What is a language? This question can be asked by different people and get completely unexpected answers. But hardly anyone will immediately say natural and formal languages. The definition and examples of such systems rarely come to mind with such a question. And yet - what is this classification? And then what is considered language?
On the history of languages and their study
The main science involved in the study of communication systems is linguistics. There is also a related specialty that studies signs - semiotics. Both sciences originated several millennia ago, so the history of the origin of languages, obviously, interested people for a very long time.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that a lot of time has passed since the inception of the first systems, it is now difficult to say how it all happened. There are many hypotheses that speak of both the development of a language from more primitive communication systems and its almost random occurrence as a unique phenomenon. Of course, the first option has much more adherents and is almost universally accepted.
Around the same debate is about why there are so many languages today. Someone believes that they all came from one system, and someone insists on the development of several independent foci. But in this case we are only talking about natural languages, examples of which are familiar to everyone. They are used for human communication. But there are others unlike them. And then the question arises "what is considered a language."
Essence
Communicating with each other, not many people think about what a language is, what can be assigned to this category, and what cannot. The fact is that there are still sign systems that partially perform the same functions, and the differences are very arbitrary. Therefore, the question arises of what is the essence of language.
There are several concepts on this subject. Some linguists view language as a biological phenomenon, others as a mental one. According to another popular opinion, it belongs to the sphere of interests of sociologists. Finally, there are researchers who perceive it only as a special system of signs. Be that as it may, it is obvious that in this case only natural languages are meant. Examples of concepts that would also include a formal category do not yet exist, linguistics actually ignores them.
Tasks and Functions
What are languages for? Linguists identify a number of basic functions:
- Nominative, that is, call. The language is used to name various objects, events, phenomena, etc.
- Communicative, that is, a communication function. By this is meant the fulfillment of the goal of transmitting information.
- Expressive. That is, the language also serves to express the emotional state of the speaker.
Obviously, in this case, again, both categories are not taken into account: natural and formal languages - we are only talking about the first one. However, the two functions are retained and the second, only expressive drops out. And this is understandable if you know what a formal language is.
Classification
In general, linguistics distinguishes two categories: formal and natural languages. Further division occurs according to a number of other signs. Sometimes the third category is distinguished - the languages of animals, since natural ones usually mean only the systems with which people communicate. There is a further division into smaller groups and subspecies, but there is no need to delve into linguistics so much as to understand the difference between these two large categories.
So, you need to find out how natural and formal languages differ. Definition and examples can be understood in more detail.
Natural
Systems that allow people to understand each other during communication, that is, performing a communicative function, belong to this category. Now it’s hard to imagine how it would be possible to do without them.
This whole large category is divided into three large parts:
- natural languages, examples of which include all dialects that have arisen and developed in the most common way (English, German, Russian, Chinese, Urdu, etc.);
- artificial (Esperanto, Interlingua, Elven, Klingon, etc.);
- sign (language of the deaf).
All of them have their own characteristics and scope. But there is another large category for which most people find it difficult to find examples.
Formal
Languages that require clarity in writing and cannot be perceived subjectively have also appeared a long time ago. They are distinguished by impeccable logic and uniqueness. And they are also different. But all of them have two basic principles: abstraction and rigor of judgments.
Natural and formal languages are primarily distinguished by their complexity. Most systems from the first category are multi-component and multi-level complex. Examples of the second can be both complex and quite simple. It has its own grammar, punctuation and even word formation. The major difference is that these systems exist, as a rule, only in writing.
What examples can be ? Formal languages include the “queen of sciences” mathematics, followed by chemistry, physics, and partially biology. No matter what nationality scientists are, they will always understand the formulas and records of reactions. And for mathematics, it does not matter at all what this or that number stands for: the number of apples on a tree or molecules per gram of substance. As in the calculation of the friction force, physicists do not take into account the color of the object or any other properties that are not essential at the moment. This is how abstraction manifests itself.
With the advent of electronics, the issue of communication between a person and a machine, which understands only zeros and ones, has become extremely urgent. Since accepting this system by a person would be too uncomfortable and make the work too complicated, it was decided to create intermediate communication systems. So programming languages appeared. Of course, they also need to be taught, but they greatly facilitated the understanding between people and electronics. Unfortunately, for the implementation of this function, ambiguous, though more familiar, natural languages are not at all suitable.
Examples
Again, talking about natural languages simply does not make sense, linguistics has been studying them for a very long time and has advanced quite enough in this. At the same time, researchers bypass the formal category. Only recently, when they became very relevant, did the first scientific papers on them, theories, and understandable examples begin to appear. Formal languages are created artificially and are usually international in nature. They can be either highly specialized, or understandable to all, or at least to the majority.
Perhaps the simplest example is musical notation. There is an alphabet, punctuation rules, etc. This is really a language, although from some points of view musical notation can only be equated with sign systems.
Of course, this includes the already mentioned mathematics, the rules of writing in which are extremely strict. All exact sciences can also be conditionally assigned to this category. Finally, these are programming languages. And they are probably worth talking about in more detail.
Using
What pushes forward the development and study of formal languages is, of course, technological progress. Computing systems, electronic devices - today almost every thing is a computer in miniature. And if they understand only binary code, then people usually perceive only natural languages. Examples of various ways and attempts to find some kind of compromise ended with the idea of creating an intermediate communication system. Over time, they appeared quite a lot. So today, programming is actually the work of a translator from computer to human and vice versa.
But people continue to use natural and artificial languages, examples of which make it possible to verify that too loose grammar and syntax rules seriously complicate the interpretation of sentences for computers. It is unlikely that linguistic evolution will come to a serious tightening. So one of the most promising areas is a system for understanding natural language. They will allow machines to process requests that are written without special rules. The first step to this technology was probably the search engines. They are developing now, so perhaps the future is near.