[W.I.P.]

About

Language is the basic capacity of the human brain for complex systems of communication, either written or verbal, and is necessary to convey information between most autonomous subjects. The word "language," as thus, refers to a specific and distinct example of such communication. There are an estimated 7,000 languages existing in the world today.

Origin

There are many theories as to the origin of language, with most scholars, such as Charles Darwin, suggesting it couldn't just happen suddenly, but was absolutely necessary and evolved with the human species. These are referred to as continuity-based theories. Because the origins of language have to be located in human prehistory, exact dates and time frames are merely speculative, and can't, with today's technology, be reasonably determined.

Spread

After it's assumed origins, language slowly, over the course of millions of years, grew on the human race. The three most popular divisions of language today are the Indo-European family, including such languages as English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Hindi; the Sino-Tibetan languages, which include Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, and many others; Semitic languages, which include Arabic, Amharic, and Hebrew; and the Bantu languages, which include Swahili, Zulu, Shona, and hundreds of other languages spoken throughout Africa.

Signed

Language also includes signed language, which is spoken mainly in deaf communities, but also whenever something needs to be conveyed silently.