimia” (alchemy in English), algebra (same in English) and “algoritmo” (algorithm). On the other hand a lot of modern English words about technology and media are of common use in our language (dvd, media, vhs, computer). Some French and Spanish words are present as well. Obviously lots of word (also used in English) directly come from Latin and Greek.
Even if there are not many “untranslatable” words in Italian, the majority of them are words coming from dialects that have slowly made room in the dictionary.
Some examples are:
- “scialla”, something like relax but with other related meanings;
-“presa bene” an expression to indicate something positive (contrary: presa male)
-“Amarcord” , a word mostly unknown even to Italians, indicates something from the past with a mixture of nostalgy and irony. It derives from Verona’s dialect and officially entered the Italian language after Pasolini’s movie, “Amarcord”
Language is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, and a language is any specific example of such a system. The scientific study of language is called linguistics.
Estimates of the number of languages in the world vary between 6,000 and 7,000. However, any precise estimate depends on a partly arbitrary distinction between languages and dialects. Natural languages are spoken or signed, but any language can be encoded into secondary media using auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli, for example, in graphic writing, braille, or whistling. This is because human language is modality-independent. When used as a general concept, "language" may refer to the cognitive ability to learn and use systems of complex communication, or to describe the set of rules that makes up these systems, or the set of utterances that can be produced from those rules. All languages rely on the process of semiosis to relate signs with particular meanings. Oral and sign languages contain a phonological system that governs how symbols are used to form sequences known as words or morphemes, and a syntactic system that governs how words and morphemes are combined to form phrases and utterances.
Human language has the properties of productivity, recursivity, and displacement, and it relies entirely on social convention and learning. Its complex structure affords a much wider range of expressions than any known system of animal communication. Language is thought to have originated when early hominins started gradually changing their primate communication systems, acquiring the ability to form a theory of other minds and a shared intentionality. This development is sometimes thought to have coincided with an increase in brain volume, and many linguists see the structures of language as having evolved to serve specific communicative and social functions. Language is processed in many different locations in the human brain, but especially in Broca's and Wernicke's areas. Humans acquire language through social interaction in early childhood, and children generally speak fluently when they are approximately three years old. The use of language is deeply entrenched in human culture. Therefore, in addition to its strictly communicative uses, language also has many social and cultural uses, such as signifying group identity, social stratification, as well as for social grooming and entertainment.