Language as a Way of Knowing

Definition – Dictionary.com noun

1.a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition: the two languages of Belgium; a Bantu language; the French language; the Yiddish language.

2.communication by voice in the distinctively human manner, using arbitrary sounds in conventional ways with conventional meanings; speech.

3.the system of linguistic signs or symbols considered in the abstract ( opposed to speech).

4.any set or system of such symbols as used in a more or less uniform fashion by a number of people, who are thus enabled to communicate intelligibly with one another.

5.any system of formalized symbols, signs, sounds, gestures, or the like used or conceived as a means of communicating thought, emotion, etc.: the language of mathematics; sign language

From the Japanese language – hearing is sound entering in the gate hitting the ear and you hear. Listening – the Kanji on the right has the ear in the open with the heart and eye or mind. To listen you must take it in to your heart and mind.

A recent addition to the conversation is this interesting presentation on the “birth of a word” and how we acquire language.