ABSTRACT
This chapter examines what language actually is, focusing on the characteristics that are shared by all human languages. It covers the core issues related to the nature and characteristics of language, and many of the more common myths and false beliefs about language, that are found both in general in the society and, even more importantly, in schools. Recursion refers in part to the creative nature of language. The fact that language is conventional leads one to another fundamental characteristic of human language, which is that by its very nature language is social. One of the interesting features of human languages is that they demonstrate what linguists call “duality of patterning”. Words in a language are not only arbitrary, but they are also symbolic and abstract – that is, they are symbols of meaning. The claim that language is universal is related to the claim that a central characteristic of language is that it is innate for human beings.
