language

n. Language is the implicit system that links an external linguistic signal, acoustic or written, and the message carried by that signal. Central to knowledge of language is linguistic competence, knowledge of the principles for combining sounds (phonology), morphemes (morphology), and words (syntax); the principles for determining meaning (semantics); and the vocabulary repository (the lexicon). In addition, communicative competence consists of principles that dictate felicitous language use (pragmatics), guiding speakers in their choice of expressions to perform speech acts. Knowledge of language is encoded and decoded into signals - sentences uttered, written, or signed - by means of performance mechanisms that enable the production and perception of sentences.

- EMF