Language is a means of communicating, of making something clear to someone. There are two types of communication: verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication involves speaking and non-verbal communication does not. About 5,000 languages are spoken around the world.
To arise
More than 2 billion years ago, when life emerged on Earth, language did not yet exist. However, it is unknown when the language originated. Presumably Homo Erectus did not speak many words 800,000 years ago. Linguists suspect that language emerged through gradual development and not through a sudden invention.
Dates
Language is the most important means of communication. That language consists of words that mean something. In the past, people made agreements about the meaning of those words. So language is actually learning agreements that have been made. Learning these agreements starts from birth. Before the first year of life, babies learn their first words, like mom or dad. These are usually words that babies have heard before. Six months after birth, babies know between 50 and 200 words and this number increases over the years. For example, a child going to primary school knows about 10,000 words. By the end of primary school, this number has increased to approximately 40,000 words. After primary school, a child learns an average of 20 words per day.
However, after primary school you can also learn a lot of other languages. Some people get a kick out of knowing as many languages as possible. These people usually take a language course via the Internet or at a local educational institution. Learning languages can be a lot of fun, it gives you more knowledge and better understanding of people. Sometimes you even understand more about your own language. If you are going to take a language course, it is advisable to do this in a structured manner, otherwise you may have problems with your own language.
Learned young is done old
Young children can absorb a language very easily. They are therefore characterized as a kind of sponge that absorbs everything. This allows children to absorb and master many languages. This is easiest before the age of eight. After that it gets more difficult. It is true that children who learn a language and then no longer hear it and therefore cannot practice it, quickly forget the language.
Extinct language
There are approximately 5,000 languages spoken worldwide. Sometimes languages disappear and sometimes new ones are added. A language that is no longer spoken (usually because the last speaker has died) is called a dead language. When people adopt a language en masse, a new language is created. An example of this is South America. The Spanish and Portuguese languages replaced the original Indian language here. A new language is created by people mixing languages and inventing new words or omitting them. This causes words and rules related to the language to disappear.
New languages
There are a number of examples of new languages invented by humans. The language Esperanto is a famous example. The Pole Lodewijk Zamenhof thought it would be more convenient if everyone spoke the same language and that was why he invented Esperanto in 1887. The language was a mixture of other languages such as Romance, Germanic and Slavic. Lodewijk Zamenhof wrote a book explaining how his language worked, but it was never a success. Another example is Klingon, the language spoken in Star Trek. Spokane goes one step further, invented by a Dutchman. This language is spoken in Spokania, a fantasy land. Similar to Esperanto, this language also has an instruction booklet that explains the language. In addition, a travel guide has even been created for the country of Spokania. The more people speak the language, the more likely it is to become a global language. If only a few people speak the language, this chance is much smaller. Secret languages are of course ideal for speaking between two people, but the trick is not to let anyone hear them. The press innovation fund stimulates journalism and language.